Latest news with #Dimbleby
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Now more than ever, remembering the Holocaust is vital
When Richard Dimbleby, then the BBC's war correspondent, entered Bergen-Belsen shortly after its liberation on this day in 1945 he was confronted with a scene of unthinkable horror. His description of what he saw was so graphic the BBC refused to broadcast his despatch for several days and when aired. It was for many the first time they learned of the horrific crimes perpetrated by the Nazis. At the end of his broadcast, Dimbleby said: 'I have set down these facts at length because, in common with all of us who have been to the camp, I feel that you should be told, without reserve, exactly what has been happening.' I'll be thinking of that broadcast when I attend a ceremony at the camp to commemorate the 80th anniversary of its liberation by the British Army. Dimbleby assumed that one day people would deny the Holocaust. He was right. In spite of all the evidence – physical, printed, filmed – an entire industry has grown around Holocaust denial. In some countries it is prohibited by law, but in many it is not and in some, such as Iran, Holocaust denial is actively promoted. Social media is awash with it. Conspiracists argue that the camps never existed and the facts have all been fabricated. Of course, the real fabrication lies in the minds of those who want to deny truth in order to justify their own belief systems. Constant vigilance is the only defence we have against such lies. Hence why the trips to the camps, museums and memorials – as well as hearing directly from Holocaust survivors themselves – are so essential. The last year-and-a-half has shown us why. On October 7 Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, murdering 1195 people. That day was the deadliest single day for Jews since 1945 and marks the second-highest number of British deaths from an overseas terror attack after 9/11. Because the perpetrators recorded their actions, we now have a ghastly archive of video footage of the last minutes of the lives of terrified young people killed in their cars, on the streets and in their homes. Of stripped women and murdered children. We also have the testimonies of those who were there and miraculously survived, as well as the forensic evidence of scientists and medics. The evidence is unassailable, yet the facts of that day are being denied. Claims have been made that the videos were staged, that the attack was planned by Israel, that what occurred doesn't count as terrorism. The Holocaust showed the world why the Jewish people needed the state of Israel. The world's reaction to Oct 7 highlights why remembering what really happened has never been more vital. Keith Black is the chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Now more than ever, remembering the Holocaust is vital
When Richard Dimbleby, then the BBC's war correspondent, entered Bergen-Belsen shortly after its liberation on this day in 1945 he was confronted with a scene of unthinkable horror. His description of what he saw was so graphic the BBC refused to broadcast his despatch for several days and when aired. It was for many the first time they learned of the horrific crimes perpetrated by the Nazis. At the end of his broadcast, Dimbleby said: 'I have set down these facts at length because, in common with all of us who have been to the camp, I feel that you should be told, without reserve, exactly what has been happening.' I'll be thinking of that broadcast when I attend a ceremony at the camp to commemorate the 80th anniversary of its liberation by the British Army. Dimbleby assumed that one day people would deny the Holocaust. He was right. In spite of all the evidence – physical, printed, filmed – an entire industry has grown around Holocaust denial. In some countries it is prohibited by law, but in many it is not and in some, such as Iran, Holocaust denial is actively promoted. Social media is awash with it. Conspiracists argue that the camps never existed and the facts have all been fabricated. Of course, the real fabrication lies in the minds of those who want to deny truth in order to justify their own belief systems. Constant vigilance is the only defence we have against such lies. Hence why the trips to the camps, museums and memorials – as well as hearing directly from Holocaust survivors themselves – are so essential. The last year-and-a-half has shown us why. On October 7 Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, murdering 1195 people. That day was the deadliest single day for Jews since 1945 and marks the second-highest number of British deaths from an overseas terror attack after 9/11. Because the perpetrators recorded their actions, we now have a ghastly archive of video footage of the last minutes of the lives of terrified young people killed in their cars, on the streets and in their homes. Of stripped women and murdered children. We also have the testimonies of those who were there and miraculously survived, as well as the forensic evidence of scientists and medics. The evidence is unassailable, yet the facts of that day are being denied. Claims have been made that the videos were staged, that the attack was planned by Israel, that what occurred doesn't count as terrorism. The Holocaust showed the world why the Jewish people needed the state of Israel. The world's reaction to Oct 7 highlights why remembering what really happened has never been more vital.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
BBC Veteran Journalist Shares He Asked Bill Clinton Sexual Questions 'For A Bet'
