Free Republic

Jeremy Clarkson made light of his suspension by the BBC, as an online petition for him to be reinstated topped 500,000 signatures. The Top Gear presenter told reporters he was "just off to the job centre" as he left his home in London.

The corporate media have swiftly moved on from Peter Oborne's resignation as chief political commentator at the Telegraph and his revelations that the paper had committed 'a form of fraud' on its readers over its coverage of HSBC tax evasion. But investigative journalist Nafeez Ahmed has delved deeper into the HSBC scandal, reporting the testimony of a whistleblower that reveals a 'conspiracy of silence' encompassing the media, regulators and law-enforcement agencies. Not least, Ahmed's work exposes the vanity of the Guardian's boast to be the world's 'leading liberal voice'. Last month, the corporate media, with one notable exception, devoted extensive...

Journalists and media organisations have warned that the jailing of three correspondents for Al-Jazeera English by the Cairo regime was intended to intimidate others from reporting freely on events in Egypt. The jail terms of between seven and ten years for Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were met with outrage from veteran correspondents who have reported on the Egyptian uprising and its aftermath. Jeremy Bowen, the BBC's Middle East editor, said the verdicts and sentencing were a blow to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. "This is also at least partly designed to intimidate other journalists, and...

The pigheaded refusal to acknowledge that sometimes the ends justify the means reflects Europe's moral impoverishment. Dahu Khalfan Tamim now has a world-class reputation for detective work. The head of the Dubai police swiftly determined that Hamas’s Mahmoud Mabhouh did not die of natural causes at the five-star Bustan Rotana Hotel on Jan. 20. He was assassinated. Let’s for the sake of argument grant that Israel did away with Mabhouh; that he was not killed by Iran or over some intra-Palestinian dispute, and that clues pointing to Israeli culpability are genuine. Mabhouh certainly deserved to be assassinated by Israel. Hamas...

The UK is to expel an Israeli diplomat over the use of twelve cloned British passports in a Dubai murder, the BBC has learned. Foreign Secretary David Miliband will make a statement to Parliament later. Israel has said there is no proof that its agents were behind the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room in January. Diplomatic sources stressed the British government has stopped short of accusing Israel of the murder. However Mr Miliband had demanded that Israel co-operate fully with the investigation into how the passports were obtained. The foreign secretary is to make the statement...

Watching the horrible video of Alan Johnston of the BBC broadcasting Palestinian propaganda under orders from his kidnappers, I found myself asking what it would have been like had he been kidnapped by Israelis, and made to do the same thing the other way round. The first point is that it would never happen. There are no Israeli organisations - governmental or freelance - that would contemplate such a thing. That fact is itself significant. But just suppose that some fanatical Jews had grabbed Mr Johnston and forced him to spout their message, abusing his own country as he did...

A BBC mole has sent me this briefing for BBC staff from the BBC's Middle East Editor, Jeremy Bowen, on what lies ahead this year. It’s all too predictable. The "fragmentation" of Palestinian society has, in Mr Bowen’s view, nothing to do with the Palestinians and everything to do with Israel (“the death of hope, caused by a cocktail of Israel's military activities, land expropriation and settlement building – and the financial sanctions imposed on the Hamas led government”). Indeed, Israel is to blame for almost everything. The Palestinians are not responsible for anything; Israel is the culpable party. He...

Israel has warned residents of southern Lebanon that it will escalate operations there as it continues its campaign against Hezbollah militants. In leaflets dropped by Israeli planes, it says its forces will destroy moving vehicles in an area south of the Litani river, 30km (18 miles) from the border. Israel launched about 80 air strikes against Lebanon overnight. Hezbollah fired more than 140 rockets on Israel. Diplomats at the UN are discussing a draft resolution to end fighting. An Arab League delegation is expected to push amendments to the draft, including Lebanon's demand for an immediate Israeli withdrawal. The current...

It's that time of year again. Summer is here, the temperature outside is rising, and Israel's irresponsible critics are busy turning up the heat. Deploying a potent mix of selective amnesia combined with some good ol' fashioned obfuscation, these "amnesiacs," as I call them, would have us all believe that nothing good ever came from the 1967 Six Day War. Seizing upon this month's 40th anniversary of that heroic triumph, they are trying to rewrite the historical narrative, injecting as much gloom and doom as possible in order to push Israel into making still more concessions to the Arabs. Occupation,...

Tough Lessons For Obama On Mid-East Peace The BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen considers how the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has taught US President Barack Obama hard and humiliating lessons. Nearly 500,000 Jewish people live in settlements built on occupied territory. The land between the river Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea has great sunsets. One the other day turned the sky from deep blue to pink, then angry orange, and flaming red. The fading light glowed on the roofs of the expanding and illegal Jewish settlements that run, like little fortresses, along the mountain spine of the West...

