Double standards at the BBC

The BBC are happy to report that:

'Cameron embarking on first trip to Saudi Arabia

David Cameron is visiting Saudi Arabia, for the first time as prime minister.

Mr Cameron will meet King Abdullah and Crown Prince Nayif later on Friday in talks which No 10 hopes will "broaden and deepen" the UK-Saudi relationship.

Subjects likely to be raised include the global economy, energy security and counter-terrorism.

Saudi Arabia is the UK's largest trading partner in the Middle East with annual trade worth £15bn a year. It has £62bn invested in the UK economy.

The government sees strong relations with the Saudis as vital to advancing Britain's interests in the region.

The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner says the trip is important for both Mr Cameron and his Saudi hosts.

He says Saudi Arabia has been rattled by both the overthrow of its longstanding ally, President Mubarak of Egypt, and the recent tensions with Iran.

He adds that both the UK and Saudi Arabia are hoping to forge a new strategic partnership in energy, business and security.

A Saudi official says the leaders will discuss sales of the latest technology and weaponry, and making Britain a major part of a massive Saudi military expansion.'

Imagine for a minute that rather than visiting Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister was visiting Israel. What contextual information would the BBC see fit to provide? Jerusalem's status, 'illegal' settlements, etc. etc. etc. But as this is a visit to Saudi Arabia the BBC see fit to mention counter-terrorism without any contextual information about the number of Saudi citizens who have/are engaged in terrorism, the amount of money that flows from Saudi Arabia to support terrorism around the world, the Saudi Arabian funding of educational establishment in the West (including the UK) that spread the tenets of Wahhabiism. Nor do the BBC find space to mention the Saudi repression of women, the apartheid practised by the Saudis at Mecca or indeed the banning of non-Islamic religious objects from Saudi Arabia.

The BBC's hatred of Israel blinds them to the actual evils perpetrated by the regimes that neighbour Israel and the real dangers to us that they represent. If the BBC consider that I am wrong in what I say, then release the Balen report to show if there was anti-Israel bias found in the BBC.

As for David Cameron, I request that he takes a bible in his hand luggage and asks as many of his entourage as possible to do the same. The Saudi Arabian regime's intolerance for religions other than Islam must be confronted not excused, huge oil wealth does not give them a Get Out of Jail Free card.