Reply from Sky News about anti-Israel complaint

On 29 Dec I posted a letter I sent to Sky News about a particularly nasty anti-Israel news bulletin. Peter Lowe (Assistant Editor) sent me a detailed response (which I appreciate because more often than not I either get no response or a standard response). But the problem is that the response confirms that there really is an ingrained anti-Israel bias among the newer editorial staff at Sky News. This is very worrying given Sky News's previous balanced approach. It is a strong indication of something we have been worrying about for a while now. That the new generation of opinion formers (those who graduated in the last few years) have become so conditioned by the "Israel = oppressor, bad, military state blah blah / Palestinians = victims" equation that they, like the Palestinians, now see every Israeli as a valid military target. Anyway, here is my self-explanatory response (if anybody expresses an interest I will scan the Sky letter).


Peter Lowe
Assistant Editor, Sky News
British Sky Broadcasting
Grant Way
Middlesex TW7 5QD

18 Jan 2006

Dear Mr Lowe,

Misleading anti-Israel reporting on Sky News (29 Dec 05)
Your ref: PL/KA

Thank you for taking the trouble to reply in depth to my letter. I do not agree with many of the points that you made in your response to my letter and there is one in particular that is seriously flawed. Specifically, in response to my complaint about the news item not mentioning the suicide bombing in Israel you said: “I assume you mean the one against a military target on the West Bank, which I can assure you we DID report…”

I watched the entire main bulletin from 09.00 until 09.30 and I can confirm that the suicide attack was NOT mentioned despite it having occurred just 3 hours earlier and despite its most obvious relevance to the lead story you ran. Sky may well at some other time have mentioned the suicide bombing but this is irrelevant to the point I was making.

But of far more concern is your factual error concerning the suicide attack itself. The attack was intended to be a double suicide bombing at a Chanukah celebration party in Tel Aviv. The heroic actions of a soldier, Uri Binamo who stopped the bombers at a checkpoint, averted a massacre but cost him his own life. The reputable Haaretz newspaper website provides the following details (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/671559.html):

A suicide bombing that killed an Israel Defense Forces officer and three
Palestinians south of Tul Karm on December 29 had been planned as a double suicide bombing in a city in the center of the country, security forces said Tuesday.
The IDF said Tuesday that officials realized only in retrospect the scope of the thwarted terror attack: The Islamic Jihad bombings were supposed to take place simultaneously, during Hanukkah vacation.
IDF officials had at first thought that only one suicide bomber was in the taxi, but security forces discovered in the course of their investigation that one of the Palestinians killed in the blast had also intended to carry out a suicide bombing.
Neither the third passenger killed in the explosion nor the taxi driver was involved in the attack, security forces said, but the Shin Bet security service captured a fourth Palestinian passenger who was meant to guide the two bombers.

To describe this as “against a military target on the West Bank” is offensive and betrays the exact anti-Israel perspective I complaind about.

Yours sincerely,

Edgar Davidson

Curious reaction to Haj disaster

There was very little coverage in the media of the disaster at the Haj in Mecca yesterday when 345 pilgrims were crushed to death during the traditional stoning ceremony. I would have thought this would be a mega-news item, but I guess it's not, partly because such disasters happen with frightening regularity at the Haj (1500 killed in a similar stampede a few years ago and 65 already killed last week when one of the hostels collapsed). You would have thought that the media would be interested in the Saudi authorities' perennial incompetence in handling the crowds - it's not as if they are not expected. It is interesting to compare it with the media's hyterical reaction to American incompetence in handling the natural disaster at New Orleans. It's not as if Saudi is a poor country is it? And can you imagine the villification that Israel would receive if a single Chrisitian or Muslim pilgrim died in Jerusalem as a result of negligent crowd control and infrastructure?

