03/03 Links Pt2: A.I. a Great PR Firm for the Palestinians; Alice Herz-Sommer Doco wins Oscar

From Ian:

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Amnesty International Is a Great PR Firm for the Palestinians

Amnesty International is a great PR firm for the Palestinians. Muslims living in the West Bank can consider themselves well served by a recent paper submitted by the London based human rights group Amnesty International. The report: Trigger-happy, Israel’s Use of Excessive Force in the West Bank takes a one-sided view against Israeli treatment of Palestinians. The report cites 22 deaths and 27 more wounded at the hands of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) between January 2011 and December 2013. Amnesty’s report gave the false impression that Palestinians youths were only practicing the right of peaceful protests when IDF forces exercised overwhelming restraint.
In the introduction of the 74 page report, meant to create a certain shock value among the unsuspecting reader, Malek Murrar, 16, offered testimony of the death of Samir Awad on September 20, 2013. Malek comes off as being coached by an Amnesty worker or by someone within the Palestinian Authority eager to employ a public relations smear against the Israelis. (h/t Bob Knot)

NGO Monitor: The European war on Israel’s courts

It is inconceivable that the UK, the EU, Norway, or any other European country would countenance mass foreign state funding for hundreds of lawsuits in their courts on the most contentious policy and security issues. The appropriate and ethical way for officials to address their concerns to the Israeli government is via direct diplomacy.
It does not require much imagination to depict the reaction of the British government, for instance, if it learned that Germany or France was providing tens of millions of euros to the IRA to finance hundreds of lawsuits in British courts challenging its policies in Northern Ireland.
The British government would see this as an outrageous form of legal warfare against the UK. But, it is precisely this form of lawfare that the UK – as well as the EU and Norway – is funding in Israel.

A new 'course' at UC Davis: Boycotting Israel

In what could be another attempt to make the delegitimization of Israel more mainstream, a pro-Palestinian group at the University of California, Davis, is now offering a new 'academic course' on the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
Students for Justice in Palestine said the course would cover the meaning of anti-Israel boycotts and tactics for conducting them.
Hadas Buskila, the representative for the Jewish Agency for Israel at UC Davis, told Israel Hayom that the course, which does not currently count toward academic credit, is already gaining popularity.

AIPAC Attracts Under 100 Anti-Israel Protesters

AIPAC’s annual policy conference in Washington, D.C., which is expected to break attendance records, with 14,000 members present at the three-day conclave, also brought out the usual anti-Israel protesters, but few were present on Sunday morning for the first session.
A marching band of mostly keffiyeh-wearing young people, banging on plastic drums and chanting over megaphones, accounted for about 25 people, circling the entrance to the event at the Washington Convention Center.

Attendees Horrified to See Hezbollah Flags Waved Outside AIPAC Policy Conference (VIDEO)

While a small group of protesters were waving Palestinian Authority flags and holding placards condemning Israel, as at some other public Jewish and Israeli events, AIPAC delegates said they were horrified to see the Hezbollah flag, which is a rare sight.
Pointing to the band of protesters at the convention center entrance, Ilan Weinglass, Executive Director of the American Center for Democracy & Economic Warfare Institute, said, “What they’re doing over there is legal, First Amendment, fine, but this is different.”
“Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, which is not legal, and while waving their flag might not be illegal, it is certainly something we should worry about,” Weinglass said. “Waving their flag can be like a gateway to taking part in real terror, and that we must object to.”

South African ruling party endorses Israeli Apartheid Week

South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, has officially endorsed “Israeli Apartheid Week,” a series of anti-Israel events taking place this month across the globe.
“The ANC is unequivocal in its support for the Palestinian people in their struggle for self-determination, and unapologetic in its view that the Palestinians are the victims and the oppressed in the conflict with Israel,” read a statement released Sunday by the party’s head of international relations, K. Obed Bapela.

Reclaiming ridiculousness: The advocate’s guide to Israel Apartheid Week

If they contest that walls and checkpoints are forms of collective punishment, ask them how suicide bombings and rocket fire are not.
Ask them how they can, on one hand, claim to despise Apartheid, while on the other hand relish in such a black-and-white conceptualisation of the Middle East Conflict.
South African students should ask BDS-activists how they can preach morality when their own organisation sang ‘Shoot the Jew’ at a protest at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2013. Ask them why a German freelance journalist, Janis Just, was physically assaulted at the Russell “Tribunal” in Cape Town in 2012 for merely having the audacity to question an utterly one-sided panel.

