Real human rights and fake human rights

The Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights just released its report of human rights violations by Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza in 2022 (it has not yet been released in English.)

Its section on violations against Palestinian human rights activists is summarized:

Concerning human rights defenders, the independent commission said: Human rights defenders are exposed to a number of violations and harassment committed by official bodies or other unofficial parties. It may lead to murder, kidnapping, arrest, torture, threats, harm to the family and defamation. Defenders of women's rights are subjected to various harassments by social movements and religious and political parties, who see their defense of women as a contradiction with religion and in line with the goals of the West and a denial of Arab values, customs and traditions.   

Those stories, about real abuse against real human rights activists, is rarely covered by the media - because it doesn't fit the narrative that Israel is the human rights violator of Palestinians and, of course, also one of the biggest human rights abusers in the world. (Apparently Israel is surrounded by an oasis of liberal progressive protectors of humanity.)

So the reality gets buried in reports no one reads while the media exaggerates and fabricates Israeli crimes. 

There are real Palestinian human rights defenders - and no one hears about them.

But there are also fake human rights defenders that get lot of coverage. Here's a story that is getting play in Arabic news sites today:

Human rights organizations have called for a boycott of Israeli companies specialized in the field of water and agriculture, prior to their participation in the United Nations Climate Summit (COP 28) scheduled for the end of next November in the UAE.

These companies work to improve their image in front of the world in light of their theft of Palestinian rights to water and the destruction of the Palestinian environment through toxic agricultural pesticides.

The companies (Mekorot, Netafim, Haifa Chemicals, and Adama) seek to present themselves during the summit with their ability to achieve sustainable solutions regarding the environment around the world, at a time when these companies steal Palestinian resources and direct them towards illegal Israeli settlements according to international law.

Human rights organizations are working to reveal the true face of these Israeli companies, and to defend Palestinian rights against climate colonialism.   

Notice anything strange?

The stories do not mention a single "human rights" organization that is calling for this boycott.

The only group I can find talking about this is, of course, BDS. They probably pretend to be a human rights organization. Yet it would not be a surprise if HRW or Amnesty indeed does call for a boycott of Israeli companies at COP28. Because "human rights" is now nothing more than a slogan, with no relationship with real human rights. 

And the real contributions that Israeli technology make to help the world conserve water are considered not as important as the political boycott of any Jewish-owned company in the Middle East. 

And real humans will be deprived of water in the name of "human rights."

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The Palestinian Authority has its own law to severely restrict all NGOs - and no one reports about it

Cover of PCHR's "Annual Reprot" [sic]

Remember the huge amount of outrage last year when Israel shut down the offices of seven PFLP-linked NGOs? It was condemned by the UN, political leaders and human rights groups. 

Well, buried in the Palestinian Center of Human Rights 2022 annual report we see something that didn't generate a single headline in the West.

This year witnessed further restrictions, including the amendment to the non-profit companies’ regulation upon a decision issued by the Palestinian Cabinet, which imposed excessive restrictions on the work and funding of non-profit companies, under the pretext of fighting terrorism. 

Issuance of the Non-Profit Companies Regulation No. (20) of 2022 

The Palestinian Cabinet issued a new regulation on non-profit companies, which includes many restrictions on the work and funding of these companies, which is one of the forms of the right to freedom of association in Palestine. This regulation, which was published in the issue 194 of the Palestinian Gazette on 25 September 2022, included serious restrictions that threaten the existence of CSOs registered as non-profit companies. 

The new regulation, which has replaced the old one in force since 2010 and the cabinet’s decision attached to it in 2016 concerning the funding of non-profit companies, came to add more restrictions on the right to form non-profit companies, as the old regulation included many restrictions. The regulation was issued under the pretext of fighting terrorism and money laundering.

More arbitrary measures were imposed by the authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on associations, threatening the associations’ right to exist, practice its activities freely, and obtain funding. Most of them fully violate the fundamental rights relevant to the freedom of association, including their right to existence, free performance of activities, receipt of funds and the right to privacy and independence. Also, increased restrictive measures are imposed on the associations in the Gaza Strip due to the double restrictions imposed by the two authorities in Gaza and the West Bank.

So the PA and Hamas are also restricting NGO activity. They are also claiming that they are doing this to fight "terrorism" which is as ironic as it gets.

The Palestinian law includes a provision that the NGOs must operate in line with the plan of action of the relevant Palestinian government ministries, meaning that the takes away all independence for the NGOs. There are many other onerous provisions. 

But no one has a problem with this. I couldn't find any article in Western news media that discussed this topic exclusively.

Palestinian human rights violations are simply not reported. Because if they would be, then the entire lucrative industry of anti-Israel reporting would collapse. 

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Newspapers publish Muslim prayers for Allah's revenge on Jews - who wrote them?

We have just begun the Muslim month of Dhul Hijjah, considered the holiest month of all, the month where Muslims go on Hajj to visit Mecca. 

The first ten days of the month are considered especially auspicious, and one tradition is to ask for specific requests in prayers, known as dua.

