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AS DRIVING TEST applicants around the country await dates for their test, RSA data recently revealed that the national average waiting time for a driving test in test centres stands at 11.9 weeks.
At the start of February the average waiting time was at its highest over the past five months, standing at 14.5 weeks.
Although the average waiting time nationally has gradually been going down, a spokesperson for the Road Safety Authority (RSA) said this is “still not where we want it to be”.
The RSA aims to have a national average waiting time of 10 weeks in all test centres.
There are just 10 centres of the total 48 that are on or below the 10 week waiting mark.
The authority is looking into ways try to improve the situation at present, such as the hiring of more testers while awaiting amendments to the Road Traffic Act.
The driving test centre with the longest average waiting time at 16.3 weeks is Newcastle West in Limerick.
The Limerick city centre meets the RSA’s aim time of waiting times being 10 weeks on average.
The current average waiting time for a category B (car/light van) driving test per test centre is based on the waiting times of applicants with an appointment during the last four weeks.
Spokesperson for the RSA said those who fail their test by a number of small points “won’t be on the bottom of the list” when they re-apply to do their test again.
Each week 300-400 people do not show up for their driving test.
In 2017 a total of 19,000 people did not show for their scheduled test date.
Those who book a test and come to a centre completely unprepared cause “further congestion in the waiting list”, the spokesperson said.
Learner’s concerns
Speaking to TheJournal.ie a worried learner from Dublin who applied for a test in February said “I’m beside myself waiting for the test date. I only have a few months left on my learner permit so the whole thing is a mess”.
She added that the process of doing a theory test, getting a learner permit, taking the 12 required lessons, doing pre-tests and finally applying for the test is a “money racket”.
Another learner from Wicklow has just received a test date for August having first applied in February.
She said that she was annoyed about this as the date she had been offered clashed with her holiday plans.
She added that she knew from speaking to others and from waiting lists online that there would be a wait and that tests were difficult to get but she “didn’t expect it to be this long”.
New legislation
This year the Road Safety Authority (RSA) intended to offer at least 67 fixed-term contracts to qualified driving testers to help deal with an expected surge in demand for driving tests.
The RSA has since been recruiting a selection of new driving testers and 100 people have been chosen to go through garda vetting procedures.
The authority expects these new measures to be “up and running in a reasonable small time” following approval.
Legislation to introduce fines of up to €2,000 or six months imprisonment for motorists who allow unaccompanied learner drivers to drive their cars brought with it fears of how this could impact waiting times for tests.
The Trade Union for driving testers Fórsa claimed that without action this risked a short-term doubling of demand for driving tests and increased average waiting times of as much as 55 weeks.
Fórsa told TheJournal.ie that the number of driver testers had fallen by almost 20% since 2007 and average waiting times have risen as a result.
Fórsa reached agreement with the RSA in April around the issue of new driver testers.
Why do drivers fail their test?
The Spokesperson for the RSA said that ”every case is different” with driving test failures but taking lessons and getting more experience is always a good approach for trying again.
The most common reasons why people fail driving tests according to the RSA are issues with observation at junctions, roundabouts, problems with anticipation of other drivers’ actions, speed, incorrect road positioning as well as poor use of mirrors and signals.
Inappropriate use of vehicle controls such as gears or brakes or lack of compliance with traffic controls such as signs or traffic lights can also be a factor in those that come back with a fail.
The RSA advise that it can usually facilitate an urgent test if someone can be available at short notice, with cancellation slots sometimes becoming available.
Availability for this case should be included in any driving test application.
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I think (hope) you will find most people know about these stories. The days of people been fed certain narratives from a couple of media outlets are gone. People are not stupid and with the dawn of the Internet they research news stories themselves and don’t blindly accept at face value what is been fed to them.
Don’t bet on it.
April Fool’s Day – the only day in the whole year when people actually question the validity of what they read on the internet….
This is a good article. The only fault is the paragraph about ISIS being a reaction to US imperialism. In reality they’re an exploiter of it. The vast majority of ISIS’ victims are other Muslims not Westerners, and they have no interest in liberating the Middle-East from Western-backed or Russian-backed dictators. In fact you could make the argument that they’re dependent on foreign intervention, if neither the West or Russia were involved in Syria or Iraq, recruiting fighters would be a lot more difficult.
