Iran vs Israel war is drama or distraction?
\
it was an Iranian military attack that
was made for TV so was the Israeli
response but what will all this lead to
apart from taking the eyes of the world
off of Gaza terminology matters the New
York Times knows it and the language it
is using on Gaza is a story unto itself
plus Believers in Kenya led to their
graves by a televangelist where were the
regulators
it's been a week now since more than 300
Iranian missiles and drones were
launched Israel's way but despite the
initial alarm the rush to the bomb
shelters the Doomsday scenarios an
allout Regional War has failed to
materialize instead Israel conducted a
limited Counterattack on Friday on
Military Targets in Isfahan which was
similar to Iran's strategic approach
the vast majority of those Iranian
projectiles were shot down by Israel or
its allies the damage was minimal zero
Israeli fatalities an outcome that
military experts concluded was by Design
Israel's response also had more to do
with spectacle than substance because
the Netanyahu government had the Optics
to consider don't act and risk losing
face or retaliate when its primary
backer the US had called for restraint
at least publicly whatever happens next
Iran's attack and the way it has been
characterized in the western media may
have garnered Israel some more support
abroad which could prove crucial in this
battle of perceptions as Israeli forces
continue to slaughter Palestinians in
Gaza any kind of a battle between Iran
and Israel is not only a battle between
two armed military or two sets of
government officials issuing competing
or conflicting statements it's also a
battle of nerves the battle for
information superiority for
international support and
sympathy when our news feeds lit up on
that night with images of military
fireworks in the Skies over Israel there
was reason to fear the
worst depending on who then spun the
story Iran's Airborne assault was either
a reckless Act of aggression that risked
triggering a wider War firing 11 10
ballistic missiles is a dangerous
escalation if those or a deliberate Act
of
restraint it proved to be a highly
performative exercise on Ton's part that
resulted in no Israeli fatality ities
had more to do with messaging than
anything else and had to leave
warmongers
disappointed From thean perspective it
was a a chance to put on a spectacle to
really get the headlines and show that
they engage in unprecedented direct
action against Israel but it was mainly
a message because we didn't have the
mass casualties on Israel's part it was
a opportunity to put out the message
that he was able to defend itself 99% of
missiles were shot down so from both
sides they could claim victory not only
the Iranian strike was well telegraphed
in advance it was clearly coordinated in
a fashion that Israel and its allies
could defend effectively so the point
was not destruction the point was a
political message that the Iranians were
sending to try to reestablish deterrence
against
Israel Israel's response to Iran's
attack took 6 days to happen it too was
limited largely symbolic targeting an
air base near fan not the city itself
nor the nuclear plant nearby that failed
to satisfy Israeli hard liners like
security minister itamar Ben gavier who
flat out called it lame while Israel's
cheerleaders like the British prime
minister offered their approval allies
you know we have condemned Iran's
Reckless and dangerous barrage of
missiles against Israel on Saturday and
Israel absolutely has the right to
self-defense which was consistent with
what had come out of the White House and
many Western governments in the
aftermath of Iran's initial attack that
the Islamic Republic was the aggressor
so let's be straight given the scale of
this attack Iran's intent was clearly to
cause significant destruction and
casualties the US called Iran's actions
unprecedented even though they had been
preceded by Israel's bombing of an
Iranian Consular building in the Syrian
Capital Damascus on April 1st that
killed two Iranian generals among others
it was a position the UK also took that
when challenged proved to be a hard cell
black and white what would Britain do if
a hostile Nation flattened one of our
consulants well we would take you know
we would take the very strong action and
Iran would say that that's what they did
well even those well aware Iran has
influence Beyond its borders and uses
its embassies and consulates as cover
when arming its Regional allies have
said the Israeli strike in Damascus was
dangerously
provocative here I must be very very
critical about Israel it was one of
those Adventures that Israel is
committing only because it is possible
there was hardly a debate about the
consequences about the price about the
day after I mean Israel explained it
with damaging the military capab of Iran
or
or what is this rubbish by the end of
the day it's about showing of the
Israeli Macho the Israeli James Bond
deterrence will never be achieved
through assassinations and capabilities
are not damaged by those assassination
