Spooks: Let’s Demonize Israel

Tonight, I watched an episode of the British series Spooks, a show about British MI5 intelligent officers. A good friend of mine in Israel had raved about the series, going as far as saying it puts my favorite show 24 to shame. And as luck would have it, tonight’s episode happened to deal with the Middle East peace process, and efforts to derail it. Needless to say, I watched it.

I won’t recap the entire plot of the episode, but it can be found here. The bad guys are a neo-con, pro-Israel group called the November Committee, who murder those who stand in the way of their vision of a Greater Israel. The pro-palestinian group in the episode, similar to the ISM, are initially suspected of financing suicide bombings, but by episode end are cleared of any wrongdoing.

Besides the one dimensional pro-Israel=bad message of the episode, there were a number of other misleading points, including the notion that Israel’s “occupation” of lands during the Six Day War of 1967 are the root cause of the conflict and palestinian terrorism. As if palestinian terror groups were not formed before 1967, and as if palestinian terror groups to this day do not espouse the aim to drive all the Jews into the sea and take over the entire land of Israel – not just the so-called “occupied” territories of 1967.

And then there’s of course the fact that the show had to invent an extremist Israeli terror group as the bad guys and major obstacle to peace in the Middle East. I say invent, because such groups, if they exist, are not a factor (Israeli society and the police would not tolerate them). Never mind the fact that palestinian terror groups are all too real and enjoy the support of a majority of the palestinian population.

While television shows and movies continue to tiptoe around the issue of Islamic terrorism and go out of their way to show more nuanced depictions of Muslims, shows such as Spooks show no such sensitivity when depicting Israelis and Israel supporters.

In other words, it’s not just the mainstream media poisoning peoples’ minds and feeding them lies and half-truths about the Middle East conflict.

By the way, did I mention that Spooks is a BBC show?

Update: Here’s a synposis for a later Spooks episode:

Ros is taken hostage as part of a siege at the Saudi Trade Centre. The hostage-takers demand that Al-Qaeda prisoners are released.

MI5 realise that there’s an informant among them. The leak is traced to Neil, who commits suicide. But Adam is suspicious – why would Neil be helping an Arab terrorist group when his family were killed by Arab suicide bombers?

The team soon realise they’re actually dealing with an Israeli plot designed to discredit the Saudis and de-rail the nuclear deal.

The Security Services storm the Embassy. The true nature of the plot remains a secret and the world believes an Al-Qaeda plot has been foiled. The nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia goes ahead, with the Saudis lauded as a worthy ally who stand firm in the face of fundamentalism.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Spooks has an agenda. Which is very much aligned with that of the BBC.

Update: I just found this earlier post from Kesher Talk. So you see, it’s not just me.

Update: Yet another earlier blog post, this time on a subsequent anti-Israel Spooks episode. And a Telegraph piece on BBC bias, which mentions the show. It seems I am late to the party.

6 thoughts on “Spooks: Let’s Demonize Israel”

  1. Well – one advantage does come from this – the next time Israel really does something, it will get a free pass.

    Nobody will, after all, believe the BBC anymore.

  2. Back in it’s golden age, TV gave you Monty Python; and other shows of merit. Today? Who watches? It’s a similar thing in the world of rock music. Once a cash cow. But no more. To easy to download stuff. And, pay less than you would when you had to buy the latest CD.

    That the BBC bows to the arab heavy weights? Sure. This has been a British problem going way, way back. That’s why Winston Churchill shines through.

    And, why, IF we are in the midst of change; it’s usually not apparent to those who live through these things.

    The 20th Century opens with Einstein. “Mit-en-drinen” with hitler’s schtick, you see germany flushing itself down the toilet. How so? Because the 20th Century provides not just Einstein, but Feynman and Freud, as well. The last bit of german philosophy has been snipped.

    The current fight? Will last as long as the Saud’s have oil to sell. Unless we “work around this.” Which is entirely possible. How do I know? Well, what I do know I like to see with my eyes. And, gas at $4 a gallon has changed how many cars are on the freeways in LA. No government can order such a decrease. It’s called “The Marketplace.”

    And, by the way, Lebanon just blew up.

    And, Bush decided his daughter’s wedding was much more important.

    As to these lies about Israel? It’s been the same for about 125 years. Like the American Indians, the arabs aren’t adjusting to democracy.

    You know, the Indians “went” when all the buffalo were shot and killed. So that by 1905 the only buffalo an American would see, was planted on the backs of nickels.

    Now? There seems to be some spreading wheat disease; that may spread right through the Mideast. From Pakistan into Africa. It’s a big rust eater of roots. And, it’s ANCIENT. The spread, however, is quite modern. And, it affects the food supply just when the world is now facing shortages.

    Nope. None of us has any of the answers.

    But, today? In the Jerusalem Post, they are offering the first chapter of Benny Morris’ book “1948” FREE.

    Who knows if the changes we see aren’t as big as the destruction of the First Temple? Judaism changed to meet the times. No Temple? Diaspora into Babylon. And, then beyond. No problem. A shift from sacrifices to teaching the children the WORD. And, the Old Testament, itself, translated into Greek. By a Babylonian King. Who wanted to feed his growing Jewish population, with THE BOOK. The Septuagent.

    The Septuagent is the Greek word for 72. 72 rabbis from Jerusalem, called to Babylon. To translate every word of the Bible from Hebrew into Greek.

    Someday, perhaps, people will wonder why the arabs chose to be like the American Indians? Instead of grabbing hold of the future. And, taking advantage of the Jews in their midst.

    Someday? Maybe, even the germans will question why their grandparents let hitler take their country down the toilet.

  3. Years ago a network in the US showed a show produced by Tom Clancy with a similar bad guy. And in the past year or two, we had similar garbage on Law and Order: Criminal Intent where there was a Rachel Corrie type incident where the minions of an AIPAC like organization tried to cover up for the killing.

  4. Hey Aussie Dave, I just watched that episode (on DVD) and it seems to be in line with the Spooks series approach, "Nothing is what it seems". The media, politics, and every other source from which we receive information are all being "gamed", structured for public consumption, credible "spin" that uses conjecture, not facts.

    Spooks is telling us to demand investigation, not just Believe. I don't like some of their plots, because they can be way out there in left field.

    But when they make me angry, it makes me realize that it is my own denial kicking in, and maybe I should do some more investigation of the other side of the fence.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top