The fact about Western media covering the atrocities of their foes more than the allies of their governments can’t be disputed if you’re actually paying attention. It was the worst during the Cold War, any crimes committed by the Soviets or the countries within their sphere of influence were given extensive coverage, whereas crimes committed by the West in Vietnam or Latin America, where governments supported by Washington committed genocide were scarcely covered.
The West often derides Russian propaganda, but it’s developed a much more sophisticated system of propaganda of its own. The internet does act as a counteraction to this, but the powerful media institutions still have a lot of power to influence public opinion.
no, most people wouldn’t actually because most people rely on mainstream western media do they not??
Agree to a certain extent, but unfortunately too many people generally only have a passive interest in politics etc, and thus simply invest little time -if any- in checking things out for themselves during their daily lives.
As far as the vast majority of mass media (i.e tv, newspapers, & radio) is concerned, besides what’s already mentioned in the above article and in the comments, they mostly just report various headlines after they’ve eventually bubbled to the surface.
People can’t possibly ever see the bigger picture, let alone the factual context and background, from the half-hour time slots/paragraphs etc that the news has scheduled for them.
Why does the author think that because he has a clear interest in the horrors carried out by the various parties in the Middle East others don’t, or wont be as aware as him?
He may not like to hear it, or share the same opinion as me, and that’s fine, but if a group of people consistently shoot, bomb and kill others like me and profess a desire to continue doing so unless I convert to their particular brand of lunacy then they’ve made themselves my enemy. I didn’t choose them. The overriding thing which links all these gobsh… people is their brand of lunacy, their religion, again I didn’t choose this, they did, in fact it’s an aspect of this that they want me to convert or die.
Let’s be honest here. When you hear that some idiot has strapped a bomb to himself and blown himself and a dozen innocent people to pieces do you ever stop and think, good Lord, there goes another Amish bomber, they’re so violent.
When you hear of a terrorist attack, a shooting in a peacful neighbourhood in which a number of heavily armed men with, oh lets say AK47′s, kill and injure as many innocent people as possible, do you think it’s those Mormons again, when will they ever find peace.
When you hear of terrible atrocities in which men, women and children are butchered in dreadful ways do you ever think, those damn Zen Buddists will have to be stopped.
No? Me neither, when all of these acts are repeatedly committed by the same people linked by the same religion time and time again then it’s safe to say there’s a link – that religion. It doesn’t mean all members are potential terrorists and it’s certainly wrong to punnish all but it is naive to ignore what’s happening, what they have told us they’ll do.
Daniel…agree completely.
Monty…peruse the totally unequal coverage of the retaking of the historic Syrian city of Palmyra recently – the west ignored it while russia made it a headline.yet by any measure the recapture of Palmyra is worthy of celebration.
Rusty…what you said…exactly.
Yes…i have read this story several times..and hes right,ireland IS to blame for isis,yemen,saudi and drones.
Monty…how is the ISIS recruiting going right now do you think?
Money, oil, religion … What is the human species really all about ?
The author claims that Isis are “reacting” to western foreign policy. I disagree. I suggest he reads the statement Isis put out as to why they decided to target the Bataclan venue and butcher 80 young people at a concert. He then might understand that Isis are a fascist death cult that are about killing non believers and little else.
The vast majority of victims of islamofascists like IS are other muslims, which kind of flies in the face of the argument that they’re only retaliating against the West for what was done to them.
The author has made similar claims in the past. He rarely acknowledges the fact that Islamic extremism actually predates all modern nation states.
So has ‘Christian Extremism’.
Oh really? What about the crusades for example?
The anti west sentiment is the foundation that the likes of ISIS have built there movement on, if America/the west had never been involved in Iraq would ISIS have the number in there ranks they have today? I think this is thd point the author is trying to get across. All over the world there is organisations who preach hate but they need anger to grow ie.1919 treaty of versailles to the rise of Nazi German.
The Crusades were a response to Islamic conquest, and to protect the Christians in the holy lands who were being slaughtered and oppressed by Muslims.. Historical fact.
Beginning in the 11th century, Christians in Jerusalem were persecuted by the city’s Islamic rulers, especially when control of the holy city passed from the relatively tolerant Egyptians to the Seljuk Turks in 1071. Late in the century, Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comenus, also threatened by the Seljuk Turks, appealed to the West for aid. In 1095, Pope Urban II publicly called for a crusade to aid Eastern Christians and recover the holy lands.
