BBC slips up with taxi driver (& Rapper Jay-Z: Anti-Semitism not cool)

May 18, 2006

* Jim Carrey, Ricky Martin & “Captain Kirk” William Shatner all visit Israel
* Israel’s first evangelical TV channel
* Saudis ban pictures of women in newspapers

* This is the first of three lighter, less political, dispatches this week. This one contains articles on media, music and entertainment. The other two concern business and society, and sport.

 

CONTENTS

1. More expertise on the BBC
2. “‘Cab driver’ becomes internet expert in BBC mix-up” (Reuters, May 15, 2006)
3. Jim Carrey, Ricky Martin & William Shatner all visit Israel
4. “Saudis nix pictures of women in newspapers” (AP, May 16, 2006)
5. “Jim Carrey visits Israel” (Yediot Ahronot, May 4, 2006)
6. “Ricky Martin to play Ra’anana” (Yediot Ahronot, May 7, 2006)
7. “Star Trek’s Jewish captain to visit Israel on do-good mission” (INN, May 14, 2006)
8. “Rapper Jay-Z: Anti-Semitism not cool” (Yediot Ahronot, May 1, 2006)
9. “Moss pays lip(s) service” (AFP, May 16, 2006)
10. “‘Can I get a Hallelujah?’ Israel gets 24/7 evangelical broadcast” (JTA, May 16, 2006)

 



[Note by Tom Gross]

MORE EXPERTISE ON THE BBC

As a follow-up to the BBC dispatch earlier this week (“The BBC pro-Israeli? Is the Pope Jewish?”), I attach an item about the BBC, which while amusing, actually says quite a lot about the quality of BBC programming and interviews.

As is so often the case in the BBC’s Middle East coverage, BBC anchors and reporters (including in this case, the reporter with the umbrella at the end of the video) just repeat whatever they hear from each other, whether or not they know what they are talking about, and however wrong they may be.

Please first read the Reuters report below, and then watch this video of the incident: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOpLG7fyw3U&search=BBC

“CAB DRIVER” BECOMES INTERNET EXPERT IN BBC MIX-UP
(Reuters, May 15, 2006)

today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-05-15T134344Z_01_L15667803_RTRIDST_0_OUKOE-UK-BRITAIN-EXPERT.XML

The BBC has apologized after putting a mystery man, possibly a taxi driver, on the air in a live interview, mistaking him for a computer expert who was waiting at the reception desk.

The man’s mouth opened in horror as the camera cut to him in the BBC’s News-24 television studio, where he had been seated on a stool by a floor manager, a microphone clipped to his lapel.

A business presenter, sitting opposite, introduced the clearly startled man as the editor of a technology Web site, and asked if he was surprised by computer company Apple’s victory in a trademark dispute over The Beatles’ Apple Corps.

“I’m very surprised to see this verdict to come on me because I was not expecting that,” he replied, with a strong French accent, in broken English. “When I came they told me something else and I’m coming... so a big surprise anyway.”

He gamely answered two more questions about music downloading, before the presenter thanked him and moved on.

The BBC said it still did not know who he was but newspapers reported he was thought to be a taxi driver who happened to be at reception when a floor manager came to fetch the guest.

The real Web site editor, Guy Kewney, who watched with astonishment at reception, said the mix-up was hard to explain because BBC staff had seen his picture in advance. Kewney is white and the mystery guest was black.

“He seemed as baffled as I felt,” Kewney wrote on his Web site www.newswireless.net, which has a link to the interview, broadcast live on Friday.

JIM CARREY, RICKY MARTIN & WILLIAM SHATNER ALL VISIT ISRAEL

Other “light” articles in this dispatch include Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah telling his country’s newspaper editors to stop publishing pictures of women “as they could make young men go astray.”

Also attached below are items on visits to Israel by Jim Carrey (no longer “Dumb and Dumber”), Hispanic superstar Ricky Martin (Livin’ La Vida Loca) and “Captain James T. Kirk” William Shatner (Beam him up, Scottie).

The final articles deal with African-American hip-hop star Jay-Z, who told U.S. TV viewers that “anti-Semitism is not cool,” British model Kate Moss, who kissed Jemima Khan to raise £60,000 ($114,000) for a Palestinian charity (it should be noted that Khan, the daughter of Sir James Goldsmith is of Jewish origin, as is fashion retail tycoon Philip Green who arranged the event); and the latest addition to Israeli cable television: an evangelical channel.

