Do you all remember Louise Bagshawe, the British MP who wrote an article in London's Telegraph blasting the BBC over its lack of coverage of the Fogel massacre? A British friend of mine here in Israel wrote her to thank her for her article and got this in response.

Dear Brian

Thank you for writing to me about my article in the Daily Telegraph concerning the BBC’s coverage of the tragic Fogel massacre that took place in Israel last month. I was however overwhelmed with amount of correspondence I received (over 450 emails alone) so please excuse this generic response.

It was terrible to see that the brutal murder of nearly an entire family was not picked up further by the British media, and in particular the BBC who have long heralded their neutrality and independence on reporting current affairs. I was glad to speak up for what I saw as biased coverage of a serious crime.

I expressed my grave concerns to the BBC and recently received a written response from the Director of BBC News. In her letter she makes clear concessions that, despite the number of news stories going on that day, in hindsight they should have found more room for the story on the BBC News Channel.

It is only by putting pressure on news organisations, and especially those funded by British taxpayers, that we can help to prevent atrocities such as this from being overlooked. In my role as a Member of Parliament and a member of the Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee I feel I was able to deliver a clear message to the BBC in regards to their reporting on Israel.

One major reason the BBC listened and admitted fault was that I could point out to them how many emails and letters, like yours, I received. So your taking the trouble to write had a direct effect. I thank you for that and for your email. Although this is a standard response due to the overwhelming volume, can I assure you that over several hours I sat down and read every single email sent to me individually. It was an incredibly moving experience and I found myself in tears many times.

Thank you again, therefore, for having gone to the trouble of researching my email address (which was not mentioned in the original article) and having written in support. It had a direct effect, and we can only hope the BBC and others in the media will learn from this for future coverage.

For all those of you who are Jewish, may I wish you and your families a very happy Passover for next week.

With best wishes,

Louise Bagshawe signature JPEG (10)

Louise Bagshawe MP

There's a lesson there for all of us.

Labels: Balen report, BBC bias, Fogel family massacre, Itamar, Lord Patten, Louise Bagshawe, Palestinian terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:43 AM

Why Are They Such Savages? Krauthammer

Hadas Fogel Age 3 months
What would make someone slaughter a three-month old baby? This article by Charles Krauthammer - written upon the 2001 murder of Koby Mandell and Yosef Ish Ran HY"D (may God avenge their blood) - provides some insight (Hat Tip: Soccer Dad). (This is from the first link).

This is not war. This is not even terrorism. This is bloodlust. It is savagery so grotesque that it might not have been believed had we not all seen that picture last fall on the cover of Time of the Palestinian, having just beaten to death the two Israeli reservists in Ramallah, exultantly holding out his blood-stained hands to the crowd in a gesture of triumph.

People are not born with bloodlust. They learn it. It is no mystery where the Palestinians have learned it.

For years Arafat's mini-police-state has been feeding his people the rawest Jew-hatred since the Third Reich. In television, radio, newspapers, and textbooks, Arafat has created the psychic infrastructure that sustains his endless war on Israel - and gives us the barbarism in the cave.

Nothing has changed since then.

Labels: Fogel family massacre, Itamar, Koby Mandell, Palestinian terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:08 PM

Fogel Family Forced Out of Netzarim in Gaza

I mentioned in earlier posts that Udi and Ruth Fogel were expelled from Netzarim in the Gaza Strip and ended up in Itamar. Here are more details.

Rabbi Udi and Ruth Fogel and three of their six children were expelled from Gush Katif in 2005 as part of then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to end the same terror that cruelly ended their lives in the brutal massacre Friday night in Samaria.

They were forced out of Netzarim in central Gaza, re-located to Ariel in Samaria along with other expellees. Two years ago, they moved to Itamar, where Rabbi Fogel, a former IDF tank unit officer, taught in the post-high school yeshiva there, in charge of students who had completed their IDF service and returned to Torah study.

Let's go to the videotape.

Labels: Fogel family massacre, Gaza expulsion, Itamar, Palestinian terror

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:49 PM

You might like:

* Statement from the

Disgusting NYTimes Blames 'Settlers' for Butchery

I want to highlight a few phrases in this New York Times article that are meant to create the impression that what happened on Friday night in Itamar is the 'settlers' fault, Israel's fault, the Jews' fault. The Times continues its outrageous pattern of blaming Israel for the lack of peace in our region. The article was written originally by Al-AP.

Palestinian opposition to settlement construction on lands they want for a future state has brought negotiations to a virtual standstill over the past two years, with Palestinians refusing to negotiate directly with Israel as long as it persists.

In other words, there are no 'negotiations' because Israel insists on continuing to build 'settlements.' But for 16 years before Prime Minister Netanyahu took power, there were negotiations regardless of whether there was construction. And Israel never agreed at any time to stop construction. The first item of the road map was that the 'Palestinians' had to disband the terror organizations, something that we were bitterly reminded on Friday night has never happened although the Times will try to dispute that too further on.

"We condemn this act of accelerated settlement construction," senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said. "We urge the international community to intervene and implement the two-state solution. This is the only way out of this vicious circle of violence and counter-violence."

And of course, that has been the goal behind the 'Palestinian' refusal to negotiate all along. They want the quartet to impose a 'solution.' They don't want to have to negotiate with Israel. They want to be handed their reichlet on a silver platter without having to reach any compromises with Israel.

The attack Friday night in Itamar, home to some of Israel's most radical settlers, was the deadliest against Israelis in years, and security forces were on alert Sunday for possible settler retaliation against Palestinians.

Note what I highlighted - that's Times-speak for "they had it coming to them."

The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a mostly defunct Palestinian militant group, took responsibility for the killings. But it was not clear if the group really was responsible because it frequently takes credit for attacks it didn't commit in a bid to raise its profile.

Note that they don't mention al-Aqsa's connection to Abu Bluff's Fatah. Note how they try to minimize the probability that al-Aqsa carried out the attack. Note how they won't take the terrorists at their evil word. Unbelievable.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killings and Palestinian security forces were also searching for the perpetrators, Palestinian officials said. But in Gaza, ruled by Islamic Hamas militants, officials applauded the attack and residents celebrated the killings.

Actually, Abu Bluff didn't exactly condemn the killings.

The usual media bias.

By the way, here are pictures of the 123 children murdered by 'Palestinian' terrorists between 2000 and 2006, just after the current Defense Minister and then Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered the 'Palestinians' all of Gaza, nearly all of Judea and Samaria, and much of Jerusalem for their reichlet. What was their excuse then?

Labels: anti-Israel media bias, Fogel family massacre, Itamar, Palestinian terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:42 PM

Israel Demands Apology for Media Coverage of Fogel

American network reporters present tendentious coverage of Saturday's gruesome murder in Itamar, question fact it was a terrorist attack. Israel's Government Press Office 'dumbfounded, astonished' Attila Somfalvi
Israel is demanding an apology from CNN over its coverage of Saturday's terrorist attack in Itamar claiming it was "tendentious and deceptive." Government Press Office director Oren Helman sent a letter to CNN's Bureau Chief Kevin Flower saying he was astonished at the network's coverage of the ruthless attack.

A CNN website report avoided describing the event as a terror attack, noting that the Israel Defense Forces consider it an act of terrorism. "Only you decided to use the term terrorist attack in quotation marks, as if this were not necessarily the case," Helman wrote. "There is a limit to the extent of objectivity regarding such a horrific deed."

CNN