Ted ..too true,it wasnt the”west” that led/made/forced/inspired isis to enslave/murder the Yazidi,the Kurds,the Shia,surround Kobane,take Mosul and Ramadi,burn al Kasasbeh (the downed jordanian F16 pilot) in a cage,behead 30 christians in Libya etc etc. and its pro wahabbi propaganda to even infer that the west is responsible.
Ah the left wing academic puts forward the old argument – we (or our allies) do worse than has been done to us. It’s ‘the west’s own fault really isn’t it???
Writes about media bias (which is a fair point) then writes completely biased article himself!
Ken Hickey does the tried and tested head in the sand routine of clowns everywhere when their world of lazy perceptions is challenged.
Ur a total clown shoe hickey.
Ken Hickey does the tried and tested head in the sand routine of cl0wns everywhere when their world of lazy perceptions is challenged.
Ur a total cl0wn shoe hickey.
Freebetcitydcom (mad name lol) you wanted to get your point across so much u said it twice. Rrrrrraawwhhhhh…… lol lol
So personal abuse is your version of debate.
Journal.ie comment section involved in its usual reasoned debate.
Avina: His argument is not that he is immune to bias, none of us are. It’s that the bias of the large media organisations which in reality are large corporations serve the interests of a small group of people and give a misleading picture to the vast majority of people on how the world works.
The idea that the major media institutions of the West are impartial is as ludicrous as the notion that the West are involved in the Middle-East to improve human rights.
largely, it is yes. And the point is not whether ‘we’ do worse than is done to us, it’s that the media in the main ignore or what ‘we’ do. If you agree that the killing of civilians in any country by any one is an atrocity then you should want and expect our media to report on them with equal measure.
Unless of course you believe that the value of a life in countries like those mentioned in the article is of less value than the value of a life in ‘The West’?.
Good article by Julien. Perhaps those accusing him of bias should put in an extra few seconds of effort and actually quote the part where they think he’s biased, and why? (Remember, this is an opinion piece about media coverage…)
“..This is because the mass media reflects the interest of western governments and elites, which control and own news outlets. It means that, as a general rule, the mass media is aligned with the foreign policy objectives of governments… ”
Absolutely.
With the advent of Internet news sources lots of people are beginning to realise just how shockingly establishment biased MSM are. I would think the whole of Liverpool will never forget the shocking pack of lies and fabrications, blaming the victim’s of the Hillsborough disaster by Murdoch’s Sun. Their ‘facts’ eventually being exposed as being totally opposite to the truth.
Media in Ireland are no better. When does the maltese gnome get criticised?
I’m sure the usual establishment shills on here will post up their incredulity that journalists get told what to write…. the usual straw man arguments of the plain dumb… or the smarter ones harbouring the blinkers of a whole life of smug self interest.
Of course, as Noam Chomsky points out in ‘Manufacturing Consent’, and others like Nick Davies (former Guardian journo) in ‘Flat Earth News’, that’s not how it works…
Rather, journalists, by the nature of their work, have displayed in reams of published copy their tendencies toward challenging authority – or not. The point being that if journalists were inclined to dig up information – or, shock, write it – that was critical of a publication’s favoured politics, they would not be hired, and hence never be in a situation where they needed to be told. As Nick Davies has explained in ‘Flat Earth News’, once hired, the process is fine tuned. A few careful questions around the news room by a rookie will soon confirm the essential parameters of what is acceptable – little more than a disapproving look raised above a draft piece will suffice.
By this means, the most common means of propaganda control – for that’s what it is – is simple omission of key facts.
Most people in Russia, China or elsewhere already know their media is highly controlled. Western media is equally controlled, but have succeeded in pulling off the trick of persuading people that it isn’t, carefully permitting a few token criticisms, and of course heavily promoting and expanding the invented and false policy differences of the main opposition political parties. Eg neoliberal Tory and (Blair/Brown) Labour in UK. Neoliberal Euro bottom licking FF. FG, Labour etc in Ireland. Cosmetic differences only.
But Julien also points out where western media really does swing into total conformity and the narrowest parameters of acceptable discourse or emphasis – news about foreign policy and/or the various conflicts the western allies (NATO/EU) become embroiled in.
Not at all surprising… when one realises that the original techniques in media propaganda control, in the west, were developed during wartime – WWII and the Cold War that followed.
