What’s behind Langan?
By Ian Ferguson

“ I have never seen a normal man or woman, or even a normal dog. I have never experienced an average day or an ordinary sunset. The normal, the average, the ordinary describe that which we never encounter outside mathematics.
-Timothy F.X.Finnegan, Nightmare and Awakening

You don’t see that much foreign reportage on the BBC anymore so it was refreshing to see “Langan behind the lines” on BBC2 scheduled ( even if it was relegated to the graveyard slot of 11.20 ) or so I thought. It started of quite innocently. Sean Langan. Our man from auntie. The intrepid reporter putting his ass on the line to tell us how it is. Dishing the dirt on the mad mullahs and Kalashnikov toting, Koran thumping towel heads…no? With his secret camera and disarming “sense of humour”? no ? What surely could be wrong with that…but he seems so…so normal – that was the idea wasn’t it?? You take an everyday Joe Bloggs man of the street and put him “behind the lines”…isn’t that what the beeb were thinking? Normal, average, ordinary?? Is that what they were REALLY thinking?

He confessed to the camera on the first episode that he knew next to nothing about Islam. Hmmm. It soon became apparent that he couldn’t speak any Arabic. Hmmm. The Alarm bells start ringing. Surely that global institution the BBC must have someone amongst their ranks who can? Is this really the best they can come up with? Hmmm. So off he went touring around Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. Parts of his filming were entertaining but little was informative. He had a habit of talking with various Clerics and concluding with; “hasn’t he got nice eyes?” as well as a narcisstic tendency to film himself. Hmmm. But it was his arrival in Gaza that really got my gander up.

Now I’ve been to Palestine a few times, most recently in November at the start of the current Intifada, and it appeared to me that our man ‘behind the line’ was just a teeny weeny bit biased towards the Israelis. In some parts he was downright offensive. It appears that he had some negative stereotyping that he wanted to reinforce. Now it wasn’t me who came up with the three golden truths that the beeb hold so dearly to their hearts: ‘Impartiality’, ‘objectivity’ and ‘balance’ but Lord Reith – its founder and arch propagandist. Our man Langan was hard pushed to reach any of those. It wouldn’t have been so bad if he hadn’t kept on declaring that; “I’m with the BBC” in a plumy Oxbridge accent to everyone that he met…

Example 1 - Langan is driving along the Gaza Strip in a Palestinian taxi towards Khan Yunis refugee camp. The Taxi-driver points to an Israeli Hotel that is part of a fortified settlement. Langan tactfully remarks: “ So I could check into an Israeli hotel?? I may do, they’re probably better (laughing) …Nah its lovely… “ The Taxi driver appears visibly miffed. Langan continues: “ Its like the Sex pistols song ‘holiday at other peoples misery’ – its like the Alamo here…”

Was that an example of his ‘disarming sense of humour’? This wasn’t the impression that I got. Langan is on a bus mans holiday with a camera, a press pass, and an expense account ( paid for by license payers ). Israel = good, Palestine = bad. It’s as clear-cut as that.

So after strolling around Khan Yunis, declaring authorativly a few times that he’s “with the BBC”, and being led around by children, a voice-over gives the British Government line that Hamas is an extreme Islamic Terrorist organisation. A few days earlier Hamas was outlawed under the Terrorism Act by Jack ‘Boots’ Straw…No coincidence there then…hmmm. Langan jumps into his waiting car to escape and comments; “ Well we’re leaving thank god. And we’ve immediately entered an Israeli zone. And the beach is over there. And it’s gone from mad mayhem, noise and overcrowding, to peace and tranquillity…” Hmmm

Next up, Langan goes to meet up with Sheikh Yassin, founder and spiritual leader of Hamas. Now Yassin is a quadriplegic. He’s been imprisoned many times by the Israelis. Langan seems surprised that he hasn’t been assassinated. They agree to meet at Yassin’s house later for an interview as he’s in the middle of a press conference. Langan is sat beside a bearded Palestinian man. He points to the man and asks him; “Hamas?? – I’m with the BBC”. The man shakes his head. It appears that he can’t speak English. Langan then aside to the camera says, “He looks like a terrorist doesn’t he?” The man looks at him annoyed. “ Cor blimey – I think I’ve upset him…I better leave” and off he trots.

