Palestinians winning propaganda war?

Speaking at a meeting recently Einat Wilf, a former left wing member of Knesset, said that what she really wanted to get across was the inherent danger in the current nonviolent conflict being waged by the Palestinians against Israel. Her message should send warning signals to all who support the existence of the State of Israel. There is a strong need to counter the verbal attacks which are based on emotive use of language with facts that are readily availalble.

When the Palestinians saw that armed conflict and terrorism didn’t work, she said, they resorted to the war of words – a battle that, so far, Israel is not winning.

“This is all part of the Palestinian strategy of planting words, images, ideas and arguments into people’s minds,” she said. “The world’s greatest atrocities were preceded by preparing people’s minds that what they were about to commit was not an atrocity but something they were doing for a noble cause,” she added, noting that most people don’t think of themselves as evil.

But what is happening with the use of specific words, she said, is “a strategic threat. It’s a real danger.”

The more Wilf travels abroad on speaking engagements in different countries, the more she realizes how successful the Palestinians have been in their campaign, she said.

Wilf cited an example of a debate with a Palestinian spokesman in London who had come up with the expression that Israel was committing cultural genocide. There is no such thing and it doesn’t mean anything, said Wilf, but it was a way of linking Israel with genocide and putting that concept into people’s minds. The same thing happens when Palestinians and their supporters talk about settlements, occupation, colonialism and apartheid, she said.

Outlining the methodology, Wilf said it starts with placard strategy equating Zionism and Israel with racism, imperialism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing.

“You know what it says even though you don’t believe it,” she said.

Eventually, she continued, many people, even Israel’s best friends, start to think that where there’s smoke there’s fire.

In her travels, she has found that people who are genuinely interested in peace in the Middle East, including Jews who are not anti-Israel but are against the country’s policies, fall victim to this strategy and utilize it. But the Palestinians and other Arabs who are utilizing it have a different purpose.

They want to get rid of the State of Israel and they don’t want any Jews living in the land, which is currently Israeli territory, “but no-one believes it,” she said, underscoring the misconception in the popular belief that if Israel would only get rid of the settlements and allow Palestinian refugees to return, there would be peace.

“It’s not what we do but who we are,” she said. “They hate us.”

Nonetheless, there are large numbers of Israelis who are willing to make peace and share the land, but every time the Palestinians have had an opportunity to create their own state, they have found a reason not to, she added.

Moving on to unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood, Wilf pointed out that there are omissions in resolutions to this effect. If she was writing the resolution, she would add the codicil that once a Palestinian state is recognized it means the end of the Palestinian refugee situation, because people who have a state are not refugees.

Analysis of Palestinian Draft UNSC Resolution submitted by Jordan

(A Great Analysis of Jordanian Hypocrisy - Haifadiarist)

CHARLES ABELSOHN December 24, 2014,

Jordan has submitted a text to the Security Council for a resolution on Palestine. Jordan? The pre-1967 illegal occupier? Let`s have a look.

Mr Maurice Ostroff, in his “The draft Palestine State Resolution and SC242” shows how mainstream media provide only flimsy journalistic interpretations of the content and intent with little or no analysis of the substance. No journalist has yet pointed out that the draft Palestinian/Jordanian resolution is intended to cancel and bury UNSC 242 and replace with United Nation`s General Assembly (UNGA) non-binding resolutions 181 and 194, originally rejected by the Arab/Moslem bloc. On behalf of mainstream media, I accept this important challenge.

Jordan’s Preamble: “Reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination”

My comment: Jordan, are you suffering from amnesia? You illegally occupied Judea and Samaria (the names of the area illegally occupied before history was subsequently changed by Jordan) in 1948. Why did you not then grant the Palestinians self-determination? Oh, they did not exist in 1948? Minor detail.

Jordan`s Preamble: “Recalling General Assembly resolution 181 (II) of 29 November1947”.