A lot of the mechanisms still exist today, even whilst most people have never heard of them, and they are, naturally, never discussed in media. Talking here about things called ‘D Notices’ in the UK, where all media copy on a specified topic must be passed by a Government/Military censor. (All countries have something similar.)
Much of the coverage of the west’s recent military adventures presents classic examples… The absurd claims, later exposed as little more than pure speculation, for Iraq’s WMD, universally accepted and parroted by MSM totally uncritically as tablets of stone from on high. Even to the extent of mass media incited hatred of dissenting voices as cowardly or unpatriotic… reminds me of the McCarthyite era and purges of ‘Un-American activities’.
Many hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians have died… and it still goes on. The original lies whitewashed, new ones created as we speak.
The *only* defence that meaningful democracy has, against a powerful, entrenched elite, operating state power in their exclusive (usually Capital owner) interests, is a strong, independent and *plural* media. Which is absolutely what we don’t have today, and have never had to any significant extent.
The Internet is already showing its potential to change this, and actually deliver the media, public information and discourse that democracy requires. But it needs more. We need a new ‘business’ model to ensure that real public interest media sources, in their infancy now, can thrive and continue. It must be a publicly funded model, since Corporate financing is already the norm and demonstrates its corruption. But a public funded system cannot be controlled by a handful of elected or powerful permanent officials. That will quickly become corrupted just as the BBC and RTE has.
There is a third way, I call a ‘democratic commons’ funding model which can g’tee plurality free of these traditional corruptions. If we want real democracy, we have to start with media reform.
He forgets to mention that the executions in Saudi Arabia are bot mentioned because they have NEVER executed a westerner. They only execute those from the 3rd world and their own country. That’s why it escapes our attention moreso than anything.
I really enjoyed that, I haven’t read an article like that here or in any other news outlets based in Ireland.
It’s good to remind people that the world isn’t just good and evil or simply black and white as the US media might have you believe. People need to understand the bigger picture about the wars waged but I fear apathy is too predominant in the world today.
Atrocity #2 2.5 Million US Troops passed through Shannon since 2002! Atrocity …………… my mind boggles that this idiot is an actually and appointed lecturer in UCD!
He could do with reading the definition of atrocity!
a·troc·i·ty (ə-trŏs′ĭ-tē)
n. pl. a·troc·i·ties
1. Appalling or atrocious condition, quality, or behavior; monstrousness.
2. An appalling or atrocious act, situation, or object, especially an act of unusual or illegal cruelty inflicted by an armed force on civilians or prisoners.
You don’t think it’s an appalling situation then?
He’s the male equivalent of a gender studies lecturer.
I’m off to a safe space somewhere, this article was too biased for my liking.
I fail to see a difference in Ideology between the State that is Saudi Arabia and Islamic State, that is the Elephant in the room, not Shannon.
Don’t ever lose that dictionary!
Proinsias….this fool wouldnt use the word “atrocity” in its correct context..to him the Bataclan murders were a “tragedy”…loaded language.
Shannon airport used by troops the equivalent of 100s of people murdered by terrorists…. The left wing agenda of this page has finally done it. I’ve heard it all now
The arrogance of this! “You people won’t know about these but thankfully I’m here to set you straight”
Im sure I’m not alone in having heard of all of these events. Probably through the same media as the all-knowing author of this article.
To say that planes landing at Shannon is an “atrocity” is to show you don’t understand the word
Lorem – love that,atrocity indeed.
Regardless of the arguments about who’s fault this and that is. The media should cover the likes of what has been presented here. Of course they can’t cover everything but it defo should be a more level appraisal of world affairs. But as you know, that will never happen. But it is getting better I think, thanks to social media and access to information technology etcetera ……
Why blame the media? They operate in a free market, and provide what consumers want in that market. If there was a demand for this kind of news it would be covered more because it would be more profitable. Author is making the common error of blaming the supply side for demand patterns.
Media giving the consumer what they want in a free market, liam? I wonder why rules are brought in to cover excessive ownership of the press.
Erm, because excessive ownership and monopolisation stifles the free market. Not even sure if that was a question since you seemed to answer it yourself within the question.
So, you don’t believe public opinion can be manipulated by the press.
