Doc's Talk: Anti-semitism is making a loud comeback

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Anti-semitism is making a loud comeback

Laura Kam , THE JERUSALEM POST

Leading experts from around the world will gather in Jerusalem this week for the Foreign Ministry's Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism where there will be much sobering discussion.

This year witnessed an upsurge in violent anti-Semitic attacks unprecedented in recent times. Perceptions of the 22-day defensive war in the Gaza Strip in December 2008-January 2009 certainly triggered this most recent spasm of worldwide anti-Semitic activity, but that event in and of itself cannot explain the phenomenon away. It was the way certain media covered the event that was the key factor. The US was practically the only global bright spot with respect to anti-Semitic attitudes and incidents in the past year, notwithstanding isolated yet serious and potentially deadly incidents of its own to contend with. This, at a time, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll, when a plurality of Americans agree that the US "should mind its own business internationally, constituting a significant shift since 2002 when nearly two-in-three disagreed with this sentiment." It was therefore particularly heartening to note that a similarly timed The Israel Project (TIP) poll finds that the number of Americans that think the US should support Israel doubled over the same period of time to 60 percent.

CLEARLY, THE media plays a leading role in nurturing and solidifying such beliefs. While many in the US strenuously believe the American media is biased toward Israel, in fact the press in the US is quite tame and balanced in its depiction of Israel and its Jewish majority compared to its counterparts in Europe, Latin America and the Arab world.

In a landmark study of Europeans, Edward Kaplan and Charles Small of Yale University found unequivocally that individuals with extreme anti-Israel views were more likely to be anti-Semitic. As media outlets proliferate via satellite and 24/7 cable TV, the platform for spreading anti-Israel views and consequently anti-Semitism has increased exponentially.

It is for that reason that it is critical to recognize that the vast majority of Americans, Latin Americans, Europeans and Arabs form their opinions about international affairs largely by what they see on television. According to polls conducted for The Israel Project in the US, TV news is cited by 62% as the way their views on the Middle East are shaped, and to a lesser extent the Internet (mostly through mainstream news sites) and newspapers.

In the Arab world, a full 90% of people get their information about the Middle East from TV. Throughout the world today, wherever television watching is pervasive, family, universities and religious institutions all have a far lesser impact in forming opinions on the issues that so clearly impact on foreign policy views than in decades and centuries before.

Outside of the US much of the international media uses the language of "genocide," "Holocaust" and the names of concentration camps drawing a parallel between Nazi Germany and Israel on a regular basis. Such language and imagery serve to delegitimize any Israeli action, while fueling the image of the Jew as the new Nazi. Cartoons with anti-Semitic themes are rampant throughout the world where the juxtaposing of brutal Israelis in the guise of the stereotypical Jew or as a Nazi is the norm. Especially during times of war, Israeli soldiers are relentlessly depicted as war criminals, murderers of innocent civilians and children, militant beasts whose disappearance would obviously be a blessing.

It is therefore no surprise that the aftermath of the Gaza war, a war reported on tirelessly on TV news stations throughout the world, the number of anti-Semitic incidents exploded.

In France, home to the world's third largest Jewish community after Israel and the US, the first half of this year saw significantly more violent anti-Semitic acts and threats - 631 recorded incidents, more than in the entire previous year. As in other European capitals, these include arson attacks against schools and community centers and physical attacks on individuals. Richard Prasquier, the head of CRIF, France's main Jewish umbrella group, was quoted as saying earlier this year that "anti-Semitism is back" and that although France itself is not an anti-Semitic country, "there is a climate of hatred against Jews that manifests itself through insults and often physical attacks."

Almost identically in the UK, the Jewish Community Security Trust recorded double the amount of anti-Semitic incidents in the first half of 2009 as compared to the same period in the previous year. CST head Mark Gardner said, "British Jews are facing ever higher levels of racist attack and intimidation that threaten the well-being of our otherwise happy and successful Jewish community."

