Saturday, December 10, 2005

LBC: a platform for the propaganda of Hizb ut Tahrir

Here is a self-explanatory letter I have just written to Jonathan Richards, Editorial Director, News LBC Radio Ltd

Dear Mr Richards,

I am an occasional listener of LBC News and have been shocked to hear two lengthy ‘interviews’ in the last month (13 November and today) with spokesmen from the Islamic terrorist supporting organisation Hizb ut Tahrir. I say ‘interviews’ in inverted commas because these were actually unchallenged publicity pieces by the organisation and the spokesmen were in both cases treated as if they were revered diplomats presenting well accepted viewpoints.

Maybe your editorial staff and presenters are simply unaware that Hizb ut Tahrir is banned throughout much of the rest of the world, that it disseminates racist material, is pledged to establish a Caliphate, in which non-Muslims would be politically disenfranchised, in which women would be constitutionally prevented from holding senior political office, and in which apostates and homosexuals would be executed. They are dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel and support suicide bombings against civilians not only in Israel but also in Iraq, Kashmir and Chechnya.

If LBC is going to continue to provide a platform for this organisation I would like to know why your reporters do not at least challenge the vile propaganda and lies presented and probe their views on issues such as those listed above?

What makes this kind of lengthy Jihadist propaganda even more unacceptable is that, for a supposed 24-hour news channel, LBC News spends scant time reporting on real news that could better inform people to be wary of the likes of Hizb ut Tahrir. For example, people would be less likely to accept their standard clichés about “the occupation of Palestine” if LBC actually reported about the brutal and sustained terrorism being suffered by Israelis at the hands of the Jihadists. Only this week, for example, LBC chose to either ignore completely or report in the most minimalist way a number of terrorists attacks inside Israel including the massacre carried out by a suicide bomber at a shopping mall in Netanya, relentless rocket attacks from Gaza into Southern Israel and fatal stabbings at checkpoints. When I have asked before why these events go unreported the answer is always that there is insufficient time to cover such stories. It is strange how you always find the time for Jihadist propaganda that is not news at all.

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