The savage ignorance of the BBC

A reader complained to the BBC about the reference to ′Old Testament-style brutality′, as reported in the post below. The reply indicates the depths of ignorance and unconscious prejudice about the Jewish people at the BBC, and the sheer incomprehension of the problem with its own attitudes. This is what it said:

′The piece concerned is, I think, a transcript of an item in a recent edition of From Our Own Correspondent, and so you′ll need to direct your complaint to BBC News.

′Pondering the article itself, it′s clear that the reference to "Old Testament-style" brutality was not intended to suggest that those behaving brutally were Jewish - I certainly didn′t read it that way myself - nor was there any anti-Semitism in the article itself. The Old Testament does, of course, contain many references to brutal behaviour by non-Jews as well as Jews, and I certainly felt that the reference was simply pointing to an earlier period of history that is traditionally seen as more savage than the present day - despite the sad evidence that we actually live in savage times nowadays.′

The first point is disingenuous. Of course the piece did not suggest that the people carrying out the brutality were actually Jews; it was after all a story about Arab on Arab violence. The brutality was nevertheless characterised as ′Old Testament′, indicating that this behaviour was associated with Jewish codes of behaviour -- even though it was perpetrated by Arabs.

To deny this association by claiming that the Old Testament contains ′many references to brutal behaviour by non-Jews as well as Jews′ is risible. The Old Testament is the moral code-book of the Jews and such references invariably refer to the laws laid down within it by the ′Jewish God′ who, in this prejudiced view, is said to be vengeful and to have ordained behaviour to suit. Indeed, the BBC official′s absurd argument is utterly undercut by the last line of the Butcher item, which made it clear that he was talking about Jewish-style savagery:

′But does not the Old Testament say something about the sins of the father being visited on his offspring?′

Clearly, Butcher did not mean that non-Jews were included as the targets of this particular alleged doctrine. The idea that the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children is a staple of anti-Jewish prejudice which is a given in western culture -- and indeed lies beneath the fundamental blood libel against the Jews, that the sin of Christ′s crucifixion which was falsely pinned upon the Jews was to be visited upon their descendants for all time.

The really dismaying thing is that this assumption itself -- despite being a given in our culture -- is utterly false. Like so many of these supposedly brutal ′Old Testament′ doctrines with which the Jewish religion has been tarred over the centuries, it is the very opposite of what is meant. ′Visiting the sins of the parents on the children′ means simply that parents′ behaviour will have an impact on their children. Far from children being put to death on account of their parents′ misdeeds, the Old Testament forbids it:

′Parents shall not be put to death for children nor shall children be put to death for parents. A person shall be put to death only for his own crime.′ -- Deuteronomy 24:16.

The old Testament is indeed full of brutal and savage actions. It is also full of misdeeds by Jews. But its doctrines are the blueprint for a civilised society based on justice, proportionality and, above all, a reverence for the sanctity of life and the dignity of the individual. Those who talk about Old Testament brutality, or witter on meaninglessly about the ′savagery′ of that period, are painfully ignorant and uninformed. They merely recycle unthinkingly the distortions and misrepresentations of the Old Testament and the ensuing libels and prejudices against the Jews handed down over centuries by Christian cultures.

The BBC′s mission was once to educate the nation and bring enlightenment to the masses. Alas, given the lamentable ignorance of its own staff, it is spreading darkness instead.