Veteran BBC journalist David Dimbleby interviewed Bill Clinton for TV in 2004 and enraged the former US president with questions about his denial of his affair with Monica Lewinsky. This weekend, Dimbleby – who was for a long time the BBC's premier broadcaster of public events including general elections and royal ceremonies – shared that he had raised the subject of oral sex with Clinton to win a bet with a friend. The broadcaster told The Times newspaper about why he had asked Clinton – who initially denied sexual relations with Lewinsky – whether oral sex did not count as sexual relations. More from Deadline Emma Laird To Star In 'Mint'; Cameras Roll On 'Scrapper' Director Charlotte Regan's Family Crime Drama For The BBC BBC & ZDF Strike High-End Drama Partnership BBC Marking Five Years Since George Floyd's Death With Feature Doc 'That was a bet actually, the oral sex thing,' Dimbleby revealed. 'A friend of mine said, 'I bet you a bottle of champagne you won't ask him about that.' And I said, 'I bet you do.' It didn't go down too well.' During the interview for the BBC's flagship current affairs show Panorama, Clinton told his inquisitor: 'Look how much time you've spent asking me these questions in this time you've had. That's because that's what you care about, because that's what you think helps you and this interview. I care about what happened to the people I fought for. 'That's why people like you always help the far-Right because you like to hurt people and you like to talk about how bad people are and all their personal failings.' 'You made a decision to allocate your time in a certain way, you should take responsibility for that. You should say 'Yes, I care much more about this than whether people in Bosnia were saved.'' Clinton added: 'I don't make any excuses for myself. I've already said I'm pretty tough on myself.' The interview drew one of Panorama's largest ever UK audiences, joining a list that included Princess Diana's now-discredited interview with Martin Bashir in 1995. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery '1923' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
The Guardian
22-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Gareth Southgate nails his big lecture in a victory for competitive caring
Say what you like, and the haters – we know this about the haters – will continue to hate, are in effect defined by their hating. But Gareth Southgate has now finally delivered on the biggest stage of all. This is of course a reference to the stage at Senate House library, venue for Big Gate's big Dimbleby lecture, recorded in front of an audience of silent, rapt, nodding people, and broadcast this week on the BBC. This is what elite big-lecture managers do. They seize the moment. They shut out the noise. Gareth at the Dimbleby? Absolutely nailed it. It was a bit disconcerting at first to see him back, quietly iconic in deep blue suit, pocket square, no tie. The beard is good. The hair is merino-wool-cardigan-model slick, but also somehow just a bit Spitfire pilot. Mainly it was just delightful to have him, Southgate speaking without notes, steepling his fingers behind his lectern and spreading his palms for preacherly emphasis, like a man continually estimating and re-estimating the size of a side of beef at the butcher's counter. This was in many ways ultimate Southgate, Peak Gaz. It is what his life has been leading to. Here is a man who should always be stood at a dais saying stuff about the challenges of building a culture while the cameras cut to a frowning Dimbleby. What was he like up there anyway? Still fluent and endearingly gawky, like an aardvark who is only now remembering it shouldn't actually be able to talk. Above all grave and wholesome, a youthful headteacher inspiring a roomful of children in a porridge advert. And this was the key effect, a reminder of his best bits, that stubborn sense of decency. There were echoes of the post-Euro 2021 support for his team and their penalty takers. And of the media duties in Bulgaria after England's players had been racially abused, where Southgate also spoke into the lens about morality and doing the right thing, even as the local camera crew could be heard telling him to 'fuck off' from the back of the press room. These are timely memories, because intentionally or not Southgate was speaking to his critics at Senate House, sub-lecturing the haters, and doing so pre-emptively given Thomas Tuchel's unexpectedly spicy comments a few days later about a lack of focus and drive, too much in the way of politics around the place. Southgate's reputation will continue to be divvied up in this way. Oddly perhaps given the objective fact of sustained and mould-breaking success. There are only two reasons now for maintaining that England failed under Southgate. Either you don't understand football history, having perhaps only come to the game in 2018. Or you just don't like his politics, the Woke-gate stuff, the hectoring tone, and fancy having a pop back. In this context his most interesting point, about understanding what failure and success are, about allowing nuance and reflection to enter the chat, will be lost. The fact remains England were bad before Southgate turned up. The players are not the best in the world with an innate entitlement to win tournaments. The style under Southgate was also a bit stodgy and limited in the final knockings. End of story. There was also just a huge amount of good sense in Southgate's big address. The evils of the unfiltered smart-phone-plus-social-media dynamic. Constant access both to actual porn and to the lifestyle porn of aggressively aspirational consumerism. This is also bad. And improving the lot of young men will improve the lot of everyone, most obviously young women. There were some issues too with what Southgate said. I slightly worry about him. The England job drives people mad. Is he still living out that battle now in his new incarnation as high-status Man Feelings evangelist? There is a sense with Southgate of competitive caring. He's now going to win at compassion. Which is, to be fair, not the worst thing to win at. Is the big dichotomy he set up between the internet (bad) and dads (good) really quite so absolute? Sometimes dads are bad. Sometimes it's actually better if they're absent. Sometimes the internet is good. All these things are in the end just made up of people. Perhaps the biggest problem was the rapt and gushing staging, the director constantly cutting to the faces of hopeful young people gazing at Sir Gareth as if they've just been hit over the head with a rock and it's the greatest thing that's ever happened to them. Every question involved someone agreeing with him, a fawning amplification of his rightness. A more exacting Q&A would have been more interesting, not to mention inclusive. