Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: history

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Thursday, June 20, 2024

It Took Only 150 Years To Revise The Reputation of General Sherman. How Long Will It Take For Israel? (Daled Amos)

By Daled Amos

“Those people made war on us, defied and dared us to come south to their country, where they boasted they would kill us and do all manner of horrible things. We accepted their challenge, and now for them to whine and complain of the natural and necessary results is beneath contempt."
General William Tecumseh Sherman

General William Tecumseh Sherman was one of the most notable Union generals of the Civil War, famous for his "scorched earth" policy requiring destroying anything useful to the enemy. That was arguably Sherman's main claim to fame -- or infamy.

General Sherman's military career in the Civil War does seem to have some interesting parallels to the current Israel-Gaza War -- beyond the above quote about his view of the South's challenge to the North. His policy for conducting the war has been challenged over 150 years for being destructive and brutal. General Sherman was arguably responsible for committing war crimes:

Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s actions after the capture of Atlanta and his subsequent March to the Sea are sometimes seen as anticipating the pattern of total war in the twentieth century. Some have claimed that Sherman was a war criminal, authorizing plunder and looting of civilian property. But the matter is more complex than either of these charges indicate. In fact, Sherman’s actions were the culmination of a Union policy toward civilians that evolved during the course of the war.

But his reputation appears to be going through a makeover. That redemption gained steam in 2014, as reflected by this marker:

The marker was erected by the Georgia Historical Society and the Georgia Battlefields Association:

On November 15, 1864, during the Civil War, U.S. forces under Gen. William T. Sherman set out from Atlanta on the March to the Sea, a military campaign designed to destroy the Confederacy’s ability to wage war and break the will of its people to resist. After destroying Atlanta’s industrial and business (but not residential) districts, Sherman’s 62,500 men marched over 250 miles, reaching Savannah in mid-December. Contrary to popular myth, Sherman’s troops primarily destroyed only property used for waging war – railroads, train depots, factories, cotton gins, and warehouses. Abandoning their supply base, they lived off the land, destroying food they could not consume. They also liberated thousands of enslaved African Americans in their path. Sherman’s “hard hand of war” demoralized Confederates, hastening the end of slavery and the reunification of the nation.

The media covering the marker at the time picked up on this revision of Sherman's reputation. We can only wonder if the analysis offered just 9 years ago would be made today:

Historians have increasingly written that Sherman’s plan for the systematic obliteration in late 1864 of the South’s war machine, including its transportation network and factories, was destructive but not gratuitously destructive. Instead, those experts contend, the strategy was an effective and legal application of the general’s authority and the hard-edged masterstroke necessary to break the Confederacy.

In other words:

o The force used by the general was proportionate.
o It targeted military -- not civilian -- infrastructure.
o And it did not contravene the law.

This is not to deny the inevitable excesses one expects in war but focuses on the intent of Sherman and his troops.

And what about the accounts of the deliberate brutality of Sherman's troops?

[Experts] have described plenty of family accounts of cruelty as nothing more than fables that unfairly mar Sherman’s reputation.

“What is really happening is that over time, the views that are out there are being challenged by historical research,” said John F. Marszalek, a Sherman biographer and the executive director of the Mississippi-based Ulysses S. Grant Association. “The facts are coming out.”

Family accounts?

Apparently, Hamas terrorists are not the first to recognize the effectiveness of the use of civilian accounts for blackening the reputation of its enemies.

But this is not to say that Sherman's redemption is complete. The South still is bitter over what they view as the war crimes of General Sherman.

Not surprisingly, the battle over Sherman can also be found on college campuses. A professor at the University of Georgia notes that there is a change in attitude where he is teaching:

“You all the time run into college kids who don’t know which side Sherman was on — and their parents and certainly their grandparents would be aghast to know that,” he said. “It’s not just a matter of education. It’s a matter of being the blank slate that younger generations present for revision or education that older generations don’t because they’re steeped in the mythology of their ancestors.”