so we are left only with the need need
to show off Iran is often portrayed in
Western media as a malign actor there is
uh very rarely a recognition that like
most other states uh Iran has legitimate
security concerns and at times has
responded with restraint over the past
few months Israel had killed multiple
senior Iranian military officials in
Syria Israel has conducted covert
operations against Iranian nuclear
facilities against Iranian
infrastructure killed Iranian scientists
Iranian commanders on Iranian soil so
this is not a one-sided fight and you
rarely see the uh Western media trying
to strike a balance in distributing or
allocating uh blame for the current
situation so what was really behind
Iran's theatrical But ultimately limited
Act of war the Iranian military could
have have launched more of its drones
and missiles through one of its proxies
such as Hezbollah in Lebanon right next
door to Israel instead it not only sent
almost all of them from Iran it
broadcasted some of those launches
giving the Israelis and their American
and British allies 3 hours to prepare
for them and ultimately take most of the
missiles down but like the Netanyahu
government in Israel the leaders of the
Islamic Republic have been playing to a
domestic audience the drones and
missiles most of which the Iranians knew
would never land were the vehicles for
that Iran at the moment is in a quite
fragile state internally there has been
for the last two or three years quite a
lot of protests against um the
authoritarian actions of the regime and
so the regime in Iran is very aware of
the ways in which uh getting embroiled
in another War would actually endanger
its own stability so there is a very
major calculation
uh about its own uh vulnerabilities um
in the ways in which Iran has responded
there are two narratives that going on
in Iran right now one is that this was a
historic strike and parts of the Iranian
population appeared receptive to it
particularly in the aftermath of the
Syria bombing at the same time most
Iranians are not in favor of War their
focus is on their daily lives the
economic conditions and there's been a
renewed Crackdown on the Islamic head
scarf in Iran the mandatory nature of it
and that could very much undermine any
rattling around the flag effect from any
conflict with Israel 3 days after Iran
launched its quasi attack on Israel this
story of performative warfare and Shadow
diplomacy descended into the Absurd when
reports surfaced that the US had
contacted the Islamic Republic asking it
to allow Israel to conduct a symbolic
Counterattack to quote unquote save face
72 hours later Israel hit the base near
Isfahan Israel's interceptors protected
Jerusalem's sacred Islamic sites Iran
equally absurd was this YouTube ad
posted online by the Netanyahu
government trumpeting the interception
of Iran's missiles and declaring that
Israel which has spent 6 months
obliterating Gaza and its Muslim
population had acted to protect some of
Islam's holiest sites it is so
ridiculous I mean really propaganda can
go as far as it wishes but Israel did
not protect the holy places and Iran
didn't Target the holy places Israel is
violating severely for decades the
freedom of of Warship of Muslims mainly
Palestinians to get there when it's
needed
but the Iran attack won a lot of
sympathy back to Israel not to netan so
much but to Israel and the problem is
that Israel is going to lose all the
sympathy if Israel will go for for an
attack as it seems
now as it eventually did 6 days later of
greater value to Israel than any
sympathy Iran's attack may have produced
is the distraction it created away from
the horri iic stories still coming out
of Gaza of so many more Palestinian
bodies getting Unearthed including from
the hospital Al shifa corpses found with
IV tubes still attached images of seven
school children slaughtered on a
playground war crimes that would have
got far more coverage than they did if
news outlets were not transfixed by this
new Iran angle a telegenic story that
for all of the fireworks is not what it
appeared to
be for the past 6 months the New York
times's coverage of Israel's post
October 7th assault on Gaza has taken a
pummeling from critics both inside and
outside the paper Mino shiravi is here
with the latest example of that a report
this past week by the investigative news
site The Intercept revealed a memo that
editors at the Times sent to staff back
in November and which has been regularly
updated since
the memo is effectively a style guide
for the coverage of Israel's post
October 7th assault on Gaza there's
nothing unusual about such style guides
it's standard practice across news
organizations what makes this memo
controversial is some of the terminology
it warns the papers journalists against
using times reporters should the
guidance says avoid using the phrase
occupied territory when describing
Palestinian land which Israel's military
is according to international law
occupying as one time Source interviewed
by The Intercept put it that amounts to