Here Is Israel - A Druze Voice Enlightens...


Honest Reporting: Israel Desecrates Holy Sites According to The Economist

With this article, The Economist has evidently bought into this Palestinian strategy. Hardly a surprise when you consider this statement from an accompanying video interview with The Economist’s Middle East correspondent Nicholas Pelham:

One of the key demands of the Israeli government is for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state but I think that one of the key concerns the Palestinians have and Muslims per se is that this would actually allow Israel to further erode what’s historically a Muslim country with many Muslim holy sites and I think that it of great concern not just to Palestinians but Muslims around the world.

So, according to Pelham, Israel is “historically a Muslim country.” Small wonder that The Economist takes such a one-sided and backwards view of Jewish control over religious holy sites.

Irish journalist abuses Holocaust to attack Israel

Frank McDonald has clearly crossed the line between legitimate criticism and deliberate demonization of Israel and offers a disturbing insight into the prevailing zeitgeist at the Irish Times.
But more than that, McDonald is representative of a wider anti-Israel ideological framework where anti-Zionism is demonstratively the new anti-Semitism.

BBC lends its shoulder to Amnesty’s cart of politically motivated defamation – part one

So in fact, what we have here is a professional anti-Israel activist with links to an organisation connected to a terrorist group proscribed by the British government being given a platform on a local BBC radio station from which to publicise and promote a political campaign thinly disguised as a “report” on a subject about which its ‘researchers’ are in no way qualified to write.
That, of course, is not journalism: it is quite simply the enabling of the latest propaganda promoted by political campaigners who have self-conscripted the halo of ‘human rights’. But the BBC’s helpful push to Amnesty International’s cart of defamation did not end with red rose county local radio: more on that in part two of this post.

BBC lends its shoulder to Amnesty’s cart of politically motivated defamation – part two

Those familiar with Amnesty International’s long-standing anti-Israel campaigning and its dubious modus operandi will of course not be surprised to see its politically motivated misrepresentation of violent riots and deliberate attacks on security personnel as ‘peaceful protest’ carried out by Palestinians armed only with placards. The BBC, however, should – in theory at least – be a different kettle of fish
Embarrassingly though, its eager self-conscription to the promotion and amplification of the political messaging which underlies the Amnesty International report has apparently caused the BBC to forget that it has previously reported on several of the violent incidents which form the basis of a deeply flawed and blatantly political report supposedly pertaining to Palestinians killed at ‘peaceful protests’.

BBC website now promoting flawed Amnesty report as a ‘related story’

The combination of serial under-reporting of security incidents on the one hand and the vigorous promotion of Amnesty International’s politically motivated report on the other would be remarkable enough coming from any media organization. It is, however, particularly pernicious when such editorial policy is adopted by the corporation trusted by its funding public to bring them impartial and accurate information and analysis which will enhance their “awareness and understanding of international issues“.

When Media Cover for Palestinian Terror Groups

Reporting on the killing of a Palestinian suspected of involvement with a series of a terror attacks, who was shot to death when he refused to surrender during an arrest operation, Agence France Presse stated on Friday:

"Neighbours said the dead man was a member of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine."

Leftist as in the Israeli Meretz-types who advocate for an immediate Israeli-Palestinian peace deal? No, not so much like that.
The PFLP spearheaded international airlines hijackings in the 1960 and 1970s, carried out hundreds of terror attacks against Israel including the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze'evi, calls for the destruction of Israel, and has been designated a terrorist organization by the European Union as well as the United States.

Greek doctor arrested for inciting anti-Jewish hatred, weapons possession

Police in northern Greece say a 57-year-old neurologist has been arrested for inciting racial hatred and weapons possession.
The doctor, who has not been named, has acknowledged he is a member of the extreme right Golden Dawn party.
Police intervened when informed that the doctor had put a plaque outside his office which said, in German, "Jews Not Welcome."
A search at the doctor's house retrieved 12 knives and three daggers, two inscribed with Nazi symbols, as well as pills without a prescription.

Germany Rejects Greece's Bid For Holocaust Reparations

Germany rejected a fresh Nazi-era reparation claim by a Greek city's Jewish community, according to AFP, but offered the group cooperation on future projects.
"With regard to issues of reparations, there are no new developments and all these questions are answered," a German finance ministry spokesman told a press conference.