Next our intrepid reporter finds a group of 18-19 yr old boys hanging out on Gaza beach having a barbecue. One of the boys insists that only 1000 Jews were murdered during the war. This admission on its own is horrifyingly ignorant. The boys friends laugh at him when he makes this proclamation…the same boy then goes on to make the point that many Palestinians have been killed by Israelis but this fact is not given the same attention in the West as the Israeli holocaust, and he also states how many members of his family have been killed & injured by Israelis. Instead of questioning this stance Langan encourages the boys to sing, dance and swim…its not difficult to get dumb youngsters to play up for cameras. Another negative stereotype reinforced.

After Langan attempts to gain entry unsuccessfully into a settlement we see him visit a Palestinian summer camp for boys. In my opinion this is no different to Army Cadets or Air Cadets…but Langan, our intrepid reporter, is obviously freaked out by young boys stripping Kalashnikovs and yelling “Allah”. He then asks an eleven year old who the enemy is… “The Jews” he replies. Fade to black. Funnily enough you never see Langan asking any Israeli settler children who their enemies are just for that BBC ‘balance’. I find the whole notion of making a political point through the use of children highly dubious. It doesn’t seem to bother Langan though.

Next up Langan goes for his interview with Sheikh Yassin. He jokes with his Palestinian taxi driver that Yassin will be angry if he his late for his appointment. Langan quips, “ What else does he have to do…prepare the holy war?” It’s pretty obvious that Langan misunderstands the term ‘Jihad’ – a common mistake in the west. Jihad means struggle and it can relate to all areas of life i.e. the struggle to give up smoking can be a jihad, not just a ‘holy war’. Langan’s voiceover continues; “Sheikh Yassin wasn’t exactly in hiding. His home is on the high street. Like the summer camp for boys, separate roads and suburban settlements for Jews, and holocaust denial, the extreme has become the everyday…” We then see Langan explaining to the camera; “ They’re just getting him ready. They’re lifting him from his bed on to his wheelchair…” Langan then fiddles with some nearby Physiotherapy equipment. He quipily quips; “ These are Yassins torture instruments.”

We cut to the interview. (I’ve included all of Sheikh Yassins interview here because its quite interesting to see what a terrorist sounds like…don’t get me wrong I’m no apologist for Hamas’ suicide bombers or its anti-Israel stance but Yassin here sounds quite similar to Malcolm X?) A photographer is taking a picture of them both sat at a table. Langan again quips “ He’s like Naomi Campbell…”

Langan : “ Is it a holy war or a war of liberation…or both “
Yassin: “ We wish to liberate our land – you can call it what you want. We wish to liberate our land and return our people to it. That’s what the war is all about.”
Langan: “ Could you explain then because in my understanding that the rules of Jihad grant that you must not kill women and children…that you must not kill unarmed civilians…it even says that you must not kill your enemy if he’s tilling the land so i.e. if a soldiers back from the front and providing for his family…(he changes tact) there are many laws of Jihad which in my mind Hamas has broken by setting of bombs in shopping malls…and breaking the rules of Jihad undermines the claims of Hamas from being an Islamic movement.”
Yassin: “ What he’s saying is not correct. Above all, we are a people who follow the teachings of Islam. One of the teachings of Islam is that we should treat our enemy as he treats us. Our God says if you are punished you must punish the perpetrators in the same way. Our enemy has attacked and killed civilians. We have the right to defend ourselves based on what he has done to us. We’re not going against the teachings of Islam. If our enemy commits himself not to attack or massacre civilians…then we wouldn’t touch any civilian. There’s a difference between what’s right and what’s magnanimous. If you slap me its my right to slap you back. If I magnanimously forgive you, then that’s better. But I still have the right to slap you. If a Palestinian moves away from his own people and land and starts helping the enemy against his own people then he is a traitor and a traitor should be killed. The rules that apply to the enemy also apply to traitors.”
Langan: “As a religious man does he still also have problems being involved in a war? “
Yassin: “My conscience is very clear about what I’m doing because I’m not the aggressor. I’m just defending myself. And I have the right to defend myself by all means. Whoever wishes to kill me, it is my right to kill him. Whoever wants to take my home I have the right to fight him. And whoever wants to kill my children, it is my right to fight them. I’m only defending myself. The guilty conscience belongs to the violator and the terrorist who drives people from their land and takes their land by force- that’s the real terrorist.”

