Bowen on the future

this afternoon (friday 30th), 1.45-2.00pm, on bbc radio 4
through a glass darkly (last of 25 episodes of the our man in the middle east series)

“BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen looks at some of the lessons of the past 25 years to find out what happens next in the Middle East. ‘None of us Europeans can afford to ignore what is happening just beyond the horizon, in the Middle East’.”

Bowen on Gaza

[BBC bias: In this programme devoted to Gaza, no mention by Jeremy Bowen of …
• Tens of thousands of Gazans being allowed out for humanitarian and religious reasons, and for free medical treatment.
• Egyptian control of who goes in and out.
• Electricity shortages (only a few hours supply a day), and medical shortages, caused by Fatah withholding funds from Gaza.
• Housing shortages caused by Hamas diverting much of its revenue (and concrete) to building tunnels.
• War crimes by Hamas.]
this afternoon (friday 16th), 1.45-2.00pm, on bbc radio 4
missiles and the ballot box (15th of 20 episodes of the our man in the middle east series)

“BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen explores Gaza, the Palestinian territory controlled by Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement.
‘It’s not a place you would chose for a Mediterranean holiday, though the Palestinians used to dream of developing a tourist industry’, he says. ‘Israel could recapture Gaza in days if it wanted to. But then it would be responsible for around a million children and about the same number of angry adults. Palestinians can’t destroy a state as strong as Israel. But Israel can’t bludgeon Palestinians into submission either’.”

“Palestinians often call Gaza the world’s biggest jail, and it’s hard to argue.
… The UN predicts that Gaza might become uninhabitable by 2020, if there’s no end to the conflict with Israel.
… the human spirit burns very bright in Gaza.
… Living either side of the border wire, in Gaza or Israel, can be very difficult and dangerous.
… The laws of war say belligerents shouldn’t use disproportionate force. Israel always denies doing so when it attacks Gaza, but the evidence suggests that it does. The Israelis claim to take great care not to kill civilians, but they use heavy weapons in densely populated areas, making civililan casualties certain.
… I’ve never seen any evidence of Hamas in Gaza forcing civilians in to stay in the firing line, but Israelis repeat time and again that Hamas hide behind human shields.
… Until matters change in Gaza, there will be more wars between Hamas and Israel. Change means a new attempt at peace, with the participation and consent of all sides [including Hamas].”
(if you missed it, available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08tgjl2)

Bowen on Arafat

[despite the bbc’s introduction, this programme is jeremy bowen’s one-sided summary of the life of yasser arafat]
this afternoon (thursday 15th), 1.45-2.00pm, on bbc radio 4
guns and olive branches (14th of 15 episodes of the our man in the middle east series)

“BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen looks back over the life of Yasser Arafat.
Thousands of his supporters turned out when the Palestinian’s body was flown back into Ramallah on the West Bank. “Love him or hate him, he was Mr Palestine,” says Bowen. “In death as well as in life he was the symbol of the Palestinian people and their struggle for independence – much more than a politician.”
The Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s view was that Arafat was ‘a murderer and a pathological liar’.”

Bowen on death

this afternoon (friday 26th), 1.45-2.00pm, on bbc radio 4
the nearness of death (last of 10 episodes of the our man in the middle east series)

“BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen describes the worst day of his working life – the day he and his colleagues came under fire from the Israeli Defence Force.
Bowen’s driver Abed Takkoush was hit when the crew of an Israeli tank fired a shell across the border wire into Lebanon. It hit the back of his Mercedes taxi while he was sitting in the driver’s seat phoning his son.”

“Fighters in every war, on every side, dehumanise their enemies. They regard them as something less than living and breathing people who can feel love and fear and happiness. That way, it’s much easier to kill.“

(see also from our own correspondent of 29th may 2016, still available from 0:23:00 to 0:28:00 at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07bt4zx#playt=22m54s)

Bowen on history

[despite the bbc’s introduction, this programme is jeremy bowen’s comprehensice partial history of the israel/palestine conflict]
this afternoon (friday 19th), 1.45-2.00pm, on bbc radio 4
crossing the divide (6th of 15 episodes of the our man in the middle east series)

“BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen was only trying to warm his home during the winter in Jerusalem. During the process, he discovered that the Palestinians are even at loggerheads over simple things like heating.
‘It’s a place where the conflict is always in your face. So is religion,’ he says.”

Today: Trump peace?

this morning (monday 22nd), 8.05-8.06am, and 8.50-8.55am, on bbc radio 4
today (presented by justin webb and john humphrys) includes …

“Donald Trump says he can bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Tonight he goes to Israel.”

including contributions from …
• bbc middle east editor jeremy bowen
• bbc reporter tom bateman
• rafi hochman, former mayor of eilat
• mark zell, israeli-american republican
• majid bamya, advisor to the minister of foreign affairs

Bowen on Rabin

this afternoon (friday 19th), 1.45-2.00pm, on bbc radio 4
recipe for disaster (5th of 5 episodes of the our man in the middle east series)

“BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen remembers how the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin changed the region’s history.
‘No political killing in the twentieth century was more successful,’ he argues, observing the dramatic effects on the Oslo peace process. ‘Perhaps there was a moment for peace, and it came, and went‘.”