quote taking the occupation out of the
coverage when it is in fact the actual
core of the conflict the memo also
instructs staff to steer clear of the
term refugee camps for parts of Gaza
that are home to Palestinians displaced
during previous Wars these are people
who are
refugees these terms occupied
territories and refugee camps are
official language used by the United
Nations and international NOS it's un
usual for news organizations to restrict
use of this terminology in its response
to the intercepts report a Time
spokesperson said that issuing guidance
like this is to ensure accuracy
consistency and Nuance in how we cover
the news back in February another
intercept investigation into a widely
discredited Times report about the quote
weaponization of rape by Hamas on
October 7th revealed considerable
dissent in The times's Newsroom over the
paper's Gaza coverage clearly that
discontent is still brewing and still
leaking out to The Intercept thanks
Mina last year we aired a disturbing
story out of Kenya about the dangers of
religious broadcasting televangelism and
how difficult that content can be to
regulate we are rebroadcasting it now
because the televangelist at the heart
of the story Paul McKenzie has been
forly charged with the murder of
191 people McKenzie allegedly LED those
victims his followers to their deaths by
telling them the world was coming to an
end among the questions being asked in
the aftermath should the authorities
Kenya's media Regulators have done more
to stop McKenzie's doomsday preachings
from being broadcast and if so how would
that square with the right
constitutionally protected in Kenya to
freedom of speech and religion those are
questions that require urgent answers
because televangelism is on the rise in
Kenya where 85% of the population is
christian the listening posts Nick mad
now from the Kenyon Coast on the tragedy
that has come to be known as the shakah
hola
Massacre we've just left m a coastal
town in eastern Kenya and are heading
Inland to the shakah hola
forest in March news broke that a woman
had killed her children here in order to
please God when the story broke Joseph
yeri was one of the first journalists at
the scene we were first called here by
the police we were informed that there
were two bodies two bodies of children
buried inside here instead we found
bodies all over M graes all
over to date more than 350 bodies and
Counting have been
exed they were all led to the forest by
a televangelist named Paul McKenzie he
is thought to have told them that the
world was ending and that in order to
reach God they would have to starve
themselves to death first children then
women then men McKenzie said he would
follow but he never did so tell me about
poor McKenzie what do we know about him
initially was a taxi driver in malindi
until he formed his own Ministry now
called Good News International
Ministries that church according to the
Believers who who first went in was just
a good church Miracles happened until
2015 now when he became a t evangelist
Pastor the message started changing he
started introducing the issue to do with
um um prophecies and all these
prophecies were broadcasted live on
television tell me about McKenzie's
followers those that followed him into
this Forest they came from wide because
McKenzie had followers all over so
presumably many of those people would
never have heard of Paul McKenzie were
it not for his TV channel
correct there's still an estimated 600
of poor McKenzie's followers who are
still missing in chakola Forest one of
them is a woman named Pamela mulas Singa
she's from banga it's a county in
Northwest Kenya the opposite end of the
country nearly a th000 km from here
we've managed to find a son he's living
in Nairobi so I'm off to the capital to
meet
him T evangelism is the use of media to
communicate
Christianity everybody the
televangelists in Kenya often claim that
they can perform Miracles I stand
against those Powers now deliver
spiritual healing and guarantee
Prosperity typically in the exchange for
donations which have made some till
evangelist very wealthy and
influential for some viewers often the
most vulnerable the promise being
directly into their homes of divine
intervention by these pastors proves
irresistible Paul McKenzie is what we
would refer to as a Charisma
Authority because in order to be a t
evangelist in order to hold the
attention of a audience no matter how
big or small you have to have a
particular kind of Charisma comparing to
other African tele evangelists you can
tell that uh the rest of the African
tele evangelists tend to go the
Prosperity Way and uh Paul McKenzie goes
the mystical
way when mystery kicks in then uh you
know somebody is believed to have
information or news or power that other
people don't have and so that um
ultic mystical element is what really
endeared him to a lot of
people Pam mallis Singer's son Rogers
shibusa says that she would spend her
days watching McKenzie's Times TV
channel and was captivated by his
sermons that promised spiritual healing
