radiofree.asia

GMB and Sky let shameless war crimes apologists spout propaganda, as government and Labour are threatened with legal action over support for Israel

Corporate television in the UK on Monday 16 October was a shameless display of apologists for Israeli war crimes in Gaza. From a host of breakfast television to the Israeli ambassador to the UK, there was repeated and inflammatory dismissal of Israel’s war crimes and attempted genocide against the Palestinian people.

However, this wasn’t going on without reaction – one organisation has now threatened criminal proceedings against the UK government and the Labour Party for doing similar.

Madeley: shamelessly invoking WWII

First, Good Morning Britain (GMB) host Richard Madeley stooped to new lows during a segment on the ongoing chaos in the Middle East. He posited over Israel’s genocide in Gaza that:

When they invaded Europe in 1944 and defeated the Nazis by going into Germany and in doing so… a lot of German civilians were killed. But nobody at the time made any excuses or apologies for that. They just saw that as a necessary evil. Is that a fair parallel?

Co-host Susanna Reid clearly saw the problem with this – as she immediately said that she thought we’d “moved on, haven’t we, from those times”. The guests didn’t seem to agree with Madeley’s comparison, either:

In case you needed to know what the problems were with Madeley’s comparison of Nazi Germany during WWII and Israel committing human rights atrocities in Gaza, people on X pointed them out.

Madeley’s ignorance of the history of international law wasn’t lost on some people:

 

Ultimately, as one person pointed out – and as the Canary has documented – commentators and politicians in the West have been actively endorsing Israel’s attempted genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza:

So, with that in mind – enter the Israeli ambassador to the UK on Sky News to double down on genocide apologism.

Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely

Tzipi Hotovely is the right-wing Israeli ambassador to the UK. When Burley asked for her view on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Hotovely said:

There is no humanitarian crisis

Burley questioned this, and Hotovely doubled down. The host once again pressed Hotovely, saying Sky News had shown the humanitarian crisis in Gaza on the show. So, Hotovely deflected, saying:

Are you a mother… What would you think if your children would have been executed in front of your eyes? Would you expect your government to think about those Nazis committing those crimes and say ‘wait a second, first of all we need to protect the enemy, and then to protect my children’. Your children come as priority to your prime minister.

Hotovely’s response to Burley repeating that Sky News showed the humanitarian crisis was to tell her to “blame Hamas”:

It’s hard to know where to begin with what Hotovely said. X reacted furiously:

People pointed to her “shameless” questioning of whether Burley was a mother:

X users also felt that Burley gave Hotovely an easy ride:

Hotovely’s far-right, inflammatory, and manipulative comments are not a surprise. As the Canary previously reported, during a Newsnight interview on Wednesday 11 October she claimed:

40 bodies of babies that their heads were cut off… we’ve seen… the bodies of those babies and children, and actually this is evidence-based.

We now know there was no ‘evidence base’ to the claim – but Hotovely chose to claim it, anyway. This has been a running theme during Israel’s onslaught into Gaza – with politicians like Tory minister Grant Shapps, Labour leader Keir Starmer, and Labour front bencher Emily Thornberry all effectively laying cover for Israel to commit war crimes.

Complicity in Israel’s Gaza war crimes may lead to prosecution

However, the UK-based International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) announced on Saturday 14 October that it believed the UK government was complicit in Israeli war crimes due to its support – and that it would prosecute it if needed. Bear in mind, also, that the ICJP isn’t some ‘woke, lefty’ group. One of its leaders is the right-wing Tory MP Crispin Blunt.

Now, the ICJP has also issued a formal warning to the Labour Party over its support for Israel’s actions in Gaza, too:

It specifically called out Starmer and Thornberry, as well as shadow foreign secretary David Lammy:

Of course, the likelihood of the ICJP getting a successful prosecution is slim. However, they are shining a light on what Western politicians and the media are doing by fuelling war crimes via the spread of propaganda and disinformation.

You might think that would be enough for this despicable whitewashing campaign to cease. Clearly not, though – as broadcast television in the UK has shown.

Featured image via Good Morning Britain – YouTube and Sky News – YouTube

By Steve Topple

This post was originally published on Canary.