Has there ever been a time when university students were not blank slates for those with an agenda?

Another interesting parallel appears in Wikipedia, quoting authors who believe that Sherman's conduct of the war influenced the Democratic Party and the elections:

Sherman's success caused the collapse of the once powerful "Copperhead" faction within the Democratic Party, which had advocated immediate peace negotiations with the Confederacy. It also dealt a major blow to the popularity of the Democratic presidential candidate, George B. McClellan, whose victory in the election had until then appeared likely to many, including Lincoln himself. According to Holden-Reid, "Sherman did more than any other man apart from the president in creating [the] climate of opinion" that afforded Lincoln a comfortable victory over McClellan at the polls.

The "progressives" of that time who parallel today's "Ceasefire Now" advocates did not push for a definitive victory over the South. Similarly, McClellan's position on the war is reminiscent of Biden's position on the Israel-Gaza War and the problems that is causing him.

According to ChatGPT:

[McClellan's] platform, as adopted by the Democratic Party, called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a negotiated peace with the Confederacy. However, McClellan personally distanced himself from the more extreme peace elements of his party, asserting that any peace settlement must include the restoration of the Union. Despite this, his campaign was seen as an attempt to end the war through compromise rather than military victory.

But none of this helps Israel.

General William Tecumseh Sherman died in 1891. There have been over 130 years for the dust to settle, for some degree of objectivity to set in, and for a re-examination of Sherman and his actions to begin to be re-evaluated.

It will be a long time before analysis of Israel and its modern history approaches anything near objectivity.

(Hat tip: PreOccupied Territory)

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The UN's history of the "Question of Palestine" omits every single Palestinian attack on Jews

The UN has a webpage where it shows a timeline on the "Question of Palestine."

It is biased as hell.

It starts with "1885 – The term 'Zionism' first coined by the Viennese writer, Nathan Birnbaum."

There is no mention of Jewish history in the region for thousands of years. No mention of Jewish kingdoms. No mention of the centrality of Eretz Israel and Jerusalem to Judaism. No mention of the Bible.

But after that, it simply ignores or whitewashes every single act of terrorism by Palestine's Arabs.

It doesn't mention the murderous Palestinian pogrom against Jews in 1929.

It says, "1936/1939 – Palestinian rebellion against the British Mandate and Jewish immigration." But not that Arabs murdered Jews, just that it was a "rebellion."

It doesn't say anything about the Arab League boycott of Jews.

It doesn't mention any Arab attacks on Jews in 1947-48. No outbreak of hostilities hours after the UN Partition resolution, no mention of the constant attacks on Jewish civilians, no mention of the Hadassah Hospital convoy massacre or the many other attacks on Jewish civilians - but it does mention Deir Yassin, and exaggerates the number of dead as "hundreds." .

The UN gets the date of Israel's independence wrong, saying it happened on May 15, 1948.

There were scores of fedayeen attacks by Palestinian Arabs against Israel in the 1950s and 60s, and hundreds of Israelis were killed. Not one incident is mentioned.

But the UN describes the 1966 As-Samu incident, where Israeli and Jordanian troops battled after a land mine killed 3 IDF soldiers, as a "massacre" of Palestinians. 15 Jordanian soldiers and three civilians were killed. It was not a massacre by any definition.

There is not one mention of Palestinian airplane hijackings in the 1960s and 1970s.

It says, "1987 – First 'Intifada' begins in the Jabaliya Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip." It doesn't mention that the intifada killed hundreds of Israelis. The many terror attacks that occurred during the Oslo process are nowhere to be found.

Similarly, it says, "Ariel Sharon’s al-Haram al-Sharif visit in September 2000 triggers the Second Palestinian Intifada."

Not a word about Palestinian suicide bombings, or bus bombings, or attacks on pizza shops and Passover seders and bar mitzvahs.

