Why I Take Ahmadinejad’s Money
After the broadcasts I am often accosted by young Muslims from the studio audience and invariably they tell me they “learned a lot” from me. I have never encountered hostility in the many times I have ventured into the after-show receptions. If my views are changing the way they think, this is a good thing. When I tell these young Muslims that the Grand Mufti al-Husseini recruited crowds of Arabs for the SS, they are shocked. When I rant about the brilliance of Israeli technology and culture and its free press on air, they want to know more when they crowd around me after the recordings. The staff is gracious and one young Muslim producer told me his mother could not put my steamy book, Spitfire Girls, down and was fighting with his sister for a look at it.
On Alan Hart’s three-episode marathon about the rise of anti-Semitism recorded before a live audience on June 12, Jonathan Hoffman and I were subjected to a barrage of anger and ridicule from Jewish panelists Hajo Meyer and Ilan Pappe. Alan took umbrage every time Jonathan opened his mouth and threatened to have him removed for spouting Zionist propaganda. What was significant to me was the scary anger from Jewish and Christian members of the panel and audience whilst the Muslims remained dignified and, as usual, approached me afterwards with interest after hearing the strong views on the greatness of Israel promulgated by Jonathan and me. During a break, one of the producers asked me, as the only woman on the panel, to use my charms and intervene to stop Alan from attacking Jonathan. I suppose his agenda was to make sure OfCom did not shut them down for good, but in part two Alan refrained from fury. Perhaps someone from OfCom was there and had warned them of the consequences. In any event, the day was grueling, but when Jonathan and I watched the broadcasts we noted that our long defenses of Israel and America were not edited out.
On his website, Alan Hart, who suggested on the Press TV program that Israel’s very creation was never legitimized by the UN Security Council, has voiced his remorse over his outbursts against Hoffman.
What some who had attended the show found bizarre was that the final word from Hart, in which he made the assertion that there might not have been a Holocaust had a frank discussion of anti-Semitism been out in the open in the 1930s, was edited out. Inasmuch as Alan Hart has warned me he will sue if anyone so much as suggests he might be an anti-Semite, I will refrain from providing interpretations of his comment offered me by participants; one man who had been in the studio audience did assert in a blog that it meant Jews bring on their own catastrophes. It will be interesting to hear what Pajamas readers think.
Suffice it to say that Alan Hart, Yvonne Ridley, Lauren Booth, and others whose views are diametrically opposed to mine nevertheless give me unlimited airtime and allow me to broadcast to the Muslim world and educate an audience that would otherwise be in darkness. Press TV London is slick and consummately professional. Inasmuch as there are nine full-time Muslim channels in the UK but no Jewish ones, the irony is that I can voice my Zionist views on Iranian TV.
A Christian friend said any wages earned from Press TV should go straight to Jewish or Israeli charities. Last week I spent a few pounds in Bokobka, the kosher deli in Little Venice, on honey cake for the New Year.
Shana Tova, Mahmoud.
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