A 1934 'Either...Or'

In the David Ben-Gurion Archives, you can find a summary of a conversation between two Arabs from Mandate Palestine with Israel Cohen, general secretary of the World Zionist Organization headquarted in Great Britain, which took place in London in June 1934.

As you can see, the only choice the Arab spokesman offered was that between the Balfour Declaration or Arab friendship:

Who was that Totah who thought so highly of "Arab friendship" for the Jews rather than a statement of diplomatic intent?

Here at the Quaker School in Ramallah

Khalil Totah was an Arab-American Quaker Educator and Palestinian Nationalist Crusader who married an American Quaker and Amy Smith writes:

Dr. Khalil Totah belonged to a generation of Syrians who grew up with an appreciation for the “modern” spirit that was sweeping the world...Totah and his fellow intellectuals were not so much inspired by [US President Woodrow[ Wilson’s words, but rather they viewed them as support of a pre-existing sentiment. Greater Syrians had been developing ideas of freedom and democracy since their cultural and intellectual renaissance in the mid-19th century... Dr. Khalil Totah provides one small piece of a larger transformation in Syria. His writings show the evolution of Arab nationalism in Palestine during a transformative era.

Smith's dissertation further informs, p. 134, that as regards that 1934 trip:

The Friends’ Committee requested that in 1934 Totah travel with an American Quaker from Lebanon, Daniel Oliver, to an annual Friends Meeting in London. He was to meet with British Quakers and plead the case for Palestine. The Quaker organization also arranged for him to meet with government officials to discuss “The Question of Palestine.” 

From the rest of Cohen's report, we can see that as Arab propaganda then, so today:

 

^

The Last Maysoon Zayid Laugh

I left this comment

"incursions"? "storming"?  How open-ended is this blog?  Those terms are repugnant and reflect a mind-set that is anti-Jewish.  We Jews deserve by right at least a level of coexistence on the Temple Mount that is practiced at Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs.  Or at least the lowering of the Denial Phenomenon.  And that "banning"?  Not because of our holidays but because of Arab violence.

Peter, can you exert some form of editorialship and at least correct factual errors?

here: 

Clashes at Al Aqsa at Open Zion.


Let's quote the writer, Maysoon Zayid,*

extensively:

Abbas, who many consider yellow-bellied,...called out Israel’s daily incursions of the Al Aqsa compound...The repeated attacks on worshippers in Jerusalem were condemned by Abbas, who timidly shared that if the near-daily attacks on the Al Aqsa compound continued, there could be “dire consequences”...

...The Dome of the Rock protects the rock that Abraham didn’t sacrifice his son on and that Muhammad is believed to have ascended to heaven from...to the chagrin of the Israeli extremists who insist on storming the compound and shouting about rebuilding the Temple and bringing on Armageddon. These are not folks coming to solemnly worship during the several visiting hours open to non-Muslims. This is incitement.

Why shouldn’t the Al Aqsa compound be open to all faiths? The answer is that it is, except during times of prayer and religious holidays. Israeli soldiers control who enters the compound, and then the Islamic guardians of the holy sanctuary, known as the Waqf, get their chance to reject visitors. I have often had to do the chicken dance to prove to the soldiers that I am Muslim so they will allow me to enter. I have never been asked to prove my religion by the Islamic Waqf. Only the IDF has questioned my faith. During visiting hours I have entered with friends of all faiths, no questions asked. Just take off your shoes and cover your hair if you identify as female. This is not about banning Jews from visiting, but about stopping incitement by zealots. 

Violence is being wrought upon Muslims worshipping in the Old City by extremists who believe it is their divine right to shout and shoot in this sacred space and the Israeli government is complicit in the daily harassment. The IDF protects those storming the compound by firing off sound bombs, tear gas, rubber bullets, and even live ammunition to clear the way. They have also trapped people praying inside the houses of worship for hours on end during these clashes...

Israel controls who enters Muslim, Christian, and Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem and is known to ban access to Palestinians if it happens to be one of their holidays...The daily incursions, permit restrictions, and random closures do nothing to support the notion that Israel is serious about peace, the two-state solution, or religious equality in the Holy Land.

Now do you understand my comment?

Even an American-born 'Palestinian' easily learns to lie, to misrepresent and to misconstrue reality in the service of her propaganda.