My comment: Jordan, more amnesia. You only became a member of the UN in 1955 so what are you recalling? Behind your back, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia rejected resolution 181 and declared war on Israel. You joined in, massacred 127 Jews of Gush Etziyon after they surrendered, ethnically cleansed Jerusalem of its 3,000 year old plus Jewish community and annexed Judea and Samaria renaming it the West Bank? So 181 is dead and buried. This is your doing and your major legacy. Sorry but resurrection is not permitted.

Resolution 181 would have created, and I quote, an “Arab State (not Palestinian, not yet invented) and a Jewish State”. Woops, you left out the words “Jewish State” in your draft resolution. Minor oversight, I assume. But by your actions and your friends vote, in 1947/8 you guys said “no” to territory granted to an Arab State under resolution 181 so “no” under 181 it will have to remain.

Resolution 181 also called for “a Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem.” But, Jordan, you annexed Jerusalem, finally killing off UNGA 181. Jordan, you are clearly a serial UN resolution murderer and have no right to submit anything relating to Palestine on whose territory you were established in 1922. By the way, what about returning Jordan to the Palestinians?

Jordan`s Preamble: “Reaffirming the principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force”.

My comment: Jordan, YOU? You grabbed Judea and Samaria in 1948, renamed it the West Bank, annexed your land grab to Jordan and now, as an expert on the subject,  you tell us all about the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force? On second thoughts, in the current hypocritical atmosphere and egged on by EU countries recognition of “the Palestinian State”, perhaps you really are the right country for the job. You sure have the expertise and know-how on illegally taking territory by force.

Jordan`s Preamble: “Affirming the imperative of resolving the problem of the Palestine refugees on the basis of international law and relevant resolutions, including resolution 194 (III)…”

My comment: Jordan, wakey, wakey. Double amnesia: You guys rejected 194(iii): Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Lebanon, Pakistan, Afganistan all voted no. You would have, too, if you could have. So no it remains.

Also, let`s improve your memory and wording of UNGA 194: Actual wording of 194: “Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return…”

My comment: You see, Jordan, the word Palestinian does not appear in the quote above since the intent was for 194(iii) to apply to the 850,000 Jewish refugees ethnically cleansed from Arab countries as well. So your resolution fails again in its misquote of history. By the way, all Arab contributions to payment of compensation to Jewish refugees are long overdue but will still be welcomed. In any event, what`s dead is dead. Refugees are now covered by paragraph 2 of UNSC resolution 242 (the resolution you are trying to kill) with all refugees, including the Jewish refugees, being covered.

Jordan, since you unnecessarily mention 194(iii) let`s have a look at another provision of 194(iii) that in your amnesia you somehow forgot to mention.

My comment: It is sub-paragraph 7: “Resolves that the Holy Places – including Nazareth – religious buildings and sites in Palestine should be protected and free access to them assured, in accordance with existing rights and historical practice;”. Jordan, you refused Jews access to their Holy Places and you destroyed 58 synagogues in Jerusalem. You gave no protection to religious buildings and denied access to Holy Places yet you have the temerity to even mention UNGA 194? Clearly shame is not required in order to unashamedly ignore your own part in ignoring UNGA resolutions and pretending you are the good guy on the block.

The shame is more on those, such as the EU, who are working with you to subvert and invent history and who demand Israel  retreat to “1967 borders” (which never existed) so that Jews can again be denied access to Jewish Holy Places in Jerusalem, Hebron and Rachel`s Tomb (amongst others) and, based on the Gazan precedent, will result in the further destruction of religious buildings.

Jordan`s Preamble: “Underlining that the Gaza Strip constitutes an integral part of the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967, and calling for a sustainable solution to the situation in the Gaza Strip, including the sustained and regular opening of its border crossings for normal flow of persons and goods.”

My comment: Jordan, how much can you get wrong in one sentence? Between 1948 and 1967, Gaza was occupied by Egypt and was never part of “Palestinian territory” in 1967. There was no border crossing with Israel but persons and goods entered Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah crossing. Jordan, since you so much want 1967 to be revived, it is assumed that your draft about entry to Gaza actually refers to Rafah only. Israel does not object.

