Israel, Zionism and the Media
In what might be called Argentina’s second ‘Hand of God’ incident (for those who remember Snr Maradona), Richard Williamson, the Holocaust-doubting British Bishop has been kicked out of Argentina after his ‘Own Goal of the Century’.
Argentina were not too specific about the reasons and cited something about entering the country under false pretences but we all know the real reason: Argentina have already expressed outrage at his views.
Viva Argentina!
In a reversal of its policy which saw Shahar Pe’er banned earlier this week, the UAE has allowed Andy Ram to take part in the WTP tournament in Dubai.
Clearly international pressure and the refusal of a US network to screen the tournament has led to a rethink.
Some sanity restored then. I’m a little disappointed that Israeli nationals still want to take part in tournaments in countries which do not recognise their country and that their fellow professionals do not lobby the WTP to cut all ties with such states however many millions of dollars they want to throw at the sport.
For those who claim the Muslim world’s beef is with Israel alone I have decided to start a category proving otherwise.
Let’s start with an Arutz Sheva report which reports the arrival in Israel of ten new immigrants who have recently been harrassed by Muslims in Raida, Yemen:
“Yemenite Jews have been under the special protection of President Ali Abdallah Salah. In recent years, though, there has been increased harassment of Jews against a background of anti-Semitism by Muslim extremists. The tension reached a climax this past December, when Moshe Yaish Nahari, father of nine, was murdered by a Muslim. Threats against Jews in Yemen worsened following Israel’s recent military operations in Gaza.”
Yemen is thought by many to be the oldest community of Jews in the world outside Israel. Not for much longer it appears.
It seems that those Muslims in Yemen who hate Israel also hate Jews – what a strange coincidence.
In Darfur, Sudan, as the world is well aware, there has been a genocidal assault on the region’s population by the Afro-Arab Islamists who rule the country. Most Darfurians are Muslim. It is difficult to estimate numbers killed but they are in the hundreds of thousands and at least 2 million have been displaced and reside in refugee camps in neighbouring Chad or at the mercy of the Janjaweed militia within Sudan itself.
It is no exaggeration to say that this horror is the clearest and most terrible example of genocide and ethnic cleansing in the world in the past 10 years, yet it receives relatively little attention from the world and its media.
The Arab and Muslim world, which you would have thought would be making strenuous efforts to end this conflict and the murder and rape of hundreds of thousands of its fellow Muslims, just sits on its hands. Why? Well the Muslim world doesn’t exactly have a great track record when it comes to defending Muslims being murdered by other Muslims (Iran-Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine for example).
So why do I write about this on a blog about Israel?
Well, for one, the plight of the Palestinians, especially in Gaza, has attracted an unprecedented wave of anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and Jew hatred across the world. There have been marches, convoys of aid (Viva Palestina being a case in point), attacks on Jews and Jewish property in many countries, and widespread media vilification of Israel. Yet the comparison between what is happening in Darfur and what is happening in Israel shows a gross exaggeration and a gross misfit between the level of hate spewed out in Israel’s direction compared to what should be an even greater level of hate and outrage directed at the Sudanese government.
But listen to this: you are a Sudanese Muslim surrounded by Muslim countries. You want to leave Sudan and seek refuge elsewhere so you can rebuild your life and save your family. Where would you go? How about Israel? Yes, Israel, that so-called racist apartheid state that everyone is so fond of demonizing. Hundreds of Sudanese Muslims, who are citizens of an enemy state, are arriving in Israel after being smuggled across the border with Egypt.
Why do they want to come to Israel and what happens to them when they arrive there?
Firstly, Egypt, a Muslim state, has a policy of returning all Sudanese refugees. No absorption centres in Egypt then, just wretched camps where Sudanese wait to be repatriated to almost certain death as they are sent straight back into the hands of their oppressors.
So the Sudanese move on and cross illegally into Israel where they are at first detained as enemies of the state. But they are treated humanely, picked up by the IDF and taken to holding camps awating judgement. Human rights groups, lawyers and many sympathetic Israelis have fought for these people to be allowed to stay. The Sudanese goverment meanwhile states that any Sudanese citizen who has sought refuge in Israel and returns will be considered a Mossad spy and executed – nice.
Israel, under the International Laws, that everyone seems to believe it so flagrantly breaches as a matter of national policy, is obliged to absorb them. Many can now be found working on kibbutzim and moshavim. So let me spell this out to the ‘Israel is racist/apartheid’ brigade. BLACK MUSLIM SUDANESE REFUGEES ARE BEING GIVEN REFUGE AND WORK IN ISRAEL. I capitalise that to hammer home the point.