No one laughs at that.

P.S.  And if we can't pray there, can we at least play soccer?
_______


*
Ms. Zayid is a comedian, actress, and writer. She is the Co-executive producer of the New York Arab American Comedy Festival and founder of Maysoon's Kids. Follow her on twitter @MaysoonZayid and see her work at www.Maysoon.com

The BBC As Palestinian Propaganda Instrument

If you review this audio/slide show story,  (Audio by Yolande Knell.Slideshow production by Paul Kerley. Publication date 9 November 2012)

 Olive harvesting in the West Bank

The annual Palestinian olive harvest is an important cultural and economic event. Nearly half the agricultural land in the Palestinian territories is planted with eight million olive trees - and there are about 80,000 farmers, most of whom operate on a small-scale basis.  But many have difficulty accessing their olive groves, because they are located close to Jewish settlements or the barrier that Israel is building in and around the West Bank. Israeli soldiers are deployed in some areas during the harvests to try to prevent clashes with settlers...

You wouldn't know there is another side and that there are other facts and claims.

That: Jewish olive groves are destroyed and damaged.
That: not all the damage is the work of, as per suspicion, Jews.
That: not all the olive groves are owned by the people who claim to own them.
That: olive groves existed in the land, planted by Jews, over 2000 years ago and that some groves are occupied territory by Arabs.

Did you hear:
 

"Try to attack the families"?  

or perhaps Arabs are not acting in accordance with the new regulations that permits the IDF to provide security while also assuring there will be no Arab terror?  That olive groves have been used for cover for ambushes of shooting at Jews on the roads, or the trees used as cover for infiltration?

"Expanding into his village"?  

but no Jewish community actually move into an Arab village.

This would seem to be the narrator, Ms. Vivien Sansour, note: narration, no reporting:

Some of her biography:

Vivien Sansour is a life style writer and photographer. She is capturing the stories of the farmers of the Palestine Fair Trade Association for the wider world. Vivien was Communications Manager/Life and Culture Specialist at The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) prior to joining Canaan. Vivien is an activist and organizer...Vivien was co-founder and producer/writer for the Los Angeles based non- profit ImaginAction where she organized and led the wildly successful Olive Tree Circus to tour Palestine in 2008. The Olive Tree Circus used humor, play, music and art to help Palestinian farmers access their olive fields during the olive harvest. Vivien is a native of Beit Jala, Palestine where she grew up under Israeli military occupation. She has both a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Theatre Arts, and an M.A. in International Studies with a focus in Anthropology from East Carolina University. She is interested in Agriculture as a form of resistance.

Well, at least that "growing up under Israeli military occupation" didn't affect her ability to get an education and it didn't stultify her artistic talent..

The BBC just rolled over and thought of...Palestine.


This is not reportage or a journalistic effort.  It is propaganda, uncriticised, imbalanced, unchecked. 

^ 

Littlewood's Little Knowledge

Sometimes, an opportunity presents itself to show how stupid and ignorant some people are.

Take Stuart Littlewood who has been engaged in campaigning against Christian Zionism.  And thinks Hamas is a resistance "demonised".  More here.

In this article, he writes:

My reading of history is that the Jews were expelled from Palestine by the Roman occupation in 70 AD, when the second temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. They were expelled again in 135 AD.

Nowadays return is regarded as an inalienable right. But it must be exercised as soon as the reason for expulsion (e.g. foreign occupation) ceases. In the Jews’ case an opportunity would have occurred in the 4th century AD as the Roman Empire collapsed. But they didn’t take it. They can hardly expect to change their mind 16 centuries later. Their right expired a very long time ago.

So, "soon" is a condition?  And an opportunity would have been the 4th century, he asserts.  "But they didn't take it", he claims.

Feeble-minded knowledge of history.

First of all, the Jews didn't need to exercise the right because they were there, living on their land, their homeland.

