Anti-Israel berichtgeving door Associated Press

Deze voorbeelden kom ik ook in bijvoorbeeld NRC Handelsblad en bij het NOS journaal geregeld tegen. Het Arabische Vredesplan wordt neergezet als een fair plan dat Israel erkenning en vrede biedt in ruil voor terugtrekking uit de bezette gebieden. Arabieren komen langer aan het woord en meer over de zaak zelf, terwijl Israelische woordvoerders, als ze al aan het woord komen, vaker algemene statements geven. Van Palestijns leed laat men bovendien altijd meer beelden zien en Palestijnse bronnen worden als betrouwbaarder neergezet, Israelische afstandelijker als ze niet geheel genegeerd worden. Heel Oost-Jeruzalem wordt 'bezet Arabisch Jeruzalem' genoemd, waarmee de sterke Joodse band met dit deel van de stad wordt ontkend. Dit werd echter door Jordanië illegaal veroverd in 1948, waarbij de daar wonende Joden werden verdreven. Hamas wordt soms zelfs een 'verzetsbeweging' genoemd, vaak ook 'islamitische beweging' en nooit 'terroristisch'. En inderdaad, Lieberman wordt rechts-extremistisch (extreemrechts) genoemd, of ultranationalistisch, Netanjahoe is een hardliner of een havik, en Abbas is gematigd en een man van vrede en dialoog. Het enige probleem in het Israelisch-Palestijns conflict zijn de nederzettingen en de extreem nationalistische kolonisten, gesteund door het nieuwe rechtse kabinet. Het is vreemd dat niet meer mensen over deze ontoelaatbaar tendensieuze berichtgeving vallen. Het effect blijft ondertussen niet uit: steeds meer mensen zien Israel als de oorzaak van alle problemen in het Midden-Oosten, en de Palestijnen als machteloze en onschuldige slachtoffers.

 

RP

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AP anti-Israel bias

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/09/ap-anti-israel-bias.html

 

It is about time someone noticed the bias in AP and Reuters despatches. Some other tricks. AP routinely writes that the Arab Peace Initiative would give Israel peace in return for withdrawal to 1967 borders. Sounds like a good deal, right? End the occupation, get peace. AP neglects some details. The Arab peace initiative calls for Israel to withdraw completely from East Jerusalem, including the Jewish parts, and it seems to require Israel to accept the return of Palestinian Arab refugees, which would end Jewish self determination in the only Jewish country in the world. So the deal look more like "Give up your capital and your country, and we'll give you 'peace.'" What sort of peace is that? But it is worse than that, since Arab League spokespeople routinely protest that the Arab peace initiative is a recommendation, and that no Arab country would be bound to recognize Israel. So the deal is, "Give up your capital and your country, and maybe some of us will give you 'peace'." Another trick is the unprofessional use of adjectives. News agency dispatches routinely characterize Mahmoud Abbas, King Abdullah of Jordan and King Abdulla of Saudi Arabia, as well as Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and other Arab leaders as "moderate" but refer to Avigdor Lieberman as the "ultranationalist" Foreign Minister of the "Right leaning" government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Lieberman was elected in democratic elections, unlike leaders of Arab countries. He only proposed to make loyalty a condition of citizenship. Egypt kicked out all its Jews without asking if they are loyal or not, and Jordan and Saudi Arabia do not allow any Jews to become citizens. The "Moderate" government of Mahmoud Abbas teaches Palestinian children that Haifa is the largest port in **PALESTINE.**

 

=================

 

Analyzing the AP anti-Israel bias

http://www.yourish.com/2009/09/04/8729

 

Meryl Yourish @ 1:30 pm

The subtleties of the AP anti-Israel bias are always in evidence, no matter who the writer, no matter what the subject. Witness:

The gist of the article is a debate between Israeli president and former Prime Minister Shimon Peres, and the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa. But before we get to all that, we have to have the set-up. First, tar Netanyahu as the one preventing peace because -wait for it- he refuses to stop building settlements.

The difficulty has been compounded by the fact that in March a right-leaning government replaced the previous more moderate one in Israel.

Several months ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reluctantly agreed to accept the principle of a Palestinian state – a position his predecessors had already adopted but his Likud party has not – but said it would have to have limits on its rights to have a military or control its airspace.

Next, give Moussa a chance to respond to the above, but don't have Peres respond to it. Have Peres talk about a completely different topic.

Then, slam Peres and compliment Moussa, almost in the same breath (but while allowing Moussa to accuse the Israelis of duplicity):

Peres – pushing the boundaries on a role that is meant to be ceremonial and somewhat above the political and diplomatic fray – argued that even the borders initially delineated for the Palestinian state could be considered provisional and ultimately expanded.

"You want us to believe that?" thundered the urbane Moussa. "Another one of the tricks!"

Another way of telling which way the article is biased: There are ten paragraphs that contain quotes or paraphrases by Moussa. There are only six containing Peres' quotes or paraphrases—and the article is titled "Peres: Palestinian state first, full peace later."

I think, though, the thing that really got me is describing Moussa as "urbane" right after implying that Peres isn't acting in his government's best interest. In point of fact, nobody in Israel is complaining that Peres is overstepping his bounds, or if they have, I haven't seen it. But don't let the facts get in the way of a good anti-Israel slap.

The Associated Press: the anti-Israel Energizer bunny. They just never stop.

 

Arabieren verhuizen naar Joodse wijken in Jeruzalem

 

Als Joodse gezinnen in Sheikh Jarra of Silwan of andere Arabische wijken in Oost-Jeruzalem trekken, spreekt de wereld er schande van. Hieraan ligggen de meest verderfelijke expansionistische motieven ten grondslag, of eigenlijk is het gewoon landjepik. Uiteraard moeten Arabieren wel in Joodse wijken van de stad mogen wonen, en is het volkomen legitiem als zij er een nationalistische agenda op nahouden en willen proberen om deze wijken te verarabiseren. Dat sommige van de huidige Arabische wijken vroeger ook (gedeeltelijk) Joods waren, wordt voor het gemak vergeten.

 

RP

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Arabs Moving Into Jewish Areas of Jerusalem

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/09/arabs-moving-into-jewish-areas-of.html

 

Here is the truth about the "Judaization" of Jerusalem: Arabs are moving into Jewish neighborhoods. It's called "integration," but it is being done with a nationalist motivation:

 

Yousef Majlaton moved into the Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev for such comforts as proper running water and regular garbage pickup. But he represents a potentially volatile twist in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute over the holy city.

 

The hillside sprawl of townhouses and apartment blocks was built for Jews, and Majlaton is a Palestinian.

 

Pisgat Zeev is part of Israel's effort to fortify its presence in Jerusalem's eastern half which it captured in the 1967 war.

 

But Majlaton, his wife and three kids are among thousands who have crossed the housing lines to Pisgat Zeev and neighborhoods like it in a migration that is raising tempers among some Jewish residents.

...

 

In 2007, the latest year with available statistics, about 1,300 of Pisgat Zeev's 42,000 residents were Arabs. In nearby French Hill, population 7,000, nearly one-sixth are Arabs, among them students at the neighboring Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Neve Yaakov, with 20,000 people, had 600 Arabs, according to the Israel Center for Jerusalem Studies, a respected think tank.

...

 

Majlaton and his wife are both Hebrew-speaking Christians. He said his new neighbors cold-shouldered them when they arrived in 2002, but gradually became friendlier.

 

He said he has since helped about 30 Arab families to move in and gets calls from prospective renters almost every day.

...

 

While his primary motivation was quality of life, he says living in Pisgat Zeev is "a nationalistic act" - a way to cement Arab presence in the city of his birth.

 

He said Palestinian leaders should follow his lead.