And of course no mention later about rockets from Gaza, massacring rabbis or kidnapping and murdering kids. Hamas is not mentioned as a terror group - or even militant group. In fact, the word "terror" is nowhere to be seen. Neither is "Islam," "Muslim" or "Jihad," although Jews are mentioned.

The Holocaust is not mentioned either. There is simply no information on why Jews might want to have their own homeland in the region.

There is plenty of other anti-Israel bias in wording and choice of incidents.

According to this official UN history, Palestinians have not attacked, let alone killed, a single Jew. The only aggression mentioned is from Jewish and Zionist groups.

The UN's anti-Israel bias is unmistakable even in this public document that is pretending to be objective.

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End the Lebanese and Jordanian occupation of Palestine!

I love when I tweet and the Israel haters are reduced to gibberish in response.

I had tweeted,

Proof #619 that calling Israel "apartheid" is antisemitic:

Lebanon treats Palestinians worse than Israel by every conceivable yardstick. Discrimination is enshrined in law. Yet no one accuses Lebanon of "apartheid."

The responses from modern antisemites were all along the lines of:

"Whataboutism!" (meaning, don't talk about Palestinian suffering unless it can be blamed on Israel)

"You are a liar!" (without any links or proof)

"Of course it's apartheid - everyone says so!" (appeal to authority fallacy)

But a couple of people responded with something like, "Lebanon isn't occupying Palestinian territory!"

Are they sure?

Here's a map of Palestine from 1870:

It includes large amounts of todays Lebanon as well as much of today's Jordan.

How come no Palestinian is upset at the occupation of Lebanon and Jordan of Palestine?

But, you might respond, this is a Western map. Maybe Arabs felt that Palestine before 1923 included the exact borders of the British Mandate and no more.

Well, here is a 1918 map of Palestine, labeled as such, in Arabic:

It doesn't include Lebanon but a great deal of Jordan is included in this map.

Based on this map, it sure looks like at least Jordan is occupying ancient sacred Palestinian lands!

Why aren't we seeing Palestinians demanding "Free Palestine from Jordan and (maybe) Lebanon!"

Maybe for the same reason that the PLO in 1964 didn't claim the West Bank or Gaza as being part of "Palestine."

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The British didn't leave Palestine on May 15, 1948 - but on June 30

The last British soldiers did not leave Palestine until six weeks after Israel declared independence.

The British continues to control Haifa's port until June 30, when they finally left and Israel took over.

And within hours of the withdrawal, Israel introduced its new navy. (London Daily Herald, July 1 1948)

It was so small that United Press put the word "navy" in scare quotes.

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1639: The Jews of Jerusalem escape destruction when their prayers end a drought

This story was written as an appendix to "AN INFORMATION, CONCERNING The Present STATE OF THE JEWISH NATION IN EƲROPE and JƲDEA," probably written by Henry Jessey of England in 1658.

The state of the Jews at Jerusalem hath been many hundred years of late such, as that they ever lived of the supply and Contributions from their brethren abroad; because the place doth yield but little occasion for them to maintain themselves: and besides those that betake themselves thither, are either Old men or Women, only to do penitency and lay down their bones near the Sepulchers of their fore-fathers: or of younger men that for respect to the holiness of the place (as supposing God to be nearer there, and that all prayers must needs ascend that way into heaven) come thither, there to ply devotion and penitency for the sins of themselves and the whole Nation: and therefore cannot attend any trading, but all their time is taken up with praying, reading and hearing Sermons; as also with fastings and watchings and the like penitential Exercises: which intent and endeavours their Brethren abroad amongst the Nations well knowing, and with all desiring to keep (as it were) possession, or at least a footing in Jerusalem, and to shew their holiness till a full restitution come, have been ever willing to uphold them in it: and to that purpose, wherever any Synagogues of Jews are, on every Sabbath-day a Collection is made for the poor at Jerusalem; and what so is gathered, they are to send thither every year., therefore the Jews of Poland, &c. By the Turks (and especially their debts made for want of supply amongst the Citizens) being rigorously exacted, they were haled into prison, &c.

