Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Arab-American leaders defend Helen Thomas, show their own bigotry

Arab-American leaders met today with Wayne State University officials, asking them to reverse its decision last week to pull a journalism award named after journalist Helen Thomas after she made controversial remarks. And they defended Helen Thomas against those who say she made anti-Semitic comments Thursday in Dearborn.

"Helen Thomas is not now and never has been anti-Semitic," Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said tonight. "She has worked her entire career, 60 years, to bring truth to the American public and she is simply continuing to do that."

Which means that the official position of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee - who say with certainty that Helen Thomas only speaks the truth - is that Israeli Jews must leave the country that they were born in and that "Congress, the White House, and Hollywood, Wall Street, are owned by 'the Zionists.'"

Not once as far as I can tell has an Arab American leader or spokesperson made the slightest noise that Thomas' comments were offensive.

And this reaction is telling:

The Arab-American group said in a statement that unless the situation "is properly addressed and corrected, this hastily-made decision will negatively impact relations between the university and the Arab American community for many years."

In other words, the group is threatening Wayne State University for exercising its right for free expression - to distance itself from a person now widely recognized as a bigot and an anti-semite, not just by Jews.

Arabs threatening people who do something they disagree with? Who would have thought it?

Your votes for the best Elder posts of the year

In conjunction with the Hasby People's Choice awards, I also asked my readers to vote on which of my posts would be considered the best example of hasbara, from a choice of 16:

Third place:
The Abbas/Apartheid Poster Series

Second place:

The humanitarian crisis of the Gaza Mall

And in first place (from December 2009, but within the last 12 months:)

"Civilians"

It was a very close vote.

If I had to choose a winner, I would choose for second place:

Gaza: The "staggering quality of the very ordinary"

in which, in one post, I think I cover the major problems with how the world's attention on Gaza has been missing the truth. The only problem was that this post did not achieve the wide readership I think it deserved.

In first place I would choose

The Mamilla Cemetery: Arab hypocrisy at its worst and Mamilla Update (also, The Mufti, The Hotel and The Cemetery)

because that story got pushed into the wider media and helped in a very real way defuse the lies that were being said about the Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance and the supposed "sanctity" of a cemetery that Muslims had already shown they didn't care about themselves. My research made it into the Jerusalem Post and other media in this case, and therefore fits my definition of "effective" for hasbara.

Thanks for voting!

Israel's fire-fighting squadron - "Elad"

From People's Daily Online: (for some reason, I cannot find much on this in the English-language Israeli media:)

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has planned to establish a fire-fighting squadron that would operate under its command after a wild bushfire that raged through the Carmel Forest in northern Israel last week, local Ma'ariv daily reported Tuesday.

IAF Chief Maj.-Gen. Ido Nechushtan has directed military attaches abroad to inquire about various models of fire-fighting aircraft and costs, the report said.

According to a story in Firas Press, Netanyahu wants to make this a regional effort, asking Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and possibly other countries to join in a joint squadron. He discussed the idea with the prime minister of Greece who was enthusiastic about the idea and promised to bring it up to the EU.

The squadron would be named Elad, after 16-year old Elad Riven, a volunteer firefighter who lost his life fighting the flames.

Just another miracle from Israel

Jeffrey Goldberg, for some reason, watches Glee - and learns about an amazing Israeli device that can help paraplegics walk.

(h/t Alex)

2010 Hasby Award Winners

As announced last night in my live presentation in New York, here are the winners of the 2010 Hasby Awards:

People's Choice Runner Up with over 2000 votes:
Pilar Rahola's article, "The Anti-Israel Hysteria"

People's Choice winner, with over 2700 votes:
Paris Zionists' unique protest against the anti-Israel Gaza photo exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris:

Hasby Awards Fifth Place:

The IDF releasing video of soldiers being attacked on the Mavi Marmara within hours of the event, causing most viewers to see that the "peace protesters" were hardly peaceful:

Hasby Awards Fourth Place:

RabbiLIVE revealing Helen Thomas' anti-semitism and ending her career:

Hasby Awards Third Place:

Gabriel Latner's speech at the Cambridge Union Society debates arguing "Why Israel is a Rogue State."

Hasby Awards Runner Up:

16-year old Elad Daniel Pereg facing off, alone, against an angry anti-Israel mob in Los Angeles with an IDF shirt and Israeli flag:

And the Hasby Awards Winner for 2010 is....

Latma TV's We Con the World:

Rationale:

Good hasbara, as I mentioned yesterday, must be effective in having people change their perspective of the conflict, and must be accessible to a large audience. My talk also emphasized the importance of more visceral media (i.e., live events, video) compared to text.

Latma's We Con the World has over 2.4 million views on YouTube so far, and its use of humor in order to get through to people who are ambivalent or unaware of Israel's viewpoint was extraordinarily effective.

Gabriel Latner's speech, had it been on video, would probably have made it to second place, but the emotional impact of watching Elad Daniel Peleg take on a screaming crowd of Israel-haters is much higher than reading any speech, no matter how good or how compelling the back-story.

The Helen Thomas video (literally) revealed the ugly face of anti-semitism in a major media figure. It was public and effective in removing her from her job, and it set the stage for her to prove her bigotry again and again.

The IDF was very quick to release the videos showing soldiers being beaten on the Mavi Marmara, and that speed was what made them deserve the award. If they had released it a day later it would have been too late and the media, hungry to make an instant decision as to who was at fault, would have already turned against the IDF.