More than 100 MPs appear to have snubbed an invitation to celebrate Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election win, local press reports say. All 290 MPs were invited to the victory party on Wednesday night but 105 did not turn up, the reports say. A BBC correspondent says the move is a sign of the deep split at the top of Iran after disputed presidential polls. Meanwhile, Mr Ahmadinejad has told the US not to interfere in Iranian politics, the Fars news agency reports. "I hope you [US President Barack Obama] will avoid interfering in Iran's affairs and express regret in...

Speaking to the BBC's Jeremy Bowen, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said terrorism would flourish everywhere if the US attacked Syria Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad also told the BBC that armed groups backed by America - not Syrian troops - had used chemical weapons. The US says it has evidence that Damascus used the nerve agent sarin in a deadly attack in August Mr Mekdad told the BBC's Jeremy Bowen in Damascus: "Any attack against Syria is support for al-Qaeda and its affiliates, whether Jabat al-Nusra or the State of Islam in Syria and Iraq." Jabat al-Nusra...

Syria rebels gain foothold in Damascus By Jeremy Bowen BBC Middle East editor, Damascus When the BBC team approached a checkpoint set up by the rebel Free Syria Army in the suburbs of Damascus, masked men with Kalashnikov assault rifles and hand grenades moved towards us - a few of them offering dates and biscuits. It is customary to give mourners something sweet, and a funeral was about to start that they said they were protecting. I had no idea before I saw them with my own eyes that the Free Syria Army was so active in and around Damascus....

A BBC correspondent in Syria has said the battle for an ancient Christian town is continuing, despite reports that government forces had retaken it. Jeremy Bowen said that a heavy gunfight with rebels was continuing in Maaloula, with smoke rising into the sky. He added that he had not seen evidence confirming religious sites had been damaged by al-Qaeda-linked jihadists. Then on Sunday, activists said government soldiers and pro-government militiamen had been forced to pull back to the outskirts following a fresh rebel assault. Fighting over the town, 55km (34 miles) north of Damascus, began last week after rebels attacked...

What next for Iran? Scores of Iranian MPs have snubbed President Ahmadinejad's victory party according to local press reports. What next for Iran? All 290 MPs were invited to the victory party on Wednesday night but 105 did not turn up. The BBC's Jeremy Bowen says the move is a sign of the deep split at the top of the country following the recent disputed presidential polls. Hundreds of opposition protesters and activists are believed to have been taken into custody and at least 17 people have died in the unrest that followed the 12 June election. Severe reporting restrictions...

Israel has laid out an ambitious war aim. It says it wants to create a new security environment, to protect Israelis who live within range of rocket fire from Gaza. It wants, according to one official, "to neutralise the Hamas militia men" so they can no longer fire into Israel. In the last day, the way Israel believes it can do that has become a little clearer. The air strikes have tried to kill as many Hamas fighters as possible and to destroy the infrastructure of power and governance that Hamas has been trying to build since it took over...

Israel 'to announce ceasefire' Air strikes continued in Gaza as Israel prepared to announce a truce The Israeli cabinet is set to back an end to offensive military activities in the Gaza Strip, three weeks after attacks began, the BBC understands.Israel's leaders are expected to approve a ceasefire at a meeting later on Saturday, after which PM Ehud Olmert will address the nation, sources said. The sources said the ceasefire deal did not involve Hamas. It is not clear how Hamas will respond; its officials say the group will ignore any truce unless its demands are met. Ahead of the...

Egyptian troops have opened fire on supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi marching in Cairo, killing three people and wounding dozens more. The shooting came as crowds moved on the Republican Guard headquarters, where Mr. Morsi is believed to be held. Later the Muslim Brotherhood's leader told supporters that protests would continue until Mr. Morsi was reinstated. The army, which removed Mr. Morsi on Wednesday after days of unrest, denied firing live rounds at demonstrators. However, the BBC's Jeremy Bowen at the scene says he saw soldiers fire on the protestors on Friday. About 2,000 people had marched on the...

BBC journalist Jeremy Bowen was shot in the head and leg today as demonstrations in Egypt ended in bloodshed. He was wounded as tens of thousands of people took to the streets over the ousting of president Mohammed Morsi by the military. Islamist leaders had called for a day of rage across the country after a military coup deposed Egypt’s first democratically elected leader.

The BBC’s Middle East Editor, Jeremy Bowen, has rejected allegations that he is anti-Semitic after he tweeted an offensive message against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during his speech to Congress last week. As Netanyahu was speaking, Bowen noted that he had mentioned Elie Wiesel, a survivor of Nazi concentration camps, and added, “Once again Netanyahu plays the holocaust [sic] card”. Bowen immediately faced attacks on Twitter over his comment and, on the Jewish Chronicle website, Alan Johnson wrote that Bowen’s comments were a “bloody disgrace”. …