Yes it can, but the author failed to explain why private enterprise would manipulate public opinion in order to satisfy the state. If they’re going to manipulate opinions they’re going to do it to increase sales and/or ad revenue. The press is independent of the state, despite what the presumably independent columnist above might believe.
Comparing your points to attacks on civilian population are complete b*llsh*t… Executing people may be wrong but at least the person knows the consequences of their actions. Does someone killed on a tube know they may be murdered for going to work that day? How is refuelling a plane the same as opening up with an AK at a concert? Yes there have been atrocities in Syria, there is no way to defend against this. However, this has been the same as every war ever fought. It’s not like America has committed war crimes in the past.. Use of nuclear weapons, internment of Japanese in concentration camps, napalming vietnam and North Korea etc… Iraq and Syria are war zones and there are casualties in war. Would up prefer that coalition forces allow IS control of the entire country? They held Palmrya for 1 year and executed over 200 people and destroyed UNESCO heritage sites. Left unchecked these people would bring us back to the Middle Ages!
“Left unchecked these people would bring us back to the Middle Ages!” – spread that fear Simon.
You obviously know nothing of IS manifesto if you believe this is propaganda.
He’s right, there is an element of media bias, but naturally events which happen next door (Brussels, Paris) are going to get more coverage than those which happen thousands of miles away (Yemen). I wouldn’t think the Brussels and Paris attacks received too much coverage in Yemen either, compared to their own atrocities.
I heard about several bad road accidents in Ireland over the past week, but funnily enough I never heard about any road accidents in China or the US….
Simpleton.
Will the real Mick Jordan please stand up….
Remember a hostage situation I’m Australia a couple of years ago? Chocolate shop? 10,000 miles away. Get any air time?
Democratic Republic of Congo. The greatest death toll since WW2 in modern war.The great unreported.Endless list of war in Africa through corruption and religion.
People tolerate Muslims killing each other and christians killing each other.
But if a Jew kills a muslim the masses will rise up and protest and bring palestinian flags to sports events. Why not bring the flags of every war torn country to sports matches.Lets show equality.
Or perhaps people just think a supposed liberal democracy might listen to protests or boycotts? It’s hard to imagine the parties involved in the DRC conflict would be impacted by such actions
Well, KalEll, when you try to isolate and blame all violence solely on one side, you hardly expect them to listen to you. Decades of protests, boycotts, hijackings, bombings, shootings, several invasion attempts.. They haven’t worked. Maybe the last option available will work – dialogue. The stick has been used since 1948 and has failed spectacularly. BDS has failed. Although many organisations have signed up, the only thing that has happened as a result is a copperfastening of the right-wing hardline position in Israel. And the Palestinians still don’t have a state. Maybe it’s time to abandon the stick and try the carrot instead.
Brian my point was not to get into a debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. After all the intention of this story is to rightly highlight lesser known conflicts. As Mark says places like DRC get very little coverage despite the war crimes and loss of life involved. My point was that it is nonsense to suggest that support for a Palestinian state and related protests are because one of the sides is Jewish. That said it seems bizarre to accuse others of blaming one side and then listing the actions of the other side as if they occurred in a vacuum. There are extremists and war criminals on both sides but you should probably ask yourself what an acceptable moderate would look like to Israel. It seems based on their actions and statements it would be a group willing to accept all the demands of Israel which actually opposes the international consensus that a two state solution based on pre 1967 borders. And this group should emerge from the regularly bombed Gaza Strip or the regularly annexed West Bank?
How exactly are troops moving through Shannon an atrocity?
Regressive left propaganda.
I suppose the point being made is that Ireland is complicit with the various wars in the middle east by facilitating American troop movement. The same way a person making weapons in a factory for a wage is complicit i guess. We are a few times removed from the actual atrocities but are still a cog in the machine that is necessary for the invasion of Iraq/Afghanistan etc..
In saying that if they didn’t land in Shannon they would just land somewhere else and if push comes to shove we are on the USA’s side. I dont agree with their foreign policy and im sure most Americans arent happy about their taxes being wasted on bogus wars killing innocent people but its up to them to reel their government in….
Isis, ya, a real reasonable bunch reacting to the evil west
Well said author. It must feel good to remind the simpletons about the flip side of the coin.
Of course it is overlooked. The west sucks up to these slimebags because of their oil. It’s about time the US and Europe buried the hatchet with the Russians. There are more untapped oilfields in Russia than an area the size of France.