An Instance hereof is this, that in the year 5399. from the Creation, which is now nineteen years ago, there was a great drought in Jerusalem, which had put all Inhabitants to prayers, the Necessity being extream: but the worst of all was this, that an apostated Jew going out to the Turks, persuaded unto the then Bassa, the Lord Mahomet Bassa, that the sole cause that the heaven were shut up, were the Jews by reason of their disobedience unto God; whereupon an Edict was put forth, commanding all Jews, great and small, young and old, to be cast out of the Town presently.

Whereupon some eight of their Eldest were sent up to the said Bassa: which Eldest with great Expences bestowed partly on the Bassa, and partly on his Consellours, had much to do, to crave only three dayes delay: If perhaps within that time the Lord should accept of their prayers and penitency: If not, and that the Lord gave no Rain, he might do with him what he pleased.

This being so stated, it was proclaimed throughout the City, that if within three days no rain came, all the Jews should be expelled, and their goods made prize to the Turks: and whosoever should be found remaining, was to be killed.

Hence arose a doleful lamentation amongst the Jews: a continual fasting for those three nights and days was put upon all, except Babes and Women with Child or in Child-bed, who were bound only to one day and night: So they prayed and humbled themselves all that while with great Cries and Weepings, so that the voice of it was heard throughout the City; and on the Evening on the second day, they seeing no likely-hood their prayers should be heard, and judging their sins to be too great, they took a Resolution, like to Saul, rather to kill one another, one Brother the other, the Father his Children, the Husband his Wife, &c. then to suffer themselves to be polluted by the merciless Turks.

Yet one thing they would first request of the Bassa. viz. That they might all go out to the Sepulchre of the Prophet Zacharia, which was out of the Town, and whither they could not come without his consent. So one R. Emanuel Albachry was sent unto him, who hearing of their desperate Resolutions pitied them and said, Go ye and make your prayers there, if perhaps God might hear you and save you from being killed.

So on the morning of the third day early, all went forth and laid themselves down at the Sepulchre of Zacharia, and there wept bitterly. One R. Asaria made a very pathetical Sermon, and caused all the people to weep, and so did R. Meyer likewise. And at Length arose one R. Samuel, who put the people in mind of the sins of their forefathers, and against this Prophet, at whose Tomb they now were prostrated, how they arose against him, and stoned him most cruelly: how (said he,) shall we here obtain mercy at his feet, seeing our Fathers had no mercy on him? At which words the people wept bitterly, and struck their hands together, and poured out tears as water, and lift up their voices, men and women, young and old: and the Lord remembered.

These are the words of R. Samuel Ben Seth, as the next page show his surety: and he made this R. Samuel to think on the words of the Prophet Elijah on the Mount Carmel, when he said to his man go up and see, &c. and therefore commanded the people to go seven times round about the Sepulchre, at the first Circuition he ordained Psalm 24. and certain prayers to be pronounced; at the second he assigned Psalm 48. and other prayers, and so at each of the seven Circuits some peculiar Psalm and prayer till the Vespertime came. And then the people going forth saw a little Cloud on the West side of Heaven as large as the palm of a hand.

That very day it had been very hot, even as it had been Mid Summer, so that no man could have believed any rain could have fallen that day; which made that the Turks had already gathered up stones, wherewith they thought to have stone the Jews at their return into the City: But such was God's providence that even that day before Sun-setting the said Cloud grew thick, and a wind began to blow, and then came Thundering, and Lightning, and such a blessed shown of Rain, that in two or three hours all the Cisterns were brim-full; so that for the Rains sake the Jews were forced to remain that whole Night in Holes and Concavities of the Sepulchre. And when on the next morning the Women went first of all toward Jerusalem, the Turkish Women met them by the way, and Congratulated them, that God had heard their prayers; and so likewise many of the Chief Turks met with the men, and brought them some presents of fruits and Confitures; and the Bassa bestowed a suite of apparel on every one of their Rabbis.

