Mike Fegelman2013-05-19T16:07:28-04:00Mike Fegelmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.ca/author/index.php?author=mike-fegelmanCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Mike FegelmanGood old fashioned elbow grease.Canada Was Right To Oppose the Palestinian UN Bidtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.32388142013-05-08T13:33:10-04:002013-05-09T17:38:51-04:00Mike Fegelmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-fegelman/
The Huffington Post recently ran a piece by its Ottawa Bureau Chief Althia Raj headlined "Harper Government's Palestine Stance At UN Opposed By Many Canadians: Documents" (emphasis added).
The article contends that 365 Canadians wrote to Prime Minister Stephen Harper between Nov. 29 and Dec. 31, 2012, after the UN vote granted elevated status to "Palestine." It says the "the overwhelming majority -- 300, 82 per cent -- were adamantly opposed to the Conservative government's position."
It takes some temerity to conclude that, in a country populated with over 35 million people, the 300 individuals who opposed the Conservative government's position were representative of "many Canadians" on this issue.
As Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has consistently said, Canada bases its positions on principle, not a popularity contest. Irrespective of the views of these 300 Canadians, individuals who were most likely prompted to complain to Harper by various organized anti-Israel lobbying groups, Canada's decision to oppose the Palestinian Authority's unilateral gambit was in the best interests of finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, not protracting it.
The PA's effort stood in flagrant violation of the Oslo accords. As Liberal MP Irwin Cotler observed in the National Post: "... it violates existing Israeli-Palestinian bilateral agreements, most notably the Oslo II agreements of September 28th 1995, which state that 'neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the Permanent Status negotiations' (Article 31)."
Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority (then the PLO) pledged to uphold this approach upon signing the Oslo Accords in 1993, with both sides declaring their support for a peaceful resolution to the conflict only through direct negotiations, as per Resolutions 242 and 338. Any efforts on the part of the Palestinian leadership to obtain statehood without negotiating peace are in violation of the Oslo Accords. It is only via direct talks and a comprehensive peace accord between the two parties that the goal of two states for two peoples can be realized.
The UN, which continues to be depicted in the media as an impartial institution dedicated to conflict resolution, provided the platform for Abbas to flout Oslo and to vilify Israel. Indeed, the General Assembly resolution was deferentially cited by the media, without context. Context would reveal that the UN enjoys a well-documented history of anti-Israel bias often exercised through its General Assembly, which is composed of an automatic majority of Islamic conference and non-aligned countries. The UN is obsessed with Israel. Some 20+ anti-Israel resolutions are passed each year with almost none against most other member states, including the world's most oppressive regimes. As Abba Eban, former Israeli ambassador to the UN once stated, if the UN wanted to pass a resolution claiming that the Earth was flat, and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.
Judging from the enthusiastic endorsement of the international community and the mainstream media for Abbas's UN bid, one would never know that Abbas violated the Palestinian Authority's commitments under the Oslo Accords. Also left out of sight and out of mind was how the PA refuses to renounce incitement and terrorism and how it won't recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.
Israel was condemned for protesting the PA's violation, and Canada judged for standing with Israel. The condemnation of Israel for Abbas's violation is but one example of the double standards to which Israel has been subjected.
In assessing why the Canadian government was pilloried for opposing the UN bid, one cannot ignore that the continued media misrepresentations of the settlements as being the main obstacle to peace, the media's endorsement of the reflexively anti-Israel UN, and the media's failure to place the UN bid in the context of the Palestinian Authority's history of rejectionism, are but a handful of the reasons Canada was perceived as an irrational actor. A closer look, however, reveals that Canada exercised moral clarity by standing up to moral hypocrisy and double standards. Canada upheld international law and promoted peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Standing up to moral bankruptcy is not a mark of shame on Canada, but of moral leadership.
ALSO ON HUFFPOST: ]]>UBC Student Group Acts as Apologists For a Convicted Palestinian Terroristtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.32046142013-05-03T16:50:18-04:002013-05-03T16:50:24-04:00Mike Fegelmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-fegelman/under criticism by Jewish advocacy group B'nai Brith Canada for "abdicating its responsibility to stop convicted terrorist Leila Khaled from having the opportunity to poison the minds of Canadian students."