she thought he could help her daughter
who was suffering from mental health
issues this time last year sh's mother
his sister and her three-year-old
daughter left home to join the
televangelist
okay the main reason my mother followed
McKenzie's preaching was my Elder
sister's illness during his TV sermons
McKenzie would often use the Bible and a
specific oil to heal people so my mother
thought he might be able to help my
sister that was her main motivation if
it wasn't for his TV station my mother
never would have heard of someone like
McKenzie when religion comes under the
agency of media then media transforms
that religion and so perhaps for people
like Paul McKenzie media tended to give
them some kind of reputation and
credibility Paul McKenzie's message
would have first started out as what we
would consider an instance of religious
diversity right because it doesn't just
start off as an end of times we then see
it moving into a space of deviance
education is evil and then later on we
see it moving into a space of
danger Hallelujah now it's difficult to
predict what the progression will be
because not all diverse iterations of a
mainstream religion will become deviant
and not all deviant iterations of a
mainstream religion will become
dangerous but sometimes they
do the question now is at what point
should the Kenyan authorities have
intervened and could they have done so
while upholding McKenzie's
constitutional right to freedom of
thought and religion the communications
Authority is the body responsible for
regulating broadcast media in the
country this past April it suspended
McKenzie's TV channel but only after the
shakah hola story had broken and even
then it was mostly for administrative
non-compliance little of the content it
review broke the rules I asked the
director General how his organization
monitors this kind of content we use a
system that logs the information but
when you have 320 TV stations for you to
make sense of that content the
technology we have is somebody has to
sit down and listen through or watch to
be able to conclude uh the nature of
that particular content that's why the
complaint mechanism is much better if
somebody sees something un becoming then
they're able to report then we can now
go specifically to track down that
specific uh broadcaster the problem I
see with that mechanism is that you are
relying on viewer feedback but often the
viewers of these channels are the people
that are being radicalized do you not
see that as an issue in the system it's
really a problem but then our
responsibility is not to regulate
content of theolog theological nature
unless it's so obvious on the face of it
content that we looked at we did not see
a direct link with with with the
massacre do you not think that yes there
may not be a direct link to shank Kahola
but but that problematic content need
the Miracles and the prosperity
preachings yeah do you not think that
needs to be regulated you know the
trouble with the issues of religion and
faith is exactly that faith and that's
why when you allow freedom of religion
is to just allow people to make sense of
life in the way they see best so the
risk of going that through it is that
you end up being a policeman on people's
conscience but that balance has to be
struck and that's a really big challenge
for
us poor McKenzie is now in jail and
faces multiple charges but the media
environment in which he thrived and the
constitutional rights that protected him
remain the same Kenya is 85% Christian
and T evangelists wield enormous
influence so politicians wanting to stay
in power are unlikely to challenge the
hegemony of these TV pastors and their
armies of faithful followers even if
that leaves an Untold number of
vulnerable people at
risk I left Nairobi for malindi to
search for my mother when I got there
found one of McKenzie's followers who
had been rescued they told me they had
seen my mother and my sister my sister
and her child had been tied up until
they died and were buried having seen
all this my mother ran deep into the
forest I had been trying to find her
ever since but to this day nothing
and finally this past week the world's
most elaborate election process got
underway Indians and there are more than
950 million eligible voters will be
casting ballots over the next 6 weeks
prime minister Narendra Modi and his
party the BJP are considered a lock to
to win an historic third term key
opposition leaders are in jail many
others have been forced into the BJP by
threats of legal cases or lured in by
the prospect of getting senior positions
in the party and then there is the
undeniable domination of the Indian
media Space by Modi from anchors on
mainstream news channels to influencers
on social media even the Bollywood Elite
the BJP has either convinced or coerced
people into echoing the message that
there is no alternative to Modi even
worth debating let alone voting for
we'll be keeping our eyes on this story
and the central role that the Indian
media are playing in it and we'll see
you next time here at the listening post
