Although this is hardly news, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation has run another biased article demonising Israelis and Jews.
This article, show piecing the artwork of UK graffiti artist “Bansky”, once again tells the World (through the mouth of the BBC, who the ABC of course follow blindly on any issue) how it is.
The article focuses on a picture of a dove, wearing a bullet proof vest, opposite an Israeli watch tower (complete with sniper scope imprint over the dove’s heart). This kind of “non-news” article just demonstrates how the ABC will event stoop to hunting around for any negative portrayal of Israel they can find. Strangely enough, no stories can be found through the ABC on similar paintings that adorn almost every wall in Belfast.
Some sample comments:
“It’s important for people to come to Bethlehem and actually see what’s happening”
“It shows how the Israeli soldiers treat us like animals.”
Again, the ABC makes use of Christian imagery to evoke emotion in it’s readers, describing a “Christmas cherub with a rock piercing its stomach and blood frothing from the wound”. Furthermore, as you will see over the next month, the ABC also runs many positive stories about Christians, Christmas and the Pope and will in fact broadcast his entire speech. Any large gatherings of Muslims or Jews, however, will be reported as “worrying” and “dangerous”.
This brings me to my key points. The ABC frequently uses Bethlehem and the suffering of Christians there as a yard-stick by which to judge all of Israel (although they never discuss the fact that the suffering is primarily caused by the other neighbours).
This frequent evoking of Christianity is a complete hypocrisy on the behalf of the ABC. You see, the ABC refers to any action taken by Israel as action taken by the “Jewish state”, while the IDF is always referred to as “Jewish forces”, whenever they are describing something negative.
Now call me paranoid but this smacks of anti-Semitism. Like to hear my reasoning (if not, stop reading :P). When American forces kill civilians or make mistakes in Iraq or elsewhere, then they report this as action by American troops – not Christian troops. Ok, fine, but America is a secular nation, where as Israel is a Jewish nation, right? Wrong. America’s own constitution defines it as a Christian nation and the ABC’s own articles (from today) state that 82% of Americans define themselves as religious Christians (while only 2/3 of Israel, according to the ABC, is even Jewish). So why then, isn’t America subjected to having its military described in religious terms?
How about this great nation of Australia? According to our 2006 Census, Australia is just as highly Christianised as America (the Census data shows Perth as 96% Christian). So why aren’t our SAS troops referred to as Christians? Crusader still a little too nasty a word, perhaps?
The ABC’s own figures state that both Australia and America are more religious societies and more homogenised that Israel in terms of religious diversity yet they’re not subject to the same rules.
On the other extreme we have Hamas, in Gaza, where around 99% of the population is Islamic. The ABC refers to these people as “gunmen” or “militants” but not “Islamic forces”.
So, ABC, could you explain your consistent use of the term “Jewish forces”, if not for the purpose of building on hatred?