Egyptian newspaper El Balad News helpfully prints a number of duas for each day of Dhul Hijjah, and the first one is interesting:

O Allah, we ask You for all good in this year, and do not deprive us of doing acts of worship, and help us to remember You, thank You, and worship You well, O Most Generous. O God, we ask that this year be a year of goodness and peace, and that the Holy Land be purified from the hateful Jews, for they do not fail you. O children of the Jews, we have a great God.  Take revenge on them, O Subjugator, O God, O God, O God.

Not "Zionists" - Jews.

The newspaper includes the exact same text in its otherwise completely different set of duas for the second day of the month aa well. It will probably publish the prayer for all ten days this years, as it did last year. 

Jordan's Khaberni published this dua last year. 

Cairo24 published this same dua, but for the month of Rajab of last year, and repeated it this year.

I found the same text as a dua for the first day of Muharram in 2010. 

Jordan's Albawaba lists a very similar dua for the second day of the Dhul Hijjah - and since Albawaba get syndicated with MSN network, we have Microsoft spreading prayers for Allah to kill Jews.   

I am not certain who originated these antisemitic supplications, but this article appears to say that Egypt's Dar al Iftaa - governmental Islamic fatwa authority - approved them for another occasion last year.

I could be wrong about that, but if an Egyptian governmental organization has any hand in writing or approving a prayer demanding Allah destroy Israel and wipe out the Jews, it should be raised and addressed diplomatically. 

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Haaretz only hates SOME American billionaires who fund Israeli think tanks

Back in January, Haaretz published "The American Billionaires Behind the Far-right Attempt to Destroy Liberal Israel." It highlighted the fact that the Kohelet Forum, a think tank that has influenced the judicial reform plan in Israel, is heavily funded by right-wing American billionaires which, of course, taints the entire organization. 

After all, why should Americans influence Israeli policy? Clearly something isn't kosher here.

Today, Haaretz has an article about another Israeli think tank, the Israel Democracy Institute, which it calls "The Think Tank on the Front Lines of the Battle for Israel's Democracy." It admiringly describes how the IDI has been working hard to fight judicial reform.

It doesn't mention that the Israel Democracy Institute's main funder and international chairman is also an American billionaire, Bernard Marcus. In fact, his Marcus Foundation and an anonymous American entity are listed as the organization's founders, and the majority of its major funders are from the USA, not Israel.

Where are the outraged articles that the think tank behind fighting judicial reform is founded and funded by American billionaires? Where are the intrepid reporters who are working to identify who the anonymous wealthy American co-founders of IDI is and paint them as nefarious opponents of all that is good and right? 

I have nothing against the IDI. It is an important part of the debate. It is an undeniably Zionist organization. Its funding sources are exactly as important as Kohelet's. Its budget is roughly the same as Kohelet's. And in both cases, the funders are American Zionists who care deeply about Israel's future.

Neither Kohelet nor IDI are anti-democracy. Neither of them are an enemy of Israel. 

Those who demonize either one of these are the real enemies of Israel's democracy. To them, partisanship and division are more important than having a fair debate about a crucial topic. Instead of encouraging people to read the articles authored by each think tank, they want to drown the opposing voices out. They want to replace reasoned debate with drama and protests. 

There is plenty of blame on both sides, but the stark difference between how the media treats Kohelet and how it treats IDI show that the media itself is often part of the problem, when its primary job should be to be part of the solution. 

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Donations to groups that encourage Palestinians murdering Jews are tax deductible in the US

Last year, a group of anti-Israel groups co-sponsored rallies  in New York City titled  "By Any Means Necessary."

The phrase isn't even a dog whistle, It literally is a call to murder Jews in Israel. it says that bus bombs, suicide bombings of pizza shops and Passover seders and murdering children via sniper are all legitimate "resistance." And if they thought that murdering Jews around the world would help their cause, then that is included in "any means necessary."

One would think that groups that literally call for murdering Jews would be banned. But not only are they legal - incitement to murder Jews is apparently free speech - but donations to these groups are tax deductible.

The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network was founded and is led by members of the PFLP terror group.  It proudly promotes the PFLP which recruits children to attack Jews. Yet donors to Samidoun get a tax deduction, as it launders the donations through the Alliance for Global Justice, which claims to support "peace, anti-war and liberation." But AGJ happily partners with a group that openly advocates terror.

"Within Our Lifetime" apparently coined the phrase "Globalize the Intifada," which they explicitly say means "to win liberation by any means necessary." 

In this case, it sounds even more like a threat to Jews worldwide, not just in Israel.

Yet donations to Within Our Lifetime are also tax deductible, laundered through Wespac, which describes itself as wanting a more "just and peaceful world" - which apparently includes blowing up Jews. 

The Palestinian Youth Movement, another co-sponsor of "By Any Means Necessary," also launders its donations through Wespac.

It seems to me that IRS rules against terrorist organizations are general enough to include any of these groups that say they support violence against civilians as a legitimate means of "resistance." The organizations that launder the money, Wespac and the Alliance for Global Justice, should be examined and put on notice - the contents of these groups' websites should be enough to make an initial determination that they support terror.

This is way overdue. 