But what is even more curious than all of that is the Muslim reaction to the disaster. I heard an interview on LBC News with a Muslim cleric from a London mosque (did not catch the details) and what he was saying was that it was actually a wonderful way for these people to die because they were performing Haj and they were martyrs. He was positively beaming about the whole thing. This reminded me of seeing senior Muslims being interviewed after previous Haj disasters and they too were beaming about it making the same comments about martyrdom. No doubt somebody like Al Qaradawi will soon be pronouncing that the only form of martyrdom greater than being crushed to death at the Haj is that of a suicide bomber killing Israeli civilians.

I then heard today that senior Imams in Mecca were actually telling pilgrims (against their Government's advice because they feared an inevitable crush) that they all had to attend the stoning at a particular time. The fact that within less than an hour of the disaster the stoning carried on as normal also seems to confirm just what an incredible death cult Islam is. And when you couple it with things like this it is truly chilling that the West still doesn't take the Islamic jihad threat seriously.

Palestinians - corrupt murderous fascists

Of all the stories of corruption, lawlessness and violence coming out of the Palestinian Authority the one below (reported from the Jerusalem Post) is particularly depressing because it confirms that there is simply no hope of ever living in peace with these thugs. Basically, the mainstream Fatah movement is threatening to close down an Arab TV station in Gaza and the West Bank because it dared to screen a programme about female suicide bombers that did not glorify them 100%.

Fatah gunmen on Saturday threatened to shut the offices of the pan-Arab Al-Arabiyah satellite TV station in the West Bank and Gaza Strip after accusing it of "defaming" Palestinian female suicide bombers and their families.

Leaflets distributed by Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, demanded that the Dubai-based station apologize to the families in particular and the Palestinians in general within 24 hours or else its offices would be closed.

"At a time when the Muslims and Islam are facing a political, intellectual, economic and social offensive by all the forces of evil in the world, Al-Arabiya has aired a scandalous and despicable film that is completely biased in favor of the executioner at the expense of the victims of occupation," the leaflets charged.

"This film depicts female suicide bombers as a group of women suffering from psychological problems and who are under pressure from males. It claims that in order to rid themselves of these problems, these women are prepared to kill themselves. They also claimed that these women were ill- behaved."

The group hailed female suicide bombers for their role in "defending the people and the land," saying they had brought honor to Islam and Muslims worldwide.

The Aksa Martyrs Brigades strongly condemned the documentary and demanded an investigation to find out who had financed it and who was behind it. "If Al-Arabiya does not apologize within 24 hours, we will have to close down their offices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip," the group warned.

Journalists working for Al-Arabiya expressed deep concern over the threats made by the Aksa Martyrs Brigades. "We were not involved in the film," one of them told The Jerusalem Post. "The film was produced by a foreign company and purchased by Al-Arabiya."

Saif Eddin Shaheen, a correspondent in the Gaza Strip for Al- Arabiya, was attacked in 2004 by Fatah gunmen for reporting on the power struggle in Fatah.

Five masked gunmen attacked Shaheen as he was driving to his Gaza City office. During the attack, which lasted about 10 minutes, he was beaten and his assailants fired shots in the air. One of his attackers, who identified himself as a Fatah member, said he would "teach him a lesson in journalism."

Four months earlier, on September 13, 2003 a group of armed men ransacked the offices of the same television station in Ramallah. The Palestinian Authority publicly condemned the incidents and announced the opening of an investigation, but no one was arrested.

Demo at Iranian Embassy

Attended the demonstration last night protesting against Iranian Holocaust denial and existential threats against Israel. It was freezing cold and there were about 120 people there. Didn't see anybody from the Embassy so it's not obvious that they even got the message, but I guess we might have informed some of the people in the passing cars.

With hindsight I think it would have been much better if all the people at the demo had gone instead to stand outside the Big Brother studios to make our feeling aginst scumbag George Galloway known when he entered the 'house'. After his recent appearances in Damascus I still do not understand why he has not been arrested under the anti-terrorist legislation. Instead he has been turned into a national hero by the collection of useful idiots in the media. The frightening thing is that most people do not know what he really stands for. For some of his recent performances check out this, this and this.

