Anti-Israel Propaganda

[Charles Gregory]

LOL, Thankfully its a Arab making this report!

[grace_for_him]

Yes, that's something of note!

Israel Under Fire    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMEvrxgv3O0

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Where Did The Aid Go?
http://www.isrelate.com/pages/content/5/881/Where-Did-The-Aid-Go?

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Palestine History: Myths and Truths
http://emetnews.org/palestinian_myths/

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Report: UN Teaches Jihad in Jerusalem
The Palestinian Authority continues to incite young schoolchildren to armed struggle against Israel in its textbooks – textbooks that are used by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to teach incitement in Israel’s capital city, says investigative reporter David Bedein, who spoke in an interview with Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew-language news service.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/138974

[grace_for_him]

Hard Evidence of Media Bias Against Israel - Barry Rubin
 .
 Along Israels border with Lebanon some bushes were pushing in on the border fence. The fence is set in slightly from the border precisely so that Israeli soldiers can work on it. The IDF called UNIFIL and informed the UN that this work was going to be done today so that they could tell the Lebanese army that there was no aggression going on but just routine maintenance. Soldiers from UNIFIL came to observe and can be seen standing next to Israeli soldiers in the photos. Photographers were also standing by to film the operation. But Lebanese soldiers opened fire on the Israelis who were working and in no way acting aggressively. The fact that journalists were standing next to the Lebanese soldiers shows that they knew Israel was going to do this maintenance and were observing. After the Israeli soldiers were ambushed, they returned fire. One Israeli officer was killed, another seriously wounded; three Lebanese soldiers, and a Lebanese (?) journalist were killed.   So how did Reuters and Yahoo report this?  By saying that Israeli soldiers had crossed into Lebanon and been fired on, thus implying the Lebanese army was acting in self-defense! Other news agencies merely reported: Israel says the soldiers were inside Israel; Lebanon says they were on Lebanese territory.

 Reuters: "An Israeli soldier is seen on a crane on the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border near Adaisseh village, southern Lebanon August 3, 2010. Israeli artillery shelled the Lebanese village on Tuesday, wounding two people, after Lebanese Army troops fired warning shots at Israeli soldiers."

 Yahoo: "A Lebanese officer spoke on condition of anonymity under military guidelines, said the clash occurred as Israeli troops tried to remove a tree from the Lebanese side of the border." No Israeli is quoted.

 AP also missed explaining the story properly: "The violence apparently erupted over a move by Israeli soldiers to cut down a tree along the border, a sign of the high level of tensions at the frontier where Israel fought in 2006 with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah....There was no sign of any extensive Israeli preparations for a large-scale operation - an early indication the clash might not trigger a wider conflict."  By the way, AP was so "accurate" as to correct the name of their photographer but not the biased inaccuracy of its facts!
 The New York Times also takes a "neutral" approach: "Each side blamed the other for the flare-up, trading accusations of violating the United Nations Security Council resolution that underpins the four-year cease-fire." But what is most amazing is the additional information that tells us more about contemporary journalism than almost anything you can read:
 "Israel said that its forces were engaged in routine maintenance work in a gap between the so-called Blue Line, the internationally recognized border, and its security fence, and that it had coordinated in advance with the United Nations peacekeeping force in South Lebanon, UNIFIL."

 Hello? Can't the mighty New York Times contact the UNIFIL offices and find out that Israel's story is true? Indeed, isn't it indicated by the UNIFIL presence as observer? Well, it isn't surprising since the same newspaper is unable to find the evidence, publicly available, that the Turkish IHH group that organized the Gaza flotilla had a history of being a terrorist-supporting group.  Oh, and then there's this amazing little example of bias in the article:  "Israeli and Lebanese army troops exchanged lethal fire on their countries' border on Tuesday, in what was the fiercest clash in the area since Israel's month long war against the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in the summer of 2006."

 So, there's no mention of the cause of the war: a Hizballah attack into Israeli territory, killing several Israeli soldiers and kidnapping two who were taken into Lebanon. According to the great "newspaper of record," Accorfing to the Times, Israel just arbitrarily attacked Lebanon in 2006, just as it is said to be doing in 2010.  The truth, however, is easy to ascertain--did Israel announce the maintenance, permit the photographers and UN people to watch and then cross deliberately into Lebanon?--but Israel is being portrayed as an aggressor that caused the outbreak of fighting. So millions of people will either believe that Israel was at fault or that the event is in question.

