Posted on 11/06/2004 12:11:19 PM PST by aculeus
A BBC correspondent's on-air admission that she cried at Yasser Arafat's departure from Palestine was a "misjudgment", the corporation said yesterday after it was inundated with complaints.
The BBC, which has long faced accusations of anti-Israeli bias, has received 500 complaints over the broadcast last Saturday by its Middle East correspondent, Barbara Plett, on the Radio 4 programme From Our Own Correspondent.
In the report, Plett described her reaction as the helicopter carrying Arafat - who is in intensive care in a Paris hospital - lifted off from his compound in Ramallah.
"When the helicopter carrying the frail old man rose above his ruined compound, I started to cry . . . without warning," she said.
BBC sources said that senior editors had remonstrated with Plett over her words, adding that she too accepted that they had been "misjudged". A BBC spokesman said: "From Our Own Correspondent is one of the few programmes that offers listeners personal stories behind the headlines, a format which permits correspondents to write freely."
However, the fact that a Middle East correspondent has such sympathies will fuel claims that of BBC bias towards the Arabs.
A spokesman for the Israeli government said that it would make an official complaint about the report, although the corporation said it had yet to receive one.
Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright
Oops! Revealed their bias... that's a no-no in "journalism"!
I cried too.
(with joy)
Imagine: crying for an AIDS-ridden, murderous old thief who is surely headed for nether regions. The world is upside down.
I will shed tears of joy when Arafat is dead.
Criticize, the word is criticize.
The Beeb flashes its underwear, and its not pretty.
In Nelson Muntz voice - "Ha ha!"
Always knew the BBC was biased in favor of terrorists. Now I've got proof.
As an aside, I'm going to dance in the streets when Arafat acquires room temperature. I'll also be handing out candy and sweetbreads...just like the Palestinians did on 9/11.
And when it's all over, I'm going to pour a full carafe of my finest coffee on Arafat's grave...right after the stuff passes through my kidneys.
If I remember my history, Arafat was the ONLY person ever allowed to make a speach at the UN with a pistol at his side.
Kofi is deeply saddened.
hmmm. she must have worked for "The Guardian" at some point.
I cried too -
That such a perverted, vile, pice of sh*t could be revered by the world's smug intelligentsia who looked the other way while his thugs viscously murdered the innocent and destroyed the hopes of generations for freedom and peace.
Those are Palestinians dancing after 9/11. That's horrible!
Sorry but it's "criticise."
The rule I follow (and too many people don't) is to paste the headline without any changes. The article is from a British paper which (surprise!) uses British spelling.
Criticize those who change headlines, not those of us who follow rules.
Bloody
Biased
Crap
Shameless shills - to think the Brits are forced to pay for this outfit (TV licenses).
There will never be truthful reporting from this area. Not only do they have a knee-jerk bias against Israel but look at what happened to the Dutch filmmaker, Theo Van Gogh, who dared to criticize the way many Muslim women are treated.
Yup... and they were passing out candy - So I just suggest we do the same, when their AIDS-riddled, murderous "leader" takes that slippery slide into Fire Lake.
These days it's the norm.
That is just plain sickening. Well, I will be handing candy when Arafat dies.
The BBC doesn't want to let any of the truth out: including that they cry of murderous thugs, and not just that Arafat is one.
So it only takes 500 complaints to inundate the BBC... noted.
A few hundred thousand Americans dancing in the streets would be a nice wake...LOL!
Yeah it would be. I will be handing out candy. :)
England = Englistan. They already bent over and spread 'em for the Muslims.
I can relate to this reporter, I had the same sentiments when Clinton left the White House, only mine were tears of joy.
I may even shed a joyful tear when Tom Daschle is dragged out of the Senate in Jan.....especially if he does a perp walk and does not slide out under the back door.
Anyone surprised.
I cried...
1.) for the thousands of victim's of that raghead's bloody 35-year terror campaign against the Jewish people.
2.) for the two illegal race wars (P.C. term "Intifada's") Arafat started when his personal power or profit were threatened by upturns in the Middle east peace talks.
3.) For the poor, defiled goats, too numerous (and too silent) to count...
The only reason that b*stard is isn't dead yet is that hell must have been too full for a while. I say turn the rotten little puke into hog sh*t.
We're separated by a common language.
Pathetic, weak-minded, anti-Semite liberal loser.
What a brainless bimbo. A bloodthirstymurdering terroist and thug. Steals millions from POOR Palestinians. And this B***h cries for him. she should be fired immediately. Maybe the BBC, can run a doc about Arafatmouths exploits as a young terrorist, How about the bombing of the King David Hotel, full of British.
This "journalist" is obviously a political partisan with strong personal opinions on every major issue in the world today. The BBC has a problem: Where do you put such a person in the organization where their evident agenda does not color it's news reporting?
Sometimes the "fair and balanced journalists" of the world actually allow the truth to slip out.
what do you want to bet this silly fat cow Plett will be one of the first out in the street when he FINALLY dies doing the LU,LU,LU,LU,LU,LU,LU???
The spelling used is the UK spelling---which I was taught as well. (and "-our" when used with Neighbour, Harbour, endeavour, etc...used to drive my Div-O nuts!)
It is not considered incorrect.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/3966139.stm
Foreign journalists seemed much more excited about Mr Arafat's fate than anyone in Ramallah.So there you have it.But where were the people, I wondered, the mass demonstrations of solidarity, the frantic expressions of concern?
Yet when the helicopter carrying the frail old man rose above his ruined compound, I started to cry... without warning.
A comment page where you can leave your thoughts about Arafat:
Perhaps she could cry for Adolf Hitler in a subsequent report.
Sirhah Sirhan was riled up by Arafat's rantings in 1967-68.
Arafat should have been whacked after RFK's death. IMO
Lots of leftists over here will crying once this rotted old pederast finally gets around to dying and thus relieving the world of one of its nastiest cancers. Jimmy Carter's already said that he'll attend Arafart's funeral, and I'm sure he'll eulogize him as one the great people in history. This after he had to practically be forced to even acknowledge the death of Ronald Reagan.
Jimmy Carter is a case, isn't he? On the one hand, he was the worst POTUS ever-- certainly in my lifetime. On the other hand, he seems like such a fine, Christian person in so many ways. Yet he'd willingly go to Arafat's funeral-- that diseased old buggar. Jimmuh's one mixed up fellow, and always has been.
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