This is an extract drawn out of an Authentique Copie, written by the said R. Samuel, and signed by all the Elders of the High-Dutch Synagoge at Jerusalem, 1657. April. 22. An other Instance of the same kind we could add of the year (as we count) 1651. and another yet since while Rab. Nathan was here; but this afore mentioned being most Considerable and most Authentical, and exactly pend, whereas the others are but received by word of mouth, we shall here desist. This being sufficient to manifest unto us, that however despised this people is by men, yet that the Lord doth yet own them and accept of their prayers, when none but he can help, when ever with a penitent and contrite heart they repent of their sins and call for mercy, as we have seen here at the Sepulchre of the Prophet Zachary.

Some say the events happened in 1651, others say 1639 which seems more in line with this narrative (5399 Hebrew year.)

The book also describes how poverty-stricken the Jews of Jerusalem were, relying on charity from Jews in Europe. It describes how Christians contributed to their welfare one year when they were punished by the Ottoman authorities for not coming up with the amount of taxes they normally were able to raise because of a war in Poland, causing controversy since the Christians were known for wanting to convert all the Jews, but the fundraiser rabbi assured Jerusalem's Jews that this was voluntary - he hadn't asked for the money - and there were no strings attached.

[S]ince the desolation, brought by war upon Poland, and the other parts, whence that supply was sent unto them, they have been in great extremity of want; insomuch, that in the year one thousand six hundred to death, and the taxes laid upon them by the Turks, being rigorously exacted, they were haled into prison, their Synagogues were shut up, their Rabbi's and Elders beaten and cruelly used. So that to find relief, because none came from Poland, Lithuania, and other parts of Europe, by the late war, and none could be had in those parts form their own, by reason of the general Pressures, which the Turks without Mercy laid upon them all, they send two of their chief Rabbi's to their Brethren in Europe, to acquaint them with their state, and to desire some help from them. The chief of the Rabbi's was called Nathan Saphira, son to the high Lord, Ruben David Tavel, a man of great learning, and skill in their Cabala, and of a very pious, holy and humble disposition, who coming with his companion from Jerusalem upon this errand, and finding at Amsterdam little relief from the Portugal Jews, became accidentally acquainted with some of our Christian friends, who pitied their Condition, and were of their own accord moved to procure some relief unto them among their other Christian friends...

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Did the Kingdom of Israel control the lucrative "royal purple" and "royal blue" dye trade?

Pottery that contained the argaman dye found at Shikmona

Haaretz publishes a fascinating theory:

Israeli archaeologists are rethinking the history of an ancient factory that, thousands of years ago, was one of the largest sites for the production of “royal purple,” a dye that adorned the robes of the rich and powerful across the Mediterranean.

Tel Shikmona, located on the shore of the modern-day city of Haifa, was interpreted as a Phoenician settlement that produced royal purple from sea-snails. The dye was one of the most sought-after luxuries of the ancient world. But a new paper, putting together information from archaeological digs there over 50 years, reached a new conclusion.

For about two centuries, Shikmona was something of a joint venture: an industrial site controlled by the biblical Kingdom of Israel and run by skilled Phoenician workers, say Prof. Ayelet Gilboa, an archaeologist at the University of Haifa and Dr. Golan Shalvi, formerly also at Haifa and now a postdoctoral researcher at Ben-Gurion University.

Their study, published in June in Tel Aviv: Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University, offers rare insight into the closeness of the ties between the ancient Israelites and the Phoenicians. It also sheds light on the economical background behind the expansion of the Kingdom of Israel, which would rise to become a major regional power during the middle of the Iron Age (or the First Temple Period, if one prefers references to the biblical chronology).

The theory, backed up by archaeology, is that the Israelite kingdom expanded to encompass the already existing Phoenician dye factory. It built fortifications to protect it, indicating that the Israelites employed the Phoenician experts to control the export market for both royal purple (argaman) and royal blue (techelet), very expensive dyes used not only by royalty but also in the Jewish Temples in Jerusalem. Tekhelet was also used (and some still use it) in tzitzit, the Biblical commandment to put a tekhelet string on the corners of square garments including prayer shawls.