By the way, since there are so many references to 1967 in your draft, what do the Palestinians think of your draft?  Well, the Palestinians as a people were only invented in 1964 when they held the first Palestinian Conference and adopted the Palestine National Charter. Let`s have a look at paragraph 24: “This Organization does not exercise any territorial sovereignty over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the Gaza Strip or in the Himmah Area.”

To Jordan and the rest of the international community, most of whom appear to be suffering from collective amnesia: In 1964, the Palestinians themselves stated, loud and clear, that they had no claim to the West Bank, which included Jerusalem, or Gaza. So on what basis do the Palestinians now claim a state based on the 1967 lines? On what basis does the EU, the UN and others refer to the West Bank (the Jordanian name) as “occupied Palestinian territory” when in 1967 the Palestinians themselves had no such claim?

Oh, the irony of it all. If Israel had not reclaimed the West Bank in 1967, there would have been no basis for the newly minted Palestinians to claim the West Bank as their state. If my logic is correct, by Jordan reviving 1967 conditions in its draft, the Palestinian claim to the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza disappears. Isn`t history delicious?

My comment: Jordan, having referred to UNSC 242 in the preamble to its draft, then resolves: “Decides that the negotiated solution will be based on the following parameters:” and proceeds to set out requirements which are no more than a list of Palestinian demands, which ditch all the UNSC 242 parameters, which ignore the Oslo Accords of September 1995, which Accords are themselves based on UNSC 242 and slyly slips in a contiguous State of Palestine.

Excuse me, but since when in 1967 was there any physical connection between Jordan`s West Bank and Egypt`s Gaza? Of course, parameters set out in UNSC 242 which are inconvenient are simply made the subject of glaucoma. Thus there is no mention in Jordan`s draft UNSC 242`s requirement for Palestinian demilitarization in Jordan`s draft or, for that matter, any assertion that the Guardians of Gaza will join in the fun.

In conclusion, in this mad world where Kafka and Orwell would have a lifetime of material even if they lived to 120, it is only right and fitting  that Jordan, who illegally occupied the West Bank, who destroyed religious buildings and prevented access to Holy Places, who failed to establish an Arab State in the renamed West Bank, who refused to submit Jerusalem to an International Regime, who refused to allow “Eastern Jerusalem” be named as capital of the Arab State contemplated by UNGA 181 and who continued to claim the West Bank as part of Jordan until 1988, despite Jordan`s many references to 1967 in its draft, submit the text that it has, a list of unacceptable Palestinian demands, to avoid the tedious business of negotiating an agreement.

In this context, it is fitting, too, that the Jerusalem Post on 18 December 2014 writes that “the submitted Palestinian draft does appear, however, to reflect some European ideas.” Overthrowing and replacing UNSC 242 is clearly one of them.

BDS Is About Israel, Not Settlements

Tom Wilson (a British born writer and political analyst)

The campaign to boycott Israel–the BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement–is undoubtedly a fringe campaign. But where this small band of anti-Israel extremists have experienced some traction is among those whom they have been able to convince that BDS is only against settlements. The argument goes that a boycott of Israeli settler produce will somehow persuade the Israelis to abandon their security concerns and bring an end to their so-called occupation of the West Bank. Yet one only has to look to how BDS conducts its campaigns in practice to see that this alleged concern with the “occupation” is just one of many disingenuous claims from what is, at its heart, an entirely disingenuous movement.

Listening to the words of BDS leaders such as Omar Barghouti you soon realize that the end goal of BDS is nothing less than the total elimination of the Jewish state.

