Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: RealJerusalemStreets

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Thursday, July 25, 2024

How the media misreported Nasser Hospital (Real Jerusalem Streets)

Guest essay by Real Jerusalem Streets:

It was 25 years ago, but I remember it better than last week.

We lived in New York City, I was standing in my husband's office. On his desk was the New York Times - a must-have newspaper in those days.

One little news brief mentioned First Lady Hilary Clinton for the Senate seat to open up with the retirement of Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

As I stood there, I thought - the manipulation of the masses by the media.

The woman who had never lived in NY before 1999, was voted the US Senator from New York in 2000 after Nita Lowey - graciously - backed out of the race.

This week, multiple times, the media was influencing the public, but I will focus on only one specific issue, rather than do a long rant.

July 23, 2024, was Tuesday the 17th of Tammuz and a Jewish fast day.

In Jerusalem, Israel, the sun was blazing and too hot to go outside, better to attend Zoom meetings and stay close to the computer and the air conditioning.

Scrolling on X in the morning, I found Reuters live-streaming the Emergency Room entrance of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Here is one screenshot of the morning scene. The video live stream was on my computer all day as I did other things. Constantly I referred back, watching and listening for ambulances, etc.

You can watch all six hours here:

For most of the day, I and thousands of others watched the very less-than-chaotic images. At times little boys roamed around, and occasionally a small crowd of men gathered outside the fence. Women constantly were walking this road, even as a few cars and trucks came along.

It looks like the amount of ambulances any major hospital emergency room would receive in any six hour period. No evidence of panic or desperation.

So what's the problem?

The Washington Post used this Shutterstock image as feature on its story.

JERUSALEM — Israel’s army intensified military operations in southern Gaza on Monday, sending Palestinian casualties streaming into already buckling hospitals, as thousands of civilians fled an area that the army had previously designated a safe zone.

In Nasser Hospital, one of the most functional remaining medical facilities in the Gaza Strip, casualties streamed in and doctors did what they could. Many of the patients were children, and some arrived by themselves, medics said..."

Who are you going to believe, your own eyes or the Washington Post?

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!

A first-hand account of anti-Israel media bias (Real Jerusalem Streets)

Guest essay by Real Jerusalem Streets:

After October 7, the mainstream media picked up anti-Israel stories and flew with them, the truth left languishing in the dirt.

The story of the twelve spies sent by Moses to view the Promised Land shows that ten men's opinion against two is nothing new. Ten professional photographers work on an event, ten different albums will be produced. Each observer has a subjective way of viewing the same scene. Two journalists may attend the same event and publish very different stories.

I began walking the Jerusalem March/Flag Parade. Every time what I saw did not match what media outlets were publishing.

How many saw that this year Reuters Fact Check put out a correction two weeks after they published stories of Jews chanting death to Arabs? Two little too late; the damage was done. I saw no corrections in other media.

Though proven to be not true, the false claims coming from Gaza are consistently revived by anti-Israel pundits. The exaggerated death count in the Gaza hospital story is one glaring example. Readers of Elder of Ziyon are well aware of bias in reporting from sources coming from the UN agencies relying on Hamas.

One recent piece from the BBC, "Why 800 people fled a sun-kissed Mediterranean Village," related the woeful tale of Alma al-Shaab, in southern Lebanon just over a kilometer from the Israeli border. "Since October last year, it has been caught in cross-border fighting between Israeli forces and "Hezbollah, the Shia Muslim organization which is politically influential and in control of the most powerful armed force in Lebanon."

BBC didn’t bother to state that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization which, since October 7 has bombarded northern Israel with rockets, missiles, and deadly drones, forcing close to 100,000 Israelis to find refuge for safety. Those thousands, homeless for nine months, are not worth a mention by the BBC.

At least BBC's Ali Abbas Ahmadi admits, "Hezbollah and its allies fired waves of rockets from Lebanon into a disputed area along the border in an apparent show of support for the armed group." Northern Israel is not a “disputed area." The BBC ignores UN Resolution 1701, which requires “the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon,” which Ahmadi and Hezbollah both ignore.

BBC news anchor Helena Humphrey asked former IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus why the army didn't warn Palestinians before the rescue of the four hostages in Gaza. After years of dealing with hostile media, Conricus kept his composure before responding. His even temper and his eyes opening wider did not get the same attention as Eylon Levy's eyebrows when asked a similarly outrageous question.

Over the years I have witnessed bias against Israel from journalists, not only online but also on organized international media tours.

November 2016, with Arafat staring down from a larger-than-life photo on the wall, we sat in the Silwad community center to hear the emotional retelling of an old Arab woman's story.

