Victor Gordon to the Saturday Star – Fearless

THE SATURDAY STAR

Letter to the Editor

29 July 2017

Refers:     Fearless

I have yet to see a more blatantly biased, misleading and unsubstantiated article about the Israel/Palestinian conflict than  that penned in the Saturday Star by Sameer Naik. This is no more than dishonest, anti-Israel propaganda at its worst.

Hardly a day has passed in the last few weeks that this publication and others from the Independent Media stable have not featured some distorted major article on Israel’s effort to control the smuggling of weapons onto the precincts of the Temple Mount. This resulted in the murder of two Druze policemen whose presence was to facilitate the peaceful worship by all Muslims (and Infidels) visiting the Dome of the Rock , the Al Aqsa Mosque and/or Temple Mount.

In achieving that goal, Israel erected metal detectors at all entrances to the Temple Mount which was met with furious dissent by the very Muslims they were designed to protect. They have since been withdrawn.

In the deeply emotive scenario that ensued, The Star saw fit to publish a one-sided, full page expose with 7 photographs depicting  sweet-looking 11 year old Janna Fayyad, who, if her quotes are to be accepted at face value, is articulate  beyond her tender age.

e.g. “If you don’t have fear, you’re not normal.  But you should never let your fear control you” . “… too much blood is being shed. So we have to make sure that the next generation lives in a world of quality”.

Janna, described as one of the world’s youngest journalists, claims that during a “peaceful demonstration”, she was so severely beaten on her legs by Israeli soldiers, that she was unable to walk for a week. It is indeed strange that a “journalist” would not have at the very least photographed these injuries to support so damning a claim.

Janna expresses her wish to “tell the truth” through her reporting which we whole heartedly endorse. However, based on the op-ed  penned by Sameer Naik,  both of them will have to do somewhat better to convince that this one-sided anti-Israel offering reflects anything close to the truth. Personally, I have read too many media expose’s by “Honest Reporting” (available online) to accept anything written by Palestinians about Israel without some cynicism.

No mention is made of the continual acts of terror that occur on Israeli streets (knifings of innocent civilians; vehicle ramming; shootings, stone throwing  etc – the ever-present fears of, and attacks on,  the Israeli community which  would never earn the full front page of Canvas Life.

If little Janna wishes to leave a mark on both fair and positive journalism while promoting an effort to achieve future peace in that troubled region, she could use her talents to alleviate fears on both sides and sketch a fair, un-biased picture of what is truly happening.

Indeed, what is not happening is a regular, unprovoked assault on the legs of 9 year-olds;  a regular Friday assault using “tear gas, rubber coated bullets and live ammunition” against the peaceful residents of the village of Nabi Salleh, which Janna claims has caused  “countless deaths”.  Exactly how many deaths must occur to be recognised as “countless” or is the word merely used for emotion?

Finally, for Muhammed Nawajah to claim that “(Israelis) don’t want us to go to school and educate ourselves because we are the next generation that could make Palestine free” contradicts the fact that Israel  established as many as 9 universities in the disputed territories where previously there were none. Ironically, the leader of the BDS movement, Omar Barghouti , currently serving a life sentence in Israel for five murders, is studying for his PhD at Tel Aviv University.

Obviously, Israel recognises that if she is to achieve any form of peace she requires educated and far-sighted peace partners and not the bigoted variety like Sameer Naik and his now 11 year old cohort.

Allan Wolman to The Sunday Tribune

It’s been some time since Shannon Ebrahim has written about her pet topic, that being manifesting the hatred for the Jewish State that she has been incubating for years. Naturally she places the blame for the current crisis at the Temple Mount squarely at Israel’s door.

This crisis was precipitated by the murder of two Israeli policemen in the Aqsa compound, which follows a pattern of similar attacks on innocent Israeli civilians throughout the country for the past year and more. This is in effect a low-key intifada and given that the Wests sentiments seem to be swinging towards Israel nothing could suit the Palestinian radicals more than to provoke an incident that would attract international attention.