What about the filthy arab piece of **** that cut off the Indian slave woman’s arm with a ceremonial sword while she was dangling from a curtain in his home, trying to escape her predicament? Big fat slobbering mega-rich thugs. Let’s be done with them.
I hate that phrase “War on Terror”. How can you go to war with a word?
French Canadian Yankee-hatred coming through strong here from this author..A regular on Russia Today acc. to BIO. Knows how to play up the young Irish college crowd I would say but not the Journal readers and commenters.Glad he doesn’t along too often.
The guy in the picture “chanting slogans”. A bit OTT there. I doubt if he was that hysterical at the Brussels, Paris, London, Madrid, Bali, New York abominations. Why should it be any different for westerners.
I didn’t think I could find such an honest and critical article on thejournal.ie. Thank you.
This article was quite honest, at least the author didn’t bother to hide his bias and hypocrisy.
He is a Trinity academic. Would expect nothing less. To think these people are are “guiding” young minds. No wonder the colleges are full of entitled whingers. This self hating bulls&!t is the cancer that is eating away at western civilisation. A weakness that heralds the decline.
Marg: Long may it continue. It’s time the West faces up to its long history of violence and exploitation.
Don’t know about that monty wuggy. The pendulum will swing the other way when the feeble minded numb nuts see exactly what they have to lose. The radical feminist quislings and gays have the most to lose in the new world order they are so quick to bring on.
@Mmonty Wuggy……It’s time Islam faces up to its long and brutal history of slavery in Africa which continues to-day in Mauritania where 20% are still de facto slaves. Not to mention the millions of Muslims who are prisoners of Sharia Law and cannot leave Islam for fear of Death for Apostasy.
Pat: Spare us the sanctimony, you have little care for the people who are subjected to suffering because of fanatical adherence to Islam. The only reason you hate Islam is because the victims of Israel’s murderous crimes are Muslims, most people see right through it. We can hate the crimes done in the name of Islam, as much as despising the vicious policies pursued by Israel and the violence committed by Jewish extremists in the West Bank, like burning a young baby to death.
@Monty Wuggy……says the apologist for the most barbaric ideology,Islam, and admirer of Iran’s global terror org.Hezebollah.who’s off-shoot Al SabIreen is supporting the Jew-stabbing epidemic in Israel and preparing for another war in Gaza.
I think you forget that Israel is surrounded on all sides bar the Mediterranean by countries that would prefer it wiped of the map, how would you feel with that constant threat? Palestine was offered a two state solution but rejected it only to continue its terror campaign through Hamas etc… Both sides have blood on their hands and commit terrible attacks, but it seems the Islamofascists in Palestine seem to excel in murder and oppression, the daily stabbing sprees of Israeli citizens are one example that is not widely reported but the opposite will always get headlines, such as the murder of that innocent baby.
@Monty
Most barbaric ideology? I don’t believe we mentioned Christianity which Islam can’t compete with in regard to the Jew hatred. The holocaust was the culmination of centuries of anti-semitism propagated by the Catholic Church.
As for Hezbollah, I never claimed to support them or their ideology. What I have said is that the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 82 led to the creation of Hezbollah. The aggressor in that instance was the Israeli government. Without Hezbollah, Israel’s destruction of Lebanon would have probably been much greater.
And those countries aren’t surrounded by a nation that would like to destroy them? The Israeli government has repeatedly stated its desire to invade and bomb Iran. If Iran lacked a competent military, Israel would have likely destroyed it like the Americans destroyed Iraq.
Palestine was never offered a reasonable settlement, in fact Israel has always instead that they should keep most of the territory they’ve annexed, and have violated international law by the building and expansion of settlements, condemned by even their most loyal allies, the US and UK.
Who excels in murder and oppression? In 2014 the Israeli government killed over two thousands Palestinians. It was inevitable there was going to be a backlash and unfortunately innocent Israelis have suffered because of this. Also, Western media sides with the Israeli government, not the Palestinians.
Until the occupation, the bombings, and the settlements end, this conflict will continue.