A B'nai Brith statement noted that "Khaled is scheduled to speak via Skype at a conference hosted by a Pro-Palestinian university student group and sponsored by a university Alma Mater Society on the 4th of May. She has been convicted of terrorism for carrying out hijackings for the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a listed terrorist organization."
The anti-Israel group that organized this event, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) had its UBC chapter director, Omar Shaban, explain his organization's logic in having Khaled speak to UBC students in an April 30 radio interview (listen here and here) on CKNW 980's "The World Today" program with Jon McComb. According to Shaban, what Khaled did "was not an act of terrorism, she was communicating a message to the entire world... her strategy, (which) people may or may not agree with... (but) she was compelled to this desperate action."
In excusing Khaled's terrorism, Shaban claimed the hijacking was "peaceful" and that "it was a mere inconvenience to the passengers" who were held hostage. After all, Shaban decried "nobody was harmed" by this "freedom fighter" who was just trying to "send a message" about the "unjust dispossession" of Palestinians by Israelis who effectively forced her hand in hijacking the plane.
Khaled the terrorist? Not for Shaban, she's a "smart intellectual," a "socialist" and an "atheist." Her root cause? The fact that the Jewish state came into existence in 1948.
Israeli media outlet Arutz Sheva confirms that Khaled led the terrorist cell that hijacked a TWA flight from Los Angeles to Damascus on August 29, 1969 where two Israeli passengers were held hostage for 44 days by the terrorists. Khaled also participated in one of four simultaneous hijackings carried out by the PFLP on September 6, 1970.
While the CKNW radio host regrettably referred to the morally bankrupt aphorism of "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter," you could almost hear his utter contempt for Shaban's odious statements in the tone of his voice.
That an individual like Shaban, who heads an organization with direct access to impressionable UBC students, has unabashedly justified terror against innocent civilians should leave us all, especially us parents, incredibly worried about what this group advocates to students on UBC's campus.
As B'nai Brith pointed out, home-grown Canadian terrorism is a major concern "Given recent events such as the arrest of two individuals in connection to a plot to bomb a Via-Rail train, the horrific Boston Marathon attacks and the continuing investigation into the radicalization of youths from London, it is the responsibility of the university, as well as every Canadian, to speak out when it comes to security and safety."
In the aftermath of the horrific Boston marathon bombings, mainstream media outlets had no problem labelling the Tzarnev brothers as terrorists and were right in doing so. Sadly, when it comes to media coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict, our media applies a double standard by whitewashing terror against Israelis using broad political terms like the myopic "militant" and in failing to describe individuals like Salam Al-Zaghal, a Palestinian who in recent days stabbed Israeli father of five Evyatar Borovsky to death, as a "terrorist".
As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, "sunlight is the best disinfectant". While Leila Khaled is a convicted terrorist and an unrepentant one to boot, Omar Shaban is her apologist and both should be described as such by Canada's media and condemned for their repugnant views and efforts which run counter to Canadian values.]]>How an Arab-Israeli Politician's Efforts Inadvertently Dispel the "Apartheid" Mythtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.31022212013-04-19T11:39:15-04:002013-04-19T11:41:17-04:00Mike Fegelmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-fegelman/
As a Member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament), Zahalka has actively tried to undermine the legitimacy of the Jewish state, calling for sanctions against Israel and holding meetings with and standing in solidarity with terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. If a Canadian MP were to meet with, endorse, and support members of Al Qaeda, that politician would likely be censured for seditious conduct, but in Israel, Zahalka is part of the Jewish state's vibrant liberal democracy.
To mark Israel's 65th birthday yesterday, Zahalka participated in a so-called "March of Return" during Independence Day celebrations where he was quoted by the Palestinian daily newspaper Al Ayyam as saying that Israel's celebrations were like "dancing on Palestinian blood."
Zahalka, you should know, studied pharmacy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, earning his BA, MA, and Ph.D and yet, he has the temerity to charge Israel with "apartheid," claiming that Israeli-Arabs are treated as "second class citizens" despite the fact that Arabs enjoy the same full rights as Jews in Israel.