There are academic books but let's quote from the Wikipedia entry just to show that the information which contradicts Littlewood is readily available and he not only ignores it but also doesn't even try to devalue it:

Early in the 4th century, Roman Empire split and Constantinople became the capital of the East Roman Empire known as the Byzantine Empire...Jerusalem became a Christian city and Jews were still banned from living there. In 351–2, there was another Jewish revolt against a corrupt Roman governor.^[42] The Jewish population in Sepphoris rebelled under the leadership of Patricius against the rule of Constantius Gallus. The revolt was eventually subdued by Ursicinus. According to tradition, in 359 CE Hillel II created the Hebrew calendar based on the lunar year...The ancient synagogue at Nabratein was destroyed in the Galilee earthquake of 363.

During his short reign, Emperor Julian (361-363) abolished the special taxes paid by the Jews to the Roman government and also sought to ease the burden of mandatory Jewish financial support of the Jewish patriarchate.^[43] He also gave permission for the Jews to rebuild and populate Jerusalem.^[44] In one of his most remarkable endeavours, he initiated the restoration of the Jewish Temple which had been demolished in 70 CE. A contingent of thousands of Jews from Persian districts hoping to assist in the construction effort were killed en-route by Persian soldiers.^[45] The great earthquake together with Julian's death put an end to Jewish hopes of rebuilding the Third Temple.^[46] Had the attempt been successful, it is likely that the re-establishment of the Jewish state with its sacrifices, priests and Sanhedrin or Senate would have occurred.^[43]
Jews probably constituted the majority of the population of Palestine until the 4th-century, when Constantine converted to Christianity.^[47]
Jews lived in at least forty-three Jewish communities in Palestine: twelve towns on the coast, in the Negev, and east of the Jordan, and thirty-one villages in Galilee and in the Jordan valley. The persecuted Jews of Palestine revolted twice against their Christian rulers. In the 5th century, the Western Roman Empire collapsed leading to Christian migration into Palestine and development of a Christian majority. Jews numbered 10–15% of the population. Judaism was the only non-Christian religion tolerated, but there were bans on Jews building new places of worship, holding public office or owning slaves. There were also two Samaritan revolts in this period.^[48]

1. 42. ^ Anti-Semitism: Its History and Causes‏ by Bernard Lazare 1894 see http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/lazare-anti.html accessed January 2009
2. 43^ ^{a b} "Julian and the Jews 361–363 CE" (Fordham Universitiy, The Jesuit University of New York).
3. 44^ Andrew Cain; Noel Emmanuel Lenski (2009). The power of religion in late antiquity. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. pp. 245–246. ISBN 978-0-7546-6725-4. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
4. 45^ Abraham Malamat; Haim Hillel Ben-Sasson (1976). A History of the Jewish people. Harvard University Press. p. 353. ISBN 978-0-674-39731-6. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
5. 46^ Günter Stemberger (2000). Jews and Christians in the Holy Land: Palestine in the fourth century. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-567-08699-0. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
6. 47^ Edward Kessler (31 March 2010). An Introduction to Jewish-Christian Relations. Cambridge University Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-521-70562-2. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
7. 48^ M. Avi-Yonah, The Jews under Roman and Byzantine Rule, Jerusalem 1984 chapters XI–XII

Secondly, we can't we change our minds (we didn;t, but still)?

If you read that, paying attention to the highlighted sections, you must come to the conclusion that Littlewood has little grasp of his subject.

He also wrote there this:

Zionists claim Jerusalem is theirs by heavenly decree. But this holiest of cities was already 2,000 years old when King David captured it. Historians say that Jerusalem, in its “City of David” form, lasted only 73 years. In 928 BC the kingdom divided into Israel and Judah, and in 597 BC the Babylonians conquered the city and destroyed Solomon’s temple. The Jews recaptured it in 164 BC but finally lost it to the Roman Empire in 63 BC. Before the present-day illegal occupation the Jews controlled Jerusalem for some 500 years, whereas it was subsequently ruled by Muslims for 1,277 years.

a) which "historians"?
b) how did the Muslims come to rule it if not by an illegal occupation?

His whole theory is punctured by such inanities.

Does he get paid for this propaganda effort?

^

A Librarian Not To be Trusted

One James Adler, a "Cataloger in World Religions in the Harvard University Library", and "an alumnus of the Harvard Divinity School", was given space in the Jerusalem Post to write, among other things this:

...So if Arabs can live as citizens in Israel, goes the argument, why can’t Jews live in Palestine?

But the comparison is fallacious because the Palestinians had lived throughout Palestine as 98 percent of the population for many centuries before 1948. In contrast, Israel has only recently settled the West Bank, outside her internationally recognized boundaries.