 

"They should bring all the Arabs to Pisgat Zeev," he said. "I'll help them find homes one by one."

The article repeats the following fallacy, which was evidently first publicized by Chris McGreal in the Guardian:

 

Netanyahu says Arabs have the right to live anywhere in the city, and so should Jews, though the Old City's Jewish Quarter is closed to Arabs.

 

There is no limitation preventing Arabs from living in the Jewish quarter.

 

Ami Isseroff

 

 

Wordt Tel Aviv tot "illegale nederzetting" bestempeld?

De meeste boycot acties zijn tegen Israël niet gericht op het beëindigen van de bezetting, maar het beëindigen van Israël, aldus Ami Isseroff. Met name culturele en academische boycots hebben niets te maken met de bezetting, en zijn gericht tegen mensen die daar zelf meestal ook niets mee te maken hebben, behalve dan dat ze in Israël wonen. (Zie ook het artikel: Boycot Israël? )

 

RP

 

Meer over deze kwestie hier: Toronto film festival showcases Tel Aviv; protest ensues

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Will Tel-Aviv become an "illegal settlement"?

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/09/will-tel-aviv-become-illegal-settlement.html

 

They are after Tel Aviv now. It was inevitable.

First they went after Jerusalem. UN resolutions "internationalized" Jerusalem. The "international" status of the city was ignored as long as Jordan illegally occupied the old city and east Jerusalem, but vigorous protests were issued when Israel conquered Jerusalem in the Six day war. Even the United States does not recognize any Jewish claims to Jerusalem, does not recognize any part of Jerusalem as part of Israel in violation of United States law, the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act. The US Consulate in Jerusalem insists that it is a mission to the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinians have long insisted that Jews had no historical connection with Jerusalem. The most recent statement to that effect was issued by the Muslim Chief Justice, Taysir Tamimi, denying Jewish historical rights in Jerusalem. He claimed it was never inhabited by Jews. The first temple is erased from history as well as the second temple, as well as the long habitation of Jews in Jerusalem prior to 1948, when Jerusalem was ethnically cleansed by the Jordan Legion.

The Arab and Muslim "narrative," given academic credentials by such people as Nadia Abu el-Hajj of Barnard University, is that Jerusalem was always an Arab city. Never mind the Menorah in the Arch of Titus. Never mind the description of the siege of Jerusalem by Josephus Flavius. Never mind the inscription from the time of Hezekiah, which describes the tunnel built to divert water from Shiloach during the siege - precisely as recorded in the Old Testament. The Palestinians have a different "narrative." The Beit al Maqdes (temple) was built by Suleiman the Muslim. Muhammad secured Jerusalem for the Muslims by flying to Jerusalem in one night on his horse (pretty good horse!) al-buraq, and tying it up at the Wailing wall, which ensures that the wailing wall is Muslim too. So much for "Zionist" Myths. Jerusalem is Arab and "Arab East Jerusalem" now belongs to the Muslims.

But now they are going after Tel Aviv as well. According to the old "Zionist narrative," apparently incorrect, Tel Aviv was founded in 1909, originally to be called "Achuzt Bayit." It was built on empty land purchased from Arabs. But a film festival in Toronto celebrating Tel-Aviv's Centennial is being boycotted, on the grounds that Tel-Aviv was stolen from the Arabs! No doubt, soon it will be discovered that Muhammad visited Tel Aviv too, and tied his horse up in Dizengoff Center. Such luminaries as Jane Fonda are boycotting the film festival:

Jane Fonda, Danny Glover and Eve Ensler have joined the growing list of artists who are boycotting the Toronto film festival over a program honoring Tel Aviv's 100th anniversary, gossip blogger Perez Hilton reported on Friday.

The three have added their names to a letter aimed at festival officials claiming that Tel Aviv was built on violence, ignoring the "suffering of thousands of former residents and descendants," Hilton reported.

Well yes, there was a war here. We didn't start it. Remember? There were also a few wars between Germany and France. Alsace is also "built on violence, ignoring the 'suffering of thousands of former residents and descendants.'" What about "former residents" of Washington DC or for that matter Toronto? Or former Jewish residents of Cairo and Baghdad? Is that a reason to boycott these cities? Will Jane Fonda and her friends leave any corner of Israel that may be claimed by Jews as our birthright?

If Tel Aviv does not belong to the Jewish people by right, then surely Beersheba, an Arab town from 640 C.E. until 1948 is Arab by right, and Neve Gordon, the boycott advocate, should not be living and teaching there. Even the most obtuse boycotters can now understand that the boycott movement is not aimed at ending the occupation, but at ending Israel.

Ami Isseroff

 

Jaarlijkse CIDI Monitor: scherpe stijging antisemitisme

 

Zie ook een recent rapport over antisemitisme in online commentaren op de website van de Volkskrant en op Hyves.

 

Het is duidelijk dat er wat moet gebeuren.

 

RP

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JAARLIJKSE CIDI MONITOR: SCHERPE STIJGING ANTISEMITISME

CIDI - 4 sept. 2009 

 

Het idee dat Nederland een plaats is waar Joden veilig en ongestoord kunnen leven is in een enkele maand ernstig geschokt.

 

Het jaarlijkse antisemitismerapport van het Centrum Informatie en Documentatie Israel meldt voor januari 2009 een buitenproportioneel groot aantal antisemitische incidenten in vergelijking met de jaren ervoor. Het rapport over 2008 en de Gazaperiode is vanaf vandaag te lezen via de website van CIDI, www.cidi.nl.

 

Tijdens de Gaza-actie was het aantal geregistreerde incidenten in minder dan een maand bijna even hoog als in het hele jaar ervoor: 98, tegen 108 in heel 2008. Het aantal gevallen van fysiek geweld of concrete bedreiging daarmee was zelfs hoger (3 in 2007, 5 in 2008, 9 tijdens Gaza). Ter vergelijking: het gemiddelde aantal antisemitische incidenten per maand in 2008 was 9, voor de Gazaperiode was dat bijna elf keer zoveel.

 

In deze cijfers is de vrijwel ongebreidelde verspreiding van antisemitische denkbeelden op nieuwssites nog buiten beschouwing gelaten.

 

De incidenten waren bovendien grootschaliger dan ooit - honderden mensen, Joden en niet-Joden, werden ermee geconfronteerd door onder meer haatzaaiende folders en e-mails.

 

Bij straatincidenten waren daders veelal van Noord-Afrikaanse afkomst, maar er waren ook talloze autochtonen die op andere wijze antisemitische gevoelens uitten, bijvoorbeeld per e-mail.

 

Bij een analyse van hatemails bleek de meest gebezigde uiting het ontkennen en bagatelliseren van de Holocaust, de opvatting dat wat Israel in Gaza deed erger was dan de moord op zes miljoen Joden, en vooral de uitspraak dat 'Hitler zijn werk af had moeten maken' en dat 'alle Joden dood moeten'. Kennelijk vindt men die uitspraak een legitieme reactie op wat de Israelische regering in hun ogen fout deed.

 

Het gevoel van onveiligheid werd er niet beter op doordat de politie soms niet of niet adequaat optrad en doordat Justitie uiterst traag en soms pas na jaren aandringen vervolgde, en de benadeelden vaak niet informeerde. Zowel politie als justitie hebben op papier een goed beleid tegen racisme. Maar de uitvoering daarvan is vaak niet zichtbaar, terwijl van zichtbaar optreden een afschrikwekkende werking kan uitgaan.

 

Een lichtpuntje is de duidelijke stellingname van sommige kabinetsleden. Misschien wel hierdoor is de situatie in Nederland minder grimmig dan in het buitenland. Een goede stellingname van landelijke politici alleen is echter niet genoeg om deze golf van haat tegen te gaan.