Zahalka cautions that a "third intifada" may be in the offing. This prediction rings hollow to Israel Defense Forces chief Benny Gantz and seems entirely redundant to some analysts who contend that the "second intifada" simply never ended; Israel's security efforts just got better.
Contrary to Zahalka, another intifada isn't "inevitable." Like previous "uprisings," Palestinians are incited to commit violent terror against Israelis by their own politicians, teachers, and religious leaders.
Seemingly satisfied with giving Zahalka an extended platform to tar Israel, Siddiqui concluded his column by referring to arch-Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti -- who like Zahalka, also got his PhD in Israel (except while in prison) -- as being the leader of the "first and second intifada."
It's as if it's virtuous and a badge of honour to trumpet this individual's role in the murder and maiming of thousands of Israelis, but these efforts are not worthy of inclusion in one's curriculum vitae. Again, what Siddiqui failed to indicate about Barghouti -- in the same manner as he did with Zahalka -- is that Barghouti is responsible for a series of terror attacks and was convicted in an Israeli civilian court on five counts of murder with primary responsibility for the grisly killing of a Greek monk and diners in a seafood restaurant. A court ruling issued by Judge Svi Gurfinkel at the District Court of Tel Aviv and Jaffa on Dec. 12, 2002, found that Barghouti "carried out a series of actions that caused, promoted, and enabled the implementation of ... Acts of Terror."
Barghouti is a convicted murderer who under the laws of any democratic society deserves to remain behind bars. Even if Barghouti were to be released at some future date, that would not diminish his crimes or the legitimacy of putting him behind bars in the first place.
Birds of the same feather tend to flock together. Zahalka and Barghouti are testaments to, not indictments of, the equal treatment that Israel, a country just 65 years young, gives to its Arab citizens and to Palestinians terrorists in its jails.
If only we could all look this good at 65.]]>Who Owns Jerusalem According to International Law?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.27353382013-02-26T00:00:14-05:002013-04-27T05:12:01-04:00Mike Fegelmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-fegelman/Toronto Star published a commentary this month which engaged in historical revisionism and outright lies by claiming that Israel has no legal claim to Jerusalem and areas of the West Bank, called until a few decades ago "Judea and Samaria", and now referred to by writer Carol Trainor as "occupied territories".
The Arab people's sovereignty rights were granted by other League of Nations Mandates for Syria (which included Lebanon), Iraq and later Jordan--areas which total 3/4 of a million square kilometers. The mandate system and how it applied to the Middle East was first decided at the San Remo Conference on April 24 and 25, 1920. It was there that the Mandates for Palestine (Israel), Syria and Mesopotamia (Iraq) first became law. All these mandates, one for the Jewish state (28,000 sq/km) and four Arab states (750,000+ sq/km) happened at the same time in history.
The United Nations is obligated under article 80 of their own Charter, to uphold the Mandate system of the League of Nations. It therefore violates its own Charter and international law whenever it tries to change decisions which are already binding.
Since time immemorial, the root cause of the conflict has been the fundamental rejection of the Jewish State's right to exist and to exercise self-determination. Had Palestinian Arabs agreed to the 1947 Partition Plan, dividing the land into two states, a Jewish and an Arab state, with Jerusalem under international supervision, (a plan which was a violation of the decisions already set in international law), the conflict wouldn't exist today. But instead, Israel had to repulse the combined attacks of five Arab armies in 1948 and subsequent attacks by surrounding Arab states in 1956, 1967 and 1973 which resulted in Israel taking over areas of east Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Subsequently, Israel and the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) signed an agreement for limited Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank and Gaza, the latter which Israel withdrew from in 2005 disengaging over 8,500 settlers, its combined armed forces, and 21 settlements. This unilateral Israeli effort for peace saw reciprocity only in the form of Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli cities.
Sadly, Palestinians have continued their previous rejectionist dictum adopted in the notorious Khartoum Resolution of 1967: no peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel and no recognition of Israel. Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas' recent statehood gambit at the UN personified this approach of protracting, not resolving the conflict.
