Doc's Talk: An Anti-Israel Tourism Subterfuge

Thursday, April 10, 2014

An Anti-Israel Tourism Subterfuge

JANET LEVY April 10, 2014

Under the guise of experiental, educational sojourns in the Middle East, an ongoing, extensive tourism subterfuge of global proportions is at work today. This comprehensive and coordinated fraudulent operation includes travel agency fronts, terrorist groups, international NGOs, Islamists, and Leftists. They include such organizations as the Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies, Abraham Path, the Soros Foundation to Promote Open Society, and others.
All of them, whether unwittingly or intentionally, are part of an effort to turn tourists, college students, and Christian pilgrims against the Jewish state of Israel. Using the rubric of "a connection between people from the Middle East," these travel expeditions underhandedly buttress a political agenda that delegitimizes and demonizes Israel. They are part of a scheme to fundamentally transform the Western world, by undermining Judaism, the root of Christianity, and moving on to the destruction of Christianity as well.
A look at one of the organizations involved in the efforts, Abraham Path, provides insights into how these groups have created a dangerous mix of supposed humanitarian organizations and Islamic supremacists.

Abraham Path partners with the United Nations Tourism Organization and Harvard Law School and receives financial support from the Riyadh-based, Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation. Prince Talal, a Wahhabist, shortly after 9/11, admonished the United States to change its stance in the Middle East and turn toward the Palestinian cause, declaring, "Our Palestinian brethren continue to be slaughtered at the hands of Israelis while the world turns the other cheek."
Talal implied that the U.S. position on Israel caused the 9/11 attacks. Offended by these statements, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani turned down $10 million offered by the Saudi prince in the aftermath of the attacks.
Another organization, the Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies, targets Israel-supporting evangelical Christians with its stated goal of "re-branding Palestine as a destination for experiential travel and human connection" and suggests visits to Christian sites. Yet, it also offers "fact finding programs" about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, from a decidedly political point of view.
The center is an affiliate of Abraham Path and The Telos Group, a beneficiary of the philanthropy of George Soros, the billionaire funder of radical Leftist causes who, as in impressionable teen, collaborated with the Nazis to confiscate Jewish property and send Jews to death camps. The Telos Group receives half of its funding from the Open Society Foundations, chaired by founder, Soros. The Telos Group endeavors to steer Christian Zionists, who have been steadfast in their support for the Jewish State, "away from decades of growing loyalty to Israel and toward increased solidarity with the Palestinians."
Yet, the organization's true goal is to delegitimize Israel on the global stage, shift U.S. public opinion against Israel, and promote the view that Israel and Israel alone is responsible for the "conflict" with Arab-Palestinians. Telos conducts this subterfuge or propaganda war under the guise of a "pro-peace" agenda, which is merely a cover for promulgating misinformation about Israel.
NGO Monitor, a non-profit group that performs critical analysis of non-government organizations, has examined another tour group, Holy Land Trust (HLF). NGO Monitor has concluded that HLF targets church leaders and the international community and takes them on highly politicized tours that promote the Palestinian narrative of victimization from Israeli violence. HLF's executive director, Sami Awad, claims to have conducted "training in non-violence for Hamas leaders and other militant groups."
These tourism non-profits, licensed by the Ministry of Tourism in the Palestinian territories, market themselves as purveyors of "responsible" and "experiential" travel promoting "Palestine" as a travel destination and promising "human connection" and "immersion" into the cultural, religious, and social facets of the region. They offer home stays, interfaith activities, religious pilgrimages, environmentally friendly tours, wilderness adventures, hikes through the West Bank, cycling tours, and trips geared specifically for college students.
Travelers see and experience what these often allied organizations want them to see in Palestine -- abject poverty, oppression, desperation, barbed wire, water shortages, and other deplorable conditions. Left out are swanky hotels, sprawling residences, luxurious resorts, and thriving commercial enterprises that exist in the Palestinian territories. The traveler on their tours is left with the distinct impression that Israel is wholly responsible for the miserable existence of the Arab-Palestinians they visit and see.
Under this guise of real-life travel expeditions, they insinuate a pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel narrative. Published itineraries for college tours indicate meetings with Hamas,supporters of Hezb'allah, and Muslim Brotherhood operatives, as if it were entirely appropriate and reasonable that college students should meet members of designated terrorist groups! Further, the very existence of these speakers indicates that the sponsoring NGOs and travel agency front organizations have well-established relationships with terrorists to be able to command their presence for their tours.

