Why I Take Ahmadinejad’s Money
After the June 12 elections in Iran, the celebrated British broadcasters Martin Bright and Nick Ferrari walked out of Press TV, the twenty-four-hour Tehran-based channel transmitting in Britain and across much of the world.
Both were not supporters of the Ahmadinejad regime but had hosted major programs for the cable station; I had twice been on Nick’s excellent Forum in front of young and vociferous audiences. In fact, Nick, who is not Jewish, had appeared at an Israel festival rally in London.
Bright and Ferrari left Press TV because they objected to the behavior of the regime during and after the elections.
Those of us who have also been Press TV regulars and who continue to appear on its shows do this for the following reasons:
1. I am allowed to spout Zionist views without objection from the Muslim hosts and participants. Although the debate can become heated, the Press TV personalities do not silence my right-wing views. I feel Nick and Martin should not have left the station because they were much-needed beacons of Western values providing weekly doses of anti-regime views for consumption in the oppressed countries that watch the station.
2. After I was at the receiving end of a tirade from a young Anglo-Jewish academic for appearing on Ahmadinejad’s station, I happened upon a group of Iranian exiles who had attended an all-day conference he had chaired. They told me they were glad Press TV was available in the UK because they were able to watch 24/7 news and features from home and see things that kept them informed about events in their neighborhoods. I asked them if they thought OfCom, the British media watchdog, ought to have the station shut down and they were adamant that it should remain on the air.
What I found interesting about their views was the enthusiasm they held for regulars like Ferrari, Bright, Charlie Wolf, and me, all of whom are virulently pro-Western and, in the case of Charlie and me, pro-Zionist and American.
3. There is a school of thought in the Anglo-Jewish community (Melanie Phillips refers to the mandarins of Anglo-Jewry as “moribund”) that we should all stop appearing and then OfCom would have no choice but to remove the station’s license. OfCom has already had occasion to censure Press TV because of what it sees as partiality, most particularly in broadcasts by George Galloway. Anglo-Jewish leaders feel that if Charlie Wolf, Jonathan Hoffman (vice chair of the Zionist Federation), Zionist activist Richard Millett, and I abandon the station, it will go out of business.
I see no point in this. In every appearance I have made, I have voiced my passionate views on Israel’s rights, on the pride I feel as an Anglo-American, and on the disgraceful devaluing of the Holocaust by various pressure groups that have hijacked it as an allegory for Gaza and other “naqbas” (catastrophes). Yvonne Ridley of Galloway’s Respect Party allows me to hold forth with sentiments that are repugnant to the Iranian regime and in fact to most British Muslims, but my views are never edited out.
Bless your heart, Carol. You are one BRAVE sister!
Truth is TRUTH. Speak it [truth] and it will open hearts/minds/souls to those who are willing to hear it.
I commend you for your valiant efforts.
Keep speaking it [the truth].
Carol,
your commitment and courage are inspiring. I do not know who Alan Hart is but it raises the question why people like him are so full of hate that they will align themselves with reactionary, misoginystic, homophobic fanatics like Hamas. I would like to read your opinion on this.
DD
keep at it carol, it may seem “only a small thing” but drop by drop water can wear down a mountain. the people you influence talk to others and your ideas will spread, however slowly, and will have an effect.
Definitely keep at it. Shutting down debate is a bad thing – it happens routinely in Muslim countries, and if New Labour have their way, they will shut down debate too. So will the EU.
Thank you Delia, DD, gunner and Mary.
One little irony: Alan Hart has yet to pay Jonathan Hoffman and me for our half-day of work on the arduous and often scary June 12th debate programme. Jonathan was endlessly upbraided by Alan and by Hajo Meyer, a Jewish panellist who called us both ‘idiots’ and the three shows have been broadcast thrice recently but still no paycheck. I mention this because the Muslims of Press TV are always gracious; they pay on time whilst Alan Hart, a non-Muslim who produced the show, has yet to pay us. This actually reclects badly on Press TV. He pointedly mentioned on his website that the Zionist Federation’s Jonathan Hoffman’s only query when engaged to be on the debate was what our fee would be; does Alan really expect journalists and broadcasters to be voluntary workers? Or as a colleague said to me: ‘Is he suggesting the 2,000 year-old mantra, ” all Jews think about is the money?”‘
I’ve never seen a more unprofessional and childish performance than Alan Hart’s that day. It is a shame because he used to be a broadcasting star, known for his charisma and ability. He now seems to carry a lot of personal bitterness and hurt with him.
I disagree with the politics of Yvonne Ridley and George Galloway, but as broadcasters they are mostly slick and able at least.
Carol, your reasoning for your Press TV appearances is strong. I have seen you on there and you are always very good. And yes – Hart aside – they always seem to treat you professionally.
I have become quite embittered towards Zionism in the last few years, but reading your post here has been a breath of fresh air – if only there were more pro-Zionist commentators like you, instead of the rabid and inhumane examples I could quote ad nauseum…
More power to you and your belief in truth.
What has been the response of anti-regime Iranians to your presentations?
Bob, the anti-regime Iranians I met at the all-day conference in London were against OfCom taking Press TV off the air. They feel it is better for the broadcasts to continue and be seen around the world than be silenced.
To Carol Gould. You are outrageous. You know that it was a PressTV production and that the fees to the panelists are payable by PressTV, NOT me. When you told me you had not been paid, I forwarded your message to PressTV (you know that,too) and I said they should make the payment without further delay. Please stop telling this lie about me. Alan