 The narrative, however, is simple: In an unprovoked attack, Lebanese soldiers fired on Israelis and murdered one soldier.  If the mass media cannot get this right how can it report accurately on other situations like the following:
 2000: Israel offers to return the entire Golan Heights to Syria in exchange for full peace. Syria refuses.
 2000: Israel offers to accept an independent Palestinian state in all of the Gaza Strip, almost all of the West Bank, and most of east Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority refuses.
 2008: Hamas tears up a ceasefire, begins massive mortar and rocket attacks on Israeli civilians, Israel defends itself.
 2010: A Turkish pro-terrorist organization trying to help Hamas, a genocidal and antisemitic terrorist group, sends self-described jihadis on a ship who chant slogans about killing Jews and being Jihadi martyrs. When Israeli soldiers land, the Jihad warriors attack them with weapons and kidnap several. Israeli forces rescue the soldiers, killing nine attackers in the operation.

 Note, though, that the Times discounted the video of Israeli soldiers being attacked by claiming--with no evidence--that perhaps Israeli forces had been shooting beforehand at unarmed civilians on the ship!   But if the media cannot even get right a previously announced, UN-approved, maintenance activity on Israeli territory then what hope is their getting right anything more complex?    Here's a video of the attack from Reuters.   

To its credit, the Canadian Broadcasting Company issued a correction saying that the tree's location is disputed and changing the photo caption to say the tree is "near" the border rather than on the Lebanese side.  We now have a UNIFIL official on record as saying that the Israeli soldiers who were attacked were on Israeli territory. Which mainstream media outlets will or won't cover this fact?

*Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), with Walter Laqueur (Viking-Penguin); the paperback edition of The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan); A Chronological History of Terrorism, with Judy Colp Rubin, (Sharpe); and The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley).

[this article appeared in the Carmel Alert email newsletter]

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Gazans Choose Israeli Hospitals
http://www.isrelate.com/pages/content/5/892/Gazans-Choose-Israeli-Hospitals

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Gaza People Not Refugees 

About 70% of the population of Gaza own a TV and radio and have access to satellite TV.  Gaza has well developed telephone landlines and extensive mobile telephone services provided by PalTel and the Israeli provider Cellcom. The PA owned cell phone provider has more than one million cellular subscribers

In February 2010, an agreement was reached with the Palestinian Authority’s National Insurance department to ensure that pensions reached those families who previously worked in Israel. The funds were deposited in banks in Judea and Samaria and the PA was given the responsibility of distributing the funds to the pensioners in Gaza. This is Israeli money given to Arab employees,
* CFOIC – Report the Facts (6/7/2010) 

People in Gaza produce much of their own food products, including olives, citrus, vegetables, Halal beef and dairy products. Primary exports from Gaza are cut flowers and citrus, with their trade partners being Egypt, Israel and the West Bank. During 2009, 7.5 million tons of flowers and 54 tons of strawberries were exported from Gaza with Israeli cooperation. In 2009, 1.1 billion shekels (about $250 million) was transferred to the Gaza Strip for the ongoing activity of international activities and to pay for the salaries of PA workers,

The people in Gaza are not starving refugees. The people living in Gaza and Gaza City have food, mobile phones, satellite dishes and live in buildings, not camps, like in Sudan. The Washington Post in June 2010, reported that the stores in Gaza City are stocked ‘wall to wall’. For video footage of a typical prosperous food stall in Gaza see ‘Gaza Blockade?’ section of wild-olive website, * 

Israel Supplies Utilities 
According to a UN Report May 2010, 120 megawatts (over 70%) of Gaza’s electricity supply comes from the Israeli grid. Israel has facilitated the transfer of fuel through the border. Over 133 million litres of fuel entered Gaza from Israel in a span of one and a half years. Since January 2010, there has been a deterioration in the supply of electricity to Gaza since HAMAS is unwilling to purchase the fuel to run the Gaza City power station with the finances which it has gained from financial donors, *2. Throughout 2009, Israel transferred 41 trucks of equipment for the maintenance of Gaza’s electricity grid, *3.   
 *   www.wildolive.co.uk (2/7/2010) 

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Gaza Markets Full During Ramadan
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/139134