Some will argue that the colonization of Judea and Samaria was the logical continuation of the Zionist project. After all, Jewish immigrants flooded the country from Europe decades before there was a Jewish state here. Why should the West Bank settlements be seen in a different light? At first glance, that is a persuasive argument, but there is one, decisive difference: the mass immigration from 1880-1948 was an internationally legitimate and indeed moral movement. Jews had to escape the burning anti-Semitism of Europe and Russia, and the drive for the rebirth of Jewish self-empowerment and statehood was laudable.

In contrast, the post-1967 settlement drive occured at a time when we already had a country to call home...

Adler, an active letter-to-the-editor writer, an worthy occupation which I myself practice, who terms Bradley Burston "admirable" and seeks the release of terrorist Marwan Barghouti, among other rather strange opinions, is simply displaying atrocious concern for historical facts as well as logic. Let's review that excerpt I zeroed in on and my comments appear interspersed in the text in italics:

...the Palestinians had lived throughout Palestine as 98 percent of the population for many centuries before 1948. [true but in doing so, they still were conquerors, in fact, illegal occupiers, who arrived in 638 CE and prevented Jews who had managed to live in the country from reestablishing Jewish sovereignty and moreover, economically destroyed the country. They never even had a name for the country, referring to what we now call Greater Syria as E-Sham, and the region called Palestine is not at all an Arabic name but one adopted from an earlier occcupier. Odd that a supposed genuine nationalism would appear so hollow.] In contrast, Israel has only recently settled the West Bank, outside her internationally recognized boundaries. [a) actually, Jews lived in Hebron, Shchem and Gaza, located in what he terms the 'West Bank', for centuries, even more than Arabs, and for sure in what anti-Zionists call 'East Jerusalem'; b) what "internationally recognized boundaries"?  The Green Line was no more than a ceasefire line. As noted, "Professor Judge Stephen M. Schwebel, the former President of the International Court of Justice clarified in his writings “Justice in International Law” that the 1949 armistice demarcation lines are not permanent borders: "... The armistice agreements of 1949 expressly preserved the territorial claims of all parties and did not purport to establish definitive boundaries between them.”51]

Some will argue that the colonization [that is quite a pejorative term to use, even prejudicial] of Judea and Samaria was the logical continuation of the Zionist project. [it was more than that.  it was assured by international law as the terms of the League of Nations Mandate makes clear in Article 6: "The Administration of Palestine, while ensuring that the rights and position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced, shall facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions and shall encourage, in co-operation with the Jewish agency. referred to in Article 4, close settlement by Jews, on the land, including State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes."  And as we know, up until 1948, the territory involved included Judea and Samaria and Gaza for it was TransJordan only that was excluded by Article 25 from the terms of the Mandate]After all, Jewish immigrants flooded [???. that's an incendiary propaganda description. up until 1948, Jews were just over 30% of the country's population.] the country from Europe decades before there was a Jewish state here. Why should the West Bank settlements be seen in a different light? [yes, why?  they existed prior to 1948 but Arabs ethnically cleansed them including 4 kibbutzim in Gush Etzion, the afore-mentioned Hebron, Gaza, Shchem, Jenin, Atarot, Neveh Yaakov, Bet Haaravah, Jerusalem's Old City, et al.] At first glance, that is a persuasive argument, but there is one, decisive difference: the mass immigration from 1880-1948 was an internationally legitimate and indeed moral movement. Jews had to escape the burning anti-Semitism of Europe and Russia, and the drive for the rebirth of Jewish self-empowerment and statehood was laudable. [it still is laudable and necessitates the territory, especially so because Arab opposition has grown more evil, more hostile and with technological advances, the hills of Judea and Samaria in Atabs hands would be an existential threat not to deall with water issues, etc.]

In contrast, the post-1967 settlement drive occured at a time when we already had a country to call home, and Jews around the world had a safe haven to run to in case of persecution. [and which Arabs had try to destroy in 1948, set up the fedayeen to terrorize until 1956 and then set up Fatah and the PLO in 1964] The Zionist dream had indeed been met. Israel had no choice but to fight the Six Day War, but there was no need to plant civilian communities around the newly conquered territories in the aftermath of that victory. [even if we assume that, since the communities did not exist prior to 1967, and neither did any "occupation" of the territories, what problem would their dismantlement solve?  would Adler agree to a population transfer of Arabs to reduce any threats Israel is faced by that population, in theory, of course?]