While I would not have chosen the Pilar Rahola article or the museum protest as winners, mostly because they did not reach a mass worldwide audience, both are noteworthy because they resonate with European Zionists who feel besieged by the constant demonization of Israel they are exposed to every day. In both these cases, it allowed them to feel empowered to be able to fight this scourge of one-sided and very disproportionate Israel-hatred. So while those entries are not "hasbara" per se, they were both very important in shoring up and galvanizing Israel's defenders in Europe, which is a critical but separate issue. (I would modestly put my blog in that category as well - it is not hasbara, as I explained yesterday, but it is empowering for those who want to enter the front lines of the battle.)

Congratulations to all the winners!

Wikileaks is only starting

Only 1,060 of 251,287 documents - 0.42% - have been released so far, according to the Wikileaks Cablegate website (one mirrored here.)

Gaza, December 6, 2010.

From a photo essay in the Hamas-run Palestine Times.

At the Daphne Anson blog, a thorough survey of how Palestinian Arabs and Israel-haters are destroying history to demonize Israel around Christmas-time.

The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign offers a ten-card set depicting the madonna in Palestinian colours, holding her infant; I think she’s intended to convey the impression that she and her son – no introductions are required – were Palestinian rather than Jewish. The same PSC also offers a ten-card set depicting the Three Wise Men unable to get into Bethlehem owing to Israel’s “Wall”.

I cannot possibly do this piece justice by excerpting it. Read the whole thing.

Wikileaks: Saudis wanted Arab/NATO alliance to destroy Hezbollah

From The Guardian:

Saudi Arabia proposed creating an Arab force backed by US and Nato air and sea power to intervene in Lebanon two years ago and destroy Iranian-backed Hezbollah, according to a US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks.

The plan would have sparked a proxy battle between the US and its allies against Iran, fought in one of the most volatile regions of the world.

The Saudi plan was never enacted but reflects the anxiety of Saudi Arabia – as well as the US – about growing Iranian influence in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East.

The proposal was made by the veteran Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, to the US special adviser to Iraq, David Satterfield. The US responded by expressing scepticism about the military feasibility of the plan.
Here is what the cable said:
Opening a discussion with S/I Satterfield focused largely on Iraq, Saud first turned to Lebanon and stated that the effort by "Hizballah and Iran" to take over Beirut was the first step in a process that would lead to the overthrow of the Siniora government and an "Iranian takeover of all Lebanon." Such a victory, combined with Iranian actions in Iraq and on the Palestinian front, would be a disaster for the US and the entire region. Saud argued that the present situation in Beirut was "entirely military" and that the solution must be military as well. The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) were too fragile to bear more pressure; they needed urgent backing to secure Beirut from Hizballah's assault. What was needed was an "Arab force" drawn from Arab "periphery" states to deploy to Beirut under the "cover of the UN" and with a significant presence drawn from UNIFIL in south Lebanon "which is sitting doing nothing." The US and NATO would be asked to provide equipment for such a force as well as logistics, movement support, and "naval and air cover."

This happened during Hezbollah's siege of Beirut in 2008.

I guess, in the parlance of that part of the world, Saudi Arabia must be considered Zionist...

Hezbollah says it can destroy any ship en route to Israel

From Now Lebanon:

“Our missiles can track any ship heading toward Israel and destroy it,” an unnamed Hezbollah source said in an interview published on Wednesday.

“Any ship heading toward Israel can be destroyed by a rocket carrying 514 kilograms of highly explosive material,” the source told Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai.

The source added that Hezbollah “is not in need” of P-800 Yakhont anti-ship missiles “because it has enough cruise missiles for an upcoming war.”

And, of course, these cruise missiles are coming via Syria - and Russia is selling cruise missiles to Syria.

Israel needs to make clear, especially in wake of the Wikileak from Syria I mentioned yesterday, that any attack from Hezbollah will result in retaliation against Damascus. Syria still holds some influence over Hezbollah and that regime does not want to fight a direct war against Israel except through proxy.

Wikileaks: Concern about IHH in December 2009

In a recently released cable dated December 4th, 2009 it is mentioned that the Treasury Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes raised concerns about IHH, the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation. The same organization which purchased the Mavi Marmara and joined a flotilla of ships going to Gaza in May 2010.

The cable states that the IHH is "a large NGO providing material assistance to Hamas". [NAME REMOVED] surprisingly said to the Assistant Secretary that he was not familiar with the NGO but would look into the matter.

The same person whose name is removed from the cable states that Turkey and private Turks "sympathize with the needs of people in Gaza" and will send money directly to the people and work to "convince our Israeli friends to send help also".

Official Palestinian news agency republishes report denying Kotel (updated)

From JPost:

Only days after it was removed from the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Information website, a “study” denying Jews’ rights to the Western Wall has resurfaced, this time on the official website of the PA’s news agency, Wafa.

By publishing the document on Wafa’s website, the official mouthpiece of the PLO and the PA, the authority has sent a message that its has officially endorsed its findings.

The article can be found here. I had talked about it here.

Nothing gets published in Wafa without the permission of the PA leadership, so this is indeed an end-run around their taking the bogus "study" down from the Ministry of Information website under pressure from the US. No doubt, if the US complains about this as it did the first time, the PA will claim that this is an independent news agency that they have no control over - and they will be lying.

(h/t Israel Matzav)

UPDATE: In a wonderful display of the standards of Palestinian Arab journalism, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate expressed solidarity with the author of the study filled with easily verifiable lies.

(h/t Serious Black)