But it’s not the international attention that Ebrahim is concerned with – she is consumed with her conspiracy theories about the right-wing Israeli’s wanting to “Judaise” (her word) occupied East Jerusalem which is not occupied but disputed territory. She is also worried given that sentiment swing with Obama no longer dictating and feeding the Palestinian narrative and the new US administration more realistic about brokering a fair and decent peace – this is Ebrahim and her fellow travelers real fear – the fear that Israel will endure!

Allan Wolman to The Star

The Israeli Palestinian situation in the Middle East was not going according to the Palestinian hard line plan. What with Obama no longer dictating and feeding the Palestinian narrative and the new US administration more realistic about brokering a fair dispensation, the Palestinians did what they have been doing for decades. Create an incident to attract international attention and yet another excuse for Abbas to “suspend” contact with Israel.

But that’s not how Azad Essa sees the situation, writing in The Star (26^th July) he sees only one villain in this conflict. He writes that since Friday five Palestinians have been killed in the unrest at the Al-Aqsa compound. Naturally he makes no mention of the five Israelis murdered by Palestinian during that same period – three of them stabbed to death while enjoying their Sabbath meal. It seems that there is only one victim in this conflict? (In the same period, one can only speculate how many people including Palestinians were killed in the ongoing slaughter in Syria and the Yemen, which are both by far the greater humanitarian crisis facing humanity today but the likes of this writer only see one villain)

Azad Essa goes on with the normal hackneyed “occupation” woes, telling how Israel is dominating the Palestinian economy. He forgets or perhaps is too young to recall that back in 2004 the Palestinian Authority enjoyed an almost 9% GDP making it the fourth fastest growing economy in the world. He also forgets that during that time there were no travel restrictions, no wall / fence, no unemployment. Essa also seems oblivious of the fact that prior to the 1967 war there was not one single university in the territory called the West Bank – under the “occupation” no less than nine universities and institutions of higher learning were subsequently built by Israel.

Naturally journalist at Al Jazeera would find great difficulty writing anything positive about Israel notwithstanding that the headquarters of his TV network is based in Qatar which has become the pariah of the Arab world, calling for the closure of this TV network. Perhaps this Al-Jazeera journo will tell his readers that his Arab brothers have shunned his network and country due to their promotion of world terrorism. Perhaps he might tell his readers that three of his colleagues have been jailed in Egypt since December whilst Al-Jazeera have a team of cameramen and journalists operating openly and freely in Israel. Can anyone really believe anything that Mr Essa writes?

Allan Wolman to The Weekend Argus

Israeli forces shot and killed two young Palestinians…. writes Dr Aayesha J Soni in the weekend Argus. An old trick of Soni – to tell only half the truth. She conveniently omits to write that on Friday night a Jewish family of three was attacked and murdered around their Sabath table by a knife wielding Palestinian terrorist! She then goes on to “whitewash” the killing of two Israeli policemen (the incident that precipitated this crisis) by writing that the Palestinian murderers were then ‘executed on the spot within the Aqsa compound’. So is Dr. Soni telling us that its ok to kill two Israeli policemen in the Aqsa compound but off limits to fire back killing the attackers in self-defense? But mastering in half-truths is nothing new from this writer.

Soni asks what precipitated the attack by three “desperate” young men? Easy answer – things have been relatively quite in that part of the world – yet a familiar pattern by the Palestinian radicals – when the political climate goes against their narrative they create the conditions to cause and international incident. Closing the Aqsa compound for a few days and erecting metal detectors should not have caused the furor that it has but this was designed to do just that.

How can anyone take anything that Aayesha has written seriously with her exaggerated claim of 300 worshipers killed in the Hebron massacre of 1994 that actually turned out to be 29 killed. But weaned on a diet of Joseph Goebbels the Nazi propogandist she knows only too well that if you tell the lie often enough the people will believe you and by embellishing figures ten-fold the lie becomes more that much more believable.

