Salon writer recommends people read websites that dabble in antisemitism

Salon's main writer about Israel and the Palestinians is David Palumbo-Liu, an obsessive Israel-hater and BDS supporter who is a professor of comparative literature at Stanford.

His latest screed is the easily debunkable "Brutal, ugly & illegal: 9 things you need to know about the Israeli occupation of Palestine." I won't bother fisking the entire thing, because it is time consuming, but I'll just comment on the first paragraph of the first "fact"he thinks "you need to know:"

1. The Occupation is illegal.

What do we mean by the “Israeli Occupation”? In 1967 Israel seized what is now termed the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) in an act of war. The United Nations condemned this action, and expressed that condemnation in Resolution 242 (November 1967), which emphasizes “the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every State in the area can live in security.” The UN document sets forth principles calling for “withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict; termination of all claims or state of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.” This is a precise statement that insists on the inviolable right of the Palestinians to a state.

First of all, even if you say that Israel occupies the entire West Bank, military occupations are not illegal. Period.

Resolution 242 did not condemn Israel. The word "condemn" is not part of it and in fact Israel agrees with 242.

The phrase "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war" is in the preamble, and is not a declaration that Israel did anything illegal. In fact, Jordan attacked Israel first and it is nonsensical to say that land gained in a defensive war must be given back; otherwise there is no disincentive for countries to wage war knowing that the UN would force any land losses to be returned to them.

242 does not call for Israel to return all of the lands, and this is clear by the fact that it demands withdrawal from "territories occupied" and not "the territories occupied." It was deliberate wording. Israel has already fulfilled the terms of 242 by returning the Sinai to Egypt.

242 does not mention Palestinians and gives them no rights. No one called for a Palestinian state in the territories in 1967. Even the PLO did not ask for sovereignty those areas in its 1964 charter.


That's a lot of things to get completely wrong in a single paragraph.

Anyway, Palumbo-Liu seems frustrated that BDS is losing steam so quickly, so in addition to throwing lies at Salon readers, he is now erasing any shreds of pretense of integrity and fairness and he is telling readers to turn into anti-Israel activists like he is:

Here’s what you can do:

• Find out more on your own from multiple sources—do not rely solely on the US mainstream media for your information. Look at Mondoweiss, the Jewish Voice for Peace, the American Friends Service Committee, Electronic Intifada, If Americans Knew. Read United Nations documents, and those of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Middle East Children’s Alliance, B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, and other human rights groups.
• Tell your representatives in Congress you object and don’t want your taxes going to pay for the Occupation any more.
• Learn about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and if you are an academic or cultural worker learn about the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, whose endorsers include Bishop Desmond Tutu, Angela Davis, Patrice Cullors of Black Lives Matter, Barbara Ehrenreich, Naomi Kline, and hundreds of others.
• Talk about it with your friends.

Mondoweiss (which partners with Salon!) is a hate site that has published classic antisemitic tropes over the years.

If Americans Knew is run by Alison Weir, who is so toxic in her behavior (and willingness to cozy up with white supremacists) that even other anti-Israel organizations are treating her like she has the plague.

Electronic Intifada is headed by someone who openly supports and encourages terrorism against Jews. 

So Salon's resident anti-Israel writer not only lies. He not only tries to change Salon  from a news site into an anti-Israel activism site.

He is now telling Salon readers to get their information on Israel from sites that are indistinguishable from antisemitic hate sites.

Good to know.

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