 

CIDI vindt dat politie en justitie adequater moeten optreden. Het mag niet voorkomen dat, zoals in Rotterdam gebeurde, de politie zelf niet ingrijpt en vervolgens een omstander die wel de daders aanspreekt, wegstuurt omdat hij een relletje zou veroorzaken. Een snellere afhandeling van incidenten en goede informatie over aanhoudingen en vervolging moeten een  duidelijk signaal geven dat antisemitisme niet wordt getolereerd.

 

Bovendien dringen wij erop aan dat bij onderwijs over en herdenkingen van de Holocaust niet alleen wordt gewezen op overeenkomsten met de wereld van nu, maar ook op het verschil tussen werkelijke genocide zoals de Holocaust en "andere erge dingen".

===

Klik hier om rechtstreeks naar de digitale versie van het rapport te gaan. (In pdf)

Een papieren versie is tegen kostprijs te bestellen. Klik hier om dat per email te doen . De kosten van afdrukken en verzenden bedragen 10,- euro.

 

CIDI rapport: antisemitisme neemt fors toe

 

Wat vreemd is is dat destijds nauwelijks over deze incidenten werd bericht. De twee mishandelingen die hieronder staan beschreven lees ik voor het eerst. Waarom besteden de media hier niet meer aandacht aan? De ernst van de situatie kan pas doordringen als mensen op de hoogte zijn van wat er gaande is. Hopelijk brengt dit rapport daar verandering in, hoewel eerdere CIDI rapporten meestal ook doodleuk werden genegeerd.

 

RP

 

Voor het CIDI rapport zie: Monitor antisemitische incidenten in Nederland: 2008

 

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De Telegraaf
Militaire operaties van Israël roepen meer geweld op
Antisemitisme neemt fors toe
door Charles Sanders

 

DEN HAAG, vrijdag 4 september 2009

 

       Joden worden steeds vaker gediscrimineerd, bedreigd en aangevallen.

 

        Uit onderzoek van het Centrum Informatie en Documentatie Israël (CIDI) blijkt dat er in een maand tijd 98 ernstige incidenten waren. Over heel 2009 wordt met een verdubbeling of zelfs verdrievoudiging van uitingen van antisemitisme gerekend ten opzichte van 2008, toen er 108 meldingen waren.

 

       Volgens Elise Friedmann van het CIDI gaan mensen vooral op grote schaal over tot anti-joodse acties als Israël militaire operaties uitvoert, zoals in januari in Gaza. „Publiciteit daarover leidt tot veel verbaal en ook fysiek geweld", zegt de onderzoekster. „Autochtone Nederlanders doen dat op allerlei internetforums en in e-mails, allochtonen slaan hun slag op straat."

 

        Zo werd in Amsterdam een 16-jarig meisje door drie Marokkanen vastgepakt en „geidentificeerd als Jood door haar ketting met davidster". Vervolgens werd ze uitgescholden en geschopt. Het buitensporige geweld ging door toen het kind gewond op de grond lag. Een Joodse man, ook in Amsterdam, werd door Marokkanen op de fiets achtervolgd en voor 'kankerjood' uitgemaakt. Uiteindelijk werd hij ingesloten en in zijn buik getrapt. Toen een meisje met hoofddoek hem te hulp schoot, kreeg ook zij klappen.
       

Holocaust

 

        Elise Friedmann: „Uiterst zorgelijk, vooral omdat dit slechts het topje van de ijsberg is. Veel mensen doen geen aangifte, omdat ze vinden dat politie en justitie niet of niet adequaat optreden. Naast de schokkende cijfers zijn er nog duizenden haatzaaiende folders verspreid en e-mails verstuurd. De Holocaust wordt ontkend en uitspraken als 'Hitler had zijn werk af moeten maken, alle Joden dood', lijken op internet gemeengoed geworden."

 

       Een Joodse man die op het forum van Gretta Duisenbergs 'Stop de Bezetting' tegengas aan de eenzijdige berichtgeving gaf, werd per email bedreigd: 'Ik sla je gezin in elkaar en ik drink je bloed op, fucking Jood..'

 

        Volgens het CIDI-onderzoek tiert ook op scholen antisemitisme welig. In Amsterdam Slotervaart moesten recent de lessen worden stilgelegd toen leerlingen anti-joodse leuzen scandeerden. In Rotterdam gebeurde hetzelfde nadat scholieren „Hamas, Joden aan het gas" en „Joden zijn moordenaars, we zien het op al-Jazeera", schreeuwden.
      

UNWRA onderwijst op Gaza scholen mensenrechten zonder Holocaust

 

Wat is de grootste schending van de mensenrechten in de 20e eeuw? Nee, niet de Nakba.

Hoe kun je een 'human rights, conflict resolution and tolerance programme' doorvoeren op je scholen en daarbij de Holocaust negeren? Juist in een regio waar die regelmatig wordt ontkend, en waar een conflict speelt met een volk die dit is overkomen, is het toch totaal bezopen om deze gebeurtenis te negeren? Wat zullen leraren zeggen wanneer kinderen ernaar vragen? 'Geen idee, vraag dat maar aan je vader/aan de imam/aan de plaatselijke Hamas leider'? Die kinderen bellen vervolgens Saraa van Al Aqsa's TV programma "Pioniers van Morgen", en dan legt Nahoul de Bij uit dat het allemaal een zionistisch verzinsel is om Palestina kapot te maken en dat de Joden door Allah zijn vervloekt en in apen en varkens veranderd voor al hun misdaden. En dat ze hun bloed moeten geven voor de bevrijding van de heilige Al Aqsa en Al Quds.

 

RP

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Statement by UNRWA on holocaust education
Source: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
Date: 04 Sep 2009

www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/LSGZ-7VKD2R?OpenDocument


"The quotes attributed by the Simon Wiesenthal Center to UNRWA's Commissioner General, Karen AbuZayd and UNRWA's Gaza Director, John Ging are false. We condemn Holocaust denial in all its forms and we reject the politicization of the Holocaust. UNRWA will remain focused on positive curriculum development in teaching children the human rights values enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

UNRWA is committed to human rights education. UNRWA rejects any denial of the Holocaust as an historical event.

UNRWA implements a human rights, conflict resolution and tolerance programme in its schools in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza. In Gaza, UNRWA is strengthening this programme by developing a dedicated human rights curriculum anchored in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Europese Unie en Syrië gaan banden versterken

 

Toen de Europese Unie en Israel van plan waren hun relaties te intensiveren, werden brievencampagnes en andere protestacties opgezet door mensenrechten organisaties en clubs als Oxfam-Novib en dergelijke. Men vond dat Israel eerst moest laten zien serieus naar vrede te streven, iets dat met de terugtrekking uit Gaza, de terugtrekking uit Libanon, de talloze checkpoints die zijn opgeheven en roadblocks die zijn verwijderd, blijkbaar nog niet voldoende bewezen was. Ik heb echter nog niemand gehoord over onderstaande plannen en de eis horen stellen aan Syrië om eerst eens te stoppen met haar steun aan Hezbollah en de banden met Iran te verbreken, als teken dat men in vrede geinteresseerd is. Novib, Anja, Dries, Martijn van Dam, waar zijn jullie?

 

RP

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EU and Syria close to Signing an agreement on stronger relations
Sep 04, 2009
www.sana. sy/eng/22/2009/09/04/243440.htm

 

Stockholm, (SANA - Syrian news agency)

European Union is close to signing an agreement with Syria on stronger relations between the two sides, European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner said on Friday.

Waldner told journalists at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Stockholm that the EU was close to reach an agreement with Syria on stronger relations, saying, "In the near future we will get this agreement really going, and this will give Syria positive influence in the Middle East".

