As Israel reels from successive blows to its image as a 'civilized
democracy' its supporters have in another desperate attempt to salvage
this bruised profile come up with a rescue plan.
This time the
Simon Wiesenthal Center has produced a brochure titled “2010 Top Ten
Anti-Israel Lies” that they plan to distribute to millions of people
worldwide.
It’s a multi-million dollar propaganda exercise that
they hope will counter what they perceive to be “a worldwide frenzy of
intimidation” and “threats” directed against Israel “that has backed
its supporters into a corner”.
It’s an exercise that they believe
will help to restore normalcy in the relations between the United
States and Israel which many commentators acknowledge are severely
strained and tense. They allude to this by admitting that it’s no
secret that these ties reflect a new reality and not what they once
were!
Apart from being a reaction to the battering that Israel
has undergone in the court of public opinion especially following its
horrific violations during the Gaza massacre and since then with the
inhumane blockade of Gaza’s occupied people, the new propaganda blitz
is also designed to equip Zionist groups with stock responses.
The
ten themes it covers reflect some of the most difficult charges Israel
has had to endure and overcome. Though the Wiesenthal PR exercise
attempts to rebuff the validity of these varied charges, their
responses remain unconvincing.
In an age wherein information
has overwhelmed the globe and the ability provided by technology to
ordinary people, students and researchers to not only filter fact from
fiction but also to authenticate news, has made it extremely tough for
the Zionist enterprise to continue peddling its lies.
In addition
to this battle of ideas in the public domain wherein great strides have
been made with the proliferation of news gathering agencies and mediums
reflecting a diversity of opinions, it’s also a fact that civil society
activism championing human rights causes is intensifying by the day.
And
this harsh fact about the Palestinian cause being embraced by societies
globally as a major human rights issue deserving solidarity and
actively pursuing the isolation of Israel via boycott, divestment and
sanctions campaigns is the ultimate reality no amount of white-washing
will overcome.
Let’s take a look at some of the so-called “lies” and the responses by the Wiesenthal Center:
1] Israel was created by European guilt over the Nazi Holocaust. Why Should Palestinians pay the price?
Response:
Three thousand years before the Holocaust, before there was a Roman
Empire, Israel’s kings and prophets walked the streets of Jerusalem …
2] Had Israel withdrawn to its June 1967 borders, peace would have come long ago.
Response: Since 1967, Israel repeatedly has conceded, “land for peace” ….
3] Israel is the main stumbling block to achieving a two-state solution.
Response:
The Palestinians themselves are the only stumbling block to achieving a
two-state solution. With whom should Israel negotiate? …
4] Nuclear Israel, not Iran, is the greatest threat to peace and stability.
Response:
The US and Europe can afford to wait to see what the Iranian regime
does with its nuclear ambitions, but Israel cannot …
5] Israel is an apartheid state deserving of international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns.
Response: In fact, Israel is a democratic state …
6] Plans to build 1,600 more homes in East Jerusalem prove Israel is “Judaizing” the Holy City.
Response: Ramat Shlomo was not about Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem …
7] Israeli policies endanger U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Response:
An imposed return to what Abba Eban called “1967 Auschwitz borders”
would endanger Israel’s survival and ultimately be disastrous for
American interests …
8] Israeli policies are the cause of worldwide anti-Semitism.
Response:
From the Inquisition to the pogroms, to the 6 million Jews murdered by
the Nazis, history proves that Jew hatred existed…
9] Israel,
not Hamas, is responsible for the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.
Goldstone was right when he charged that Israel was guilty of war
crimes against civilians.
Response: The UNHRC is obsessed with false anti-Israel resolutions …
10] The only hope for peace is a single, binational state eliminating the Jewish State of Israel.
Response: The one-state solution is a non-starter because it would eliminate the Jewish homeland …
It
is apparent from the above that the Wiesenthal Center, as an integral
cog in Zionism’s myth-making outfit, is facing enormous pressure to
mount a fresh global campaign of misinformation at a huge financial and
moral cost.
In essence the responses seek to convey a narrative
that fortunately has been debunked quite convincingly by many eminent
Jewish historians and human rights activists.
For instance, the
Israeli sociologist and peace activist Jeff Halper concludes about the
Zionist narrative: “Although the ancient Israelites and Judeans had
sovereignty over the country for only 1,300 of its 10,000 years of
recorded history [and a third of which was under Babylonian, Greek or
Roman suzerainty], in Zionist thought our claims trump any others,
including the 1,300 years of Muslim rule.”
Like the Wiesenthal
bigotry, many of pro-Israeli flag-wavers are anxious to ensure that
their beloved colonial-settler state succeeds in erasing Palestine from
historical memory.
Iqbal Jassat is chairperson of the Media Review Network (MRN), an
advocacy group based in Pretoria, South Africa. He contributed this
article to PalestineChronicle.com.
Palestine Chronicle