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Tuesday, May 30, 2006

BBC lauds Hamas humanitarian work

The BBC has an amazing article online now about the release of a British Hamas supporter.
Israel has ordered a British aid worker to leave the country, accusing him of backing a militant group.

Ayaz Ali, 36, originally from Bradford, had been held in a top security Israeli prison for three weeks without charge.

Mr Ali, who worked in Gaza for Islamic Relief, was freed on Monday and given seven days to leave Israel.

Israel had accused Mr Ali of helping groups linked to Hamas. Islamic Relief, which is Birmingham-based, said his release was a relief to aid workers.

Hamas, which is the ruling Palestinian party, runs an extensive network of social services including kindergartens and clinics.

  • 'Great relief'

But it is considered by the Israeli government to be a terrorist organisation.

Islamic Relief's president Dr Hany El Banna OBE said: "I am glad that this whole situation has come to an end.

"It is a great relief to Ayaz's family, humanitarian workers all over the world and Islamic Relief.

"We are grateful to all those individuals, international NGOs and the UK government who helped secure Ayaz's release."

So the BBC, clearly sympathetic to Mr. Ayaz, highlights Hamas' "social services" and "kindergartens and clinics"; starts a new section of the story, and then mentions as an afterthought that Israel considers Hamas a terrorist organization.

They give specifics on Hamas' social work, but any specific examples of terror are left unwritten - in fact, the implication is that only Israel considers Hamas a terrorist organization, while the rest of the enlightened world knows that Hamas is a humanitarian network of charities and hospitals.

The BBC also fails to mention that Islamic Relief has been accused of terror ties itself. Russia accused it of supporting Chechnyan terror groups; they seem to have accepted money from Al-Qaeda front groups, and their "orphans" are often the children of terrorists, allowing Islamic Relief to reward terror.

In other words, any facts or background information that may indicate that Ayaz is in fact a terror supporter are completely ignored, and anything that makes him look like an innocent aid worker and victim of unwarranted Israeli aggression is highlighted.

Hat tip to Judeopundit