She said, "It is certainly not a gift if we give that to Syria, but it is a possibility for a contractual agreement with Syria, so I am very much in favor and I do hope this will go on."

She also stressed that engaging with Syria was absolutely in the interest of the EU.

Fadi Allafi

Waarheid en leugens in het Midden-Oosten

 

Het valt niet altijd mee te achterhalen wat nou waar is en wat er echt is gebeurd in het Midden-Oosten. Het Israelisch-Palestijns conflict is vaak net zo zeer een 'war on claims' dan een fysieke oorlog, en wie zijn kant als het onschuldige slachtoffer of de rechtmatige eigenaar van het land weet neer te zetten, wint de sympathie van de publieke opinie en daarmee uiteindelijk ook die van veel regeringen en machthebbers. Barry Rubin heeft echter wel een paar tips.

 

RP

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Sorting out truth and lies in the Middle East

How to Tell Who's Lying and Who's Telling the Truth in the Middle East

http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-to-tell-whos-lying-and-whos-telling.html

By Barry Rubin

 

A reader wrote me about one of the latest (and innumerable) sensationalist stories in the Middle East. Namely, in this case, that Hizballah has allegedly deployed chemical and biological weapons. This is absurd but it reminds us of the care that must be taken in analyzing developments in this region.

In this case, the source is a Kuwaiti newspaper. One must first ask: how does a Kuwaiti newspaper with no foreign bureaus and surely no inside sources in Hizballah (or Syria or Israeli intelligence) know this big secret? So the first question you must always ask is: Is it credible that the news outlet or other source knows what it/he/she claims to know?

The second question is the more specific identity of the source. There are sources that are literally always wrong (Debka, al-Quds al-Arabi, the Syrian state press, etc) and should be remembered as such. In this case, the newspaper is al-Siyassa, a courageous newspaper in its stance against Syria and radical Islamists and which is also pro-Saudi. Clearly, as in the past, al-Siyassa wants a sensationalist story and also to make the Syrians (and their client, Hizballah) look bad.

The third question is the rule of rationality: There have been no credible previous reports of Hizballah having these weapons. And if they did, Israeli sources would be talking about it a lot.

Consider another recent story, the claim that Israel hijacked a Russian ship carrying arms to Hamas. Russia is a very important country for Israel. Aside from trade and other issues, Israel doesn't want Moscow to sell advanced anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, just in case Israel decides one day to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities. Would Israel take the risk of creating a virtual war scenario with the Russian government? Not credible.

In the past there were mythical lands, or at least lands about which myths could be told. People remember that Marco Polo described the court of the emperor of China but not that Polo also speaks of lands along the way where he insisted he saw men with two heads.

The Middle East has become the part of the world onto which fantasies are projected. But there's a problem. Due to Political Correctness and other dubious blessings of contemporary life, one cannot even speak honestly about what goes on in Iran or Arabic-speaking lands. The old cliché that, "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all," has seemingly been enshrined on the intellectual temples of our era.

Consequently, a growing proportion of the mythology settles on the place about which it is permissible to say anything: Israel.

For example, if I were to assert that the proportion of deliberate and credibly believed lying in public life, media, and universities in the Arabic-speaking world is far higher than in the West (not to deny that there is plenty of that in the West also, enhanced by some current trends), that would be considered shocking.

Can I prove this? Certainly, just look at the record of past statements which have been proven accurate or inaccurate.

Combine that with the lack of institutional controls. If something outrageous is asserted—the Holocaust never happened, America is behind all the terrorism in Iraq, Israel murders Palestinians to steal their organs, the Mossad or CIA was behind September 11, ad infinitum—there are few voices that will say: That's nonsense! In short, not only are the lies, slanders, and conspiracy theories not countered, alternative views are endangered species.

In this context, a natural Western impulse to say that "the truth must be halfway in between" or "we're just hearing two equally credible discourses" is crippling.

Yet without understanding these realities, it is impossible to comprehend the area's political life or to set policies toward the Middle East.

 

 

==========
Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). To read and subscribe to MERIA, GLORIA articles, or to order books. To see or subscribe to his blog, Rubin Reports.

 

 

Hugo Chavez valt Israel aan tijdens bezoek aan Syrië

 

"Israel has become a country that annihilates people and is hostile to peace," he said, according to the Arabic translation of his remarks to reporters.

 

Libië, Syrië, Iran en Wit Rusland zijn inderdaad heel wat vredelievendere staten waar men het verderfelijke imperialisme buiten de deur heeft weten te houden, en die dus de warme steun van de grote socialistische leider wel verdienen. Op naar een Nieuwe Wereldorde, een Wereld zonder Zionisme, zonder rechten voor minderheden, homo's en vrouwen, zonder vrijheid van meningsuiting en religie, zonder democatie en controle van de staat en haar instituties, zonder onafhankelijke rechtsspraak...

 

RP

-------------

Chavez: Israel was created 'to impede unity of Arab world'

Sep. 3, 2009
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST

 

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez attacked Israel Thursday during his visit to Syria, calling it an imperialist nation that annihilates other people.

Chavez comments came during a news conference with his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad after a one-hour meeting at the hilltop presidential palace.

"Israel has become a country that annihilates people and is hostile to peace," he said, according to the Arabic translation of his remarks to reporters.

In comments carried by Venezuelan state television, he also accused Israel of being part of imperialist efforts to divide the Middle East.

"The entire world knows it. Why was the state of Israel created? ... To divide. To impede the unity of the Arab world. To assure the presence of the North American empire in all these lands," he said.

Chavez is on an 11-day trip to Libya, Algeria, Syria, Iran, Belarus and Russia in his bid to build a multi-polar world and decrease US influence in the region.

"I believe it is a fateful battle. It's either now or never in order to liberate the world from imperialism and change the world from a unipolar into a multi-polar world," Chavez told reporters in Damascus.

On Tuesday he attended Libya's celebration of the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought Moammar Gaddafi to power before heading to Algeria.

The firebrand Latin American leader has built close ties with Iran, Syria, Cuba and other countries while his relations have grown tense with Israel.

Chavez strongly criticized Israel's war against Gaza in December and January and said the Jewish state should return to Syria the strategic Golan Heights that it captured in 1967 Mideast war.

For his part, Assad said that he does not think Israel is ready to make peace, while Damascus is serious about the matter.

=========

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251804485107&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

 

Nazi's leverden wapens voor Arabische opstand in Palestina

"The Palestinian Arabs show on all levels a great sympathy for the new Germany and its Fuhrer, a sympathy whose value is particularly high as it is based on a purely ideological foundation," a Nazi official in Palestine wrote in a letter to Berlin in 1937. He added: "Most important for the sympathies which Arabs now feel towards Germany is their admiration for our Fuhrer, especially during the unrests, I often had an opportunity to see how far these sympathies extend. When faced with a dangerous behaviour of an Arab mass, when one said that one was German, this was already generally a free pass."

Vreemd dat Groot-Brittannië deze informatie pas een paar jaar geleden vrijgaf. Niet alleen de mufti was een nazi collaborateur, er was verregaande samenwerking tussen de nazi's en de Arabieren in Palestina, en de steun voor de nazi's onder zowel de Palestijnse leiders als het volk was groot.
Vreemd genoeg valt over deze belangrijke informatie alleen te lezen op zogenaamde 'zionistische websites' en media, en wordt dit door sympathisanten van de Palestijnen glashard ontkend.

De Britse anti-Joodse houding die in de jaren '30 steeds sterker werd kan niet los worden gezien van de samenwerking tusssen de nazi's en de Arabieren, en heeft vele Joden het leven gekost.

The records also show that the news of increased Nazi-Arab cooperation panicked the British government, and caused it to cancel a plan in 1938 to bring to Palestine 20,000 German Jewish refugees, half of them children, facing danger from the Nazis.

