Thursday, August 15, 2013

Avaaz Exclusively Blames Israel - Part 1

The organisation Avaaz is putting out a stream of criticism of Israel using emotive terminology and containing no context to the claims. (We don't really want to support them by clicking on their website, do we?)

A recent outburst contained the following statements:_

a)   “Israeli soldiers are entering Palestinian homes in the middle of the night, snatching children from their beds, blindfolding them and taking them away.”

This is an emotive headline rather like “dog bites man”, used to create negative attitudes  towards actions the IDF necessarily undertakes in order to maintain public order and protect lives. There is no law defining a time for action, this way reaction is minimised.

b)   “These children aren't terrorists or related to any terrorists.”

Interesting observation not backed up by facts. The constant indoctrination of children via TV, summer camps etc create hatred from the earliest ages – just review the latest videos from Palestinian Media Watch http://tinyurl.com/pgrdahs and http://tinyurl.com/kwyyjm9  . It suits the Palestinian Authority’s agenda to use, yes, use children in any action in order to create public sympathies.  

c)   “Their families are participating in an inspiring nonviolent movement, peacefully protesting the segregation of the occupation and seeking the same thing that all Israelis already have: freedom, dignity and a state of their own, but the Israeli military and police are viciously cracking down -- beating and jailing them”.

If the actions are so peaceful, why are there between 120-160 terror attacks every month according to the monthly reports of the Terrorist Information Center

But one brave woman is standing up for them -- Gaby Lasky –(Executive member of “Peace Now”, an organisation working against the democratic rights of the Israeli public)- a diminutive and savvy Israeli lawyer. Gaby is their lifeline -- she is who these nonviolent heroes call when they need help. She and her team answer desperate calls from the West Bank in the middle of night, and spend the day in military court fighting bogus charges against nonviolent leaders. And, against the odds, Gaby wins. – Interesting ! there seems to be no source for this claim. As often happens in such cases a single success is blown up into a great victory. Just as in the case of the "Jenin Massacre" which made headlines but was proven to be untrue.

Gaby told us how this ludicrous, legally sanctioned repression in the West Bank works. Soldiers detain kids, often in the middle of the night, and ask them for information on leaders of the nonviolent movement. The constant use of the term "non viol;ent" belies the facts on the ground. Three Israelis have been killed by stone throwers.  Kids as young as 12 are held for hours without access to their parents, much less attorneys. It can be days before they see a judge. And a child’s coerced testimony is all the army needs to arrest leaders of this nonviolent movement.

d)  “Right now, in towns across the West Bank steadfast groups of citizens come out each week, sometimes daily, in civil disobedience. They march to stolen springs and olive trees, to closed roads and massive militarized walls in peaceful defiance of a crippling occupation. It’s a beautiful, heroic DIY movement and if our community steps up we can give it real help.”

Such typical land grab attempts by Palestinians are commonplace, they “claim” ownership, yet have no legal papers to show proof of ownership. The most recent case  of Susito is a case in point. Palestinians claimed they had been on that land “from time immemorial. Yet photographic evidence presented by Regavim, www.regavim.org showed that there had not been a presence there as recently as the year 2000. The PA is using every trick in the book to fool gullible human rights activists. See video on constant illegal Palestinian building on State lands http://tinyurl.com/n53zn8o

By arresting the leaders of this movement the Israeli army is trying to suffocate a spark of hope that could actually change the the brutal, broken nature of the conflict. Let’s stand with this movement now.

e) The Avaaz community has been unwavering in its support for freedom for the Palestinian people and peace between Israelis and Palestinians

Such peace can only come about when the Palestinian leadership come to terms with the existence of Israel. However, this seems to be forlorn hope when one hears a number of Palestinian leaders making statements such as

“The Palestinian people will never accept the right of the Jewish people to their own state.  Not for 1000 years.                                                                                            Abu Mazen, , 12/7/2009

“It is impossible to realize the inspiring idea or the great goal in one stroke....Israel will come to an end....If I say that I want to remove it from existence, this will be great, great,[but] it is hard.  This is not a [stated] policy. You can’t say it to the world.  You can say it to yourself”  Abbas Zaki, Fatah Central Committee member, Al-Jazeera TV, 23/9/2011

“I will never allow a single Israeli to live among us on Palestinian land”. Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah , 28/7/2010, to Egyptian media (ynetnews)

It Is Okay to Say One Thing in Arabic and Another in English for Western Audiences” Editor-in-Chief Al-Quds Al-Arabi Newspaper Abd Al-Bari Atwan:December 2010




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