@Monty Wuggy……….Hezebollah was a creation of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard 1979 3yrs before Israeli invasion of Lebanon. They murdered over 200 US marines in one bombing alone
—”Hezbollah, the Party of God, is an extension of Iran’s foreign policy and an instrument of its security policy, especially against the United States and Israel. Yet it also has its own Lebanese and regional agenda, and is no longer just an obedient proxy of Iran.—”
http://iranprimer.usip.org/resource/iran-and-lebanon
In 2006, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak stated,
“When we entered Lebanon … there was no Hezbollah. We were accepted with perfumed rice and flowers by the Shia in the south. It was our presence there that created Hezbollah”
Is he lying?
How Israeli policies unwittingly created both Hamas and Hezbollah:
“Hamas, to my great regret, is Israel’s creation,” says Mr. Cohen, a Tunisian-born Jew who worked in Gaza for more than two decades. Responsible for religious affairs in the region until 1994, Mr. Cohen watched the Islamist movement take shape, muscle aside secular Palestinian rivals and then morph into what is today Hamas, a militant group that is sworn to Israel’s destruction.”
“Instead of trying to curb Gaza’s Islamists from the outset, says Mr. Cohen, Israel for years tolerated and, in some cases, encouraged them as a counterweight to the secular nationalists of the Palestine Liberation Organization and its dominant faction, Yasser Arafat’s Fatah. Israel cooperated with a crippled, half-blind cleric named Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, even as he was laying the foundations for what would become Hamas. Sheikh Yassin continues to inspire militants today; during the recent war in Gaza, Hamas fighters confronted Israeli troops with “Yassins,” primitive rocket-propelled grenades named in honor of the cleric.”
Oh yeah.. Lebanon, a once majority Christian country. Iran, another Islamofascist fascist state set on acquiring nuclear weapons, that Iran?
Yes surrounded by nations that would have them wiped off the map.. Have you forgot about the 6 day war?
Israel want to invade Iran Monty?? I’m sure you can provide a valid source for that claim?
I remember the 6 day war. Do you?
Avina: What do you think bombing entails? How do you bomb Iran without invading Iran? Wanting to invade and being able to are different things. Netanyahu may want to, but his military advisers warn against it because Iran have a strong enough deterrent :)
http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/319607/benjamin-netanyahu-wanted-to-bomb-iran-in-2011/
Avina: “Israel’s political leaders pushed to attack Iran at least three times in the past few years but had to back down on the advice of the military and due to concerns about its ally the United States, former defense minister Ehud Barak said.
“In interviews to his biographers aired late on Friday by Israel’s Channel Two, Barak said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had wanted military operations against Iranian nuclear facilities in 2010, 2011 and 2012″
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/netanyahu-attack-iran_us_55d8dec2e4b04ae4970375d9
@Monty Wuggy……………….Since 1948 Palestine has been offered good to perfect terms all along but refused negotiations on almost every occasion preferring terror wars and child suicide bombings under Yasser Arafat. As for the best offer turned down go to
—-” Prime Minister Baraq made what Saudi Crown Prince Bandar bin Sultan called the best offer that Arafat could possibly expect[iv]. This was an historic offer, with Arafat receiving 97% of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and 3% of Israeli land, and a Palestinian Authority capitol in East Jerusalem. All that was required of Arafat was an end to the conflict. He could not do it.—”
Above offer included US$30 bill. in cash then valueJuly 2000. All turned down in favour of terror war against Israel by Palestinian Arafat- creator of the child suicide bombers.
Arafat’s wife and family are now enjoying the estimated $4bill. he stole from funds intended for the Palestinian people.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/98517/31-opportunities-statehood-squandered-favor-david-meir-levi
Islamic conquest, violence and exploitation was around long before the ‘west’.
Marg….well said….atrocity at shannon – 20somethings might buy that emotive misleading rubbish..not you or i,blowing up 80 christian children in lahore is an atrocity…not aircraft landing and taking off with no loss of children.
Monty…or blowing up 80 children in lahore because most are christian……
An invasion is what happened in Crimea Monty.
Rohinga Muslims in Burma are confined to concentration camps.
Not a peep from the world’s media.
Diarmuid…absolutely not true..France 24 and AlJazeera ad nauseum Rohinga….
This is the problem with mainstream media there is no balance. Why don’t they call what is happening to this world what it really is, a planet run by greedy 1st world countries, like Ireland at the detriment of all who are homeless, starving and ostracised. It’s a disgusting world..
This “intellectual” addresses us…the proletariat..as though we are ignorant buffoons who have no grasp of geopolitics,geography,islam or current affairs.
