More purposeful dishonesty from the anti-Zionist Left

Twitter can be a waste of time, but it can also expose the incredible dishonesty of the anti-Israel Left as they are not as careful with their tweets as they might be with their written and edited pieces.

One example comes from +972 writer (and United Arab Emirates National newspaper contributor) Joseph Dana, who tweeted about a new Wikileaks memo:

SUBJECT: RIGHT-WING LIEBERMAN UNABASHEDLY ADVOCATES TRANSFER OF ISRAELI ARABS

The 2006 memo he links to says this:

Right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party leader Avigdor Lieberman told the Ambassador January 31 that separation of Israeli Jews from Israeli Arabs is necessary in order to promote Israeli security and maintain Israel's Jewish identity. To accomplish this, Lieberman proposes that Israel redraw its border with the West Bank through negotiations to place some Israeli-Arab population centers that are close to the Green Line within Palestinian territory, and to include some Israeli settlement blocs within Israel.

...In response to the Ambassador's query, Lieberman said that the actual border would be the result of negotiations with Egypt, Jordan, and the PA. He said that the plan would also require the endorsement of the U.S. and at least one other member of the Quartet. His proposal would "not be a unilateral move," but one negotiated with "several partners." He added that Egypt should also be a part of the solution by providing some of its territory to Gaza, which Lieberman described as too densely populated.

The word "transfer" evokes a unilateral uprooting of Arabs from their homes and expelling them to another country. Lieberman was saying to negotiate with the PA and others to draw the borders between Israel and a Palestinian Arab state so that some of the Arabs who already identify as "Palestinian" can become citizens. That is quite different, and Dana knows it.

In fact, The Guardian made the same accusation about Tzipi Livni by purposefully misreading The Palestine Papers earlier this year, when she floated the idea of taking towns now divided by the Line and choosing to put them entirely in one state or the other.

The dishonesty was pointed out to Dana and, rather than correcting himself, he ignored it. Which is par for the course as well. (He later tweeted that he was quoting the State Department title for the report.)

A similar case comes from The Electronic Intifada's founder Ali Abuminah, a well respected figure among the Israeli far left, who wrote that Israel killed a 13-year old boy in Gaza. The link he used was to a PCHR report. Yet if one reads that report, there is no mention of any 13-year old boy. And no wonder - he was killed by a Grad rocket. This is a pure lie, and Abuminah is secure in the knowledge that his fans will not bother to read the report he links to which exposes him as a liar. (The same report shows that the other two civilians he mentions were being used as human shields.)

This was pointed out to him, and he also ignored the correction and refused to edit the piece.

Dana and Abuminah style themselves as journalists, but they show no desire to adhere to even the most basic journalistic standards. To them, the overriding imperative of demonizing Israel is much more important than mere formalities like telling the truth.