In reality, the Jewish people have had a continuous and unbroken physical presence in the land of Israel for over 3 millennia. A land first promised to the patriarch of the Jewish people, the biblical Abraham, by God. A Jewish presence in the land of Israel has existed during three separate historical periods and despite periods of forced expulsion and exile, Jews have always yearned to come back. Not only are there spiritual ties that connected Jews in exile all over the world to their historic homeland, but Jews were actually living there the whole time settling and developing the land.
Abetted by the Toronto Star's online platform, Ms. Trainor willfully discarded history, binding legal documents, the UN Charter and the provisions of the international laws of war when she erased the Hebrew, religious and historical connection of Jews to the land of Israel. It is the Jewish people that have a greater claim and connection to the Land of Israel as their national homeland than any other nation or people. Let us not be obtuse to this historic reality.
This commentary was co-written with Richard Bass, the author of Israel in World Relations, a new book that emphasizes critical thinking to explore Israel in 4,000 years of world history, ideology, religion and politics.
]]>When it Comes to Israel, Alexandre Trudeau's Got it Wrongtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.20180382012-10-25T17:09:16-04:002012-12-25T05:12:01-05:00Mike Fegelmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-fegelman/UPDATE: Also listed in Alexandre Trudeau's documentary "The New Great Game" as "producers in association," but not acknowledged by the CBC, was Iran's state-funded propaganda arm Press-TV, along with the reviled anti-Israel broadcaster Al-Jazeera Arabic, and the Media Education Foundation (producer of the anti-Israel film "Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land" found by CBC Radio-Canada's ombudsman to be propaganda that never should have aired). CBC appearing alongside Iran's hateful mouthpiece is damning enough. Did any of these producers provide financial, facilitation, or material support to this film that the CBC aired on national airwaves? Either way, CBC didn't disclose this matter to its viewing audience.
In the face of international condemnation of Iran's destructive pursuit of nuclear weapons and its repeated calls for Israel's destruction, filmmaker Alexandre Trudeau, son of the late Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau and senior advisor to his brother Justin's campaign team for leadership of the Liberal party, reports that Iran's atomic ambitions are for "defensive" purposes only, serving as an effective "deterrent" against Israeli "aggression" and belligerence. That is at least the way Trudeau framed the second instalment of his three-part documentary that aired on CBC's The National on October 14.
Entitled The New Great Game, CBC lauded Trudeau's film as a "special documentary for The National," with the film's proprietors and distributors listing CBC and its French counterpart SRC, as producers "in association." Trudeau's point-of-view documentary was described as investigating "how the movement of oil is shaping a new world order." In reality, the only thing "special" about this film was how it singled Israel out for exclusive opprobrium while downplaying the grievous threat that a nuclear Iran poses to the Jewish state, the U.S., and the world.
To watch this feature documentary click here. For a full transcript please click here.
Trudeau did not mince words when it came to presenting Israel as a bellicose nuclear-armed threat when he remarked:
"While there is no proof that Iran has even made the decision to start a nuclear arms program. Israel's nuclear arsenal will largely out-gun whatever weapons Iran might acquire, but from the vantage point of Iran, it is the one being threatened not the one doing the threatening."
Despite Trudeau's contentions, it's been recently reported that the UN atomic agency has received new and significant intelligence that Iran has moved further toward the ability to build a nuclear weapon. According to the Jerusalem Post, the IAEA has reported seeing "activity at Iran's Parchin military site, an apparent reference to suspected efforts by Iran to clean the site of any illicit operation." Trudeau also conveniently failed to mention that Iran continues to deny IAEA inspector's access to its nuclear sites.
Irrespective of whether or not Israel possesses nuclear weapons (a matter which Trudeau claims he has conclusive proof of despite Israel's policy of "nuclear ambiguity") it's simply absurd to equate democratic Israel with the terror-supporting, Holocaust-denying theocratic Iranian regime. Israel has never tested, used or threatened the use of nuclear weapons, has called for the creation of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East and has stated many times that it will not be the first state to introduce nuclear weapons into the region. Israel never signed the non-proliferation treaty, whereas Iran is bound to its conventions as a signatory.