One could go one but I trust my point has been made: Adler cannot be trusted to present historical facts and argues in a propagandist manner.

And he works in Harvard library?

^

Delete Internet Arab Terror

Anti-Zionist, anti-Israel and, yes, anti-Semitic, campaigns have made use of various Internet and Cyberspace fields, making the their own "occupied territories".

They have promoted a false version of history, have been moving hate and violence and have been engaged in terror of a new sort, political, economic, academic and even real dead terror.

It's about time we took back Holocaust denial Facebook pages, BDS web sites, propaganda news nets, Twiiter twerping and so much more, including all the new social media developments.

We sunk the flotilla.

We can delete this as well.

^

Coldplay's Propaganda Ploy

That song, "Freedom for Palestine"?

Well, at 10 seconds you hear "6 million refugees".

Six million.

Sound familiar? Does it resonate?

Like in the Holocaust?

Do you think that was a coincidence? (*)

At 0:36 seconds, "no matter your faith or community" is heard. Of course, if you are Jewish, you may have a problem with your faith being accepted. Even Arafat couldn't bring himself to include "synagogues" when mentioning Jerusalem or Jews.  Like here:

“The Palestinian flag "will fly over the walls of Jerusalem, the churches of Jerusalem and the mosques of Jerusalem."

Yasser Arafat (Jordanian TV, 13 September 1993)

or

"Jerusalem is the capital of our Palestinian state. It is our Jerusalem. And as brother Yasser Arafat said... Jerusalem is not only a Palestinian cause. It is a Palestinian, Arab, Islamic and Christian cause. It is the central issue. And the central axis in all of the realms of our activities."
Falastin al-Thawra, the P.L.O.'s official magazine, in an editorial on 15 August 1993

At, 1:22 you hear the words "racial segregation". Like when Arab teenagers kill only Jews in their sleep? Followed by "all religious communities unite". What BS.

At 2:12, an Israeli soldier pushes down an Arab woman holding a baby. Fabrication.  That's why it is drawn cartoon style, with Magen David symbols on their helmets, in best antisemitic imagery.

At 2:16, they even have a Hassid appear, obviously a Neturei Karta follower:

He's wearing a pro-Pal. button.

Oh, and who is going to tell these back-up singers that dressed that way in a "Palestine" is not the most advisable way to go about?  And the fellow just above would also be very unhappy with that cleavage.

Useless fools.  What the Communists used to refer to as "running dogs" or what Encounter magazine once termed "ideological pilgrims", involved as "cultural warriors".


> On War on Want see here.
_____________

(*)  Found here:

Four million UN-registered Palestinian refugees trace their origins to the 1948 exodus; 750,000 people belong to families displaced in 1967 - many for the second time.


Palestinian refugee populations
Jordan: 1,835,704
Syria: 434,896
West Bank/Gaza: 1,699,025
Lebanon: 405,425
Total: 4,375,050

Palestinian advocacy group Badil says another 1.5 million hail from pre-1948 Palestine but were not UN-registered, while an additional 274,000 were internally displaced inside Israel after 1948, and 150,000 were displaced in the occupied territories after 1967.

That makes more than six million people, one of the biggest displaced populations in the world.

Check this out for some facts.  Here, too, to realize those numbers are purported.

UPDATE

Found this:

by sammykatz87
@ Coldplay band removed the anti-Israel song 'Freedom for Palestine' from their Facebook page

^

 

She's a Mobilized Propagandist

Here are the introductory outlines of a graduate student's paper, see p. 6 here:

The long 19th century (c. 1750-1918) witnessed significant social, economic, and political transformations that altered the hierarchy of relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in Ottoman lands. During this period, Hebron has been characterized as an Ottoman hinterland town with an overwhelmingly Muslim population;
a place untouched by Zionist immigration; head of a politically marginal subdistrict and a regional and an economy that had little involvement with the northern, central, or coastal regions of Palestine or the Mediterranean-based trade with European merchants;
and home to revered religious sites to which all but a few Christian travelers were forbidden access, and of secondary importance to European Christian institutions in “the Holy Land.”

