From Ian:
Why the Left Resents Israeli Democracy
Why the Left Resents Israeli Democracy
Israel’s tradition of marking Yom Hazikaron before Yom Haatzmaut–Memorial Day followed by Independence Day–has always served as a crystal clear demonstration that no matter the success and the progress of the Jewish state, Israelis never forget the price the Jews have had to pay for their own security. So it takes a special kind of chutzpah to not only accuse Israelis of ignoring the costs, the sacrifices, the trade-offs, and the responsibilities of statehood, but to do so on the weekend of Yom Hazikaron."Humanitarian" Extremism: Aid Convoys under the Spotlight
Yet that is precisely the sucker punch the American Jewish left hit their Israeli brethren with over the past few days. To be sure, American Jews don’t (necessarily) intend it to be the pernicious cheap shot it unquestionably is. The emotionally and politically and religiously complex question of how much Israeli state policy reflects a general consensus in the Jewish world has often led the American left into the same thought-cocoon to which they retreat when Republicans win national elections. Their fellow voters, they reason, must have been fooled.
Both the Forward newspaper editorialists and Harvard’s Yochai Benkler are out with recycled versions of this–a kind of What’s the Matter with Kansas for the Jews of Israel. The Forward’s weekend editorial is based on the demonstrably untrue claim that Israelis have crafted a situation in which they are blissfully unaware of the statelessness of the Palestinians next door: (h/t Normman F)
The British suicide bomber and jihadist, Abdul Waheed Majeed, did not arrive in war-torn Syria by himself. He was part of an "aid convoy" organized by the British charity, Children in Deen. Although British aid convoy charities deny purposely ferrying would-be jihadists to Syria, a closer look suggests that these so-called humanitarians are not as innocent as they might like us to believe.In For The Kill: Turning Americans against Israel after the Six Day War
Children in Deen is in fact -- along with two other "aid convoy" charities, the Abu Faisal Trust and One Nation -- funding projects in Gaza run by the Al-Falah Benevolent Society, which, according to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, is one of "Hamas's charitable societies." Al-Falah is managed by Ramadan Tamboura, whom the newspaper Ha'aretz describes as "a well-known Hamas figure."
Fundraising events organized by Children in Deen have included speakers such as Zahir Mahmood, who claims that, "Hamas are not terrorists. They're freedom fighters." Mahmood also discourages Muslims from integrating with British society and rebukes those who "give preference to our nationality over our Islamic identity."
"When Israel won her stunning victory in the Six-Day War of June 1967, the American public's reaction brought no joy to the Arab functionaries and sympathizers who had been trying, in a desultory way, to cultivate a body of pro-Arab sentiment in this country. Insofar as Americans had any opinion on the Middle East crisis at all-- and nearly one-half had none—they favored Israel over the Arab states in a ratio of nearly 14 to 1.
In moments of candor, Arab diplomats have since acknowledged that inept information methods had much to do with their failure to influence U.S. attitudes. Today, Arab propaganda is being stepped up in tempo and volume, and is becoming increasingly professionalized. (Four Arab governments--Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Republic—retain professional public relations counsel in this country.) The clumsy, unselective approaches of yesteryear are being replaced by more sophisticated techniques aimed at particular audiences— such as church groups, the student left, or the disaffected blacks."
Thus begins a report prepared in July 1969 for the American Jewish Committee that throws a fascinating light on how Arab propagandists reacted to the challenge of turning American public opinion against the Zionist Entity.


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