She remembered her young days on her father's land. Not one of the international journalists asked to see a deed or any proof of her tale. It was accepted. It fits the narrative. The group leader had tried to convince me not to get on the bus leaving from Jerusalem. He warned me to keep a low profile after I insisted on coming using my US passport and identification.

After safely leaving, I researched the deed. It appeared to be a flimsy piece of paper the size of an index card from a manual typewriter issued in Jordan in 1964 by some office for tax purposes. Israeli families were forced to move in part because of her testimony. Their homes and community were destroyed.

Contrast this with the October 17, 2023, media presentation in Jerusalem where journalists insisted on seeing photographs of the death and destruction described by the ZAKA volunteers fresh from the horrors of southern Israel.

In October, the world did not want to believe the horror stories of burnt bodies. No matter the evidence, there is still denial from Israel haters.

On another occasion, from a scenic lookout on an international media tour, there was a carefully detailed presentation of illegal Arab construction with diagrams, charts, and Google map images by the NGO Regavim. Moving away to the next destination, three men were walking.

I overheard the one in the middle say to his friends, "That was a good presentation.

"But we are journalists. We know it's all lies."

There lies the problem.

On October 12, 2023, the tone of the British journalists' repeated questions caused President Herzog to lose his temper in responding. The number of nationalities involved in the 250 people kidnapped in southern Israel and held hostage was not of interest. His call for their immediate release was ignored.

Image - October 11, 2023, shown to the international journalists at Bei Hanasi

On Day 257, Rachel Goldberg Polin and Jon Polin were interviewed on CNN. She said in the US people still do not know after all these months that 8 US dual citizens are still held captive and 24 nationalities were involved.

Journalists have a right and obligation to question. However, they also must present factual information, not their opinions as facts.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) wants a dynamic journalist for its Jerusalem bureau to cover news in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. The deadline for applications was June 23. Journalists with a perfect command of Hebrew and French, a strong grasp of social networks, and a deep understanding of Middle Eastern news, particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, were invited to apply.

It will be interesting to see who fills the position.

Actress Sharon Stone was quoted: "We see terrible things about Israel on TV, but when you come here you realize that what they broadcast is not true, this is a wonderful country!"

After making aliyah and living in Jerusalem, Israel, the scenes I saw daily were not what I saw in the media, prompting the creation of The Real Jerusalem Streets. After posting close to 14,000 photos, it is still hard to believe how different the real streets are from the fake narratives and how easily the fake news is shared.

Thank you, Elder of Ziyon, for posting multiple Real J Street blogs over the years, to share what's really happening and what the mainstream media ignores.

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!

Fuel for fires of jihad - photo essay of incitement in Palestinian textbooks (Real Jerusalem Streets)

Guest essay by Real Jerusalem Streets:

With anti-Israel and antisemitic protests spreading throughout the world, many are asking where could this hate come from.

A look into Arabic textbooks is a place to start finding answers to the spread of anti-Israel and Jewish protesters being filled with the fuel of jihad.

Arik Aggasi, COO and head of global partnerships for IMPACT-se (The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education,) presented compelling evidence undermining UNWRA's credibility to international journalists.

From over 1,000 textbooks published since 2016, the evidence shows a shocking promotion of hate among young children and a deterioration in content, falling far short of UNESCO standards. Some examples included the removal of content discussing peace agreements, negotiations, and the Two-State Solution, as well as the encouragement of violence and demonization of Israel across all grades and subjects, even infiltrating math and science.

IMPACT-se has been diligently monitoring and analyzing education worldwide since 1998. Their aim is to ensure that education complies with international standards of peace, tolerance, and non-violence, as derived from UNESCO declarations and resolutions. They note UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, and Saudia Arabia have removed some of the hate material.

IMPACT-se's findings have had a significant impact, such as the European Parliament's decision to freeze parts of Palestinian Authority funding until their curricula align with international standards. A joint report by IMPACT-se and United Nations Watch, presented to Congress, shed light on 47 new cases of incitement to hate and violence by UNRWA teachers and schools, in clear violation of the agency's policies. This report revealed a disturbing pattern of calling for the murder of Jews, glorifying terrorism, and inciting antisemitism within UNRWA's education system.

Norway's decision to cut funding over textbook incitement in December 2020 was met with a defiant response from Palestinian PM Shtayyeh, who declared that the "curriculum will not be surrendered." This resistance to reforming the curriculum, even in exchange for the release of frozen EU funds, was reiterated by PA Foreign Minister Al-Maliki in March 2022.

It is crucial to shed light on these issues and encourage international dialogue to address the root causes of conflict in the region. UNRWA's role in perpetuating hatred and violence through education must be scrutinized. Once Hamas is eliminated, efforts to promote peace and tolerance should be prioritized for the sake of a more peaceful and stable future for all parties involved.