So, among other inanities, "Zionist immigration" means for her only after, what, 1897? But practical Zionism began with the Bilu in 1881. Before that there were the waves of the pupils of the Gaon of Vilna begining in 1809. Waves of immigrating Hassidim beginning in 1777. What of the 1740 messianic fervors. Of the 1666 Shabtai Tzvi false messianic expectations? The early 16th century exiles from Spain?

Does she know any history of the region?

It's all here.

And you'll note the complete fractionalization of a (non-existing) Arab Palestinian social identity in this phrase: "little involvement with the northern, central, or coastal regions of Palestine".  There was no "Palestinian people" or "nation".

And she fails to mention Jewish religious elements or that Jews were residents of the city of Hebron but couldn't ascend past the 7th step of the Cave of the Patriarchs.

This isn't academic research but mobilized propaganda.

^

"Apartheid Roads" - The Video Clip

This morning, I caught a tremp (Hebrew for a hitch-hike/ride) with my friend and neighbor Zohar to Jerusalem and on the spur of the moment, without the best conditions or any special lenses or post-production editing, filmed a short video to illustrate the reality of what it is to drive the highways and byways of Judea and Samaria.

There are no "apartheid roads". It's a fake propaganda trick.

See the clip below of 1 minute and 22 seconds as we drive in Wadi Haramiah between Shiloh and Ofra. The vehicles in front of us are mostly Arab as are those that pass us going north.

You don't believe me? Simply stop the clip as a car approaches and look carefully. Those are PA car licenses, green lettering on white background, and the taxis are yellow (Israeli taxis are white).

For example, enlarge this pic and note the red-outlined plates:

Let me know what you think :-

Now imagine a professional crew, spending a day or two at a half-dozen major junctions in Yesha and filming a similar clip and then producing a 3-minute clip of hundreds of cars.

^

An Example of a Simple Lie

Amira Hass writes of her concern for the forces arrayed against an Arab activist who leads the protests at Nebi Salah which is the village neighboring Neveh Tzuf.

I will not go into the rights and wrongs this time but will illustrate how easy it is to lie in the media, by a media person.

Amira writes of the

Huge quantities of tear gas, rubber-coated bullets flying between buildings, gas canisters with (illegally ) extended ranges, beatings, shovings and home invasions - this is what the Israel Defense Forces employs against the small village of 500.

"Small David" did she mean?

Only 500?

Or, as we all know, hundreds of outsiders - Israeli anarchists, Gush Shalom persons, internationalists, Fatah activists, etc. - all come for the "campaign". Just check out the video clips\ and here.

I know. You can dismiss that as "big deal". But I see it as creeping propaganda. A little lie. A small perversion of the truth. It all adds up.

^

Evelyn Gordon Is Logical On Pro-Pal. Illogic

In her "How to Tell that Pro-Palestinian Activists Don’t Care About Palestinians"

Do pro-Palestinian activists actually care a whit about ordinary Palestinians? An implicit acknowledgement that the answer is “no” came from a surprising source this week: Haaretz journalist Amira Hass...

...Since the cost of the rocket fire far outweighs its benefits, Hass argued, anyone who cares about real live Palestinians should be denouncing it in an effort to pressure Hamas and other terrorist organizations to stop it. Instead, she charged, pro-Palestinian activists have given it tacit consent...public criticism of the tactics used in the struggle of an occupied and dispossessed people is taboo. It is as if criticism would create symmetry between the attacker and the attacked...She therefore ended her column with a challenge:

So for all those who demonstrated in support of the Gazans when they were trapped under Israeli fire, all those planners of past and future flotillas, this is your moment to raise your voices and say clearly: The Qassams merely feed Israel’s madness. It is not the Qassams that will ensure the Palestinians, both in and out of Gaza, a life of dignity. It is not the Qassams that will topple the Israeli walls around the world’s largest prison camp.

But will other pro-Palestinian activists take her up? I wouldn’t hold my breath.

I for sure won't either.