SWC accuses Lithuania of glorifying pro-Nazi leader

The Simon Wiesenthal Center accused the Lithuanian government of facilitating the glorification of Holocaust-era war criminals.
The accusation followed a march earlier this month by nationalists in Kaunas, Lithuania’s second-largest city, also known as Kovno. The marchers carried portraits of the pro-Nazi former ruler Juozas Ambrazevicius-Brazaitis. His government helped German troops send 30,000 Jews to their deaths. The marchers on Feb. 16 also carried signs reading: “Lithuania for Lithuanians.”

HuffPo: 11 Israeli Startups Making it in the U.S.

Running a startup is never easy; uncertain economic climates, fierce competition and finding a niche are among the many challenges startups face. With just the right balance of hard work, innovative thinking, and, in many cases, great technology, however, startups across the country are enjoying booming business.
Some of those startups have international roots. Lately, the U.S. has seen a surge in Israeli tech startups experiencing wild success by bringing their companies to American soil. Let's look at a few standout ones, ranging from early-stage to highly-funded, below:

Israeli Industry Leader on Jewish-Arab Business: It’s Almost Like There’s Peace

Strong business ties between Palestinian-Arabs and Israelis makes it seem like there is harmony in the air, despite efforts by the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement to blacklist Israeli goods, one industry leader told The Algemeiner on Thursday.
“We work a lot with the Palestinians — in the West Bank and in Gaza — for years [now],” said Dr. Eli Fischer, founder and president of Israel-based Fischer Pharmaceuticals Inc. and name behind the well-known “Dr. Fischer” brand.

Archaeologists Uncover 3,200-Year-Old Silver Earrings in Israel

For Mullins, who taught for 13 years at the Jerusalem University College on Mount Zion, excavating Abel Beth Maacah has been his “dream site for nearly four decades.”
“If there is any one site in Israel that I had always wanted to excavate, this was the one,” Mullins told Tazpit News Agency. He says that part of the reason is that Abel Beth Maacah is the perfect place to study the nature of cross-cultural interaction in antiquity between Arameans, Israelites, and Phoenicians.
Abel Beth Maacah was the last major biblical site specifically mentioned in the Bible to be explored by modern-day archaeologists. Yigal Yadin had wanted to initiate an excavation project there in the 1950s, but decided to excavate at Hazor instead, according to an article published in the journal Strata on the importance of this archaeological site.

Ideology at the Oscars

The Academy, faced with two films telling the same basic story, ignored the film that was the product of years of research, and chose instead the one resulting from tea in Ramallah and a four-hour late-night writing effort.
The Academy snubbed the film that featured a nuanced and multi-faceted portrayal, and chose instead a one-sided picture seeking to indict Israelis as proto-Nazis who purportedly prevent even teenagers in love from seeing each other without risking their lives. The filmmaker and distributor describe Omar as non-judgmental, but no one who sees it will fail to understand the heavy-handed message.
Finally—and sadly for those who hope for peace—the Academy disregarded the film that was the result of a creative collaboration between Jew and Muslim, and chose instead to honor a work of agitprop, written and produced by a leader of the ongoing cinematic intifada.

Israel hopes to be next ‘it’ location for movie productions

The Tourism Ministry recently announced its investment in the production in Israel of the NBC TV series Dig. Last April, the ministry facilitated the filming of the Chinese blockbuster Old Cinderella with two of China’s leading movie stars.
In similar news, FX’s new drama, Tyrant, is in production in Israel at the moment as is Natalie Portman’s debut feature film as a director.
“This is just the beginning – we must turn Israel into a location for international movie productions. We have every type of set that a producer could wish for. Developing the movie industry will create revenue and employment in the periphery and cities,” said Landau.

Documentary on spirited Holocaust survivor wins Oscar

Alice Herz-Sommer, who died in London on Feb. 23 at the age of 110, was the subject of “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life,” which won the Academy Award for documentary short Sunday night.
In accepting the Oscar, the film’s director, Malcolm Clarke, said that he was struck by Herz-Sommer’s “extraordinary capacity for joy” and “amazing capacity for forgiveness.”
The Prague-born Herz-Sommer, a concert pianist, was a prisoner in Theresienstadt.