So what do members a Trade Union dedicated to journalistic freedom and independence do when they see piece of journalism they don’t like?

Well, the NUJ’s Vice President Donnacha Delong called for NUJ members to protest outside the BBC, and for BBC NUJ Chapels (ie branches) to put out ‘a statement’, presumably condemning one of their own members for writing something they disapprove of.

And another senior NUJ activist wants the NUJ to force the BBC to commission another Panorama that is more politically acceptable to them.

It’s a real shame – but no a surprise – that senior activists in a journalists’ union are prepared to throw out their founding principles in favour of attacking Israel.

First email –

From: donnacha.delong@tiscali.co.uk

To: leftlist@lists.riseup.net

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:26:54 +0100

Subject: [leftlist] Demonstration called at the BBC

Ken O’Keefe and (one of) the Muslim Defence League(s) have called a demo on Sunday at BBC Television Centre.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=151713191507367&index=1

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it, but it would be really good to have NUJ people. A statement from some of the BBC Chapels wouldn’t go amiss, particularly with the prospect of a strike at the BBC. The last thing we need is people attacking the BBC in its entirety as a result of this, and I’ve seen a few examples of that already on Facebook.

D.

—-

The National Union of Journalists runs a discussion list for people working in new media, join the debates at:

http://mailman.journonet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/newmedia

second email

From: Larry Herman <larry@larryherman.net>

Sender: leftlist-owner@lists.riseup.net

Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:27:23 +0100

To: Tim Gopsill<timgo@inweb.co.uk>

Cc: ‘Vicki Morris’<vickimorris@btinternet.com>; <leftlist@lists.riseup.net>

Subject: Re: [leftlist] Israeli propaganda machine

On 17 Aug 2010, at 15:25, Tim Gopsill wrote:

…  And the issue is not religion or ideology but western militarism and imperialism, …

Hello,

Our legitimate reaction to the BBC Panorama pro Zionist programme has thrown up profound questions and has, once again, labeled those of us who fight for self determination of all the world’s peoples, including for those who live in the UK, closed – minded bigots and specifically, in this case, Jew haters. Those who sneer and seek to denigrate our views are wrong, but we don’t fear their slander because it shows our strength. Our responsibility is to determine how we better organise to take on the enemies of humanity and their apologists who live their lives giving the politics of reaction credibility.

There are many explanations why Zionism was organised in the 19th Century and why it was able to establish its state after the Second World War, why this State was violently inserted into Palestine and why Israel has carried on a sixty-year war to defend its interests. Israel is the form that imperialism takes in the Middle East. The Apartheid governments in South Africa were another, and equally unique, form of imperialism. The support of all American big capitalists, their governments and military, since the mid 1950’s (and before) for the Zionist state is because it defends Imperialism and Israel is its imperialist  beachhead in that part of the world.

American imperialisms has always fought wars to extend its interests, whether in The philippines in 1898, in the First and Second World Wars and now throughout Western Asia and North Africa ( of course, on other continents, too. The biggest military base outside of the United States is in Honduras!). It’s not the very active and well funded lobbyists in the United States that cause the American Government’s defence of the Zionist State; to argue this is playing into the hands of anti-semitism. The nefarious activity of pro Zionist organisations and individuals throughout the world exists because of the historic weakness of imperialism. That’s why they are compelled to do what they do.

I enthusiastically acknowledge that anti – Zionism occupies our political activity today because of several decades of Palestinian resistance. But, it’s not what we are against that defines people, but it’s what we are in favour of. If there were ever a crises of leadership it is there, in Palestine, for all progressives to see. As activists, we are in harmony with the Palestinian people in their struggle for self – determination. We are transformed into anti imperialist fighters through building this solidarity. We, as NUJ activists, have struggled to be heard in the past and will continue to organise against bigotry.  Perhaps, beginning with a demand, supported by a Union – wide campaign, that the BBC fund a ‘Panorama Two” putting the different view. The Leftlist should convene an immediate meeting, with an agenda, open to all who are opposed to the the content of the Panorama film, to initiate this demand within the Union.

Yours,

Larry

My Government is very clear on this issue: we are utterly opposed to any type of boycott of Israel. Boycotts are counterproductive, particularly in this region where we should be encouraging as much dialogue as possible.

He also highlighted some of the strenghtening links between Israeli and British academics, students and throughout education.

The full speech appears below:

Speech by British Ambassador to Israel, Tom Phillips, at Bar-Ilan University’s “British Day” and inaugural award ceremony of the Katz Family Research Grant Incentive Programme.

10 May 2009

It is a real pleasure to be here today.

I’d like to give my heartfelt congratulations to the recipients of the awards, and I should like to salute the work of the British Friends of Bar-Ilan University. I know from my visits here over the years what a contribution you have made here, and very much appreciate what this means as part of the links between Britain and the UK.

I wanted to say something today about the wider question of the relations between the UK and Israeli academic communities in general.

Bar-Ilan University was unfortunately among those Israeli institutions singled out in an attempt by a minority of British academics to boycott Israeli institutions a few years ago. That attempt – and the ones that followed – all failed and it is important to stress that there is no academic boycott in the UK.

My Government is very clear on this issue: we are utterly opposed to any type of boycott of Israel. Boycotts are counterproductive, particularly in this region where we should be encouraging as much dialogue as possible.

I also want to take this opportunity to tell you more about just some of the amazing links between our academia.

