Friday, February 03, 2012

BBC Bans Call of "Free Palestine"

Challah Hu Akbar alerted me this story that the BBC has censored a British rapper who, in this clip, at 3:00, shouts "I can scream 'Free Palestine'" - but he can't. The sound of broken glass replaces it.

From the lyrics:

I still have the same beliefs
I can scream free Palestine die for my pride still pray for peace
Still burn the feds for the brutality they've spread over the world
Pakistan's an ocean, bodies in the brown water floating still nobody helps

But some 3 seconds later, he shouts "Pakistan".

British hypocrits.

^

3 comments:

Sarah AB said...

Hi - I just wanted to check I understand your point correctly. Am I right in thinking that you do *not* think the BBC should have censored the lyrics? And, if so, do you think 'free Palestine' could be interpreted as explicitly anti-zionist, anti-Israel - not just against, say, the occupation of the WB/J and S?

YMedad said...

a) I do not believe in censorship, except in very extreme cases, as our legal history has shown, when immediate, clear and present danger exists as a result.

b) i believe in free speech and free discourse.

c) in saying "Free Palestine", that person is expressing a political goal that I reject but one which I must deal with in a rational, measured and serious manner. I cannot ipso facto declare that statement if "Free Palestine" as you do although it usually is, nowadays, to be understood as a negation of Zionism and as an eradication of Israel.

d) as I would not like to be subject to such an attitude ("the Temple Mount is Ours!", for example, which Mulsims could say is incitement to destroy El Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock), I feel comfortable in my approach.

Sarah AB said...

Thanks - I agree with you.