Allan Wolman responds to SA Jews for a Free Palestine

South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP)have welcomed the recent ANC policy conference recommendations to downgrade diplomatic ties with Israel. Whilst this group seems to speak on behalf all South African Jews I could safely say that every Jew both here and abroad would like to see a free Palestine. It’s just the methodology of achieving such a solution where many would differ and in fact call for strengthening diplomatic ties. There is no better way of achieving solutions to problems than by direct discussions.

How strange that these SAJFP folk are fully supportive of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement whose stated goals are the total destruction of Israel – not a two -state solution living side by side in peace. But BDS have proven to be a violent movement with calls to “Dubula iJuda (Shoot the Jew)”. Country after country across the western world are starting to ban BDS activity as a result of their hate filled and violent agenda and opposition to a peaceful process.

How interesting that SAJFP mentions Israel’s “violations of international law” but singles out only one country for such violations. The list of countries guilty of violations of international law as well as human rights abuses runs into double figures. The slaughter of 300,000 Syrians by their despotic leader has become a mere statistic to these Jews who claim the moral high ground ignoring all the other violators and human rights abusers and in all their public statements have never criticized any other country but Israel. Surely this must tell their readers that this group cares less for the murder of 300000 people than missing the bus!

Allan Wolman to The Cape Times

Calling for immediate termination by South Africa of diplomatic ties with Israel writes Ahmed Heroon Jazbhay of Meida Review Network in criticizing the ruling party for not acting more decisively on their policy statements.

Now reading Mr Jazbhay’s reasons for cutting ties with Israel must surely be based on moral, ethical and humanitarian grounds, using the terms “apartheid Israel”. Indeed, a noble cause and a more noble principle. But do his and his organizations morals and ethics stop only with one country.

There is a list of human rights abuser countries that make “apartheid Israel” look like a summer camp. Why no call for the ANC to cut ties with Syria whose president is directly responsible for the murder of more than 300,000 of his own citizens? Or our BRICKS partner Russia for the bombing of schools and hospitals in Aleppo? Or the DRC, Cuba or even China?

Clearly Media Review Network and their “scribes’ have little concern for the moral conduct of those countries mentioned, for the value of human life when the numbers killed by a criminal despot reach triple zero figures they only represent a statistic. When the likes of Jazbhay and his Media Review Network prove that their cause is a universal cause for the betterment of all humanity only than can we believe that their narrative isn’t driven by hatred!

Allan Wolman to The Star

There were two headlines in The Star (27 June) one reading “ Israel is deporting more SA Christians” and the other on the editorial page stating “Nothing but the Truth will do”. For the vast majority of this newspapers readers the Israeli Palestinian issue is of little interest, but when reading a newspaper one glances at the headlines which are designed to tell the story without reading the entire piece.

 This is not the first time this paper uses “subliminal” headlines to invert facts designed to tell a different tale. In the first instance, the report on Israel deporting SA Christians tells the reader that Israel is deporting hundreds if not thousands of Christians. However, for those reading beyond the headline we see that only 20 people have been deported over a period of ten years. Not only is this misleading in the extreme – yes 2 people deported per year but more misleading insomuch as the report fails to detail just how hostile the SACC has been towards Israel – yet Israel has tolerated hundreds of members of this organization over the years despite this groups stated aim of Israel’s total destruction.

 The second headline in The Star “Nothing but the Truth will do” goes on to say that disinformation, misinformation, and hate speech can be disastrous, yet this newspaper and its sister publications continue to peddle disinformation, misinformation and hate speech against Israel almost daily. In the article mentioned above the report clearly states that both Richard Goldstein and Archbishop Tutu were both barred from entering Israel. I stand corrected but a quick search of Google can find no such instances.