But unlike Barghouti, most of the BDS movement has the common sense not to state this so publicly. As such, BDS efforts have been ostensibly focused around boycotting settlements; although in practice this still allows campaigners to attack most Israeli companies by making flimsy arguments about guilt by association. So for instance the Israeli national theater company Habima was targeted on the grounds that it had previously performed in settlements. In Europe this argument is beginning to take hold. Supermarket chains, churches, city councils, and now EU diplomats are all coming round to the idea that boycotting the Jewish state outright may be going too far, but boycotting Jews who dare to live on the “wrong side” of a defunct armistice line is perfectly acceptable.

For BDS, SodaStream was the ideal target. This high-profile company, with its popular products and Super Bowl commercials featuring Scarlett Johansson, had one of its factories just to the east of Jerusalem in the West Bank. The fact that SodaStream boasted of being the largest commercial employer of Palestinians in the world did nothing to dissuade BDS from its efforts. Indeed, just a few months back when it was announced that SodaStream would relocate its factory from the West Bank to the Israeli Negev, BDS expressed no remorse for the Palestinian workers losing their jobs, but only exuberance at their own apparent victory.

Still, now that SodaStream is relocating from the West Bank BDS will be dropping the boycott, right? Wrong! As if proof was needed that fleeing the settlements will do nothing to appease those who simply hate the Jewish state in its entirety, BDSniks have said that they will continue to boycott SodaStream. Now the pretext for boycotting is the allegation that the new factory will be based “close to” a town being built to provide local Bedouin with housing. And supposedly this renders SodaStream “implicated in the displacement of Palestinians.” One can scarcely believe that the movement’s leaders believe such claims, but then these are the feeble excuses of bigots trying to hide and justify their unacceptable agenda.

The true character of BDS is becoming increasingly apparent as the boycotters shift their attention toward targets that even they can’t bracket in with settlements and “stolen land,” except of course for the fact that BDS clearly considers all of Israel stolen land and any Jewish enterprise on that land to be a pollution. Israeli-Arabs are of course exempt from boycotts. Because at its core BDS is a movement that makes ethnicity the dividing line that determines who is to be boycotted and who isn’t. As such, it comes as no surprise that BDS activists in the UK have launched action against Sabon, an Israeli cosmetics company that has always been based within Israel’s pre-1967 borders.

Sabon opened its first luxury cosmetics store in London at the beginning of November and BDSers were demonstrating outside within just four days of its arrival. Over the weekend activists staged a particularly aggressive gathering, in which one of the ringleaders was heard employing the most shameless blood libel language, barking coldly down the megaphone: “you don’t want to be going into this shop, buying beautiful smelling lotions to smear over your body, because if you do you will be smearing yourself in the blood of Palestinians.” And yet this particular Saturday morning protest appears to have been spearheaded by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, the extremist fringe of an already extremist sect.

As can be seen in the video, the activists are few in number and their efforts have consistently failed to persuade consumers to reject Israeli products. Yet by standing in front of the entrance of Israeli owned stores, intimidating shoppers from stepping inside, it only takes a handful dedicated fanatics to get a stranglehold on a small store. Just a few streets over from the new Sabon outlet is the storefront that was once home to London’s Ahava Dead Sea spa. But in 2011 BDS activists succeeded in hounding Ahava out, not by persuading customers with their arguments, but rather by creating so much noise and disturbance on the salubrious Covent Garden street that–under pressure from surrounding businesses–the building owner eventually discontinued Ahava’s lease. The protesters now seek to do the same to Sabon simply because it, like Ahava and SodaStream, is owned by Israeli Jews.

A few years ago the fierce critic of Israel, Norman Finkelstein, attacked some on his own side, calling BDS “a cult.” It is a cult, but more than that, it’s also a fundamentally racist movement, and that is what the world needs to be hearing about BDS.

To SJP*, a Letter From an Angry Black Woman

‘You do not have the right to invoke my people’s struggle for your shoddy purposes’

(*SJP – Students for Justice in Palestine)

By Chloe Valdary| July 28, 2014

http://tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/180382/students-justice-palestine

The student organization Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is prominent on many college campuses, preaching a mantra of “Freeing Palestine.” It masquerades as though it were a civil rights group when it is not. Indeed, as an African-American, I am highly insulted that my people’s legacy is being pilfered for such a repugnant agenda. It is thus high time to expose its agenda and lay bare some of the fallacies they peddle.