Documents show that after deciding that the move would upset Arab opinion, Britain decided to abandon the Jewish refugees to their fate. 

Onderstaand artikel hebben we 3 jaar geleden al op onze website geplaatst, maar het kan zeker geen kwaad het hier nog eens onder de aandacht te brengen.

 

RP

--------------------

Nazis 'shipped arms to Palestinians'
British National Archives unveil presence of Nazi S.S. agents in Mandatory Palestine, working closely with Palestinian leaders
Yaakov Lappin - Ynet News

Published: 05.07.06, 16:41

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3248081,00.html

 

 

Historical documents in Britain's National Archives in London show that Nazi Germany attempted to ship arms to Palestinian forces in the 1930s.

 

A British Foreign Office report from 1939 reports of "news of a consignment of arms from Germany, sent via Turkey and addressed to Ibn Saud (king of Saudi Arabia), but really intended for the Palestine insurgents." Britain's chief military officer in Mandatory Palestine also noted reports "regarding import of German arms at intervals for some years now."

British documents from the same period, and German records photographed by an American spy and sent to the British government, said that a number of Nazi agents were sent to Mandatory Palestine, in order to forge alliances with Palestinian leaders, and urge them to reject a partition of the land between the Jewish and Arab populations.

One Nazi agent, Adam Vollhardt, arrived in Palestine in July 1938, and was reported to have gained strong influence with Arab leaders, meeting with Palestinian leaders throughout 1938. Vollhardt held several meetings with leading Arab politicians and told them "that the Palestine question would be settled to the satisfaction of the Arabs within a few weeks," adding that "it would be fatal to their (Palestinians') cause if at this juncture they showed any signs of weakness or exhaustion."

"Germany was interested in the settlement of the (Palestine) question on the basis of the Arabs obtaining their full demands," Vollhardt was reported to say to Palestinian leaders, according to a report by the British War Office. Vollhardt also assured Arab leaders that "the Germans could continue to support the Palestinian Arab cause by means of propaganda."

German documents photographed and sent to Whitehall by an American spy revealed that in 1937, German officials had calculated that "Palestine under Arab rule would… become one of the few countries where we could count on a strong sympathy for the new Germany."

'Arabs admire our Fuhrer'

"The Palestinian Arabs show on all levels a great sympathy for the new Germany and its Fuhrer, a sympathy whose value is particularly high as it is based on a purely ideological foundation," a Nazi official in Palestine wrote in a letter to Berlin in 1937. He added: "Most important for the sympathies which Arabs now feel towards Germany is their admiration for our Fuhrer, especially during the unrests, I often had an opportunity to see how far these sympathies extend. When faced with a dangerous behaviour of an Arab mass, when one said that one was German, this was already generally a free pass."

A second Nazi agent, Dr. Franz Reichart, was reported to be actively working with Palestinian Arabs by the British Criminal Investigation Division "to help coordinate Arab and German propaganda." Reichart was also head of the German Telegraphic Agency in Jerusalem.

German records show that the Nazis viewed the establishment of a Jewish state with great concern. A 1937 report from German General Consulate in Palestine said: "The formation of a Jewish state… is not in Germany's interest because a (Jewish) Palestinian state would create additional national power bases for international Jewry such as for example the Vatican State for political Catholicism or Moscow for the Communists. Therefore, there is a German interest in strengthening the Arabs as a counter weight against such possible power growth of the Jews."

Jewish refugees abandoned

The records also show that the news of increased Nazi-Arab cooperation panicked the British government, and caused it to cancel a plan in 1938 to bring to Palestine 20,000 German Jewish refugees, half of them children, facing danger from the Nazis.

Documents show that after deciding that the move would upset Arab opinion, Britain decided to abandon the Jewish refugees to their fate.

"His Majesty's Government asked His Majesty's Representatives in Cairo, Baghdad and Jeddah whether so far as they could judge, feelings in Egypt, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia against the admission of, say 5,000 Jewish children for adoption… would be so strong as to lead to a refusal to send representatives to the London discussions. All three replies were strongly against the proposal, which was not proceeded with," a Foreign Office report said.

"If war were to break out, no trouble that the Jews could occasion us, in Palestine or elsewhere, could weigh for a moment against the importance of winning Muslim opinion to our side," Britain's Minister for Coordination of Defence, Lord Chatfield, told the British cabinet in 1939, shortly before Britain reversed its decision to partition its mandate, promising instead all of the land to the Palestinian Arabs.

 

Gedeeltelijke bevriezing nederzettingenbouw overeengekomen

He he, ze zijn eruit. Min of meer dan, want er is nog onduidelijkheid over wat er gebeurt na de afgesproken tijd (9 maanden), en het is ook nog onduidelijk wat Israel ervoor terugkrijgt, behalve de opening van een paar commerciële vertegenwoordigingen in de Golfstaten. Er zijn geen substantiële concessies toegezegd door enige Arabische staat, en de Palestijnen zijn niet eens bereid weer met Israel te gaan praten zolang er ook maar één steen op de andere wordt gezet in Oost-Jeruzalem, bijvoorbeeld in de Joodse wijk in de oude stad. In feite wordt de al bestaande situatie sinds de regering Netanjahoe aan het roer trad, nu tot officieel beleid verklaard: geen goedkeuring van nieuwe bouwprojecten in de nederzettingen.

Binnen Netanjahoe's eigen Likoed partij organiseert zich intussen het verzet hiertegen.

RP
-------------

Ch 2: Partial settlement freeze deal
Sep. 3, 2009
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST

 

 

There has been a partial agreement between Israel and the US on settlement activity, Channel 2 reported Thursday.
According to the reported deal, construction in east Jerusalem will continue, as will the building of 2,500 West Bank housing units already underway.

 

The building of community centers in settlements will also be allowed, according to Channel 2.

 

Apart from the above, there will be a nine-month settlement freeze, according to the report.
In exchange, Israel will reportedly get commercial representation in Gulf states.

 

However, the TV channel claimed that there was still no agreement on what will happen regarding settlement construction after the nine-month freeze, or on Israel being allowed to use Arab states' airspace.

 

============

Sep 3, 2009 23:46 | Updated Sep 3, 2009 23:54
Majority of Likud MKs to rally against PM on settlements
By GIL HOFFMAN 


Pressure on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu inside the Likud will intensify next week ahead of his final decisions regarding a potential settlement freeze as part of US President Barack Obama's efforts to seek Middle East peace. 
 

Amid headlines suggesting that Netanyahu has already agreed to a freeze, more than half of the Likud faction has accepted an invitation to speak at a hawkish rally at the party's Tel Aviv headquarters on Wednesday in favor of expanding settlements.

The 16 MKs to attend the event include Vice Premier Silvan Shalom, ministers Gilad Erdan, Moshe Kahlon, Yuli Edelstein and Michael Eitan, and Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin.

 

Vice Premier Moshe Ya'alon has not decided whether to attend, while Minister-without-Portfolio Bennie Begin and several other lawmakers who might have come will be abroad.

 

Organizer Shevah Stern said he expected Ya'alon to come, because the event meshed with his principles. He said the rally was not intended to be anti-Netanyahu, and that if the prime minister wanted to talk in favor of the settlements, he would be the event's sole speaker.
Perhaps the most surprising speaker at the event will be Shalom, who is considered a relative dove in the party but will not miss the chance to attack the prime minister. Shalom criticized Netanyahu on the settlement issue in a series of radio and TV interviews on Thursday.

"A clear, wide majority in the Likud would not give a hand to any step that would strangle the settlements, which is one of the party's banners," Shalom said. "We need to take steps to advance the diplomatic process, but with conditions, and one of them must be not freezing the settlements that we built. The Palestinians cannot ask us to make unilateral, irreversible, far-reaching concessions that impact the permanent [borders] just for agreeing to meet with us."