The archaeologists point to proof that there was a large export trade in argaman, with pottery from Cyprus at the site. They theorize that this site, the only known such factory in that time period, was a major source of the Northern Kingdom's revenue with a near monopoly on the valued dyes.

The paper can be read here.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

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"Tantura massacre" is a conspiracy theory

The Guardian reported last week:

An investigation into a massacre in a destroyed Palestinian village carried out by Israeli forces in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation has identified three possible mass graves beneath a present-day beach resort.

Palestinian survivors and historians have long claimed that men living in Tantura, a fishing village of approximately 1,500 people near Haifa, were executed after surrendering to the Alexandroni Brigade and their bodies dumped in a mass grave believed to be located under an area that is now a car park for Dor Beach. Estimates have ranged from 40 to 200 people.

In recent years, a growing body of evidence for the Tantura massacre has generated significant controversy in Israel, where atrocities committed by Jewish forces in 1948 remain a highly sensitive subject: an Israeli-made documentary about what happened in the village faced widespread backlash on its release last year.

The extensive new investigation by the research agency Forensic Architecture identifies what it says is a second mass grave site in the former village of Tantura, as well as two more possible locations, in the most comprehensive research yet.

There is a difference between history and conspiracy theory. In legitimate historical research, you start with all the facts that then look for larger historical patterns that the facts lead to. With conspiracy theories, however, you start with the theory, and then look for the facts (or half facts) that support the theory and ignore or disparage anything that contradicts them.

The Forensic Architecture "analysis" of Tantura, like their others, is a conspiracy theory dressed up as scientific research.

Historian Benny Morris has dismantled the Tantura massacre myth, using the tools of a historian. Morris has documented every major event that happened in 1948, including what would be considered war crimes today. In every case the Arab victims and victims of relatives spoke about the events in real time, loudly, to whomever would listen. Yet, he notes:

If there was a massacre of 200 to 250 people at Tantura, it was the largest of the 1948 massacres. But there is no available document from 1948 that mentions a massacre at Tantura, apart from one document, which I’ll come back to below, that deals with the execution of a handful of Arab prisoners of war on the fringes of the village. Strange, very strange, because all the massacres perpetrated by Jews in 1948 are at least mentioned, if not described, in documents from 1948. These include documents of the Haganah, the main Jewish militia until the end of May 1948, the Israel Defense Forces, the UN (which had observers on the ground from May 1948), the Red Cross (whose officials operated in the country from April 1948), as well as records by the British and the Americans, whose representatives reported from Israel to London and Washington about the wartime events.

Deir Yassin, Burayr, Ein Zeitun, Lod, Hunin, Dawayima, Eilabun, Arab al-Mawasi, Majd al-Kurum, Saliha, Jish, Safsaf, Bi’na-Deir al Asad – the massacres perpetrated by Jews in these places and others are all mentioned in contemporary 1948 documentation, and in some cases are described in detail. Just not Tantura, not one mention.

Not that Haganah/IDF officers ignored Tantura in 1948. Accounts of the battle, the expulsion, the demolition of buildings afterward, all appear in the documents. Just not a massacre. On June 18, during the war’s First Truce, under the supervision of the International Red Cross and the United Nations, more than a thousand refugees from Tantura were transferred in an army convoy to Tulkarm, then under Iraqi army control. A document in the Haganah Archives sums up Arab radio broadcasts of that period (Haganah Information Service, “E.I. [Eretz Israel, Mandatory Palestine], June 21-22, 1948”): “An Arab woman from Tantura… relates that the Jews are raping Arab women and demolishing the place.” But according to the report, the woman did not mention by so much as a word that the Jews also massacred hundreds of her fellow villagers. (A slightly different version of this report states that the woman related that the Jews “raped women in addition to the acts of robbery, theft and arson.” Again, no mention of a massacre). These items were broadcast on Radio Ramallah.