It is time for the world leaders to wake up from woke and see what is written in Arabic, in the UNRWA textbooks.

Hopefully, it is not too late to stop the fires from spreading.

Here is a sampling of images provided by IMPACT-se, starting in lower school and included in teachers' manuals encouraging Jew-hatred and murder

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!

St. Louis @KSDKNews promotes false propaganda about an American girl detained for no reason by Israel

The top story on St. Louis KSDK news last night was about a dual citizen Palestinian American who was detained by the Israeli army as she tried to go through a checkpoint to Jerusalem:

Israeli Defense Forces detained a St. Louis college student on Friday and held her over the weekend after she attempted to cross the border from Ramallah into Jerusalem to visit revered holy sites with her family.

Hala Kasim Salameh, a 22-year-old Palestinian-American woman from St. Louis, was visiting the West Bank with her mother, sister, aunt and cousin.

According to her family, Salameh is an American citizen who had proper documentation, a travel permit, a U.S. passport and her Palestinian I.D. card when she approached the first checkpoint but was turned away.

"Sometimes it doesn't really go how you want, and they can refuse your entry for no reason at all, and that's exactly what happened to my sister," her younger sister Yumna Salameh told 5 On Your Side in a video call on Sunday night.

"She tried to ask them twice to go in, and they still refused her entry," she said. "They kind of got aggressive with her, too."

After being separated from her family at the first checkpoint, Salameh tried again to reconnect with them in a taxi cab. She managed to make one final phone call to her family before she was arrested.

Neveen Ayesh, a St. Louis advocate with the Missouri chapter of American Muslims for Palestine, is working with Salameh's family to get her legal representation.

"To begin with, she was not wrong because she did have a permit to enter," Ayesh said. "The soldier just decided he didn't want to let her in."

The story is very strange. Why would the soldiers let her family through and not her? Why would she be put into jail for something so minor - why not just release her?

If you listen carefully, the video of the story answers both questions, with two buried details that are not in the written story.

At 2:23, after the video report, the news anchor mentions as an aside, "The family tells us that she did have the proper documentation, but did not have it on her when she was detained."

Suddenly, things are starting to make sense. The family and lawyer in the news story were lying when they said she had all her documentation, and then - perhaps upon further questioning from a skeptical reporter - the family changed their story. But that detail didn't make it into the print and video story, which still quotes the AMP lawyer as saying she had her permit on her.

Now look at the video at 1:00: "Now, separated from her family, she tried to enter a third time, in a taxicab." Her sister then says, "Oh, the third time they said, 'you disobeyed us, and now we catch you.'"

Meaning, they let her go twice, but she still tried to sneak into Israel a third time by hoping that they wouldn't check her papers from a taxicab.

This isn't a story of an American girl being abused by the IDF. It is the story of a person trying, three times, to cross a border without documentation - and the third time, knowingly trying to sneak past the border guards.

This is what would happen at any border crossing worldwide.

The family turned to pro-terror American Muslims for Palestine for help. AMP saw an opportunity for a propaganda bonanza, so they immediately contacted the media and concocted a story about a forlorn American girl of Palestinian ancestry who was arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned for no other reason except that Israelis hate Palestinians.

And KSDK happily runs with the story as their top story of the evening. Not only that, they illustrate the part where she gets arrested with this photo of Israeli police detaining a violent protester, as if this was how Hala was treated:

This is not news reporting. This is anti-Israel propaganda.

A proper news organization would have reported this the way they would report anyone trying to bypass security at an airport - as a potential terrorist trying to illicitly cross an international border.

(h/t RealJerusalemStreets)

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!

Booking.com Following Airbnb into Political Dead Sea? (RealJerusalemStreets)

By Real Jerusalem Streets

The reported news that Booking.com was to put a "warning" on Jewish-owned property rentals in Judea and Samaria listed on their website spurred a visit to the Dead Sea to see.

Leaving Jerusalem for the half-hour drive to the northern part of the shrinking Dead Sea, it's hard to miss the Bedouin encampments which have multiplied in the desert along the road.

The banks of the receding body of salt water are visible from an outlook at the Biankini Village Resort Dead Sea. For those like me who were unfamiliar with the name, and at first glance think of beach bikinis or burkinis, Angelo Levi Bianchini was an officer in the Italian Royal Navy. A street in Jerusalem near Hillel Street and the Italian Synagogue is named for the Zionist and Israel lover.

But that story is for another time.

I mention Bianchini because of the street where in 2001 a terrorist attempted to blow up the Biankini Pub, filled with nearly 200 young people drinking beer on a Friday night and celebrating 3 birthdays.

Biankini Pub owner Dina Dagan realized something was wrong when a man from Ramallah walked into her business after she had seen on the news that Ramallah had been closed because of riots.