There are summaries first for those who don’t have time to read the articles in full.

-- Tom Gross

 

SUMMARIES

“DON’T WRITE ANYTHING THAT CAN BE HARMFUL TO THE COUNTRY”

“Saudis nix pictures of women in newspapers” (AP, May 16, 2006)

King Abdullah has told Saudi editors to stop publishing pictures of women as they could make young men go astray, newspapers reported. The king’s directive, made in a meeting with local editors, caused surprise as the monarch has been regarded a quiet reformer since he took office in the ultra-conservative country last August…

“One must think, do they want their daughter, their sister, or their wife to appear in this way. Of course, no one would accept this,” the newspaper Okaz quoted Abdullah as saying. “The youth are driven by emotion... and sometimes they can be lead astray. So, please, try to cut down on this,” he said… His instruction to editors indicates that Islamic conservatives remain a powerful force in the kingdom and brake on reform.

The king also called on editors to stop printing stories that portray the country in a negative light. “Don’t write anything that can be harmful to the country,” Abdullah said… All media in Saudi Arabia are either state owned or state guided.

 

JIM CARREY ARRIVES FROM SINAI

“Jim Carrey visits Israel” (Yediot Ahronot, May 4, 2006)

Hollywood funnyman Jim Carrey arrived in Israel Wednesday night for a private visit. Taba border crossing employees were surprised to see the superstar waltz in to the terminal at around 9 p.m. accompanied by three Israeli friends. The four came into the country after visiting Egypt. Following a quick passport check and after posing for a few photos with the terminal workers, Carrey jumped into a car and drove off with his friends en route to Jerusalem… Carrey’s visit marks the third by a Hollywood actor in recent weeks, after Ewan McGregor and Will Smith both spent a week in Israel.

 

RICKY PLAYS RA’ANANA

“Ricky Martin to play Ra’anana” (Yediot Ahronot, May 7, 2006)

Ricky Martin’s local appearance, scheduled for July 3 at the Rishon Lezion Amphitheater, has been moved to the Amphi-Park in Ra’anana… Martin’s performance coincides with hip-hop band “Black Eyed Peas” at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv…

 

WARP SPEED AHEAD

“Star Trek’s Jewish captain to visit Israel on do-good mission” (Israel National News, May 14, 2006)

Jewish Actor William Shatner, famous for his role as captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek series, plans to visit Israel in the coming weeks. Shatner, whose parents immigrated to Canada from Ukraine, is visiting the Jewish State as part of the Jewish National Fund’s efforts to raise $10 million for therapeutic riding centers across Israel…

 

RAPPER JAY-Z: ANTI-SEMITISM AIN’T COOL

“Rapper Jay-Z: Anti-Semitism not cool” (Yediot Ahronot, May 1, 2006)

Grammy-award winning hip-hop star Jay-Z, considered one of the world’s most important rappers, has decided to take part in the war on anti-Semitism. In the next few days he is expected to star in an TV commercial which will be broadcast on American television under the banner: “Anti-Semitism is not cool.”

… In the ad, rapper Jay-Z asks viewers not to join groups speaking against Jews because “anti-Semitism is not cool.” …

 

KATE MOSS AND JEMIMA KHAN KISS FOR PALESTINE

“Moss pays lip(s) service” (AFP, May 16, 2006)

A charity for Palestinian refugee children is £60 000 better off after a kiss between Kate Moss and Jemima Khan, a London newspaper reports. Fashion retail tycoon Philip Green fronted up the money at Monday’s auction in the exclusive Annabel’s club which raised more than £200,000 for the Hoping Foundation.

He was to get a kiss from Moss for his money, but when he declined – in deference to wife Tina – the supermodel puckered up instead with Khan, the Evening Standard newspaper reported… “We thought it was going to be a kiss on the cheek,” one “eyewitness” was quoted as saying. “It lasted just over 60 seconds.” Khan, 32, ex-wife of cricketer Imran Khan, is going out with Hollywood star Hugh Grant…

 

ISRAEL GETS 24/7 EVANGELICAL CHANNEL PREACHING GOSPEL

“‘Can I get a Hallelujah?’ Israel gets 24/7 evangelical broadcast” (JTA, May 16, 2006)

Shortly before Passover this year, the Jewish state inaugurated something decidedly non-Jewish – an evangelical channel preaching the Gospel around the clock.