In addition, as far as I was able to discover, the archives of the UN and the Red Cross – whose officials organized and escorted the move of the Tantura refugees to Tulkarm and reported frequently to their headquarters – contain no mention of a massacre at Tantura. Does it stand to reason that among the thousand deportees, who were no longer under Jewish control, not one bothered to tell the Iraqi officers or the UN and Red Cross officials that, by the way, they had endured a horrific massacre of their fathers, brothers, sons, as described by Katz and Schwarz and their supporters? It is simply inconceivable, if a large-scale massacre that they had eyewitnessed or at least heard about had indeed occurred.

Morris admits that there is evidence that the Israeli troops killed between 8-10 snipers in the village. That's it. No civilians.

He brings plenty of other evidence that the modern blood libel is false and that the current "researchers" are knowingly lying.

Forensic Architecture, however, is looking for a huge massacre. And when you start from that perspective, just like with 9/11 "truthers" or Holocaust deniers, it is easy to find "evidence" that fits your preconceived notions.

In this case, the entirety of the "evidence" they discovered are two shadows in 1949 aerial photos that they didn't see in 1947 photos.

According to them, the only possible explanation for these shadows are that they are man-made earth mounds that would be the site of mass graves. They even do some helpful math:

We believe that if bodies were laid shoulder to shoulder and oriented northwards in a single layer, there could be around seventy bodies under a mound of this size. Were the bodies to be layered on top of each other, as one testimony suggests, the total number could be double that, up to approximately 140 bodies. Thus, our assessment is that the total number of bodies contained in a mass grave site such as this would be in the range of seventy to 140.

... As we did with Earthwork 1, we used the measurements of the mound to calculate the likely number of bodies which could be buried there. Our assessment is that the total number of bodies in a mass grave of this size is in the range of forty to eighty.

Ta-da! Shadows have now become proof of the murder of 240 people, coincidentally the highest amount that people made up fifty years after the event!

At times, FA doesn't even pretend that they are merely guessing. In this diagram, they refer to the supposed earth mound they claim the shadows indicate definitively as a mass grave, no questions asked:

So what if decades of research since this "Tantura massacre" allegation first appear in the 1990s have not uncovered the name of a single victim? We have shadows!

It's science!

There are two years between the two photographs they are comparing. As is obvious, there are other changes between the 1947 and 1949 photos besides these shadows - new buildings and roads being built. Israel did move quickly in 1948 to build new villages to house immigrants, and Tantura was one of the spots where there was building activity (Palestine Post, August 2, 1948).

All of those require moving earth.

The Nachsholim settlement was built there.

But Forensic Architecture knows that those shadows were created on May 24 or 25, 1948, and not in the months before or afterwards. How?

Because, like all conspiracy theorists, they aren't considering any other possibility, and will not admit that any other theory is possible.

Let's say that they are correct and that these faint lines really represent two long 85 centimeter high earth mounds. What could be the reason?

Maybe the animals in the village who were not being fed died and needed to be buried. Maybe the graves of the snipers really are there and there are only 10 or so people buried separated by three meters out of respect. Maybe the kibbutzniks decided to build a fence between the trees and the field and cleared the area with a bulldozer. Maybe the leftover earth cleared for the new buildings and road was, for some reason, deposited on the edge of the field perhaps as a marker. Maybe there was a garbage dump that was attracting insects or animals that needed to be buried.

The point is that when you only are willing to accept the most obscene explanation at the outset, you aren't engaging in research - you are just looking for proof of a conspiracy theory.

And only antisemites would assume that the most likely explanation for two shadows is the existence of mass graves that contain some 240 people murdered by Jews whom no one can name and whom no one heard about until 50 years later.

No amount of 3D reconstruction can make up for the fact that the "researchers" at Forensic Architecture are anti-Israel bigots who consistently start their "research" with their conclusion and then connect the dots to reach it after the fact.

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!