He had indeed left a powerful explosive in a bag in the restroom. She was able to carry the bomb out to the street, get the police to believe her, and finally come and detonate the explosive, saving the lives of her patrons.

The episode is material also for a powerful story. But I mention it because Dagan grew up in Jerusalem and experienced the Intifada firsthand. She did not decide to leave until after the Moment Cafe bombing, where some of the same young people she saved were murdered by another terrorist's bomb.

Dina Dagan moved to the Dead Sea to find "peace" and started the Biankini Resort in the barren sand. The resort has grown into a mega-complex, with a large swimming pool and shul.

There are small family cabins with play areas and privacy and greenery she planted.

The newest of her 110 rooms are in a building named Sultan and one includes a suite with a private jacuzzi, and as in the rest of the resort, over-the-top Moroccan decor.

Dina Dagan, flamboyant down to her blue and white bejeweled fingernails is angry with the Booking.com warning. After working hard for over 20 years to build a business that provides 4 million shekel back into the local economy, where Arabs and Jews work together "in an island of peace" and hosts people from all over the world - Muslim, Christian, Druze, and Jewish.- now is dangerous she asked!

Booking.com watered down their warning on the site to properties in the area stating, "Review any travel advisories provided by your government to make an informed decision about your stay in this area, which may be considered conflict-area"

I have seen comments that this is not a serious development, will not hinder tourism, etc. in this place where Dagan says brings people together. They do not know and if see a warning will be afraid to come -"To the most peaceful place in the world."

Dina Dagan who carried an explosive device out to a Jerusalem street in 2001, calls what is happening, "Intifada Rishona." (First Intifada) A time of virtual shaming which is political and hurts us all - all Israelis. How can this be, a one-sided decision deciding on the borders of Israel when there are terror attacks around the world?

Airbnb and now Booking.com - who will be next in this war of discrimination, that hurts everyone?

Looking up on the way into the resort from the parking lot, we saw birds sheltering from the hot sun in a dinosaur's mouth.

On the way out, I looked down to see Queen Elizabeth and Albert Einstein waving goodbye.

International tourists should be warned - Biankini Resort has just about anything you could imagine - and more.

All images credit - @RealJStreets sharon@rjstreets.com

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!

Book review: "Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World's Most Contested City" (RealJerusalemStreets)

By RealJerusalemStreets

In the opening Author's Note, Andrew Lawler begins "Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World's Most Contested City" with a quote from author Simon Sebag Montefiore; "Writing about Jerusalem was very stressful; every word counts." Lawler adds, "Which word to select is part of that trial."

I read carefully through the 355 pages of text which included impressive old and new photos. The extensive acknowledgments, endnotes, and index are extremely well done and a valuable resource I plan to keep to use in the future.

The Ark of the Covenant was the object of searches over a century before the 1981 "The Raiders of the Lost Ark" by Steven Spielberg starring Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones.

The early chapters on the beginnings of archeology in the Holy Land, in the mid 19th century, led by Christian Zionists, Charles Wilson (Wilson's Arch), Charles Warren, British Royal engineers, Edward Robinson (Robinson's Arch), French explorer Louis-Felicien Joseph Caignart de Saulcy and German Conrad Schick are extremely well documented and informative.

Lawler presents a vast amount of material in an interesting and engaging way. He is an excellent writer who has done extensive research on archeology and history. The work shared over centuries under the Jerusalem streets is seen in an engrossing manner to draw the reader along.

However, on two specific points, I must take exception. In the timeline, 1948 CE "The British withdraw, Israel is created, and war breaks out between Arabs and the new state, the Jewish Quarter is damaged in the fighting."

Rather, the United Nations declared a partition plan on November 29, 1947, and the surrounding Arab nations attacked the new state and expelled the Jews from the Old City, and Jerusalem was divided and occupied by Jordan for 19 years.

The other point, on page 320 when discussing the US Embassy move to Jerusalem. "The United States, therefore, had refused to acknowledge the Israeli government's 1950 move to make Jerusalem its capital...The decision by President Donald Trump to reverse this policy..."

When in fact, the US Congress had passed legislation in 1995 to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and subsequent US Presidents had waivers to not enforce the law and stopped the move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

"It is an act of brazen arrogance or naive foolishness- or both- to tackle the thorny history of Jerusalem," Lawler concludes. Indeed, however, he has done an excellent job to transverse the minefields and controversies, with an excellent result I truly appreciated.

The Western Wall excavations are ongoing, with two new routes open to the public recently. It was fascinating to see the old photos and new rooms I visited, so similar after over a century.

Christian Zionists were the early excavators and it is impressive to realize how much of their work is still accepted, as the knowledge and acceptance of the Bible have waned over the years.