But wait, there are several problems. If Israel is seen as an easy touch, will it not be invaded by Sudanese hordes. Israel is a small country unable to absorb so many foreigners. And they are Muslims; what about demographic time-bombs and all that?
These questions must wait whilst Israel abides by its oblgations to genuine refugees. They will not be held for 60 years in ‘refugee camps’, those that stay will be absorbed, taught Hebrew, given shelter, work, a home, safety and respect. Oh yes, there are racists in Israel too who don’t want more immigrants especially more Muslims, but they forget when they too were refugees from genocide, they forget their own people’s Exodus from Egypt.
The canard that is trotted out by all the anti-Zionists is that only Jews are allowed to emigrate to Israel, that Israel is an apartheid state. So why would it allow in black people? Why would it allow in Muslims? How many Sudanese has Syria or Lebanon or Jordan or Saudi Arabia or Libya allowed in? How many Iran?
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/16/news/ML-Israel-Sudanese-Rebel.php
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1065201.html
http://atheonews.blogspot.com/2009/02/darfur-rebel-leader-visits-israel-to.html
So you are the UN operating in Gaza and you decide that it is incumbent on you to go round the Strip collecting unexploded munitions from the recent Israeli-Hamas conflict.
You decide to place these munitions in a warehouse for future safe disposal and you need someone to guard them.
So who do you pick? Why, Hamas of course!
Then when you find that the warehouse is suddenly empty you plead with Hamas, “can we have our munitions back please?”
What kind of madness is this?
1. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organisation by the UN
2. UNWRA workers were recently held at gunpoint and had tonnes of aid stolen by Hamas
3. Who do the UN think Hamas might use these munitions against?
It is totally unbelievable. Now tell us that the UN is not deeply implicated with Hamas in Gaza. Where is their judgement? Where is their commonsense?
The UN has now, effectively, turned itself into a partner for a terrorist organisation.
As the Viva Palestina convoy makes its inexorable way towards Gaza no-one who feels the distress and sufferings of Gazans can object to any aid being sent by any organisation.
BBC headline today: "Fresh violence shakes Gaza Strip" What are they reporting? It’s an Israeli retaliatory attack for several rockets fired into the Western Negev Sunday and today. So why wasn’t the headline "Fresh rocket attacks on Israel".
Hamas’ attacks and those of other groups in Gaza (who call themselves by a variety of names so they can claim that Hamas did not violate the cease fire) are never reported UNLESS Israel responds and then it’s headlines of this sort we always see subtly implying that all violence is from one side in response to rockets that, by pure chance and not by intention, cause no Israeli casualties.
During the recent Gaza conflict UNWRA was the main source for Gaza casualty figures and these figures were used by the world’s press, including the BBC, as absolutely undeniable because they came from the UN. But the figures did not come from the UN, they came from Hamas and the gullible UNWRA gave the Hamas lies cover due because everyone believes the UN, don’t they?
Throughout the conflict Israeli sources could just about be heard in the background stating that the Hamas figures were exaggerated and many combatants were included as civilians. Now, at last, and, as often is the case with the Israeli government, too late to change the world’s impression of the conflict, the Israeli figures have been published.
The Jerusalem Post reports here that the Palestinian Center for Human Rights has quoted 895 Gazan civilians killed which represents more than two-thirds of all deaths. But the IDF has carefully compiled the actual names of many of those killed and its figures show a very different story. The IDF puts the percentage at about one third which is about 450.
Dealing with real human lives lost in a statistical war of words is a regrettable course to have to follow but a necessary one in order to expose Hamas lies and attempt to redress the balance of world opinion.
Another, and very important ‘detail’ that had UNWRA and the world and the BBC et alia exercised about Israeli ‘war crimes’ was the incident near a UN school in Jabalya. The Jeruslaem Post reports:
Initial Palestinian reports falsely claimed IDF shells had hit the school and killed 40 or more people, many of them civilians.
In fact, he said, 12 Palestinians were killed in the incident – nine Hamas operatives and three noncombatants. Furthermore, as had since been acknowledged by the UN, the IDF was returning fire after coming under attack, and its shells did not hit the school compound.
Yet most of the world still believes the Hamas lies (only 48 of its fighters killed as opposed to about 900 now reported by the IDF) reinforced by news reports, including Israeli newspapers, and the UN itself who prefer the story of a group it classifies as a terrorist organisation over the counter claims of one of its own members, namely Israel. And the rest of the world goes along with this analysis.
When will Israel get its act together and realise how important it is to rebut the lies of Hamas as they occur. The JP reports that “the IDF was considering setting up a response team” for just this purpose. About time!
So, more than 400 children killed? Hardly when the total of non-combatants is around that mark.