it was an Iranian military attack that
was made for TV so was the Israeli
response but what will all this lead to
apart from taking the eyes of the world
off of Gaza terminology matters the New
York Times knows it and the language it
is using on Gaza is a story unto itself
plus Believers in Kenya led to their
graves by a televangelist where were the
regulators
it's been a week now since more than 300
Iranian missiles and drones were
launched Israel's way but despite the
initial alarm the rush to the bomb
shelters the Doomsday scenarios an
allout Regional War has failed to
materialize instead Israel conducted a
limited Counterattack on Friday on
Military Targets in Isfahan which was
similar to Iran's strategic approach
the vast majority of those Iranian
projectiles were shot down by Israel or
its allies the damage was minimal zero
Israeli fatalities an outcome that
military experts concluded was by Design
Israel's response also had more to do
with spectacle than substance because
the Netanyahu government had the Optics
to consider don't act and risk losing
face or retaliate when its primary
backer the US had called for restraint
at least publicly whatever happens next
Iran's attack and the way it has been
characterized in the western media may
have garnered Israel some more support
abroad which could prove crucial in this
battle of perceptions as Israeli forces
continue to slaughter Palestinians in
Gaza any kind of a battle between Iran
and Israel is not only a battle between
two armed military or two sets of
government officials issuing competing
or conflicting statements it's also a
battle of nerves the battle for
information superiority for
international support and
sympathy when our news feeds lit up on
that night with images of military
fireworks in the Skies over Israel there
was reason to fear the
worst depending on who then spun the
story Iran's Airborne assault was either
a reckless Act of aggression that risked
triggering a wider War firing 11 10
ballistic missiles is a dangerous
escalation if those or a deliberate Act
of
restraint it proved to be a highly
performative exercise on Ton's part that
resulted in no Israeli fatality ities
had more to do with messaging than
anything else and had to leave
warmongers
disappointed From thean perspective it
was a a chance to put on a spectacle to
really get the headlines and show that
they engage in unprecedented direct
action against Israel but it was mainly
a message because we didn't have the
mass casualties on Israel's part it was
a opportunity to put out the message
that he was able to defend itself 99% of
missiles were shot down so from both
sides they could claim victory not only
the Iranian strike was well telegraphed
in advance it was clearly coordinated in
a fashion that Israel and its allies
could defend effectively so the point
was not destruction the point was a
political message that the Iranians were
sending to try to reestablish deterrence
against
Israel Israel's response to Iran's
attack took 6 days to happen it too was
limited largely symbolic targeting an
air base near fan not the city itself
nor the nuclear plant nearby that failed
to satisfy Israeli hard liners like
security minister itamar Ben gavier who
flat out called it lame while Israel's
cheerleaders like the British prime
minister offered their approval allies
you know we have condemned Iran's
Reckless and dangerous barrage of
missiles against Israel on Saturday and
Israel absolutely has the right to
self-defense which was consistent with
what had come out of the White House and
many Western governments in the
aftermath of Iran's initial attack that
the Islamic Republic was the aggressor
so let's be straight given the scale of
this attack Iran's intent was clearly to
cause significant destruction and
casualties the US called Iran's actions
unprecedented even though they had been
preceded by Israel's bombing of an
Iranian Consular building in the Syrian
Capital Damascus on April 1st that
killed two Iranian generals among others
it was a position the UK also took that
when challenged proved to be a hard cell
black and white what would Britain do if
a hostile Nation flattened one of our
consulants well we would take you know
we would take the very strong action and
Iran would say that that's what they did
well even those well aware Iran has
influence Beyond its borders and uses
its embassies and consulates as cover
when arming its Regional allies have
said the Israeli strike in Damascus was
dangerously
provocative here I must be very very
critical about Israel it was one of
those Adventures that Israel is
committing only because it is possible
there was hardly a debate about the
consequences about the price about the
day after I mean Israel explained it
with damaging the military capab of Iran
or
or what is this rubbish by the end of
the day it's about showing of the
Israeli Macho the Israeli James Bond
deterrence will never be achieved
through assassinations and capabilities
are not damaged by those assassination
so we are left only with the need need
