Gaza: Is Robert Fisk Propagating MORE Lies about Tony Blair?

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Comment at end

29th December, 2008

ROBERT FISK & ‘THE INDEPENDENT’: ARE THEY LYING OVER BLAIR & THE ISRAELI ATTACKS ON GAZA? Or are they just plain useless in the dynamic world of journalism?

First of all I am sorry to have to infer that anyone is lying, even Mr Fisk. I do recognise that there are people of conscience who strongly believe Mr Blair was wrong about Iraq, and had all the wrong motives for supporting Bush.

BUT THIS STATEMENT, IN TODAY’S INDEPENDENT, IS RIDICULOUS! IT’S WORSE THAN THAT. IT’S OUTRAGEOUS!

“Not a whimper from Tony Blair, the peace envoy to the Middle East who’s never been to Gaza in his current incarnation. Not a bloody word.”  (Read article here)

To say that we have heard nothing from Mr Blair is not only bending the truth, it is clearly changing the meaning of the word “truth”.

Mr Blair issued a statement at his website on Saturday, shortly after the Israelis started bombing Gaza. This statement was used in many outlets. So either Fisk has chosen to IGNORE that information, or he is LYING. I do not accept he had somehow missed it. If I can find this information without searching for it, why can’t Fisk? And the first place to look would have been Blair’s own website.

I have to conclude, therefore, that when it comes to Tony Blair, Mr Fisk seems to be a stranger to the truth. But then we have seen evidence of that many times in recent years in his charge … no, exclamation that Blair is a “war criminal”.  Notwithstanding the obvious fact that no-one is ANY kind of criminal until they have been tried and convicted (odd how some forget that when it suits them, but scream about it over suspected terrorists) this is evidence of bad research, biased opinion-forming, and a less than honourable approach to journalism.

Fisk, like so many others of his ilk, have it in for Blair over Iraq. This yearning for his blood will embitter them, they should understand, far more than it will worry Mr Blair. They should get over it. Their little foot-stamping will never produce the results they desire.

And why do I get this other creeping suspicion?

This one – if Mr Blair had said at his website that “Hamas should stop the rocket attacks”, (without leaning equally heavily on Israel’s responsibilities over the present bombings), am I wrong to suspect that Mr Fisk would have noticed this kind of statement, and would have been scrabbling to be first with the news?

Rat up a drainpipe time? All claws scratching?

And the Independent itself surely holds some responsibility for not correcting Fisk’s words about “nothing from Blair”. Didn’t anyone notice? Or are they all too busy colouring in their ViewsPaper with captivating pictures to notice the FACTS?

I sent this comment to The Independent, where Fisk’s misleading article appeared.  It was rejected several times. So, I ensured that there were no URLs in it and tried again. Still rejected. So I have to conclude that my e-mail address has been blocked by the independent Independent.

Wonder why?

Free speech?

And independence?

Both of those died at the Independent when Mr Blair picked out that “ViewsPaper” as typifying the “feral beast” press, out to destroy people’s reputations. I recall that I actually had the gall to criticise The Independent here at this blog prior to Mr Blair’s speech. So I wasn’t their typical friendly commenter anyway. Much as I often cringe at the Guardian’s odd commenters at CIF, at least that paper still publishes comments from such as me. Well they did last time I looked.

I suppose it is a badge of honour that I have now been blacklisted by papers of the Left and the Right. The Daily Mail too has never published any of my comments. Excuse me while I polish that badge.

But I will continue to refer to these papers  – (online of course – wouldn’t BUY a copy) – and their tap-tap-tapping mixture of works of fact, faction, and fiction. They are both, now and again, useful sources. If only to let people see how far down the road we have gone from anything approaching that old indefinable chestnut, common sense.

Here is the comment I posted at Fisk’s rant at the Independent today (on the 2nd attempt I removed the url link). 266 others have managed to get published. Why not my comment, even without a url?

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Mr Fisk.

Do you ever read anything you haven’t written yourself? On Saturday Tony Blair issued a statement calling for BOTH sides to cease the attacks. I know you think Hamas’s daily attacks on Israel don’t count as attacks because they don’t usually kill, just terrorise. If, say, Wales threw rockets into England for months on end, years even, England would of course just ignore it?

Israel has attacked Hamas in Gaza in order to make them stop the incessant rocket attacks into southern Israel.

There’s a link to Mr Blair’s website with this information at my site.

http://keeptonyblairforpm.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/tony-blairs-call-to-both-sides-calm-tahdiya-new-strategy-for-gaza/

Go on – surprise me. Publish this.

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Tags: dynamic journalism, Gaza, Independent, Israeli attacks, lies and the newspapers, more lies about Tony Blair, not a whimper from Tony Blair, papers' agendas, Robert Fisk