 If the author of this piece were a bit more honest perhaps some factual statistics of the decline of the Christian population from the West Bank and Gaza compared to the increase of that same population in Israel over the past ten years, stats that are readily available to the editors of this news group. So much for “Nothing but the Truth will do”

 

Don Krausz to The Sunday Times

 

RE: SUNA VENTER – By Chris Barron – 2/7/2017

 

Chris Barron’s article on Suna Venter was informative, but I was surprised to find him deviate from his usual factual and unbiased style. He stated that in 2009 Gaza was being bombed by Israel and that Suna Venter spent eight days visiting hospitals, delivering medical supplies and food and generally assisting the afflicted.

 

That leaves the uninformed reader with the impression that Israel was the aggressor and the people of Gaza the victims. Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

In one of her numerous attempts to halt Palestinian terrorism, Israel in 2005 withdrew all her settlers and troops from Gaza, abandoning her occupation and a lucrative foreign export trade that had trained and employed a Palestinian workforce. The Israeli infrastructure of hothouses and synagogues was left behind. The Palestinian workforce therefore still had the overseas contacts, the infastructure and the manufacturing know-how. With the financing from Islamic supporters they could have continued to export to Europe, thus benefiting the local inhabitants as was the case while Israel was in situ.

 

That Islamic financing ought not to have been a problem – it certainly enabled the Gazans to import and manufacture the missiles that they launched across their border at Israeli towns and villages. And if such missiles were not all manufactured in Gaza, but supplied by neighbouring Moslem countries such as Iran, it makes the picture even more sinister.

 

At least 14,000 such missiles were fired over the years and hundreds of Israelis killed apart from the damage caused. When this bombardment reached the figure of 80 missiles a day, Israel counter attacked and sent in its army.

 

A particularly cruel and vicious aspect of this totally uncalled-for bombardment by the Gazans was the fact that most of the ordinance was launched at times when children were either on their way to school or returning home, thus not in shelters that are found throughout Israeli residential areas along the Gaza border to shield Israeli citizens from these bombardments.

 

The Hamas must have known that Israel was bound to retaliate. Had they protected their citizens as the Israelis did theirs instead of using their own as human shields in streets and on rooftops during the fighting, then perhaps their casualties would have been far less. They are not stupid and know only too well that their own casualties make for excellent propaganda material and are able to raise foreign diplomatic and financial support. How cynical can one get?

 

Victor Gordon to the Jewish Report

When Rabbi  Sa’ar Shaked accepted the invitation to offer a prayer at the start of the recent ANC conference he must have surely understood that all that was expected of him was to do exactly that – offer a prayer from which the ruling party could surely benefit. Why in Heaven’s name (forgive he pun) would he see fit to use a platform so inherently hostile to the State of Israel to highlight his personal frustrations with the age-old dispute surrounding the practise of Judaism within the Jewish state?

There is no need for rocket science to appreciate that the slightest understanding of the nuances surrounding this particular debate will surely not exist on this particular platform. The ANC cannot be further removed from the existing divisions between the Ultra-Orthodox (who call the shots when it comes to the acceptable practise of the Jewish religion in Israel) and the Reform movement, who have been fighting for the accommodation of their viewpoint of Judaism,  for decades.

When it comes to this debate we’re stuck in centuries of dogma over which the ANC is probably the very last body on earth to exert any meaningful influence. Aren’t they still battling to define the meaning of  “white monopoly capital” which is far closer to home?

What was the esteemed Rabbi thinking when he claimed to be only speaking for a “minority within a minority”?  Did he really believe that this would be sufficiently clear to his audience in order to remove him from  his damaging assertions about Israel which would inevitably be pounced upon by a gleeful ANC, eager to propagandize it in support of their own particular context?

The fact that the Chief Rabbi was not invited to deliver a prayer (or even attend) shows that the ANC know where to turn when their bread needs buttering; and Rabbi Shaked did not disappoint. Needles to say, when the ANC/BDS/JVJP, etc, need a suitable slogan with which to falsely accuse  Israel of “universal religious intolerance”,  one has been supplied and verified by no less than an Israeli rabbi.

You, Rabbi Shaked, may be an incredible rabbi but, sadly, a poor judge of politics. Israel’s enemies will be eternally grateful.

Victor Gordon