So will the world’s press now issue rebuttals of its previous reports and tell the world the actual truth. Fat chance. Will Jeremy Bowen of the BBC report the IDF findings in his blog?
I blame the Israeli government and organisations like Shin Bet for not doing enough to counter Hamas claims and the falsified, exaggerated and emotional images they trot out hour by hour in any conflict.
Even though several impressive spokespersons were put forward this time for the very purpose of better serving Israel’s case, they failed miserably because they could not counter the terrible daily images coming out of Gaza. Quite often they themselves did not seem to believe in their own story. This is a measure of how successful Hamas propaganda is and how poor Israeli counter-propaganda is.
What we need to see now is a further detailed analysis of homes, schools, hospitals, mosques and civic building destroyed or damaged and how many of those as a result of IDF actions and how many as a result of secondary explosions caused by Hamas weapons dumps.
There is also the matter of the use of white phosphorus but that brings up the whole question of the appropriateness of some articles of International Law in the new reality of assymetric warfare, something I intend to write about in a future article.
Dubai has refused entry to Shahar Pe’er, an Israeli tennis player who is one of the best players in the women’s game.
Dubai does not recognise Israel, so anyone trying to get into Dubai on an Israeli passport will not be able to do so. This, apparently, is nothing to do with sport.
Question is, what the hell is the WTP doing holding a tournament in a country that refuses entry on the grounds that it does not recognise the passport from a country that was legally created by a vote in the United Nations in 1948 and a member state since 1949. Qatar has previously allowed Ms Peer into the country.
Dubai’s failure to recognise Israel is part of an ongoing agenda to deligitmise the State of Israel. 36 countries have no diplomatic relations with Israel and 26 refuse to recognise it at all. Israel is the only country in the world that is in such a position. Most of these countries are Muslim countries and many have appaling Human Rights records. Here is a full list of countries that do not recognise Israel at all:
AFRICA
AMERICAS
ASIA (outside Middle East)
MIDDLE EAST
Countries who do not have full diplomatic relations:
In addition to this, anyone who has an Israeli stamp on their passport is not allowed entry into any Arab and many Muslim states other than Egypt or Jordan.
It could be argued that many Muslim countries who may otherwise wish to recognise or have diplomatic relations with Israel feel that such a move would risk their own people turning against them and also the realtions they enjoy with other Muslim countries.
It doesn’t take too much analysis of this list to determine that Muslims do not like Israel and they are joined by a very strong supporter of the PLO, namely, Cuba.
The WTP should seriously reconsider prostituting itself by holding tournaments in countries who do not recognise the nationality of any of its members for whatever reason. Yes, the UAE tournaments bring a lot of money into the game but does anyone remember the D’Oliveira affair when the England cricket team called of a tour to South Africa in the days of Apartheid because they would not allow a ‘Cape Coloured’ to play with white people? Is this case any different?
Only Israel and Israelis are subject to this sort of harrassment as part of a global attack on Israel for daring to exist and defend itself. And most of the countries who are so appalled by the very existence of Israel are undemocratic, tyrannies, human rights abusers and worse.
Dubai itself has a terrible record of abuse of Asian guest workers who are subject to the most appalling treatment. Look here Wikipedia entry on Human Rights in Dubai and here Human Rights Watch
The BBC reported today that five children were killed in Afghanistan by Australian troops.
Where the heck was Jeremy Bowen when this happened!
“Australian special forces clearing houses in Uruzgan province in a hunt for militants, and came under attack.
They fired back at Taleban insurgents, and five children were among the dead.”
The Aussie government went on to state that they always try to avoid civilian casualties.
So let’s get this right: non-muslim soldiers from a western country fighting thousands of miles from home kill innocent muslim children and there is no TV footage of the dead infants or the wounded adults, no demonstrations on the streets of Canberra or Sydney, no calls of “Death to Australia”, “Death to the Christians”. Why? It was an “accident”. The soldiers were firing in self-defence. They didn’t know that there were children in the houses.
What a contrast to the worldwide reaction to Israel killing children in a military action against their neighbour whose “government” has fired over 6000 rockets at its citizens for several years and whose charter proclaims its aim is to destroy Israel and all Jews, everywhere. If you replace the word “Australia” by “Israel” in the BBC article and “Afghanistan” by “Gaza” , what’s the difference?
No doubt the Spanish judiciary will be investigating? Human Rights Watch? the UN? Clerics will make inflammatory statements about Australia? The Australian flag will be burned and trampled? None of this will happen because the soldiers were not Israeli and they were not Jews.
Read the article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7887520.stm
© 2025 Ray Cook – As I See It
Theme by Anders Norén — Up ↑