The Communications Ministry confirmed that it issued a license to Daystar, the second-largest U.S. Christian television network, whose evangelical programming kicks off with a half-hour show produced by its Jerusalem affiliate, Tarshish.

The remaining content is supplied from Daystar’s home base in Texas through the company’s worldwide satellite network. It will be carried in Israel via cable providers HOT, which reaches about 1 million households, and YES, which reaches 500,000…

Merav Strosberg-Alkabetz, a spokeswoman for the Israel Council for Cable and Satellite Broadcasting, said the council had awarded Daystar a license because “religious broadcasting (and it does not matter which religion is referred to) is permitted in the State of Israel, as long as it meets a number of basic criteria determined by the council.”…

… Middle East Television, with televangelist Pat Robertson, is available on cable in Israel, but it is broadcast from Cyprus…



FULL ARTICLES

“DON’T WRITE ANYTHING THAT CAN BE HARMFUL TO THE COUNTRY”

Saudis nix pictures of women in newspapers
The Associated Press
May 16, 2006

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060516/ap_on_re_mi_ea/saudi_women

King Abdullah has told Saudi editors to stop publishing pictures of women as they could make young men go astray, newspapers reported Tuesday.

The king’s directive, made in a meeting with local editors, caused surprise as the monarch has been regarded a quiet reformer since he took office in the ultra-conservative country last August.

In recent months, newspapers have published pictures of women – always wearing the traditional Muslim headscarf – to illustrate stories with increasing regularity. Usually the stories have had to do with women’s issues. The papers have also started publishing a range of views on causes that are not generally accepted in Saudi Arabia – such as women having the right to drive and vote.

The king told editors on Monday night that publishing a woman’s picture for the world to see was inappropriate.

“One must think, do they want their daughter, their sister, or their wife to appear in this way. Of course, no one would accept this,” the newspaper Okaz quoted Abdullah as saying.

“The youth are driven by emotion... and sometimes they can be lead astray. So, please, try to cut down on this,” he said.

Although the king has broached topics – such as women eventually acquiring driving licenses – that were previously seen as nonstarters, his instruction to editors indicates that Islamic conservatives remain a powerful force in the kingdom and brake on reform.

The country adheres to a strict interpretation of Islamic law. Women are not allowed to vote and stand in municipal elections – the only type of election permitted in the kingdom.

The king also called on editors to stop printing stories that portray the country in a negative light.

“Don’t write anything that can be harmful to the country. Some reporters, they want to stand out and they end up going too far and this should not be allowed to happen,” Abdullah said according to Okaz.

The king added that newspapers should ignore the foreign press, especially when what it publishes is “against Islam or against Arabs.”

All media in Saudi Arabia are either state owned or state guided.

 

JIM CARREY VISITS ISRAEL

Jim Carrey visits Israel
Hollywood funnyman surprises Taba terminal employees as he enters country following stay in Egypt
Yediot Ahronot
May 4, 2006

www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3246861,00.html

Hollywood funnyman Jim Carrey arrived in Israel Wednesday night for a private visit, Israel’s leading newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported.

Taba border crossing employees were surprised to see the superstar waltz in to the terminal at around 9 p.m. accompanied by three Israeli friends. The four came into the country after visiting Egypt. Following a quick passport check and after posing for a few photos with the terminal workers, Carrey jumped into a car and drove off with his friends en route to Jerusalem.

Carrey will stay in Israel for the next few days; on Sunday he is scheduled to visit the Western Wall in the Old City.

Carrey rose to superstardom with hits such as “Ace Ventura” and “The Mask,” but also showed near unlimited range in dramas such as “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”

Carrey’s visit marks the third by a Hollywood actor in recent weeks, after Ewan McGregor and Will Smith both spent a week in Israel.

 

RICKY MARTIN TO PLAY RA’ANANA

Ricky Martin to play Ra’anana
US superstar moves Israel show to smaller venue
By Or Barnea
Yediot Ahronot
May 7, 2006

www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3247851,00.html

Ricky Martin’s local appearance, scheduled for July 3 at the Rishon Lezion Amphitheater, has been moved to the Amphi-Park in Ra’anana.

In addition, ticket prices for lawn seats have been dropped to NIS 209, whereas prices for reserved seats have gone up to NIS 309.

It should be noted that the Ra’anana theater is significantly smaller than its Rishon Lezion counterpart. Martin’s performance coincides with hip-hop band “Black Eyed Peas” at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv.