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. Water Park Is Gaza's Latest Craze
News reports from Gaza are usually filled with suffering and stories of humanitarian aid unable to reach the impoverished coastal enclave due to Israel blockades. Yet recently, the true story of Gaza has been coming to light. Tourist attractions, resorts and malls, which have recently been inaugurated in the besieged strip, are not what you would expect from Gaza but they are, in fact, a reality. The newest one, The Crazy Water Park, which opened in May 2010, is one of the most talked about new attractions, of which there are many. Various media outlets have attempted to estimate the budget of the park, described locally as "the new sensation", with some reports estimating the price tag to be as high as $7 million. Mohammed Al-Araj, the economics minister in the first government formed after Hamas won the 2006 PA/PLO legislative election, is believed to be one of the water park's directors. Other partners are believed to be members of Arab political factions as well as "independent businessmen," the British newspaper The Independent reported. Sitting on 14 dunams (3.5 acres) of land, The Crazy Water Park features swimming pools, ponds with pedal boats, three waterslides, a 100-meter-long canal, a restaurant, a cafe, and a secluded area shaded by a tent where adults can sit on carpets and listen to music. It took builders six months to construct the park with materials collected from the rubble of buildings destroyed by the war, along with materials brought from Europe and smuggled into Gaza through tunnels from Egypt. [While Arab leaders, along with UN officials, are claiming that people in Gaza are going homeless due to the Israel blockade of construction materials, these businessmen and Arab leaders managed to find enough materials to build a $7 million water park!—ed] More than 2,000 families visited The Crazy Water Park in Gaza during the first few days after its opening ceremony, according to the park's records. Admission is 10 Israeli shekels ($2.60), plus another 5 shekels for access to the slides and another 20 shekels for access to the pool. Sales tax, which goes to the Hamas government, is also added to the ticket prices. The park employs 106 workers in addition to more than 80 vendors who provide catering services and goods. Employees who spoke to The Media Line were overjoyed at being selected for a job in such a unique place. The average salary of Crazy Park employees is about $250 to $300 a month, the minimum wage in Gaza. Sameer Sa'd, chairman of the Board of Directors of Panda Investment Company, the company that owns The Crazy Water Park, reports that the number of visitors reaches 2,000 each day and 3,000 visitors or more on holidays and summer vacation days. [The Media Line]  Emet News Service
http://emetnews.org/current.php

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Fighting Propaganda

http://www.isrelate.com/pages/content/5/908/Fighting-Propaganda

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The results of the propaganda against israel:

U.S. support for Israel is decreasing, new poll shows
Survey conducted by U.S.-Jewish group the Israel Project asked Americans and Europeans about their views on Israel.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-support-for-israel-is-decreasing-new-poll-shows-1.308855?localLinksEnabled=false

Survey: 'The whole world is against us'
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=185338

[Brad]

unbelievable ~ truly gob-smacked
an honest and beautiful report from the usual aunty-christian, aunty-israel, pro-islamic BBC#

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10977862

hopefully we can have some more like this from Aunty-Beeb !
Yahweh~Shalom all
Brad

[grace_for_him]

Yes, Brad!  I've noticed a slightly better reporting on Israeli affairs generally. It bears watching as to the reasons behind it though, I think.

This is about Ranallah which is in the "West Bank" Palestinian territory - they also are evidencing the signs of their propsperity from all the donations of those who see their 'poverty'.

For quite some time, Palestinians live better thanthe general Israeli public who find meeting ends quite difficult.
Life is not easy in Israel and there is not much of this type of thing outside of Tel Aviv, the westerised, "sin city" of Israel.

 ‘Palestine’s new bride’
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
08/20/2010 17:32
Fancy restaurants, five-star hotels, glitzy bars, discotheques, luxury apartments and scores of new construction sites. Welcome to the new Ramallah, the de facto capital of Palestine.
http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Article.aspx?id=185283

[Brad]

hi Grace,

an excellent link thx, i just loved this comment at the end

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
However, Abdel Kader resigned a few weeks later, saying he had discovered that his ministry did not even have enough money to buy a desk and a chair for him.

“I have to be honest with you and tell you that we have lost the battle for Jerusalem,” Abdel Kader lamented. “One of the reasons is because the Palestinian government doesn’t really care about Jerusalem.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The West-Bank Palestinians / Arabs have more often enjoyed a far better life-style than most of their Arab Bro's throughout the middle-east ~ probably & partly due to Israel's 'breaking the chains of Islams stranglehold over peoples freedoms'. In fact the main oppression of the Palestinian peoples comes from their very own surrounding Arab brothers who merley wish to use their plight as a tool with which to bash Israel.
 
If only the same 'Jerusalem is lost attitude' was true for the wider 'misguided' Arab weltschaum ~ Jerusalem could be eventually returned to its rightful owners "the Jews" and peace could prevail throughout the region !

Yahweh~Shalom~Israel
Brad