Another story you wont hear about in the British media

On Jan 4 Palestinian 'militants' bulldozed through the Egyptian-Palestinian border then shot and killed two Egyptian security guards and wounded 30 others in a shoot out. They also fired another barrage of missiles into Israel. What a wonderful set of peace-loving people they are, these Palestinians who get the sympathy of the whole world.

Useful idiots

Idiot Kate Burton and her idiotic family sum up everything that is wrong with the British attitude to Israel. She seems to be have been genuinely happy to be kidnapped by terrorists with whom she identifies completely, and is no doubt delighted that the media coverage of her release presented the usual opportunity for unfounded Israel-bashing. No doubt also that some kind of ransom was paid to the terrorists and no doubt also that there will be dead Israelis at some time in the near future as a direct result of this. Melanie Philips and Media backspin present more on this story.

Sky News and its new found anti-Israel bias

After watching Sky News this morning to try to find out about today's suicide attack in Israel I felt compelled to write the following self-explanatory letter. There has clearly been a recent change for the worse in editorial attitude at Sky, because they used to be reasonably fair and honest in their reporting. Today's report would have embarrassed even Al-Jazeera.

Sky News Editorial
British Sky Broadcasting
Grant Way
Middlesex TW7 5QD

Dear Sir/Madam,

Misleading anti-Israel reporting on today’s news

The lead story on Sky News today reported on the kidnapping of the Britons in Gaza by Palestinian gunmen. The reporter listed a number of possible reasons for the kidnapping, one of which was “Israel’s declaration of a security zone inside Northern Gaza which Israel was now shelling despite having supposedly withdrawn from there in October”. This report was misleading and sloppy on two accounts:

1. Not even the most fanatical anti-Israeli Palestinian would argue that these kidnappings were in any way connected to Israel. These, and similar kidnappings which have taken place since Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, are the work of local Fatah gangs for political and financial extortion from the ruling Palestinian Authority.
2. Israel’s declaration of a security zone was reluctantly imposed only after weeks of unprovoked missile shelling by Palestinians from the area into Israeli towns.

This sloppy anti-Israel reporting is closely related to Sky News’ reluctance to report on the brutal and sustained terrorism being suffered by Israelis at the hands of Palestinian terrorists. If Sky had, for example, been reporting on the daily rocket attacks on Israeli towns, there might at least have been some context for the story about the security zone. But Sky has not been reporting these attacks. What is even more concerning is that Sky seems to have a policy now not to report even major suicide bombing attacks against Israelis, such as the one this morning, which killed at least three people. Any rational and honest news reporting agency would have reported that attack alongside the story from Gaza, but Sky News chose to ignore it completely. For a 24-hour news channel this seems strange to say the least, and can surely only be attributed to an anti-Israel agenda by your editorial staff.

update: Since the British media never show the faces or mention the names of Israelis killed by terrorists here is something you will not see in tomorrow's newspapers: below is Uri Binamo, 21, from Nesher who was killed in today's suicide bombing. His actions in stopping the bomber almost certainly saved dozens of lives.

Response from LBC re Hizb ut Tahrir

I have received the following response to my letter (posted here 10 Dec 05)

***********************************************************************
Dear Mr Davidson

Thank you for your letter of 10/12/05 regarding Hizb ut Tahrir.

You made some interesting and valid points which I have noted. Obviously I do not accept LBC is a 'propaganda platform' for the organisation, but any point of view which we air should be challenged and balanced with a counter argument. I will remind my team about the importance of this.

Thank you for listening to LBC News 1152, it is a unique format which I am very proud to be a part of.

Yours sincerely,

Jonathan Richards
Eitorial Director
Chrysalis News - LBC, Heart & Galaxy.

