What are some examples of highly offensive words that must be censored from radio? For British state broadcaster BBC, they are not all of the four-letter variety.
The BBC appears to find not just the phrase 鈥淔ree Palestine鈥 but even the geographical entity of the Gaza Strip itself unutterable on a cultural show.
A controversy has broken out over the BBC's anti-Palestinian bias after its digital radio channel BBC 1xtra, which largely plays hip hop, grime and other 鈥渦rban music鈥 genres, censored on air references to Palestine.
Gaza
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority started on September 2. After the resumption of negotiations, Israel refrained from attacking Gaza for just two days.
Then it ordered the bombing of two Rafah tunnels that connect the besieged Gaza Strip to Egypt, killing two workers, and leaving two severely injured.
The article is abridged from an August 11 Palestinian Centre for Human Rights report.
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The signs which dot the beach along the Gaza City waterfront read: "This beach is polluted.鈥 Yet they serve only as obstacles for children running to the sea, rather than warnings of the serious health risks.
One need only stroll north along the beach for a couple hundred metres to see raw sewage being pumped directly into the Mediterranean Sea from one of the 16 discharge sites along the coast.
Yet thousands of people fill Gaza's beaches.
Al-Sharq al-Awsat said on July 15 the Libyan aid ship, Amaltheal (鈥淗ope鈥) docked the night before at al-Arish in Egypt. The ship was bearing 2000 tons of aid supplies for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which is blockaded by Israel.
The ship鈥檚 odyssey from Greece was marked by uncertainty and danger for the 21 passengers. It developed a mechanical problem that made it move very slowly on July 14. There was a question about whether its captain might try to take it right into Gaza, despite the Israeli military鈥檚 blockade.
On June 14, Muhammad Juma Abu Wardeh, a 17-year-old Palestinian labourer, was shot and wounded by Israeli snipers along the 鈥渂uffer zone鈥 in eastern Gaza as he collected materials for a cement plant in Jabaliya, north of Gaza City.
Israel鈥檚 ongoing blockade against the Gaza Strip has prevented access to raw construction materials, forcing workers to risk their lives to trawl open agricultural areas for resources.
The picture is clear: the activists attacked in the Israeli military鈥檚 May 31 nighttime commando raid on a boat bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza were not armed.
In Israel, the media is broadcasting disinformation, using edited videos. But it is clear there was no crossfire during the raid, just Israeli fire.
Israel claims there was an attempt by activists onboard the Mavi Marmara, to steal weapons from soldiers. But either the army鈥檚 spokespeople or the soldiers themselves are telling false tales.
About 2000 demonstrators gathered outside Israel鈥檚 Ministry of Defense late May 31 to protest the military's violent raid on an aid flotilla that attempted to break the country鈥檚 years-long siege on the Gaza Strip.
Haggai Matar, a member of the Coalition Against the Siege, told Ma鈥檃n news the protests were an expression of anger and shock about the Israeli navy raid that left at least 10 activists dead and dozens hurt a day earlier.
The Brussels-based European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza said it had already secured funds to support three new aid ships to be sailed to Gaza, the Ma鈥檃n News Agency said on June 2.
The fleet will be called the Freedom 2. Campaign head Arafat Madhi said it would be 鈥渕uch bigger than the first鈥, which included nationals from more than 40 nations and 10,000 tons of aid. The first fleet is now held by Israel after the takeover of six ships in international waters on May 31.
Following Israel鈥檚 May 31 kidnapping of six ships in the Freedom Flotilla bring humanitarian aid to Gaza, the Irish ship, MV Rachel Corrie, continued its path towards Gaza. The ship, named after a US activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003, was carrying building materials, 20 tonnes of paper and other supplies Israel refuses to allow into the Gaza Strip, FreeGaza.org said on June 4.
Moshe Dayan, Israel鈥檚 most celebrated general, famously outlined the strategy he believed would keep Israel鈥檚 enemies at bay: 鈥淚srael must be a like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother.鈥
Until now, most observers assumed Dayan was referring to Israeli military or possibly nuclear strategy, an expression in his typically blunt fashion of the country鈥檚 familiar doctrine of deterrence.
After Israel鈥檚 May 31 raid on a civilian vessel trying to deliver goods to Gaza, Egypt announced on June 1 that it would temporarily open its border with Rafah to allow humanitarian and medical aid into the Gaza Strip.
On May 31, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak responded swiftly to the Israeli navy's assault on the Freedom Flotilla, affirming Egypt's support for the people of Gaza.
Israel鈥檚 ambassador to Egypt was quickly summoned by Egypt鈥檚 foreign ministry, and told Egypt condemns the violence against international activists and rejects the continued Gaza blockade.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk, called, on May 31, for the international community to bring to justice those responsible for Israel鈥檚 deadly raid on a ship bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza, Countercurrents.com said that day. The raid killed at least nine people.
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