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion For all that, Southgate remains a litmus test. He may be wrong about some things, and he kind of has a right to be wrong, as we all do if our intentions are to understand and be understood. But as ever, in football and life, if you really think the essentially benevolent and competent person over there is the problem, the chances are that actually it's you. There are two things worth adding as the Dimbleby moment fades. First, it is necessary for Tuchel to reject Southgate-ism. This is a no-nonsense 18-month commercial deal. And Tuchel is bang up to date on the change of tone around sport with his comments this week about no longer commenting on politics, just sticking to football, worrying instead about your vague and directionless teammate. Maybe if they hadn't been up late workshopping a policy on rights for migrant quinoa farmers, eh, eh am I right? This is the prevailing wind now. There is a weariness out there. Increasingly power is simply seen as right, morality bending its knee to the loudest voice, the greatest dictator. Russia will soon be back in full sporting competition. Israel isn't even an issue. Donald Trump is co-steering the next World Cup with his great friend Gianni Infantino, whose nose remains pressed eagerly against the Oval Office window, another gift bag in hand. But it is also the case that to overtly reject politics is also to accept politics of another kind. Talking about it may be awkward. Not talking about it, playing your part in an industry so clearly propaganda-led in its staging, is acquiescence and complicity. Stand in respectful silence next to a despot waving a trophy. Allow the flag to be draped across your shoulders. Smile through Donald Trump's needy, electioneering World Cup. No-dissent is assent when all that gravity is only going one way. It remains entirely right and legit that a football manager may want to stay silent on matters beyond the pitch. But let's not pretend this isn't a kind of politics too. For now Southgate deserves his flowers. His attacking patterns may have been stodgy. The energy may have ebbed by the end. But he has at least occupied a space that many others have simply vacated, talking about men and boys and doing the right thing in a way that almost no one else in public life does. He remains a good man trying to do good things. He nailed the Dimbleby. Although, he did also kick it all off by making the point, once again, that one missed penalty kick at Wembley in 1996 did not define his life, while spending 20 minutes expanding in peeled-eyeball detail on how one missed penalty at Wembley in 1996 would go on to define his life. It's a process Mr Southgate. We can talk about this again next week.
BBC News
22-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Community groups can provide solution to toxic masculinity'
Community group leaders have urged others to help them show up for young men in response to the Netflix drama Adolescence and Gareth Southgate's Dimbleby TV show and the former England manager's speech have sparked discussions about toxic masculinity and misogynistic content shared organisations in Bristol and Somerset feel that exposing boys to positive role models and positive experiences can tackle the growing issues. "The situation is complex", said Martin Bisp, CEO and co-founder of Empire Fighting Chance, a charity born on Bristol's streets in 2006. "One of the problems we see is that young people don't talk to each other anymore and instead they turn to online."But they actually want to talk and they want to express themselves."Young males might be angry or need somewhere to go, they could be living in chaotic households or they may be getting bullied, and they need an outlet."Speaking to BBC Radio Bristol about the growing popularity of misogynistic influencers, Mr Bisp said good role models are important."We can't keep putting it on schools, asking teachers to do more for less. As a society it's all our responsibility," he said. "We all need to step up and play our part."He said youth services are an "extraordinarily important" part of the solution. "Have a look at what's available and if you think you can add value and you can commit, get involved and volunteer," he added. 'I never had male role models' Matt Lawrence, a 20-year-old boxer and coach, has seen first-hand the difference clubs like his can joined Empire Fighting Chance when he was 14 and said at the time he was experiencing social anxiety and bullying in school."I was bullied quite badly," he said."The reason I started boxing was because I wanted to feel respected. "I felt that when people looked at me they saw nothing. I didn't feel like I mattered." "I didn't have male role models growing up. I never knew my dad," he said."I had a challenging upbringing, I was on my own a lot of the time."He said boxing gave him self-belief, something he tries to instil in the children that he coaches."I didn't realise it at the time, how much of an impact coaches had on my life," he said."The support and belief they gave me to push myself shaped the way I see myself."When I joined Empire, my first coach was actually a woman. "I have positive male role models now, and I think it's important having both men and women you can look up to." 'It's not just about football anymore' Another youth club hoping to make a difference is Rhode Lane Wanderers football team based in Bridgwater, run by manager and coach Sam Smith."It's not just about teaching football anymore, it's so much more," he said."It's about teaching respect, resilience, helping each other and being part of a community." Mr Smith hopes Adolescence will be an eye-opener for parents."I think phone use is an addiction," he said."I've seen people say that access should be restricted but it's just as much about raising awareness of this, and I think Adolescence is going to help."It will help parents realise the dangers of being online, sometimes they're not obvious."