Muslims are protesting

Isn't it incredible that, despite the terror reaped on civilians by their co-religionists, there has NEVER been any kind of public demonstration by Muslims in the UK to protest against terrorism. Yet on Saturday they were out en masse to protest against laws (already massively watered down because of their objections) intended to protect us from terrorists. And isn't it even more incredible that, in all the hours and pages of media exposure about this event not one commentator raised a question about the irony of this.

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.

The next time you hear a wishy washy liberal criticising Israeli checkpoints..

We now know that the suicide bomber in Netanya this week was identified as he approached the shopping mall as suspicious and was actually stopped by police. Although the police had the opportunity to kill him before he exploded they did not since they could not rule out 100% that he was deaf and in any case were prepared to take the risk of arresting rather than killing him. With hindsight this was negligent but it confirms the extreme lengths taken by Israelis to avoid any unnecessary deaths (and is only the latest in a long line of cases where individual Israelis lost their own lives by showing compassion to the bombers). This destroys the myth perpetuated in the UK media about the Israeli shoot first and ask questions later policy.

And the next time you hear a wishy washy liberal criticising Israeli checkpoints, think about the following that happened today (from the Jerusalem Post - another story you wont hear about anywhere in the UK media):

An Israeli soldier was stabbed to death Thursday by a Palestinian attacker at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Jerusalem, police said. The soldier was identified as Sgt. Nir Kahane, 20, of Kiryat Tivon. The Palestinian approached the checkpoint at around 3:45 p.m. and suddenly pulled out a knife, which was hidden in his clothes, and slit the soldier's throat. The al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the deadly attack. The checkpoint where the attack took place is the point of entry for thousands of West Bank Palestinians from the Ramallah area into Jerusalem on a daily basis.

The local IDF commander said that Israel would be forced to further increase security checks at the checkpoint, which has been the scene of previous attacks in the past, as a result of the latest attack.

"This incident hurts all our attempts to improve the quality of life of the Palestinians and we will have to decrease it in order to provide the greatest security to our forces," Col. Miki Edelstein told Israel Radio.

EU taxpayers funding families of Palestinian suicide bombers

Here is a letter I sent to the Sun newsdesk today:

On December 5, 2005 Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas approved financial aid to the families of every Palestinian suicide bomber and terrorist killed 'in action'. The order was signed on the very day a Palestinian Arab blew himself up at a shopping mall in central Israel, slaughtering five people and wounding more than 50. The bomber's family, along with those of every other deceased killer, will now receive at least $250 a month in direct government aid (which is significantly more than the average wage), according to the new law.

And guess where the bulk of the money the PA is dishing out comes from? The EU taxpayers as you can see from the EU's own website: www.eufunding.org/

Full details of this story can be found here:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=20445

The Sun did not even mention the suicide bombing today. Perhaps you think its readers are not interested. Well I think they would be interested in the above story.

Unbelievable Islamic indoctrination of children

Check out this clip on Saudi TV (thanks to Harry's Place for finding this on the excellent MEMRI site - I understand that the clip is not new). What hope is there for the future when Muslims indoctrinate their children with such hatred?

The Western ignorance of Palestinian terrorism

Palestinians continue their murderous terrorist campaign (5 Israelis killed and dozens critically injured in yesterday's suicide bombing at a shopping mall in Netanya) and the Western media continues to ignore it. The latest terrorist attack was barely covered on any TV news channel and was completely missing in most of the newspapers. Yet the barrage of anti-Israel propaganda continues (see for example Honest Reporting's story about this) . How can intelligent, uninformed observers make a rational judgement about, for example, Israel's security fence, if they are not given the information about the context for it?

And the news at the moment is truly depressing. It turns out that at about exactly the same time as the terrorist attack yesterday the Palestinian PM Abbas announced that the families of suicide bombers would recieve a monthly income of $250 from the PA (see my letter to the Sun above. Meanwhile, despite Abbas's pathetic 'condemnation' of the terrorist attack (he says it is 'not in the interests of the Palestinian people' but note he never actually condemns it as immoral) the glorification of suicide bombers and indoctrination of children continues to be official PA policy (see HonestReporting update on this).