^

Leftists Admit: The Arabs Initiate The Violence

From a long article here in The Nation by Jospeh Dana and Noam Sheizaf:-

...After a while, one of the local Palestinians gathers the Israelis and internationals and explains the reasons for the protest, thanking everyone for coming. Then an Israeli activist gives a more technical briefing: how to deal with tear gas, how to avoid injuries, what to say if you get caught by the soldiers. “Don’t be afraid to get arrested,” he tells his listeners, some of them first-timers and clearly nervous. “Make sure someone knows where you are. You will probably be released within a few hours. Only Palestinians are kept in jail for long periods.”
After the briefing, the Palestinians lead the Israelis and international activists to the edge of the village, with more protesters joining them along the way. Half a mile down the road lies the security barrier, where some twenty soldiers can be seen on the other side. As the protesters approach, the soldiers rush through a gate in the fence, blocking their path, while the protesters chant “Viva Palestine!” and “Free Palestine!” They carry signs in Hebrew, Arabic and English demanding an end to the occupation. Finally, both sides halt, with only a few yards separating them. Itzik, an Israeli activist who has been coming to the demos for five years, carries a Palestinian flag. Like some of the other veteran protesters in Bil’in, he is wearing goggles to protect his eyes from tear gas. Another Israeli activist calls out to the soldiers in Hebrew, “You don’t belong here! Get off the village’s land!”
“You are violating a closed military zone order,” an army officer retorts. “If you don’t leave, you and your friends will be arrested.”
“I was invited here by the people of this village,” comes the answer. “It’s you who are invading it!”
After half an hour of standing and shouting, someone throws a stone. As if they were waiting for this moment, the soldiers respond immediately. Tear gas and stun grenades are thrown at the protesters, with more fired from afar. A disorganized, rushed retreat begins. Back at the village’s edge, the protesters regroup and try to march again toward the fence. This time the soldiers fire tear gas before the activists can get close. On the sides of the road, between the olive trees, Palestinian teens—the shabab, as they are known in Arabic—continue to hurl stones, and IDF snipers respond with rubber-coated bullets, which can be deadly. Gradually, the confrontation begins to assume the nature of a ritual, with both sides testing the other’s patience and resilience. But it’s a deadly game: this past December, Jawaher Abu-Rahma collapsed during a protest after inhaling massive amounts of tear gas [but she was not at the demo and her subsequent death was due to a wrong injection being given - what's known as doctor's error - not due to the IDF]. She was rushed to a Ramallah hospital, where she died the following morning. This was a year and a half after her brother, Bassam, was killed when a soldier fired a tear gas canister at his chest, also during an unarmed protest.

Don't trust left-wing radical and progressive sources for reliable information on what goes on in Judea and Samarfia as it is mostly propaganda and unsubtantiated if not outright lies.

^

Dealing With Pal. Propaganda, Patience Is Required

The media and pro-Pal. activists had a field day over yet another presumed Israeli act of aggression: an Arab supposedly shot unfairly with malice.

Well, as we all know that it is dangerous and morally corrupt to believe without proof anything the Pal. propaganda machine churns out, we had to wait.

And here's the IDF conclusion:

"The terrorist was given the opportunity to stop and surrender four times"

An initial investigation of the shooting event in which an unarmed Palestinian suspiciously approached the crossing determined that the soldiers abided by established arrest procedures and acted only when the suspect did not respond. "The terrorist left the soldiers no choice but to stop him by shooting," explained Commander of the Duchifat Battalion of the Kfir Brigade, Lt. Col. Raz Sarig, whose soldiers were at the event. "We've conclude this was an unquestionable attempt at a terrorist attack."

The affair began last Sunday, when a Palestinian tried to bypass the inspection line at the Bekaot crossing east of Shechem. The suspect rapidly approached the soldiers, the latter recognizing what he held in his hand as a glass bottle. After not heeding their calls, the suspect began approaching the soldiers more quickly and yelled in Arabic. In response, the soldiers shot two bullets towards the Palestinian's legs, who continued advancing even after being hit. The soldiers then shot at his lower abdomen, which later led to the suspect's death.

After the incident, different claims were made in outlets of the media, some saying the soldiers didn't follow the procedure to open fire at a suspect and quickly opened fire at the Palestinian, though he was not armed. "The terrorist was warned and given the opportunity to stop and surrender four times and even after being hit," emphasized Lt. Col. Sarig...

Debate Or (or And) Money

Where would you not expect this ad to appear?