Many of the "Palestine" tours, like a recent tour by Harvard University, feature visits to the grave of Yasser Arafat. What is missing from the exposition on Arafat is that he is referred to as the father of modern terrorism and responsible for the death of thousands of innocent Israeli civilians. Under his leadership, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) conducted scores of bombings, plane hijackings, and massacres, including an attack on a school in which children were murdered, the Munich Olympic slaughter of 11 Israeli athletes in 1972, and the murder of disabled American Jewish businessman, Leon Klinghoffer, on the Achille Lauro cruise ship. PLO Chairman Arafat encouraged a culture of martyrdom by strapping explosives to Arab-Palestinian children and introducing textbooks that indoctrinated generations of youth to hate Israel and celebrate violence against Jews.
These NGO-funded non-profits travel outfits use heavy propaganda. They refer to "Palestine" as the "cradle of civilization" and the place where Judaism, Christianity and Islam took root. Of course, truth is a casualty in this narrative as the Muslim prophet Mohammed hailed from Mecca and never visited Jerusalem except reportedly in a dream. Further, Jerusalem is never mentioned by name in the Koran and Muslims pray facing their holy city of Mecca, to which they must undertake a hajj or pilgrimage at some point in their lives as a religious obligation.
By contrast, Jerusalem has been the holiest city for Jews since the 10th century B.C. and is endowed with a special status in Jewish religious law. Jews pray facing Jerusalem and the holy city is mentioned 669 times in the Tanakh or Jewish Bible. For Christians, Jerusalem is significant as a place that Jesus visited as a child, preached in as an adult, consumed his "Last Supper," was crucified, and resurrected. The Christian Bible refers to Jerusalem 154 times.
Other lies perpetuated against Israel include the myths that Israelis are poisoning or restricting the water supply and that Israeli soldiers shoot at Arab-Palestinian children for sport. Travelers on the tours hear complaints about the economic consequences and restrictions imposed by the checkpoints, created to save Israeli lives from Arab-Palestinian suicide bombers.
Ignored on the tours are positive facts about Israel: that it is a democracy under the rule of law with equal rights for Arab citizens, including the right to vote and have representation and serve in the Knesset. Also ignored is the contrast to the Palestinian Territories, which operate under tyrannical leaders who torture and imprison the opposition. These tour groups accuse Israel of apartheid, but the Arab-Palestinians are the true practitioners of apartheid and insist that Jews will be forbidden to live in any future Palestinian state.
The Islamists refuse to accept Israel's existence as a Jewish state, cry "death to Israel" and Palestinianize Christianity by presenting Jesus as a Palestinian or Muslim. Effectively, this obliterates the Jewish roots of Christianity and forges a temporary Muslim bond of convenience with Christians. This despite the ethnic cleansing of Christians taking place throughout the Arab Muslim world and beyond, which has followed the expulsion of Jews from the region from 1947-1974.
Islamists who are part of this travel experience espouse the principles of multiculturalism and tolerance when it comes to the recognition and accommodation to their demands; they refer to non-Muslims disparagingly as infidels and label anyone who criticizes Islam as an "Islamophobe." Islamic doctrine promotes a view of Islam as the primordial religion and purports that biblical history is Islamic history. The prime objective of their misinformation campaign is to repudiate the "People of the Book" -- both Jews and Christians. In the Muslim world, this is exemplified by the pronouncement, "First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people." By advancing the narrative that Israel is an occupier, repudiating Jewish history and denying Jewish ties to their ancestral land, it is a small leap to nullifying the Gospels and obliterating Christianity.
Meanwhile, Leftists, who have joined the Middle East travel bandwagon, operate under the guise of being advocates for "social justice" and "peace," which takes a critical look at Israel's national defense activities but spares from such harsh view the suicide bombings or rocket attacks by Arab-Palestinians or conflicts in the Sudan, Somalia, Egypt or other hotbeds of terrorism. This double standard is applied to Israel's actions, places blame for so-called Arab-Palestinian oppression squarely on the shoulders of the Jews, and demonizes Israel's security fence and anti-terrorist checkpoints.
Thus, this seemingly innocuous network of tourism enterprises is actually a comprehensive influence operation to indoctrinate unsuspecting tourists and turn them against the Jewish state. By denying and undermining the truth of the Middle East and replacing it with lies and propaganda, the travel experience actually aims to impose the one supreme religion -- Islam -- and deny all other faiths.
A version of this piece previously appeared on American Thinker

Janet Levy, MBA, MSW, is an activist, world traveler, and freelance journalist who has contributed to American Thinker, Pajamas Media, Full Disclosure Network, FrontPage Magazine, Family Security Matters and other publications. She blogs at www.womenagainstshariah.com

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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.

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