When you wake up in the morning and find a dump in your toilet, you are not suprised. When you wake in the morning and find a dump on your kitchen table you tend to be surprised at that.
Fantastic article Julien and a shame we don’t see more of this from our other media outlets.
Where hasn’t it been, though? The war in Yemen is always in the news and the US’ drone program and using Shannon as a stop off isn’t exactly breaking news…
It’s sad to say, but a bombing in Yemen or Iraq isn’t as much of a surprise as a coordinated attack on Brussels or Paris.
Also note that this whole article seems to be focused on what’s happening in the Middle East. Never mind Africa or Asia.
Africa is probably the most ignored of all. Boko Haram has killed more innocent people than ISIS, but their crimes barely register in Western media.
Graham…you need to get out more.
Monty….boko haram are an atrocious entity but if people do as i do and watch several news channels they will find that Al Jazeera and France 24 frequently feature african news.
They do, exactly! We’ve never had such access to media before, it’s up to you where you look. Which should be everywhere if you’re interested.
Thumb Jihader at work. Has no confidence in his posts.Guess who?
Islamic terrorism has nothing to do with religion!
Actually, the Yemen crisis has been well documented in the West.
http://www.itv.com/news/2016-03-30/starving-baby-shows-horrific-effects-of-war-in-yemen/
You will find that the West takes the side of the Sunnis in the Middle East because that is where they get most of their oil from, while Russia and China takes the side of the Shia Muslims because of raw materials as well like oil.
The world has taken sides with countries based on their form of sectarian religion that is between a nasty sectarian 1400 year old war between them. Then they wonder about why has terrorists attacking them???
A very interesting 3part documentary… http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02gzf5l/episodes/guide
@Rowe
The problem there is that BBC Store is available to internet users in the UK only.
The documentary can be found elsewhere also Ciaran, the Eden channel on your sky box if you have one, or documentaryheaven.com
@Rowe
Thanks.
No cutbacks in military budgets, amazing how government works. No money for essential public services and health care etc but plenty of cash for death and destruction at will.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torture_in_Bahrain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torture_during_the_Bahraini_uprising_(2011%E2%80%93present)
Least we forget the Saudis support for the rulers of Bahrain who fear democracy?
Atrocities you probably haven’t heard about through the media…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Saudi_Arabia
The world of journalism needs more people like you
RR85…for what?
An unblinkered view of the world, and treating all lives with the same importance
Thank you for this smack you in the face report. It has become to easy to pretend this is not happening. I’ve shared to all and sundry. Cath.
Left wing nonsense
News isnt north, east, west, south anymore. We need to come up with another word.
Contrived Bi-West Yarns of Influence!
Propaganda?
Rendition at Shannon airport???
Thank you for this, it sadly needs to be highlighted.
I am very happy today to share this amazing testimony on how Prophet Abuvia the herbal doctor was able to cure me from my Herpes Virus with his herbal medicine. I have been a herpes patient for almost 8 months now and have tried different methods of treatment to ensure that I am cured of this terrible disease, but none worked for me, so I had to leave everything to God to handle as I was a Christian who had faith that one day God would intervene in my life, yet I felt so sad and desperate as I was losing almost everything due to my illness, A few months ago while I was surfing the internet I saw different recommendation about Prophet Abuvia on how he have been using his herbal Medicine to treat and cure people, these people advice we contact Prophet Abuvia for any problem that would help immediately, I contacted Prophet Abuvia and I told him how I got his contact and also about my disease, after some time Prophet Abuvia told me to have faith that he would prepare for me a medication of herbal herbs, he told me I would take this medicine for a few weeks and also asked my home for home address so as possible for him to submit the drug for me, so my good friends after all the process and everything Prophet Abuvia actually sent me the medicine, I took it as I was directed by Prophet Abuvia , after a few weeks passed, while on Prophet Abuvia medication I began to experience changes in my body, I had to call my doctor at the hospital for some blood test after test my hospital doctor told me that I was no longer with the herpes virus and my blood is pretty good, I can not even believe this, Friends well today i am Herpes Free and i want everyone to know that there is a cure for herpes for those who will contact Prophet Abuvia after reading my testimony, you can kindly contact Prophet Abuvia http://prophetabuviasolutiontemple.webs.com/ his email address is prophet.abuvia@abv.bg
Not much of a prophet then as raw leek juice will cure that…
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