• If you seek to promulgate the legacy of early Islamic colonialists who raped and pillaged the Middle East, subjugated the indigenous peoples living in the region, and foisted upon them a life of persecution and degradation—you do not get to claim the title of “Freedom Fighter.”

• If you support a racist doctrine of Arab supremacism and wish (as a corollary of that doctrine) to destroy the Jewish state, you do not get to claim that the prejudices you peddle are forms of legitimate “resistance.”

• If your heroes are clerics who sit in Gaza plotting the genocide of a people; who place their children on rooftops in the hopes they will get blown to bits; who heap praises upon their fellow gang members when they succeed in murdering Jewish school boys and bombing places of activity where Jews congregate—you do not get to claim that you are some Apollonian advocate of human virtue. You are not.

• If your activities include grieving over the woefully incompetent performance by Hamas rocketeers and the subsequent millions of Jewish souls who are still alive—whose children were not murdered by their rockets; whose limbs were not torn from them; and whose disembowelment did not come into fruition—you do not get to claim that you stand for justice. You profess to be irreproachable. You are categorically not.

• If your idea of a righteous cause entails targeting and intimidating Jewish students on campus, arrogating their history of exile-and-return and fashioning it in your own likeness you do not get to claim that you do so in the name of civil liberty and freedom of expression.

• You do not get to champion regimes that murder, torture, and persecute their own people, deliberately keep them impoverished, and embezzle billions of dollar from them—and claim you are “pro-Arab.” You are not.

• You do not get to champion a system wherein Jews are barred from purchasing land, traveling in certain areas, and living out such an existence merely because they are Jews—and claim that you are promoting equality for all. You do not get to enable that system by pushing a boycott of Jewish owned businesses, shops, and entities—and then claim that you are “against apartheid.” That is evil.

• You do not get to justify the calculated and deliberate bombings, beatings, and lynchings of Jewish men, women, and children by referring to such heinous occurrences as part of a noble “uprising” of the oppressed—that is racism. It is evil.

Coretta Scott King, A. Phillip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, Count Basie and Dr. Martin Luther King Sr. were all Zionists.

Indeed, they and many more men and women signed a letter in 1975 that stated: “We condemn the anti-Jewish blacklist. We have fought too long and too hard to root out discrimination from our land to sit idly while foreign interests import bigotry to America. Having suffered so greatly from such prejudice, we consider most repugnant the efforts by Arab states to use the economic power of their newly-acquired oil wealth to boycott business firms that deal with Israel or that have Jewish owners, directors, or executives, and to impose anti-Jewish preconditions for investments in this country.”

You see, my people have always been Zionists because my people have always stood for the freedom of the oppressed. So, you most certainly do not get to culturally appropriate mypeople’s history for your own. You do not have the right to invoke my people’s struggle for your shoddy purposes and you do not get to feign victimhood in our name. You do not have the right to slander my people’s good name and link your cause to that of Dr. King’s. Our two causes are diametrically opposed to each other.

Your cause is the antithesis of freedom. It has cost hundreds of thousands of lives of both Arabs and Jews. It has separated these peoples, and has fomented animosity between them. It has led to heartache, torment, death and destruction.

It is of course your prerogative to continue to utilize platitudes for your cause. You are entirely within your rights to chant words like “equality” “justice” and “freedom fighter.”

You can keep using those words for as long as you like. But I do not think you know what they mean.

39 Reasons Why There is no Apartheid in Israel

The following is reprinted from research by Tom Carew

The 39 key Constituent Elements which defined Historic Apartheid in South Africa over the 22 years from 1949 to 1970 inclusive, during which it was gradually developed and extended by the minority, whites-only regime of the Afrikaner *National Party*, which first came to power in 1948.