Importantly, Iran's leadership continues to incite genocide in its calls for Israel's annihilation with President Ahmadinejad declaring recently that "The very existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to humanity" and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei proclaiming that Israel would "disappear from the geographical landscape."
Not to be outdone, Iran's Foreign Minister recently described Israel as "a malignant tumour." Iran's bellicose statements were never mentioned in this hour-long film. Trudeau would have you believe that it is Israel that wants to "wipe Iran off the map" and not the other way around.
Trudeau continued to perpetuate Iranian victimhood and to present Israel as the aggressor by interviewing renowned anti-Israel activist Noam Chomsky who claimed that Iran's "strategic doctrine is defensive... What country in the world could have a greater need for a deterrence?"
Trudeau then stated the following in voice-over narration:
"Lacking the ultimate deterrent of nuclear weapons, Iran only has conventional forces to defend itself against an attack. Iran could respond by firing missiles at Israel or it could target Hormuz. Mines and fast boats fitted with rockets could be deployed to sink oil tankers and the waters where the progress started its journey would quickly become a battlefield, the flow of oil would be stopped."
Trudeau seemed to be implying that Iran needs nuclear weapons only as a means to bolster its weak national security infrastructure.
Trudeau's film was further marred as it featured a chorus of hostile anti-Israel extremists well known for their virulent disdain of the Jewish state to support his argumentation. His contention that his interview sources were expert-based was entirely misleading. Trudeau happily trotted out Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former national security advisor under the Carter administration, well-known for his anti-Israel statements.
He also interviewed Chas Freeman of the Middle East Policy Council (MEPC) who framed Israel as a hostile and gross human rights violator. Freeman made the following inflammatory statement that Trudeau let go unchallenged: "The question that many Arab public's pose is how can you cooperate with the United States when it is so firmly supportive of Israel, and Israel is humiliating and even killing such a large number of Arabs."
Unbeknownst to CBC viewers, Freeman, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, has been described as having an "irrational hatred of Israel" and for being a "mouthpiece for Saudi Arabia" in exchange for money from the Saudi royal family. Freeman courted controversy in 2009 when news broke that he was being nominated for the top U.S. intelligence position at the National Intelligence Council. The New York Times chronicled scores of incendiary statements he made against Israel prompting Jewish and pro-Israel groups to call on the White House to reconsider his candidacy. Freeman later withdrew his name from consideration citing a campaign orchestrated by "the Israel lobby."
Apart from featuring a cavalcade of tainted interview sources, Trudeau's true colours came out when he made the following statement with file footage of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in the background to reinforce his argument : "Israeli threats (against Iran) are a ploy to distract the world from its Arab problems..." For Trudeau, Israel is not facing imminent annihilation from weapons of mass destruction, Israeli pronouncements are a weapon of mass distraction, a ruse to divert the world's attention away from the Arab problems which this filmmaker seems to believe is of Israel's own making.
This isn't Trudeau's first offense. In 2004, he produced The Fence a totally unbalanced view of life on the Israeli and Arab sides of Israel's security barrier favouring the Palestinian narrative. In the same production he profiled Zakaria Zubeidi, then leader of the terrorist group Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades portraying him as a Robin Hood-like "leader of the resistance." He never once told viewers that Zubeidi's organization had murdered Arabs, Israeli Jews and foreigners, including a Canadian citizen killed in a bus bombing. Trudeau is also known for his offering public praise for Fidel Castro and for his criticism of the Israeli naval blockade of the Hamas-held Gaza Strip.
CBC's journalism codes permit "compelling" point of view documentaries provided "the creator has special knowledge, expertise..." That the CBC felt that this production was either "compelling," or that Trudeau had "special knowledge" and "expertise" reflects poor editorial decisions made by senior editors of CBC's flagship news program The National and showed a remarkable lack of judgement in airing his Iranian apologist film. In so doing, CBC viewers were misled into believing that Israel, not Iran, is the real international pariah, aggressor, and nuclear global menace.]]>Netanyahu Is "Canada's New Foreign Minister"? Baloneytag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.18844062012-09-14T12:02:00-04:002012-11-14T05:12:01-05:00Mike Fegelmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-fegelman/Al-Jazeera news, outrageously claimed that Benjamin Netanyahu is Prime Minister of Israel by day and "Canada's new foreign minister" at night as "the Harper government's outsourcing of Canada's Middle East policy to Jerusalem is now complete."