Shalom predicted that Netanyahu and Obama's diplomatic process would "blow up in our face and lead to a dead end."

 

By contrast, the prime minister's No. 2 in the Likud, Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, backed up Netanyahu in a pre-Rosh Hashana toast he hosted for Likud activists on Thursday night at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds.

 

"In today's complex situation, our prime minister whom we chose, Binyamin Netanyahu, must maintain all our national interests - the settlements that are the apple of our eye, Jerusalem, and also our relations with the United States and avoiding international isolation, because we will not be able to do the things that are close to our hearts if we are isolated," Sa'ar said, in what was interpreted as a reference to preventing the nuclearization of Iran.

 

Sa'ar called on his colleagues not to be "enticed by newspaper headlines" and to instead support the prime minister, who he said sees eye to eye with the rest of the Likud but must take international considerations into account.

 

Another Netanyahu loyalist in the party, who is very close to the prime minister, said Netanyahu had no problem with his critics speaking in favor of settlements as long as they did not judge him without knowing what he intends to do.

 

"Bibi doesn't care any less about Judea and Samaria than anyone else in the Likud, but he is the only one who has the full picture on all the interests of the country, and he has to make decisions on existential matters even if he has to make decisions he doesn't want to make that he wouldn't make in a normal period," the Netanyahu loyalist said.

"It's easy to criticize when the responsibility is not on your shoulders. Prime ministers don't demonstrate. They have to make decisions."

 

Meanwhile, Netanyahu lost the potential of Kadima making up for a possible rebellion in the Likud when Kadima MK Shaul Mofaz announced that he was no longer in favor of his party joining the coalition.

"Governments are judged by results, and the Netanyahu government hasn't provided any," Mofaz told Army Radio.

"If the government had a diplomatic plan, it would never have had to get to the point where settlements had to be frozen. Chances of the party joining the government have decreased. I don't see a reason or process that could lead us into the government. There are no negotiations or talks. There isn't even a plan. And those are the most important things," he said.

 

 

Madonna geeft concert in Israel

In tegenstelling tot Polen, is ze in Israel wel welkom.

 

----------------

 

Madonna Israel concert delights fans
http://www.thejc.com/news/israel-news/madonna-israel-concert-delights-fans

September 2, 2009

Last updated: 4:17pm, September 2 2009

 

 

Madonna made her return to the stage in Israel last night after a 16-year absence and told a crowd of 50,000: "Israel is the energy centre of the world."

 

The concert, at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv, was the first of two to mark the end of her Sticky & Sweet tour. The second is this evening at the same venue.

 

She took the stage half an hour late and delighted fans when she grabbed an Israeli flag from the crowd and draped herself in it for her final song.

 

She told the audience: "I shouldn't have stayed so long away. Every time I come here, I get so supercharged with energy. I truly believe that Israel is the energy centre of the world. And I also believe that if we can all live together in harmony in this place, then we can live in peace all over the world."

 

Madonna arrived in Israel on Sunday and spent the evening visiting the Western Wall. On Monday she had dinner with opposition leader Tzipi Livni and she is expected to meet Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday.

 

Although she has not performed in Israel since 1993 she visited the country in 2004 and 2007. She has been practicing Kabbalah for more than 10 years and has adopted the Hebrew name Esther.

 

Christendom zondigt tegen God volgens islamitische autoriteiten Egypte

 

Egyptian Christians see the controversy as explicitly revealing how religious authorities and the government truly feel about the building of churches. In Egypt, Christians are not allowed to construct or fix churches unless they receive a permit from governors. But usually authorities make excuses and circumvent giving a direct answer to requests for building permits. At the end, however, nearly all requests for permits in Egypt are denied.

 

Het vreemde is dat je de kerk en christelijke groeperingen zo weinig over dit soort dingen hoort. Wanneer Israel dergelijke wetten kende, of religieuze autoriteiten zich op een dergelijke manier zouden uitlaten, dan zou er alom schande van worden gesproken en werd Israel voor een racistische religieus-fundamentalistische staat uitgemaakt.

 

RP

--------------

Egypt Muslim Council: Building of Churches is 'Sin' Against God
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20090901/egypt-muslim-council-building-of-churches-is-sin-against-god/index.html

 

Egyptian Muslim leaders are caught in a storm of controversy after a human rights group confronted them about a fatwa (Islamic edict) that stated the building of a church is "a sin against God."

 

Tue, Sep. 01, 2009 Posted: 05:15 PM EDT

 

 

Egyptian Muslim leaders are caught in a storm of controversy after a human rights group confronted them about a fatwa (Islamic edict) that stated the building of a church is "a sin against God."

 

Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, the highest official of religious law in Egypt, and the justice minister have issued an investigation of the jurists who issued the fatwa, according to Assyrian International News Agency.

 

The controversy began when the president of the Egyptian Union Human Rights Organization, Dr. Naguib Gabraeel, asked the Fatwa Council about a statement found in a textbook at Cairo University on inheritance and execution of wills.

 

Students, both Muslims and Christians, were taught "it is forbidden for a person to donate money for what would lead to sin, such as donating in his will money towards build[ing] a church, a nightclub, a gambling casino, towards promoting the alcohol industry or for building a barn for rearing pigs, cats or dogs."

 

Gabraeel asked the council what the sharia (Islamic law) position on the statement found in the textbook is. He asked if it is forbidden for a Muslim to donate money to build a church or a monk's quarters even if it is in the name of God and Christianity, which is recognized by the country's constitution. The Egyptian constitution claims to respect religious freedom. He also noted that wealthy Coptic Christian businessmen have donated towards the building of mosques.

 

The council replied by affirming the law found in the textbook and issuing a fatwa on it.

 

Included in the fatwa is an explanation on why it is a "sin" to build a church. According to the fatwa, Christians believe salvation is achieved through belief in Jesus as Lord while Muslims don't. Muslims believe that Issa [Jesus in Arabic] "is a slave of Allah and His Messenger, and that Allah is one."

 

The Islamic edict said God did not have a son and that Christianity deviated from absolute monotheism. Therefore, a Muslim is forbidden to donate funds towards a building that does not worship Allah alone.

 

The author of the textbook, Mohammed el-Maghrabbi, said it is sinful for even a Christian to devote money in his will towards building a church because it would be considered in Islam as separation from God.

 

In other words, it is illegal for even non-Muslims to offer money in their will towards building a church or synagogue.

 

The fatwa has upset many people, especially Coptic Christians, for categorizing churches with nightclubs, casinos, alcohol, and places to raise animals considered unclean by Islam.

 

After receiving the shocking response by the council, Gabraeel and a delegation from his human rights group visited the Grand Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi of the famous Al-Azhar University, a chief Sunni Islamic learning center in the world.

 

Tantawi contradicted the council and said "sharia does not prevent Muslims from donating to the building of a church, as it is his free money." He also went on to say sharia law does not interfere with other faiths "because religion, faith and what a person believes in is a relationship between him and his God."

 

Immediately after Tantawi's statements were publicized, there was a backlash from the Muslim community and he revoked his statements less than 24 hours after the visit by the human rights delegation. Tantawi claimed the delegation had misunderstood him, even though everything he said was recorded and sent to media outlets and uploaded on Coptic advocacy web sites.

 

Egyptian Christians see the controversy as explicitly revealing how religious authorities and the government truly feel about the building of churches. In Egypt, Christians are not allowed to construct or fix churches unless they receive a permit from governors. But usually authorities make excuses and circumvent giving a direct answer to requests for building permits. At the end, however, nearly all requests for permits in Egypt are denied.

 

In contrast, there are no such building permits necessary for the construction or fixing of mosques.