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Who actually cares about Jerusalem? Not the NGOs that pretend to

Terrestrial Jerusalem and Ir Amim, two Jewish NGOs that spend all of their energy to oppose any Jewish rights in Jerusalem, are alarmed:

On December 27, 2022, the Elad settlers of Silwan accompanied by a heavily armed detail of Israeli police, took over a large plot of land immediately adjacent to the Pool of Siloam in Silwan (from which the name Silwan derives).

The settler takeover is not exclusively a settler initiative. In a press release touting the commencement of excavations on the site, this is being presented as a joint venture between the Elad settlers, the Israel National Parks Authority (INPA), and the Antiquities Authority (IAA). For all those needing proof, this is further evidence that in Silwan, the settlers and the Government of Israel are one of the same.

The land in question has been owned by the Greek Orthodox Church and leased to a Palestinian family since the 1930s. A family member was arrested last night (26 December) in a pre-emptive arrest, and three more were detained this morning.

The Government of Israel and the settlers have decided there is no better time to take over Church property, in a place of cardinal importance to Christianity, than the Christmas week. There is nothing new in this. The settlers and the Government customarily reserve Christmas week for their most problematic initiatives, assuming, not without reason, that the diplomats and decision-makers are all on leave and will not pay attention.

JNS reports the story a bit differently:

An ancient Jerusalem pool that was used by millions of Jewish pilgrims during the time of the Second Temple two millennia ago as a ritual bath before ascending the Temple Mount, and revered by Christians as the site where Jesus cured a blind man, will be fully excavated and then opened to the public, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Tuesday.

The Pool of Siloam, located in the southern portion of the City of David, the ancient epicenter of Jerusalem, and just outside the Old City walls is expected to become one of the most important historic and tourist sites in the city.

The pool has been a focal point for archaeologists and scholars for the last 150 years. The excavations are set to begin in January and will continue for at least several months, while the site is expected to open to the public in about a year.

And, crucially:

The planned excavation of the five-dunam site (about 1.25 acres) is getting underway after a 14-year legal battle culminated in June when Israel’s Supreme Court found no reason to challenge the validity of the Ateret Cohanim organization’s purchase of 99-year leases, renewable for an additional 99 years, from the Greek Orthodox Church, the largest landowner in Jerusalem.

One of Ateret Cohanim’s goals is to purchase land in the history-rich area for public viewing, said Doron Spielman, vice president of the City of David Foundation. Previously, the area, which was off limits to everybody, lay barren for decades and was littered with garbage, he said.

“It is not every day that we find an icon in Jerusalem,” Spielman said. “This is not just a huge find, it is a mega-find.”

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion said in a statement, “The Pool of Siloam in the City of David National Park in Jerusalem is a site of historic, national and international significance. After many years of anticipation, we will soon merit being able to uncover this important site and make it accessible to the millions of visitors visiting Jerusalem each year.”

According to TJ and Ir Amim, the Jews are stealing away Christian land.

In reality, they legally purchased the rights to the land, and it will become available for millions of Christians to visit!

These people who pretend to be defending Jerusalem prefer that precious historical site be strewn with garbage and inaccessible to all rather than fixed up and available to all.

The transfer of the lease is legal, above board and helps improve Jerusalem. 

Which begs the question: who really cares about Jerusalem? 

Certainly not Terrestrial Jerusalem or Ir Amim. 

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Lying is part and parcel of Palestinian NGOs

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights called on the international community and  humanitarian organizations to intervene immediately to stop Israel from opening up nonexistent dams that are being blamed for flooding Gaza during torrential rains.

It would be easy to dismiss the hysterical lies of a tiny NGO in Gaza. Like many Palestinian NGOs,  ICSPR is essentially a one man operation meant to attract funding.

Its chairman is Salah Abdel Ati, a "human rights lawyer" who is involved in a lot of other Palestinian NGOs. He is on the Board of Trustees of Law Palestine, and his bio there says that he is also "member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Middle East Studies, Canada, former director of the Palestinian Center for Policy Research &  Strategic (Masarat) in the Gaza Strip (2015-2019), and former director of the Independent Commission for Human Rights in Gaza (2004-2015), Director of Programs and Training at Canaan Educational Development Institute (1997-2004).  Besides, Abdel Ati is a researcher and writer who has published many books, studies, research papers, and articles in the fields of politics, law, human rights, and society. He has worked with the United Nations agencies and international, Arab and Palestinian organizations and has trained thousands of lawyers and human rights activists, judges, workers in civil society organizations, and he is the founder and a board member in several Palestinian, Arab and international NGOs and institutions."

So now we can link an obvious liar to numerous other NGOs and, according to him, "thousands of lawyers and human rights activists, judges, workers in civil society organizations" who he helped train.

There is an almost incestuous relationship between Palestinian NGOs and international NGOs who work in Gaza and the West Bank. They all build on each others' "research" and compete in who will innovate the latest anti-Israel libel. 

Their funding - and salaries - depend on it. 

Lying is not a disqualification from being an honored member of this cabal - it is a prerequisite. 

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Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.  Read all about it here!

 

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