1. 1949. Legal ban on mixed [ inter-racial ] Marriage.

2. 1950. Legal ban on inter-racial sexual intercourse or sexual acts.

3. 1950. Racial Group Classification based on skin-color, with everybody assigned by state bureaucracy [ not personal choice ] to either [a] White, [b] Colored, [c] Indian or Black Groups, and with the Black population further sub-divided into distinct 10 *tribal* divisions, again based only on state decision, and not on personal self-identification.

4. Compulsory Passbook IDs with the state color classification of the person, and with criminalization and jailing of anybody found not carrying their passbook.

5. 1950. Compulsory Segregation of all residential areas, according to the State racial categories.

6. 1950. Power of State [ and not Courts ] to ban any organization if deemed *communist* by the State, with that loose term encompassing any deemed to *disrupt racial harmony*, and thus in effect completely outlawing any peaceful protest against the racist system and regime.

7. Power of the State [ and again not the Courts ] to ban any gatherings.

8. 1953. Bantu Education Act in effect consigned the black majority to being educated as laborers.

9. 1953. Hospitals racially segregated by law.
10. 1953. Ambulances racially segregated by law.
11. 1953. Swimming Pools " " "
12. 1953. Schools " " "
13. 1953. Graveyards " " "
14. 1953. Beaches " " "
15. 1953. Public Toilets " " "
16. 1953. Buses " " "
17. 1953. Bus-stops " " "
18. 1953. Parks & Benches " " "
19. 1953. Cinemas " " "
20. 1953. Theaters " " "
21. 1953 Hotels " " "
22. 1953. Restaurants " " "
23.          TV Channels ( added later) 

24. 1955. Feb 22, 50,000 deported into black SOWETO Township SW of J'burg, with overall another 3.5 M deported between 1960 and 1983 to segregated Townships or Bantustans.

25. 1956. Colored voters separated from the common Electoral Roll, and in 1969 completely deprived of the right to vote.

26. 1956. Trade Unions racially segregated by law, with 54 white unions, 38 colored and 19 black.

27. 1959. Candidates designated by the State as white, barred from representing areas designated by the State as black.

28. 1959. Separate Universities.

29. Only 13% of land reserved for blacks, which was also the worst quality land, and this for those who were 68% of the total population.

30. Blacks may not employ whites.

31. Blacks treated in law, as temporary, foreign migrant workers.

32. Spouses and children of black workers excluded from their work areas

33. White taxpayers paid tax from a Threshold of 750 Rand but black taxpayers paid from a threshold of only 360 Rand.

33. Blacks may not buy any land in a white area.

34. Blacks may not be candidates.

35. Blacks denied a vote.

36. Blacks may not work without a Work Permit which also confined them to a named town

37. In 1970s, the State spent 10 times as much on the Education of a white child as on a black child.

38. Blacks excluded from the Judiciary.

39. 1970. All Blacks deprived of citizenship and re-classified as *citizens* of the 10 tiny tribal Bantustan territories.
No 40 - no African language was Official, only Afrikaans and English

Any impartial, objective, evidence-based comparison of the State of Israel since its foundation in May, 1948, can only conclude not only that it does not, and never has, incorporated all 39 key features of Historic Apartheid, but that in fact, it does not now, and never has embodied even ONE of those 39 defining features of the racist white South African Apartheid system.

Haifa's 21st Festival of Festivals

Haifa is inviting visitors to enjoy theatrical and musical performances, part of a festival promoting coexistence and multiculturalism.

THE WRITING’S on the wall: Israel’s Broken Fingaz Crew will use its signature bold graffiti to liven up the ‘Wisdom of Crowds’ exhibit in Haifa.. (photo credit:Courtesy)

For the past 21 years, thousands of visitors have been attending the annual December weekend Holiday of Holidays Festival in Haifa.