 

Ethan Cole
Christian Post Reporter

 

Boycot Israel oproep door professor Ben Gurion Universiteit

Het is vrij uniek dat een professor oproept zijn eigen land en universiteit te boycotten, maar het is niet de eerste keer dat het gebeurt in Israel. Vreemd genoeg is zelfs een zo duidelijke stellingname tegen niet alleen je land, maar je werkgever en je collega's, in Israel geen reden om iemand uit z'n functie te ontslaan.

 

The primary effect of Gordon's Israel-bashing will be to detract from the work of his university. I am a doctor; my professional career has focused on preventing hereditary genetic diseases in the Bedouin Arab community. Today, the laboratory that I founded at Ben-Gurion University is working with Bedouin, Palestinian and Jordanian doctors and researchers to improve the health of Arab children across the region. This is but one of the many Israeli-Arab collaborations -- in fields that range from developing advanced water technologies to solar energy, environmental conservation and emergency medicine -- that will be compromised here if "collective punishment" for Gordon's actions or for my opposition to his views is imposed on BGU.

 

Niet bepaald de woorden en het werk van een apartheidsregime dacht ik zo.

 

RP

------------

Boycotting Israel - BGU President responds to Neve Gordon

There just isn't a great way to handle a haywire faculty member who calls for a boycott against his own institution, especially if he has tenure. Rivka Carmi shows grace under fire below. But if the "law in Israel is very clear" perhaps the law has to be changed. An institution should not be forced to pay the salary of an employee who calls for a boycott against it, and neither should a state. But how can we change the law and still ensure proper protection for legitimate views?

 

Ami Isseroff

_________________

 

Neve Gordon's divisive Op-Ed
Ben-Gurion University's president responds to one of her professor's call for a boycott of Israel.

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-carmi1-2009sep01,0,4885505,print.story

By Rivka Carmi

September 1, 2009

 

 

As president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, I have always remained open and impartial to the wide diversity of opinions within our academic faculty and their right to free speech, no matter how controversial their views or writings may be.

 

However, I strongly believe a call for a worldwide boycott of Israel written by a Ben-Gurion University faculty member, Neve Gordon, that appeared in The Times oversteps the boundaries of academic freedom -- because it has nothing to do with it.

 

Academic freedom exists to ensure that there is an unfettered and free discussion of ideas relating to research and teaching and to provide a forum for the debate of complicated ideas that may challenge accepted norms. Gordon, however, used his pulpit as a university faculty member to advocate a personal opinion, which is really demagoguery cloaked in academic theory.

 

Gordon argues that Israel is an "apartheid" state and that "a boycott would save Israel from itself." But the empirical facts show that it would destroy the very fabric of the society that he claims to want to protect. Instead of investing in activities that promote coexistence, this "call for a boycott" is already being used to isolate Israel.

 

This is particularly pernicious for our university, a proudly Zionist institution that embodies the dream of Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, to bring development and prosperity to all the residents of the Negev region. This work -- which includes community outreach and scientific innovation in Israel and around the world carried out by nearly 25,000 students, faculty and staff -- is being threatened by the egregious remarks of one person, under the guise of academic freedom.

 

A number of online campaigns have been launched calling for donors and other supporters of the university to "boycott BGU." We have heard the calls by those who demand that the university ignore Israeli law and fire Gordon, a tenured faculty member, on the basis of his statements. And we are also under attack by others who champion Gordon on the basis of freedom of speech.

 

Like it or not, Gordon cannot be readily dismissed. The law in Israel is very clear, and the university is a law-abiding institution.

 

At the same time, by calling on other entities, including academic institutions, to boycott Israel -- and effectively, to boycott his own university -- Gordon has forfeited his ability to work effectively within the academic setting, with his colleagues in Israel and around the world. After his very public, personal soul-searching in his Op-Ed article, leading to his extreme description of Israel as an "apartheid" state, how can he, in good faith, create the collaborative atmosphere necessary for true academic research and teaching?

 

The primary effect of Gordon's Israel-bashing will be to detract from the work of his university. I am a doctor; my professional career has focused on preventing hereditary genetic diseases in the Bedouin Arab community. Today, the laboratory that I founded at Ben-Gurion University is working with Bedouin, Palestinian and Jordanian doctors and researchers to improve the health of Arab children across the region. This is but one of the many Israeli-Arab collaborations -- in fields that range from developing advanced water technologies to solar energy, environmental conservation and emergency medicine -- that will be compromised here if "collective punishment" for Gordon's actions or for my opposition to his views is imposed on BGU.

 

There are many more hopeful and pragmatic voices to be heard at our institution than Gordon's, and they are the ones who will ultimately guide us, and Israel, to a brighter future.

 

 

Rivka Carmi is the president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel.

 

 

De staat Palestina uitgeroepen op 14 mei 2048 (novelle)

 

Van Binjamin Heyl ontving ik onderstaande mail over de in novelle vorm verschenen droom van een Palestijnse staat, uitgeroepen in 2048. Of dat naast of in plaats van Israel zou zijn, wordt uit de omschrijving niet duidelijk.

Dat het schijnbaar onmogelijke mogelijk is, heeft het zionisme bewezen, dat na bijna 2.000 jaar miljoenen Joden van over de hele wereld herenigde in hun land van oorsprong en de staat Israel stichtte. De Verenigde Naties hadden opgeroepen tot een Joodse en een Arabische staat in het Britse mandaatgebied, maar deden weinig concreets om die te realiseren. De staat Palestina werd eigenlijk al in 1988 uitgeroepen door de PLO, nadat Jordanië formeel afstand had gedaan van het gebied dat toen al 21 jaar in Israëlische handen was. Anders dan de PLO in 1988, bevonden de zionisten zich toen ze in 1948 hun staat uitriepen in het gebied zelf, en bleken ze bij machte haar te verdedigen. Het wonder vereiste militaire kracht, zoals de stichting van de meeste onafhankelijke staten. Een mooi volgend wonder zou zijn de vreedzame stichting van een Palestijns-Arabische staat naast Israël, en liefst niet pas in 2048.

 

Wouter

 

Meer info over onderstaand boek: http://www.gopher.nl/shop/title.asp?barcode=ISBN&id=9789051796698

Binjamin Heyl heeft meerdere boeken op zijn naam staan over religieuze en historische onderwerpen, zie ondermeer:

http://www.damon.nl/auteur.php?usrid=%7C&f=&sub=&id=39

en: http://www.appelkerkenisrael.nl/lectuur.htm

____________________

 

Sjalom!

 

Graag wil u informeren over de verschenen novelle:

De staat Palestina uitgeroepen op 14 mei 2048.

Geschreven door Binjamin Shalom en Mohammed Salaam.

 

Hierin wordt beschreven hoe we elkaar hebben leren kennen in Haïfa (1982). We elkaar soms in de haren zaten om onze rechten, de Israëlische en Palestijnse, te verdedigen, wat gepaard ging met de nodige emoties en de logica nogal eens ver te zoeken was. Langzaam schoven we op. Hij liet me een stukje Palestina zien die ik misschien wel liever niet wilde weten en andersom liet ik hem een stukje Israël zien dat hij zich niet kon voorstellen.

Samen praten, nieuwe ontmoetingen. Dan toch weer ruzie met de nodige emoties (en te weinig logica), praten, nieuwe ontmoetingen met het onbekende. Praten over de muur die stond tussen de nachtmerries van Mohammed en mijn dromen.

De novelle gaat uiteindelijk over ons beider droom waar we in geloven. Het gaat in tegen de logica van vandaag en gisteren. We geloven dat het onmogelijke wel degelijk mogelijk is. Er zijn wel meer wonderen gebeurd. Gebeurtenissen die ingingen tegen de menselijke logica.