Last year in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and then-PM Ehud Olmert launched the Britain-Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership (BIRAX) – a unique scheme aimed at enhancing research and academic cooperation between the UK and Israel. Hundreds of bids have already been received and BIRAX has the full backing of – and funding from – the Israeli and British governments.

This programme was developed by the British Council in collaboration with The Pears Foundation and in close consultation with both governments, academic, business and philanthropic leaders, and in partnership with the two umbrella bodies representing the UK and Israel’s universities (Universities UK and Israel’s University Presidents’ Association). The Pears Foundation and the UJIA provided significant funding – and the door is still open for others who might wish to contribute.

Also last year, and in celebration of Israel’s 60th anniversary, the British Foreign Office launched the UK-Israel Collaboration Development Award programme for stem cell research.

This year, we will once again be sending several outstanding Israeli students to some of the best universities in the UK for further study as part of our government-funded Chevening Scholarship programme. Hundreds of Israelis have travelled to the UK under this programme over the years. Indeed, with all due respect to this university and the podium upon which I currently stand, UK universities are very popular with Israeli students. There are some 1,000 Israelis currently studying in the UK, while another 8,000 or so take British degree courses through distance learning here in Israel.

The British Council here in Israel also runs another innovative initiative: Skills@Work which aims to promote links between education and industry. One of the aims of this project is to create partnerships between colleges in the UK, Israel and participating European countries.

Our links with education don’t just stop at university level: the British Embassy also supports the work of the Hand in Hand schools here in Israel which aim to bring together Jewish and Arab children from a young age to enable them to better understand each other and together help create a better future for themselves. Indeed, I was at the Hand in Hand school in Wadi Ara yesterday with several of my EU colleagues, and saw the excellent work they are doing there – when I was also glad to say that the UK will be helping them by providing sports facilities and a computer laboratory.

Back in the UK, the government last year increased the funding it provides to the Holocaust Educational Trust for its Lessons from Auschwitz programme which aims to take two pupils from every sixth form college in the UK to visit Auschwitz and learn about the Holocaust. I know that there are couple of email chains still making the rounds, claiming that the UK has removed the Holocaust from its national curriculum, so I would just like to set the record straight and ensure you that teaching of the Holocaust is compulsory in all secondary schools between the ages of 11-14.

I should like to close by saying that we are always interested in supporting new initiatives and helping establish new links between our academics and institutions. I should also like to reiterate my thanks to the British Friends of Bar-Ilan University for all their work over the years in bolstering the links between Bar-Ilan and the UK.

The original World Conference Against Racism, in 2001 Durban, was hijacked by Anti-Israel and Anti-Zionist groups who led a well organised campaign , backed by Muslim and Arab governments, to exclude antisemitism from the conference agenda and to label Israel as an apartheid state and to revisit the “Zionism = Racism” equation. The conference itself was marked by harassment of Jewish delegates and antisemitic flyers praising Hitler. The USA and Israel walked out in disgust.

Early drafts of the Durban Review declaration contained text that downplayed antisemitism, demonised Israel and Zionism as uniquely racist, and claimed that “defamation of religion” was a form of racism. These lines have been removed from the latest version of the text, but could still be reinserted at a later stage.

Worryingly, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced he will attend the Conference. At his last speech at on a UN platform, he said that

“a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists … have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centres as well as the political decision-making centres of some European countries and the US in a deceitful, complex and furtive manner”

Given Ahmadinejad record of making antisemitic speeches at UN events, there is serious concern about the impact of his presence and actions.

The UK Jewish community delegation to the Durban Review Conference will be led by the co-chairs of the Jewish Human Rights Coalition (JHRC-UK), Rosalind Preston OBE and Henry Grunwald QC. The delegation will be attending to lobby governments, running a side event in the Conference venue on fighting racism, and working to ensure that the Conference is true to its principles.

JHRC-UK will be live-blogging on developments at the Durban Review Conference at its website www.jhrc.org.uk

You can also follow @JhrcUK on Twitter for real-time coverage of the Conference plenary.

This piece was originally posted to the Jewish Human Rights Coalition website

OXFAM, which is calling for these goods to be totally banned, has also been invited to join the meeting.

Goods from Northern Cyprus, Western Sahara and other territories which the British government considers occupied do not have explicit labelling guidance; for example, goods from Northern Cyprus are labelled ‘produce of Turkey’.

Speaking for the Fair Play Campaign Group, Jeremy Newmark, Chief Executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, said:

“This step risks encouraging those working for a wider programme of boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel. No meetings have taken place at this level to discuss produce from other territories that the British Government considers occupied. By involving groups which campaign for a boycott and a ban on all settlement goods, the Government is making it harder to believe that this meeting is purely about giving consumers choice.  These plans also risk harming the incomes of over twenty thousand Palestinian workers whose earn their livelihoods in the production of such goods.”

Towards the end of a long day, there was an important discussion and decision about the union’s international policy. It’s complicated…

Read Jon’s full report for an explanation of what happened. Briefly though, in the course of the meeting, the committee refused to endorse a statement by a subcommittee which falsely claimed the Union had begun a process that could end in a boycott of some Israeli universities.

Last year, the Executive Committee itself submitted a boycott motion to UCU Congress. This year, the Executive is refusing to endorse pro-boycott pronouncements from other committees.

Additionally Sue Blackwell, who proposed the 2005 AUT boycott, has lost her seat on the Executive Committee at the latest elections. This is another sign of the weakening grip of the boycotters on UCU’s structures.

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