This festival, which falls on the crossroads of Hanukka, Id al-Adha and Christmas, has come to stand for coexistence and multiculturalism. The festival runs until December 27, when the city invites visitors to enjoy theatrical and musical performances, vendors and art exhibits.

The exclusive national antique fair is produced by the Haifa municipality together with Ethos (Haifa Culture, Arts and Sports Organization) and Beit Hagefen (Arab Jewish Center). The assorted art exhibitions and cultural events are situated in Wadi Nisnas, an Arab neighbourhood in the heart of the city, the German Colony and the Beit Hagefen Gallery and Theater.

This year’s main exhibition, “Wisdom of Crowds,” involves an outdoor art route whereby the public can interact with works ranging from photographs and installations to video and sound.

Classical concerts of Christian liturgical music will be played at Saint John’s Church by the Haifa Chamber Music Society. On December 13 at 3 p.m., the Arab-Jewish Orchestra is scheduled to give a free concert on the main stage of the festival. Under the direction of conductor Taiseer Elias, the orchestra mixes both Eastern and Western instruments. Alongside music from the classical Western canon, the orchestra is set to perform new music by Israeli Arab and Jewish conductors.

Also on offer are area tours and walks, free film screenings, Christmas tree decorations as well as the Santa Claus parade.

Festival hours are 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; admission is free.

Working Together Achieves a Dream

The Emek Medical Center in Afula, Israel is one of many successful stories showing how the many ethnic groups in Israel can successfully work side by side if given the opportunity. Below is the story how everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, pulled together to ensure the dream of building a cancer center became a reality. With thanks to Larry Rich from the Emek center

Exactly when all of us over here need some good news, a shot of positive adrenalin and something to focus upon besides pathetic politicians, war mongering idiots and a warped international media – Emek goes and makes history.  We decided to build a Cancer Center.  And the modest, underprivileged regional population that we serve came together in a grand day of giving and donated from their shallow pockets 2,680,363 NIS = $682,026.  Unprecedented! 

Clalit Health Services Group (to which Emek is a member hospital) matched the local donations and suddenly Emek had over 5 million shekels or $1.3M to get this project moving.  From the states, Galit & Barry Dunietz and the Marwil family joined in this public campaign and inspired everyone by joining hands with us.

We accomplished this on December 9^th through a highly publicized local radio campaign that saw Mayors, heads of municipalities (Jew and Arab), Israeli personalities, Emek surgeons – physicians and staffers all crowded into a modest radio studio.  Volunteers manned a bank of telephones, recording the myriad of donations that began pouring in while people spoke loud and clearly live on-the-air.  Watching over all this (from morning until night), like a proud mother lioness protecting her cubs, was Prof. Orna Blondheim, Emek CEO. 

Throughout the day, I occasionally turned on a radio and listened to the broadcasts … realizing that once again, I was witnessing history in the making.  Besides the children, modest families, businessmen and women from across the population spectrum speaking and giving, there were others.  Many others.  Arabs – Muslims, Christians and Druse, spoke loudly-publically and proudly about the brotherhood that exists here in our Israeli region between Jews and Arabs, with Emek as the focal point.  Yes, they said these things live on-the-air for all to hear … that coexistence is alive and well and that the world should focus on what’s happening here on a daily basis between Arabs and Jews, instead of being obsessed with marginal theocrats, murderers and demented power-hungry phonies whose only interests are their own personal counterfeit agendas.        

Yes, this is history.  Eye-level, down on the street reality of life among Jews and Arabs with a powerful inspiring message emanating from villages, cities, towns, schools, kibbutzim and moshavim – all because of a mutual and shared love for a medical center.  All this with dignified basic respect for one another.      

I will never capitulate to the perverted and distorted image of Israel that the international media is forcing upon you.  We are the reality.  We are the hope.

To read more about the Emek Medical Center, read 

http://hospitals.clalit.co.il/hospitals/emek/en-us/AboutUS/Pages/Howyoucanhelp.aspx