Langan continues with a voiceover: “ Before I met him I expected to be outraged. But I’d spent to long in Gaza. The man who proposes the violent over throw of Israel wanted to pray. “

Outside Langan lets his real feelings known. “ I feel a little guilty about not giving Sheikh Yassin a harder time in our meeting. I came here expecting to meet the leader and the founder of Hamas. A hate figure in Israel. A man held responsible for countless crimes and murders of men, women and children…and I was sat right up close to him, closer than any Israeli has got…and I was looking him right in the eye…and I didn’t feel anything…”

We cut to Langan’s luxury room at the Beach hotel. He’s laid on his bed, ruminating:

“ I kissed him…yuk…I can just imagine family members of those who’d been killed feeling nauseous and disgusted by it…and then I come home and watch the TV…and its Israeli TV that I watch…and they all look so cool and young and wearing the same sunglasses as the soldiers…and its that Israel that I feel at home with and have sympathy with…that secular Israel …and yet at the same time they live in a country which has these…this pocket …this ‘Gaza Strip’ separate roads, walls and barbed wire…it’s a confusing place Gaza…”

Langan then goes to film the Erez checkpoint where thousands of Palestinian workers cross into Israel daily. He mentions that 25,000 workers do this, although I’m sure the correct figures around 38,000 – he also doesn’t mention the fact that 5 years ago this number was around 200,000…but I’ll give him credit where its due that it’s a brave bit of filming to do…I’ve been caught there twice myself filming.

We then see him leaving Gaza, and driving through lush agricultural land where he concludes: “ I must say even though the Palestinians made me feel incredibly welcome…its very intense in all manner of ways in Gaza…and the first thing you notice when you make it out of that sealed border…you have a sigh of relief…and you suddenly find yourself in open space which is at a premium…and suddenly you’re aware of this wide open land on the other side of the border…and unlike those inside I was able to leave…they’re not free to move…they’re not free within their own territory really…and they have very few rights…everything which comes in and out of Gaza even the milk, petrol, and the people, can be cut of at will by the Israelis and that to my mind is a ghetto..” He completely misses the fundamental fact that the agricultural land he’s driving through belonged to Palestinian farmers and was confiscated in 1967 en masse. A minor point…

So, there you have it. But where’s he coming from? I scratched about a bit to try and find out who Sean Langan is. In other words I got on the net, went to the google search engine and typed in Sean Langan. Bingo! It appears that our intrepid reporter is what you’d call a “lifestyle” journalist. In 1993 he was working for the Mail on Sunday chatting with the likes of Kenneth Brannagh and Prince Edward. The Daily Mail, funnily enough did a nice two-page spread on his first foray into television. He then graduated to the likes of Arena and Esquire magazine where he wrote a 30-point advice column on the fine art of lying – my personal favourite being point 22: “Sound the part. Anyone who says: “Honest, guv’. I ain’t done nuffink” is obviously lying and guilty as charged. So if you’re going to commit a crime, it’s best to have a middle-class accent.” Quite telling I thought…He has recently penned articles as well for the Guardian and Independent. Apparently he got himself into some hot water when he portrayed students as financially incompetent drug users. In the article Langan derided research on student spending habits for failing to take into account the £20 a week he estimates all students spend on drugs. Hmmm. Funnily enough both the above papers plugged his show quite heavily without mentioning the fact he was an ex-employee. I guess it’s a case of not what you know but whom you know. Only David Hencke at the Guardian criticised him saying; “ But none of the episodes could reasonably be called investigative journalism - even if they did challenge some of the myths about the Muslim world portrayed in the tabloids.” I guess he hasn’t challenged enough of the myths for my liking.