Many people have wondered whether the Israeli concert market is sufficiently large to support two major performances simultaneously, both in terms of ticket sales and media coverage.

Martin’s local producer, Haggai Stravis, said the concert was moved for “production reasons,” and added that Martin’s performance in Rishon Lezion had not been finalized when news reports appeared in the media.

 

STAR TREK’S WILLIAM SHATNER TO VISIT ISRAEL

Star Trek’s Jewish captain to visit Israel on do-good mission
By Ezra HaLevi
Israel National News
May 14, 2006

www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=103626

Jewish Actor William Shatner, famous for his role in the Star Trek series, plans to visit Israel in the coming weeks.

Shatner, whose parents immigrated to Canada from Ukraine, is visiting the Jewish State as part of the Jewish National Fund’s efforts to raise $10 million for therapeutic riding centers across Israel.

Shatner enjoys breeding and showing American Saddlebreds and Quarter Horses and has a 360-acre horse farm in Kentucky named Bellreve, where he raises the winning horses.

The actor is excited about the construction of centers using riding as therapy across Israel. One such center is located at Kibbutz Grofit. It offers psychological evaluations and therapy designed to meet the needs of physically, emotionally, and mentally handicapped children. The center, staffed by medical professionals and using horses, runs the length of the school year, September through July.

Shatner said he hopes to create cooperation on the project between Israelis and Arabs from both the PA-controlled areas and the Hashemite Kingdom in Jordan. “What better way to create dialogue than by helping handicapped children from different countries feel good about themselves” Shatner said of the project.

 

RAPPER JAY-Z: ANTI-SEMITISM NOT COOL

Rapper Jay-Z: Anti-Semitism not cool
Hip-hop star set to take part in television ad encouraging Americans to act against anti-Jew groups
By Itamar Eichner
Yediot Ahronot
May 1, 2006

www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3245893,00.html

Grammy-award winning hip-hop star Jay-Z, considered one of the world’s most important rappers, has decided to take part in the war on anti-Semitism. In the next few days he is expected to star in an TV commercial which will be broadcast on American television under the banner: “Anti-Semitism is not cool.”

The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem received a report on the initiative from Aryeh Mekel, Israel’s consul-general in New York.

In the ad, rapper Jay-Z asks viewers not to join groups speaking against Jews because ‘anti-Semitism is not cool.’

Russell Simmons, a senior member of the U.S. hip-hop industry and one of the people who brought hip-hop culture into the American mainstream, is also expected to participate in the ads.

 

KATE AND JEMIMA SMOOCH FOR GAZA

Moss pays lip(s) service
AFP (Agence France Presse)
May 16, 2006

www.news24.com/News24/Backpage/HotGossip/0,,2-1343-1344_1934004,00.html

A charity for Palestinian refugee children is £60 000 better off after a kiss between Kate Moss and Jemima Khan, a London newspaper reports.

Fashion retail tycoon Philip Green fronted up the money at Monday’s auction in the exclusive Annabel’s club which raised more than £200 000 for the Hoping Foundation.

He was to get a kiss from Moss for his money, but when he declined – in deference to wife Tina – the supermodel puckered up instead with Khan, the Evening Standard newspaper reported on Tuesday.

“We thought it was going to be a kiss on the cheek,” one “eyewitness” was quoted as saying. “It lasted just over 60 seconds. A few people were shocked but everyone was laughing after.”

Khan, 32, ex-wife of cricketer Imran Khan, is going out with Hollywood star Hugh Grant, himself the object of intense bidding when a guest paid £12 000 to play golf with him, with Khan as the caddy.

Hard-partying Moss, also 32, is enjoying a career rebound after she was dumped by the likes of H and M, Chanel and Burberry last year after a London tabloid published of pictures of her apparently taking cocaine.

 

HALLELUJAH? ISRAEL GETS 24/7 EVANGELICAL CHANNEL

‘Can I get a Hallelujah?’ Israel gets 24/7 evangelical broadcast
By Ilan Chaim
Jewish Telegraph Agency
May 16, 2006

www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=16614&intcategoryid=5

Shortly before Passover this year, the Jewish state inaugurated something decidedly non-Jewish – an evangelical channel preaching the Gospel around the clock.

The Communications Ministry confirmed that it issued a license to Daystar, the second-largest U.S. Christian television network, whose evangelical programming kicks off with a half-hour show produced by its Jerusalem affiliate, Tarshish.