to show off Iran is often portrayed in
Western media as a malign actor there is
uh very rarely a recognition that like
most other states uh Iran has legitimate
security concerns and at times has
responded with restraint over the past
few months Israel had killed multiple
senior Iranian military officials in
Syria Israel has conducted covert
operations against Iranian nuclear
facilities against Iranian
infrastructure killed Iranian scientists
Iranian commanders on Iranian soil so
this is not a one-sided fight and you
rarely see the uh Western media trying
to strike a balance in distributing or
allocating uh blame for the current
situation so what was really behind
Iran's theatrical But ultimately limited
Act of war the Iranian military could
have have launched more of its drones
and missiles through one of its proxies
such as Hezbollah in Lebanon right next
door to Israel instead it not only sent
almost all of them from Iran it
broadcasted some of those launches
giving the Israelis and their American
and British allies 3 hours to prepare
for them and ultimately take most of the
missiles down but like the Netanyahu
government in Israel the leaders of the
Islamic Republic have been playing to a
domestic audience the drones and
missiles most of which the Iranians knew
would never land were the vehicles for
that Iran at the moment is in a quite
fragile state internally there has been
for the last two or three years quite a
lot of protests against um the
authoritarian actions of the regime and
so the regime in Iran is very aware of
the ways in which uh getting embroiled
in another War would actually endanger
its own stability so there is a very
major calculation
uh about its own uh vulnerabilities um
in the ways in which Iran has responded
there are two narratives that going on
in Iran right now one is that this was a
historic strike and parts of the Iranian
population appeared receptive to it
particularly in the aftermath of the
Syria bombing at the same time most
Iranians are not in favor of War their
focus is on their daily lives the
economic conditions and there's been a
renewed Crackdown on the Islamic head
scarf in Iran the mandatory nature of it
and that could very much undermine any
rattling around the flag effect from any
conflict with Israel 3 days after Iran
launched its quasi attack on Israel this
story of performative warfare and Shadow
diplomacy descended into the Absurd when
reports surfaced that the US had
contacted the Islamic Republic asking it
to allow Israel to conduct a symbolic
Counterattack to quote unquote save face
72 hours later Israel hit the base near
Isfahan Israel's interceptors protected
Jerusalem's sacred Islamic sites Iran
equally absurd was this YouTube ad
posted online by the Netanyahu
government trumpeting the interception
of Iran's missiles and declaring that
Israel which has spent 6 months
obliterating Gaza and its Muslim
population had acted to protect some of
Islam's holiest sites it is so
ridiculous I mean really propaganda can
go as far as it wishes but Israel did
not protect the holy places and Iran
didn't Target the holy places Israel is
violating severely for decades the
freedom of of Warship of Muslims mainly
Palestinians to get there when it's
needed
but the Iran attack won a lot of
sympathy back to Israel not to netan so
much but to Israel and the problem is
that Israel is going to lose all the
sympathy if Israel will go for for an
attack as it seems
now as it eventually did 6 days later of
greater value to Israel than any
sympathy Iran's attack may have produced
is the distraction it created away from
the horri iic stories still coming out
of Gaza of so many more Palestinian
bodies getting Unearthed including from
the hospital Al shifa corpses found with
IV tubes still attached images of seven
school children slaughtered on a
playground war crimes that would have
got far more coverage than they did if
news outlets were not transfixed by this
new Iran angle a telegenic story that
for all of the fireworks is not what it
appeared to
be for the past 6 months the New York
times's coverage of Israel's post
October 7th assault on Gaza has taken a
pummeling from critics both inside and
outside the paper Mino shiravi is here
with the latest example of that a report
this past week by the investigative news
site The Intercept revealed a memo that
editors at the Times sent to staff back
in November and which has been regularly
updated since
the memo is effectively a style guide
for the coverage of Israel's post
October 7th assault on Gaza there's
nothing unusual about such style guides
it's standard practice across news
organizations what makes this memo
controversial is some of the terminology
it warns the papers journalists against
using times reporters should the
guidance says avoid using the phrase
occupied territory when describing
Palestinian land which Israel's military
is according to international law
occupying as one time Source interviewed
by The Intercept put it that amounts to
quote taking the occupation out of the
coverage when it is in fact the actual
