Danny Cohen 'Fear of Anti-Semitism in UK'

[Teddy Bear]

Given his Jewish roots, Danny Cohen can hardly be unaware of how the corporation of which he is a director generates the basis for anti-Semitic incidents by how they report on Israel. Yet he fails to tie the two together.

BBC DIRECTOR WARNS OF RISING ANTI-SEMITISM IN UK

by NICK HALLETT
The BBC’s Director of Television has said that he has “never felt so uncomfortable as a Jew in the UK” due a rising level of anti-Semitism.

The Jewish Chronicle reports that Danny Cohen told a conference in Jerusalem about rising levels of violence, citing murders and attacks over the summer, calling the situation “grim”.

“I’ve never felt so uncomfortable being a Jew in the UK as I’ve felt in the last 12 months. And it’s made me think about, you know, is it our long-term home, actually? Because you feel it. I’ve felt it in a way I’ve never felt before,” he said.

“You’ve seen the number of attacks rise. You’ve seen murders in France. You’ve seen murders in Belgium. It’s been pretty grim actually.”

“Having lived all my life in the UK, I’ve never felt as I do now about anti-Semitism in Europe.”

As the head of television services for the BBC, Cohen is one of the most influential figures in the British media, although he rarely speaks out publicly. He was previously the youngest ever director of TV channel BBC One, with the Times describing him as the “boy wonder” of British television.

The number of attacks on Jews in Britain and across Europe shot up over the summer following Israel’s war with Hamas and its bombardment of the Gaza strip. Vivian Wineman of the Board of Deputies of British Jews said the number of anti-Semitic incidents was at its highest level since records began.

Journalist Tom Goss told the Jewish Chronicle that Cohen is in a difficult position: “Because he has an obviously Jewish-sounding name, he is often asked to defend what many see as BBC News’s biased coverage of Israel.

“But the truth is that BBC News and Current Affairs is a separate entity over which Danny does not have any editorial control.

“Danny is, as far as I know him, politically neutral. He is certainly not one to hide his Jewish identity. He is proud of his roots, had a Jewish wedding in Bevis Marks Synagogue at which the then Chief Rabbi Lord Sachs officiated, and has visited Israel a number of times.

“One would have to address James Harding, the head of BBC News and Current Affairs regarding BBC news bias.”

[steevo]

Given his Jewish roots, Danny Cohen can hardly be unaware of how the corporation of which he is a director generates the basis for anti-Semitic incidents by how they report on Israel. Yet he fails to tie the two together.

Hardly. He knows well the consequences of BBC reporting on Israel. It could be this Hanukkah season is a moment for him to cleanse himself? He, really cares.

[Teddy Bear]

Would that be Danny Cohenscience?

[steevo]

Oh that's funny

[charmbrights]

A recent article here shows that even the US has noticed something odd in the UK's (and specifically the BBC's)attitude to Israel.

Uncomfortable in Britain

The recent statements by BBC head Danny Cohen and Labor Party leader Ed Miliband about the growth of anti-Semitism in Britain was a belated acknowledgement of a bad situation. But the irony here is that their statements seemed disconnected from the fact that both of the institutions these men lead have to one degree or another helped foment exactly the sentiments they deplore. The BBC’s bias against Israel is legendary and has played a crucial role in supporting the demonization of the Jewish state that is now conventional wisdom among British intellectuals. At the same time, Britain’s political left has become a mainstay of anti-Israel sentiment. With Labor demanding that its MPs vote for a resolution endorsing Palestinian statehood without first demanding that it make peace with Israel and with the party bitterly condemning Israeli self-defense in the Gaza war, it, too, has aided the mainstreaming of anti-Jewish agitation.

[Teddy Bear]

Excellent spot Charm.

There is no doubt that everybody following events in the Mid-East are familiar with the BBC agenda in demonising Israel. Honest Reporting, which is based in the US, is just one of the agencies involved in monitoring and reporting on the bias they expose, and we use their findings regularly. I would also say that the Obama administration has a similar agenda to the BBC's, and most left wing media, in appeasing the Arabs and having no problem sacrificing Israel to do it. If Cohen and Miliband were genuine they would have noted the absence of BBC reporting on this aspect and raised this issue.

[Teddy Bear]

Here's a 5 minute clip of John Humphreys on the BBC Radio4 Today programme this morning interviewing Rabbi Menachem Margolin, General Director of the European Jewish Association on anti-Semitism in Europe in the wake of the Danish synagogue shooting.

Ask yourself if you can imagine anybody at the BBC being so dismissive if it was a Muslim being interviewed on Islamophobia. Humphreys even suggests that if Jews are afraid they should go and live in Israel.

Today R4 Humphreys Interviewing Rabbi

I wonder if we'll be hearing anything from Danny Cohen about this. I'm willing to bet we won't.

(hat tip Alan) (If you listen to the clip on the BBC website, available for the next 30 days, it begins around 2:13:00 into the programme)