The remaining content is supplied from Daystar’s home base in Texas through the company’s worldwide satellite network. It will be carried in Israel via cable providers HOT, which reaches about 1 million households, and YES, which reaches 500,000.

Before the inauguration of the Gospel channel, Tarshish produced a television program entitled “Christian Covenant with Israel” for Daystar viewers to raise money for what Tarshish called its “many humanitarian projects” in Israel. Tarshish claims the program aims to “teach about the spiritual ties existing between the Jewish people and the world’s Christian community.”

However, a promotional DVD distributed by Tarshish features interviews with two Jerusalem residents who are the recipients of its aid – both described as “Messianic Jews.”

Marcus Lamb, Daystar’s president and an evangelical broadcaster, dramatically announced the Israeli license during the network’s Spring Telethon in late March. Lamb said the license is for a full-time television channel that will reach “every home” in Israel, “preaching the gospel 100 percent of the time.”

Lamb asked his viewing audience – some 43 million homes in the United States and untold millions in about 200 other countries via satellites, TV and cable systems – to contribute the $1 million necessary to fund the Holy Land link.

His studio guest, Pastor John Hagee, a televangelist and founder of Christians United for Israel, appeared pleasantly surprised at the announcement.

“It’s just all I can do to keep from getting up and dancing,” he exclaimed. “It’s a joy and it’s a dream come true. If we are able to preach the gospel without reservation... it’s a major breakthrough.”

Hagee immediately offered to purchase the first “Friend of Israel” certificate for $1,000.

“Up until now, there has never been a 100 percent, full-time Christian television channel in the history of the nation of Israel,” Lamb said during the telethon. “It’s been illegal, or impractical, or it has been impossible, or it’s been prohibitive in the past.”

Middle East Television, with televangelist Pat Robertson, is available on cable in Israel, but it is broadcast from Cyprus.

Hagee noted that the Bible “talks about the gospel going forth from Jerusalem, and if this is in fact the announcement that the gospel can go forth without any limitations, without any editing and so forth... This is a first.”

Joni Lamb, Marcus Lamb’s wife and broadcasting partner, affirmed that the Israeli government would not edit the Daystar content in any way.

“That was part of the deal, that it couldn’t be edited. That was an issue in the past,” she said during the telethon.

Marcus Lamb said the license had been issued after a trial period of six to nine months during which the station’s Celebration program was aired daily in order to gauge the response from the Orthodox public. The trial reassured Israeli officials that no editing would be necessary.

“They didn’t get hardly any complaints and they got a lot of good, positive responses, because they’ve heard various things about American Christian television – so nobody is more astounded and more amazed than we are,” Lamb said.

Merav Strosberg-Alkabetz, a spokeswoman for the Israel Council for Cable and Satellite Broadcasting, said the council had awarded Daystar a license because “religious broadcasting (and it does not matter which religion is referred to) is permitted in the State of Israel, as long as it meets a number of basic criteria determined by the council.”

These essentially are prohibitions on harming other religions, exercising undue influence, threats or humiliation, soliciting donations, and a warning to exercise extreme caution in these matters.

She added that Daystar would be closely monitored to ensure it meets the licensing criteria and confirmed that its test broadcasts had not met with resistance. On the other hand, it’s virtually impossible to gauge how many Orthodox Jewish Israelis actually saw any of these broadcasts: While cable TV reaches some 65 percent of Israeli households, many fervently Orthodox Israelis do not own televisions. and even those who do may not be drawn to Daystar’s programming, which is in English and does not have Hebrew subtitles.

Lamb told viewers the negotiations had been going on for a year, during which Israeli legislators and businessmen had visited the channel, he said. He then made an appeal for funds.

“They are good Jewish businesspeople and they’re not going to do this out of the kindness of their hearts. The cost is, I believe, more than worth it, but it’s over $1 million a year,” he said. “Our Jewish friends are consummate business professionals. They have asked us to pay the entire first year up front.”

Lamb called for 1,000 viewers to pledge $1,000 each over the coming year to fund the Jerusalem station. After Hagee made the first pledge, Lamb promised to send a signed certificate and a copy of Hagee’s latest book, “The Jerusalem Countdown,” to all who followed suit.

“Will you be one of 1,000 to help us preach the gospel to thousands in the land of the Bible?” he asked.


All notes and summaries copyright © Tom Gross. All rights reserved.