core of the conflict the memo also
instructs staff to steer clear of the
term refugee camps for parts of Gaza
that are home to Palestinians displaced
during previous Wars these are people
who are
refugees these terms occupied
territories and refugee camps are
official language used by the United
Nations and international NOS it's un
usual for news organizations to restrict
use of this terminology in its response
to the intercepts report a Time
spokesperson said that issuing guidance
like this is to ensure accuracy
consistency and Nuance in how we cover
the news back in February another
intercept investigation into a widely
discredited Times report about the quote
weaponization of rape by Hamas on
October 7th revealed considerable
dissent in The times's Newsroom over the
paper's Gaza coverage clearly that
discontent is still brewing and still
leaking out to The Intercept thanks
Mina last year we aired a disturbing
story out of Kenya about the dangers of
religious broadcasting televangelism and
how difficult that content can be to
regulate we are rebroadcasting it now
because the televangelist at the heart
of the story Paul McKenzie has been
forly charged with the murder of
191 people McKenzie allegedly LED those
victims his followers to their deaths by
telling them the world was coming to an
end among the questions being asked in
the aftermath should the authorities
Kenya's media Regulators have done more
to stop McKenzie's doomsday preachings
from being broadcast and if so how would
that square with the right
constitutionally protected in Kenya to
freedom of speech and religion those are
questions that require urgent answers
because televangelism is on the rise in
Kenya where 85% of the population is
christian the listening posts Nick mad
now from the Kenyon Coast on the tragedy
that has come to be known as the shakah
hola
Massacre we've just left m a coastal
town in eastern Kenya and are heading
Inland to the shakah hola
forest in March news broke that a woman
had killed her children here in order to
please God when the story broke Joseph
yeri was one of the first journalists at
the scene we were first called here by
the police we were informed that there
were two bodies two bodies of children
buried inside here instead we found
bodies all over M graes all
over to date more than 350 bodies and
Counting have been
exed they were all led to the forest by
a televangelist named Paul McKenzie he
is thought to have told them that the
world was ending and that in order to
reach God they would have to starve
themselves to death first children then
women then men McKenzie said he would
follow but he never did so tell me about
poor McKenzie what do we know about him
initially was a taxi driver in malindi
until he formed his own Ministry now
called Good News International
Ministries that church according to the
Believers who who first went in was just
a good church Miracles happened until
2015 now when he became a t evangelist
Pastor the message started changing he
started introducing the issue to do with
um um prophecies and all these
prophecies were broadcasted live on
television tell me about McKenzie's
followers those that followed him into
this Forest they came from wide because
McKenzie had followers all over so
presumably many of those people would
never have heard of Paul McKenzie were
it not for his TV channel
correct there's still an estimated 600
of poor McKenzie's followers who are
still missing in chakola Forest one of
them is a woman named Pamela mulas Singa
she's from banga it's a county in
Northwest Kenya the opposite end of the
country nearly a th000 km from here
we've managed to find a son he's living
in Nairobi so I'm off to the capital to
meet
him T evangelism is the use of media to
communicate
Christianity everybody the
televangelists in Kenya often claim that
they can perform Miracles I stand
against those Powers now deliver
spiritual healing and guarantee
Prosperity typically in the exchange for
donations which have made some till
evangelist very wealthy and
influential for some viewers often the
most vulnerable the promise being
directly into their homes of divine
intervention by these pastors proves
irresistible Paul McKenzie is what we
would refer to as a Charisma
Authority because in order to be a t
evangelist in order to hold the
attention of a audience no matter how
big or small you have to have a
particular kind of Charisma comparing to
other African tele evangelists you can
tell that uh the rest of the African
tele evangelists tend to go the
Prosperity Way and uh Paul McKenzie goes
the mystical
way when mystery kicks in then uh you
know somebody is believed to have
information or news or power that other
people don't have and so that um
ultic mystical element is what really
endeared him to a lot of
people Pam mallis Singer's son Rogers
shibusa says that she would spend her
days watching McKenzie's Times TV
channel and was captivated by his
sermons that promised spiritual healing
she thought he could help her daughter
who was suffering from mental health