 

De royalities zullen overgemaakt worden aan een projekt in Israël waar mensen samenwonen die niet logisch lijkt, maar het gebeurt al heel wat jaren: Neve Shalom / Wahat al-Salam: Oase van Vrede (zie  www.nswas.org)

 

De novelle is uigegeven door Uitgeverij Gopher in Amsterdam (www.gopher.nl)   .             

ISBN 9789051796698.

 

Groet,

 

Binjamin

 

 

Term 'Nakba' wordt weer geschrapt uit Arabische schoolboeken in Israel

 

Het gaat niet zozeer om termen als om de inhoud die eraan wordt gegeven. Zo zullen de kinderen in Gaza vast leren over zionisme, maar vraag niet wat ze erover leren. Voor de Arabieren was de vestiging van Israel zeker een ramp, maar één waarin ze zelf een aktieve rol hebben gespeeld. Het (na 2 jaar) weer schrappen van het woord Nakba uit de schoolboeken is wel een stapje achteruit, maar vooral symbolisch. Intussen is de leerstof op Arabische scholen in Israel ongetwijfeld nog heel wat evenwichtiger dan in de Palestijnse gebieden, waar Israel helemaal niet lijkt te bestaan, en de Holocaust nooit heeft plaatsgevonden.

 

Wouter
_______________

 

JPost  - The Jerusalem Post
Aug 30, 2009 23:27 | Updated Aug 31, 2009 4:03
Sa'ar drops 'Nakba' from Arab textbooks
By ABE SELIG
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251145155639&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


Israeli Arab advocacy groups on Sunday reacted sternly to an announcement from Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar that the phrase Nakba, which means "catastrophe" in Arabic and is used by Arabs to describe the creation of the State of Israel, would be dropped from textbooks for the new school year, which begins on Tuesday.

While Sa'ar had previously said he was mulling such a move, an official announcement of the change came during an extensive briefing the minister gave to the cabinet on Sunday morning regarding the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year.

"What Israeli Arabs experienced during the [1948 War of Independence] was certainly a tragedy," Sa'ar said. "But the word 'Nakba,' whose meaning is similar to 'Holocaust' in this context, will no longer be used. The creation of the State of Israel cannot be referred to as a tragedy, and the education system in the Arab sector will revise its studies [regarding this] in elementary schools."

The specific textbook in question was approved for third graders in the Arab sector just over two years ago by then-education minister Yuli Tamir and described the events surrounding the war as catastrophic, as Arabs had been expelled from their homes and became refugees after their lands were confiscated by Israel.

While the textbook also mentioned that Arabs rejected the United Nations partition plan that called for the division of territory between Arabs and Jews, Tamir's decision to approve the text drew fire from the opposition at the time and was again criticized last summer by then-opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu.

"The government took Ze'ev Jabotinsky out of the school textbooks and inserted the Nakba instead," Netanyahu said at the time.

Tamir's decision appears to have been repealed by Sa'ar's announcement, although it remained unclear on Sunday if the Education Ministry planned on discontinuing the textbooks that use the word "Nakba" or would enforce a prohibition on using the term in the classroom altogether.

Atef Moaddi, who heads the Follow-up Committee on Arab Education in Israel, a Nazareth-based group that works on behalf of the country's Arab schools, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that Sa'ar's decision was nothing less than a "political gimmick" aimed at denying the Israeli Arab community their identity.

"For Israeli Arabs, who consider themselves a part of the Palestinian people, the Nakba is not up for debate, it is a historical fact," Moaddi said. "But if Sa'ar thinks that by taking this narrative out of the textbooks, he will somehow absolve himself - as both a representative of the State of Israel and as a human being - of responsibility for the Nakba, he is wrong.

"Our position has always been that both narratives - the Jewish, Zionist narrative and the Arab, Palestinian narrative - should be taught in both Jewish and Arab classrooms," he continued. "But the Arab pupil is not stupid. He or she will learn about the Nakba from a variety of other sources, be it on the Internet or on the street. But our position is that we prefer for them to learn about it in the educational framework of the classroom."

Moaddi added that principals and teachers from Arab schools had contacted his organization and expressed "dismay and outrage" over the decision.

"It's simply unacceptable to us," he said.

Sawsan Zaher, an attorney with Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, took Moaddi's sentiment even further, telling the Post that Sa'ar's decision was a violation of international law.

"This prohibition is part of the continuing control operated by the Ministry of Education against the Arab education system," Zaher said.

"The Ministry of Education implements severe supervision over the Arab education system and controls its curriculum, budget and appointments," she continued. "Prohibiting Arab students from studying about the Nakba is illegal and violates international law, which obliges states to enable national minorities to learn and study about their own history, culture and tradition."

The Education Ministry however, responded to both groups' remarks by insisting that Sa'ar's decision did not infringe on their rights to learn about their culture and history, but that the word "Nakba" itself was problematic.

"The creation of the State of Israel cannot be taught about as a catastrophe inside the country's schools," a ministry spokeswoman said. "That is what the minister has decided."

Zweedse regering ontkent bericht over veroordeling antisemitisch artikel

 

Het is onbegrijpelijk dat de Zweedse regering haar poot stijf houdt en zich weigert te distanciëren van een artikel in een grote Zweedse krant dat riekt naar antisemitisme en middeleeuwse bloedlaster. Moeten Joden dan ook maar ambassades in brand gaan steken en Zweden boycotten voordat ze een handreiking mogen verwachten?

 

Zie ook op IMO blog: Links, rechts en in Aftonbladet: antisemitisme vind je overal

 

Wouter

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Swedish government firm, won't condemn anti-Semitism

 

Bildt: No plan to condemn anti-Semitism

Aug. 31, 2009
Herb Keinon , THE JERUSALEM POST

The crisis over the Swedish newspaper article claiming IDF soldiers killed Palestinians and snatched their organs refuses to fade away, with Sweden's Foreign Minister denying a report that his country would work together with Italy to pass a resolution condemning anti-Semitism at an upcoming informal meeting of European foreign ministers.

Monday's Haaretz quoted Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini as saying that he and Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt agreed to work to pass a resolution saying that the EU, under the Swedish Presidency, strongly condemned anti-Semitism and would work against its manifestations in Europe.

Frattini, according to the paper, said he would demand that the statement make clear reference to the offensive Aftonbladet article.

Later in the day, however, the Swedish news agency TT quoted Bildt - currently on a trip to Kabul - as denying that he discussed with Frattini a possible resolution to the Israeli-Swedish friction at the upcoming meeting.

According to the news agency, the Swedish foreign ministry's head of communications, Cecilia Julin, denied Bildt and Frattini even discussed the disagreement, or a possible resolution at the Council of Ministers.

"From the Swedish side we have no plans to handle this question through the informal foreign ministers' meeting in Stockholm," said Julin. She said that Bildt suggested that Frattini's comment must have arisen through an "Italian misunderstanding."

Swedish President Fredrik Reinfeldt also continued to hunker down Monday behind the official Swedish position that this was an issue of press freedom, and that the Swedish government could not take a stand.

Referring to Swedish laws regarding freedom of the press, Reinfeldt said at a press conference in Stockholm, "We cannot be asked by anyone to contravene the Swedish constitution, and this is something we will also not do within the European Union."

Israel has said repeatedly that it was not asking the Swedish government to impinge upon freedom of the press, but rather to condemn a "blood libel" that appeared in a Swedish newspaper.

Bildt, meanwhile, is still scheduled to arrive in Israel on September 11 for a one day visit. Israel, according to diplomatic officials, continues to wait for a condemnation of the article by the Swedish government. If such a condemnation is not forthcoming by the time of Bildt's visit, the officials said, it would cast a serious cloud over the trip and Sweden's efforts to play a significant role in the diplomatic process.