And just to complete the depressing news we are now finding out about what went on at the so-called 'Islam Global Unity Conference' on 4 Dec in London. Carol Gould reorts "It was shocking and terrifying. It had been advertised as a celebration of the MiddleEastern/Asian community in music and culture, but was a disgraceful Jihadists' rally. 25,000 angry young Muslims were whipped up to cries of 'Allahu Akhbar' by the likes of Yvonne Ridley, Imran Khan, various crazed Israel-loathing sheikhs and, of course, George Galloway."

How Western Democracies are inviting their own destruction

Robert Spencer (of the excellent Jihad Watch website) has written a report of the speech by Oriana Fallaci in New York this week. As usual Fallaci provides a brilliant analysis of the Jihad threat and the way the Western democracies are succumbing to it. Fallaci, a veteren ant-fascist campaigner, has been vilified by both the right and left, and has also of course been subject to the usual death threats from muslims. Here is an extract from the report about the threat to Europe:

“I do not see Islamic terrorism as the main weapon of the war that the sons of Allah have unleashed upon us. It is the bloodiest, but not the most pernicious or catastrophic aspect of this war.” Far more dangerous to the West in the long run is unrestricted Muslim immigration, which already has brought at least 25 million Muslims to Europe (not counting, Fallaci said, the huge numbers of illegal aliens). That number will double by 2016 and, as Bernard Lewis and others have predicted, almost certainly create a Muslim Europe by 2100.

Yet all this immigration has not been accompanied by integration and assimilation – not because of European racism, but by the Muslims’ own choice. Fallaci noted that many other groups have assimilated into European societies, but Muslims have not. “They dont even care to learn our language. They only obey the rules and laws of Sharia.” They do not want to learn European ways; rather, “they want to impose on us their own habits and way of life. They have no intention of integrating with us. On the contrary, they demand that we integrate with them.” Today’s Islamic expansionism, therefore, does not need the armies and fleets with which the Ottoman Empire once terrorized Europe. It only needs the immigrants, whom short-sighted politicians and befuddled multiculturalists continue to welcome. Fallaci said that Europeans – French, Dutch, Germans, English, Italians – are about to reach the status of the Comanches, Cherokees, and Sioux: “We will end up on their reservation.” She noted that some Muslim spokesmen, confident of their imminent supremacy, already refer to non-Muslim Europeans as “indigenous people” or “aboriginals.”

What to do about all this? Establish dialogue with Muslim leaders? Try to strengthen moderate Islam? Fallaci was dismissive of both options. Muslims have no intention of entering into genuine dialogue with non-Muslims, she said, and “I do not believe in moderate Islam. What moderate Islam? Is it enough not to cut heads off? Moderate Islam is another invention of ours.” Adopting Western dress, she said, was easy; adopting Western values was not.

Then Fallaci threw down the gauntlet to the multicultural, politically correct, and fearful. “There is not,” she asserted, “good Islam or bad Islam. There is just Islam. And Islam is the Qur’an. And the Qur’an is the Mein Kampf of this movement. The Qur’an demands the annihilation or subjugation of the other, and wants to substitute totalitarianism for democracy. Read it over, that Mein Kampf. In whatever version, you will find that all the evil that the sons of Allah commit against themselves and against others is in it.” As jarring as such language is to contemporary sensibilities, Fallaci here made a statement of fact that can be verified or disproved. And indeed: Islamic terrorists such as Osama bin Laden, Zarqawi, and others have never hesitated to quote the Qur’an copiously to justify their actions. It remains for those who identify themselves as moderate Muslims to convince violent Muslims that they are misusing the Qur’an – if indeed they are – and should lay down their arms. They have had no notable success in this so far.