In Latin America, with 250,000 Jews in Argentina alone, the climate is becoming increasingly hostile. Anti-Semitic incidents, including swastikas drawn on Jewish schools and graffiti ordering Jews to leave the country have, according to Julio Schlosswer, secretary-general of Argentine Israelite Mutual Association, "created a climate of worry, a climate of terror." Particularly worrisome in Latin America is the atmosphere that has been created by regional leaders such as Hugo Chavez who consistently berate Israel in the Latin American press with vile comparisons of Israeli defensive actions to those of the Nazis, thus fostering an official imprimatur on hatred.

And in places where there are virtually no Jews, anti-Semitism abounds. In a recent poll done in the Arab world by The Israel Project, we found Jews are simply reviled, with 98% of Jordanians saying they have unfavorable opinions of Jews. Egypt was a veritable bright spot with only 69% saying they had an unfavorable view of Jews. The fact that Al Jazeera is the most watched news station throughout the Arab world can, to some extent though obviously not wholly, explain why Israelis/Jews - most Arabs do not recognize the difference - are so incredibly despised.

Clearly we are entering an era where increased vigilance with respect to the press as well as in the political and diplomatic arenas will necessarily take on a new urgent focus as Jews around the world are facing increasing threats to their safety and way of life.

It will take concerted and persistent action on the parts of governments, NGOs, law enforcement officials and individuals with international standing and gravitas to stem the tide of this new wave of anti-Semitism. But enhancing Israel's image in the media in today's non-stop news environment is crucial. The great progress that has been made in the US can be replicated. These and other issues will be strenuously dissected and debated during the meetings in Jerusalem.

The writer is the senior director for European affairs and special projects at The

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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/135032

12/16/09
How to Fight Anti-Semitism: Conference Opens in Jerusalem
by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) The two-day 2009 Global Forum for Combating Anti-semitism (GFCA) opened in Jerusalem on Wednesday, with 500 participants from over 50 countries.
Among those taking part is Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Vygaudas Usackas, Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney, and the Czech Republic’s Minister of Human Rights Michal Kocáb. In addition, legislators, jurists, academics, and Jewish and non-Jewish organization heads from around the world are also among the participants.

Conference co-chairman Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein, of the Likud party, addressed the conference’s opening session, and quoted Martin Luther King’s writings equating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.

Specifically, in Saturday Review XLVII (August 1967), pg. 76, and reprinted in "This I Believe: Selections from the Writings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr." (New York, 1971), King writes:
"...You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely 'anti-Zionist.' And I say... When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews - this is G-d's own truth... And what is anti-Zionist? It is the denial to the Jewish people of a fundamental right that we justly claim for the people of Africa and freely accord all other nations of the Globe. It is discrimination against Jews, my friend, because they are Jews. In short, it is anti-Semitism... Let my words echo in the depths of your soul: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews - make no mistake about it."

(Though some have said that this passage was never penned by King, Dr. Seymour Martin Lipset of George Mason University and Stanford University wrote in 1969 that he heard King respond to an anti-Zionist remark by saying, "Don't talk like that! When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You're talking anti-Semitism!")

Edelstein said that traditional anti-Semitism has morphed into political anti-Semitism that is manifest in the international activities against Israel. In keeping with this line of thought, a major topic of discussion at Wednesday’s sessions will be contemporary instances of anti-Semitism around the world, concentrating on the links between them and the delegitimization of the State of Israel.

The conference will be marked this evening by a Chanukah candle lighting ceremony with Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin. Certificates of honor will be awarded to five parliamentarians from various countries.

Among Wednesday’s speakers will be conference co-chairman Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, ADL Executive Director Abraham H. Foxman, Prof. Yehuda Bauer, Malcolm Hoenlein, Prof. Robert Wistrich, Hannah Rosenthal of the U.S. State Department, Canadian MP Mario Silva, Sergio Widder of the Latin American branch of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Dr. Andre Oboler, and others.

On Thursday, the speakers will include Prof. Gerald Steinberg, Social Services Minister Yitzchak Herzog, Canadian MP Irwin Cotler, Italian MP Fiamma Nirenstein, UK MP John Mann, Anne Bayefsky, Dr. Charles Small, Dr. Daniel Pipes, Prof. Penda Mbow of the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal, Avner Shalev, Rabbi Michael Melchior, and Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Natan Sharansky.

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

Doc's Talk