Petition to End House Demolitions Now!

To President Obama, Secretary Clinton, Special Envoy Mitchell:

We urge you to use the power of your offices to end the demolition of Palestinian homes in the Israeli Occupied Territories.

Until recently your administration had expressed strong opposition to Israeli settlement expansion [which includes Jerusalem]...Instead of backing down in the face of Israeli intransigence, we believe you need to do more.

Since 1967, the Israeli government has demolished over 24,000 Palestinian homes -- which families have built on their own land inside the Occupied Territories -- in order to:

* Make room for Israeli settlements, businesses or governmental offices;
* Create Israeli-only “by-pass” roads that allow Israeli settlers to drive to and from their new homes in the Territories while “by-passing” Palestinian towns and villages; and
* Build the Separation Wall deep into the West Bank, effectively annexing large settlement blocs situated on Palestinian land into the State of Israel.

...B'tselem, the Israeli Information Center in the Occupied Territories, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, and other Israeli Human Rights groups note that Palestinians in East Jerusalem face the same reality. The Israeli Ministry of Defense acknowledged in 2005 that these home demolitions serve no security purpose and ended its policy of punitive demolitions at that time.

Israel’s house demolition policy is intimately linked to the expansion of Israeli settlements in Occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank. This policy is illegal under international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Hague Convention of 1907.

And when asked, the site owner replies:

I'll take ads from all sides of a political debate.

And then adds:

I'm not going to take sides when it's just over an ad. My readers can make their own evaluations.

Which is reasonable until you realize that in this matter, there are no two sides because that petition is not a debate but a propaganda screed with untruths weaved in, as well as a vicious message: pry loose Israel control from Jerusalem.

And the site is providing legitimacy to this stuff.

Do you think the site should reconsider?  Isn't the site essentially taking sides?

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Some have intimated that I am not being fair to too many sites so here's a screen grab:

^

A Most Outrageous Arab Propaganda Claim

Here:

Petit says:

November 20, 2010 at 1:01 pm

Funny how our Israeli friends here think that "empty lands" in Palestinian territories are all out for grab. That is how criminals think if you ask me. That land belongs to the future Palestinian state which is already recognized by the UN and by majority of world. Check for yourself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Palestine#International_recognition

That is why the International Court of Justice and the international community consider the settlements or any kind of land grab to be illegal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_settlement#Settlements_illegal_under_Israeli_law

BTW, according to some reports, almost 40% of West Bank settlements were built on Palestinian privately owned land. No wonder. Before 1948 Jews owned nothing in the West Bank. The lands (as the rest of lands in historic Palestine) belonged to the Palestinian Arabs, check for yourself:
http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/90634f6f0dc8cd1b85256d0a00549202/a73996728ba8b94785256d560060cd1a?OpenDocument

I left a comment there.
^

Now Look What We (Supposedly) Have Done

NYTimes's Eric Owles reports:

Pro-Gaza demonstrations in Iraq are giving Shiite and Sunni sects a common target for their anger and adding to the rising fears of instability in the Middle East. It’s a sharp turnaround from the aftermath of the U.S. invasion when Palestinians were the focus of Shiite death squads here.

Palestinians, many of whom are Sunnis, were once protected in Iraq by Saddam Hussein. Going back to 1948, Iraqis have provided shelter for Palestinians fleeing conflicts. Once Shiites came to power the Palestinian enclaves were heavily targeted. Many were killed and many more attempted to flee the country.

Just for the record:

Eric, Iraqis didn't just provide shelter for Arabs of "Palestine", they fought on its behalf, sending its soldiers hundreds of miles west to kill Jews.

Here's a quick summary:

Technically, Baghdad has been in a continious state of war with Israel since 1948. It sent armies to fight Israel in 1948 and 1967, and to back up Syria's defence of Damascus in the October 1973 war. Saddam Hussein was widely revered in Arab nations for his anti-Israel stance and has supported several Palestinian guerilla and militant organisations, and during the last Palestinian intifada, Hussein subsidized families of Palestinian suicide bombers and other activists. Military action was taken by Israel when they bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981, fearing that Saddam would use it to develop nuclear weapons.

There were even Iraqis in Deir Yassin amongst the civilian population.

Why are New York Times' writers so, well, insufficient?