Dead Israelis don't count (letter to the Sun)

I sent the following self-explanatory letter to the Sun today:

• Your story today about the acquittal of Parveen Sharif on charges of withholding information about her brother's imminent suicide bombing mission in Israel was interesting, but contained a glaring omission. There was no mention at all that 3 civilians were killed and 65 were injured in the suicide bombing at Mike's Bar in Tel Aviv. In fact, the impression from your report is that the suicide bombing never took place, since the report concludes with the words "Omar — who posed clutching an AK47 rifle with another British bomber — failed to detonate his device in 2003. He killed himself in shame." In fact this was a joint mission with fellow Brit Asif Hanif who did blow himself up. Moreover, contrary to what was written, there is no definitive evidence about how Omar Sharif died, but most informed commentators accept that he was killed by a Hamas operative who had organized the attack.

The problem is that the Sun is actually the only pro-Israeli newspaper, yet even it does not think that dead Israelis really count.
Incidentally the Sun story was genuinely interesting because it revealed that Parveen Sharif (who incredibly is a teacher) told pupils after 9/11: “I am on Osama Bin Laden’s team.” Those following the case will also know that she sent email messages to her brother telling him he "must be strong in his mission" and that she recieved email messages from her brother telling her that she would "have to look after the family from now on". But, of course, the jury found her not guilty of failing to inform the authorities about an imminent terrorist act on the grounds that she "could not have known about it". The question I'd like to have asked is "What exactly did she think her Jihadist brother was doing when he told her he was going to Israel?" Maybe she thought he was going to visit the Wailing Wall or swim with the dolphins in Eilat.

When Islamaphobia is wrong but anti-semitism is OK

The sports pages were full of indignation and disgust at the racist chanting of West Ham supporters against Spurs' Egyptian striker Mido during the Spurs-West Ham match on 20 November. The West Ham fans chanted"Your Mum's a terrorist" and "Shoe Bomber" at Mido. The Football Association were so concerned about it that they have launched an investigation. All very admirable, for sure. There should be no place for such racism in football.

Yet at the very same match the West Ham fans were (as they have been doing for the past 30 years) singing much more virulently anti-semitic songs like "Gas the Jews" accompanied by the hissing sounds. Funny how the footballing authorities have never shown any concern about that isn't it.

Naive Americans pay homage to Hizbullah

The excellent MEMRI site has posted a very worrying article about The US Presbyterian Church and familes of 9/11 victims visiting, of all people, Hizbullah in Lebanon. Just what is it about "Death to America, terrorism as martydom" that these naive imbeciles do not understand?

Israel under attack from Hizbullah

Apparently Hizbullah from Lebanon is mounting a massive artillery bombardment against Northern Israel and terrorists have also crossed the border in an attempt to kidnap Israeli soldiers. Of course nothing about this on any UK news channel yet (and I doubt if there will be). Given that this is, of course, being sponsored by Iran it looks like the Iranians are determined to bring a direct confrontation as fast as possible. This is extremely serious.

The ridiculous UK attitude to the extradition of a terrorist

The Home Secretary has finally agreed to extradite Jihad fanatic Babar Ahmad to the USA for various terrorist offenses. Based in London he used his computer skills to recruit and fund Islamic terrorism around the world (including attempting to set up a terrorist training campl in the USA) and is quite unrepentant about his views, which include seeking to replace Britain's democracy with an Islamic state. You would have thought that, after the London bombings, people in the UK would have twigged by now about the Islamic threat and the way that people like Ahmad are central to it. But no, people still don't get it. This scumbag, who rejects every idea of democracy and human rights for any non-Muslims, is now the hero of the British left and liberals (see, for example, the way the Guardian reports the story here including the usual rubbish from people like Vanessa Redgrave) and of course the Muslim Council of Britain said that "the ruling could contribute to further alienation among Muslim youths". Listening to the news and discussion programmes all day, you would have thought this guy was some kind of modern-day Martin Luther King. The concept that he is guilty of the crimes he is charged with is simply not even discussed let alone believed by the media. To them he is simply a martyr being sacrificied to those beastly Americans.