issues this time last year sh's mother
his sister and her three-year-old
daughter left home to join the
televangelist
okay the main reason my mother followed
McKenzie's preaching was my Elder
sister's illness during his TV sermons
McKenzie would often use the Bible and a
specific oil to heal people so my mother
thought he might be able to help my
sister that was her main motivation if
it wasn't for his TV station my mother
never would have heard of someone like
McKenzie when religion comes under the
agency of media then media transforms
that religion and so perhaps for people
like Paul McKenzie media tended to give
them some kind of reputation and
credibility Paul McKenzie's message
would have first started out as what we
would consider an instance of religious
diversity right because it doesn't just
start off as an end of times we then see
it moving into a space of deviance
education is evil and then later on we
see it moving into a space of
danger Hallelujah now it's difficult to
predict what the progression will be
because not all diverse iterations of a
mainstream religion will become deviant
and not all deviant iterations of a
mainstream religion will become
dangerous but sometimes they
do the question now is at what point
should the Kenyan authorities have
intervened and could they have done so
while upholding McKenzie's
constitutional right to freedom of
thought and religion the communications
Authority is the body responsible for
regulating broadcast media in the
country this past April it suspended
McKenzie's TV channel but only after the
shakah hola story had broken and even
then it was mostly for administrative
non-compliance little of the content it
review broke the rules I asked the
director General how his organization
monitors this kind of content we use a
system that logs the information but
when you have 320 TV stations for you to
make sense of that content the
technology we have is somebody has to
sit down and listen through or watch to
be able to conclude uh the nature of
that particular content that's why the
complaint mechanism is much better if
somebody sees something un becoming then
they're able to report then we can now
go specifically to track down that
specific uh broadcaster the problem I
see with that mechanism is that you are
relying on viewer feedback but often the
viewers of these channels are the people
that are being radicalized do you not
see that as an issue in the system it's
really a problem but then our
responsibility is not to regulate
content of theolog theological nature
unless it's so obvious on the face of it
content that we looked at we did not see
a direct link with with with the
massacre do you not think that yes there
may not be a direct link to shank Kahola
but but that problematic content need
the Miracles and the prosperity
preachings yeah do you not think that
needs to be regulated you know the
trouble with the issues of religion and
faith is exactly that faith and that's
why when you allow freedom of religion
is to just allow people to make sense of
life in the way they see best so the
risk of going that through it is that
you end up being a policeman on people's
conscience but that balance has to be
struck and that's a really big challenge
for
us poor McKenzie is now in jail and
faces multiple charges but the media
environment in which he thrived and the
constitutional rights that protected him
remain the same Kenya is 85% Christian
and T evangelists wield enormous
influence so politicians wanting to stay
in power are unlikely to challenge the
hegemony of these TV pastors and their
armies of faithful followers even if
that leaves an Untold number of
vulnerable people at
risk I left Nairobi for malindi to
search for my mother when I got there
found one of McKenzie's followers who
had been rescued they told me they had
seen my mother and my sister my sister
and her child had been tied up until
they died and were buried having seen
all this my mother ran deep into the
forest I had been trying to find her
ever since but to this day nothing
and finally this past week the world's
most elaborate election process got
underway Indians and there are more than
950 million eligible voters will be
casting ballots over the next 6 weeks
prime minister Narendra Modi and his
party the BJP are considered a lock to
to win an historic third term key
opposition leaders are in jail many
others have been forced into the BJP by
threats of legal cases or lured in by
the prospect of getting senior positions
in the party and then there is the
undeniable domination of the Indian
media Space by Modi from anchors on
mainstream news channels to influencers
on social media even the Bollywood Elite
the BJP has either convinced or coerced
people into echoing the message that
there is no alternative to Modi even
worth debating let alone voting for
we'll be keeping our eyes on this story
and the central role that the Indian
media are playing in it and we'll see
you next time here at the listening post
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