Throwing objective journalism out the window, Burman peddled this odious conspiracy theory that you'd expect to see in the annals of Holocaust denial websites, on the commentary pages of the Toronto Star on September 7.
Without even a modicum of evidence to support his allegation that Israel controls Canadian foreign policy, Burman used only conjecture and specious argumentation to smear Israel, instead of grounding his opinions in facts.
Is it any less far-fetched to suggest that Canada was thinking for itself? Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird proclaimed that Canada's decision to cut diplomatic ties with Iran, brand it a state-sponsor of terror, and to close its embassy in Tehran was a "made-in-Ottawa decision" saying that Canada acted alone in this regard.
Baird listed many reasons to explain what prompted Canada's move against Iran: the safety of Canadian diplomats, Iran's military assistance to Syria, its hateful antisemitic rhetoric, support for terror, deplorable human rights record, and its destructive pursuit of nuclear weapons. Importantly, Burman parroted the Iranian regime's party-line as Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast declared "The hostile behaviour of the current racist government in Canada in reality follows the policies dictated by the Zionists (Israel) and the British."
In an interview with Burman's former employer, the CBC on September 9, Netanyahu said: "I wasn't in consultation with Prime Minister Harper before he chose to do this courageous act in the diplomatic field..." Netanyahu's official statement described Canada as having made its own determinations, while his spokesperson described Canada's actions as being "their own, independent decision."
This isn't the first time that Burman's Toronto Star commentaries have come under the brunt of fierce criticism. In March, National Post columnist Robert Fulford wrote an eviscerating response to a column Burman authored which drew a moral equivalence between Iran's mullah's and the Tea Party. Fulford also observed that another Burman column had begun with an ironclad prophecy that "There will be a war in the Middle East within the next several months, triggered by an Israeli attack on Iran..." but as Fulford adroitly observed, "Before he (Burman) reached the end of the paragraph he confusingly reversed himself and began telling us that the time to prevent war is running out. So the war was, even for him, just a good opening line."
The Toronto Star's historical contempt for Israel is well known, but there's an important line separating legitimate opinion that enhances the public discourse, from hateful rhetoric that interferes with constructive dialogue. While Burman has the right to offend, he crossed the line by saying that Canada's foreign policy is outsourced to Israel and that our Department of Foreign Affairs takes its marching orders from Jerusalem. In so doing, Tony Burman has single-handily tarnished the reputation of Ryerson University's School of Journalism abetted by the opinion pages of the Star.]]>"Punked" Egyptians Reveal Their Hatred of Jewstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.17612682012-08-15T08:45:08-04:002012-10-15T05:12:02-04:00Mike Fegelmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-fegelman/
If this adage holds true, what was aired on Egyptian TV recently should serve as an ominous warning about the prevailing hateful sentiments that Egyptian Arabs hold for Jews.
On July 20, an Egyptian T.V. show prank where famous Egyptian actors believed they were being interviewed by a German T.V. station, turned into mayhem when they were told they were being interviewed on an Israeli network. After hearing this "shocking" revelation, celebrated Egyptian actor, Ayman Kandeel, slapped the show's hostess so hard so hard she fell over and cowered in the corner of the studio. Apparently for Kandeel, dealing with Israelis is so intolerable that violence against women, threats, and obscenities was an appropriate means of recourse.
In another segment, actress Mayar Al-Beblawi is shown declaring that "In that country [Israel], they are all liars. You wouldn't believe it. They are real liars. They keep whining all the time about the Holocaust, or whatever it's called. With all the Palestinians that you have killed, you are still whining about the Holocaust and its lousy figures?!"
Al-Beblawi adds later: "These people sawed off [the head] of John the Baptist. They are the slayers of the prophets, what else can we say about them? Allah did not curse the worm and the moth as much as he cursed the Jews."
A third pranked actor, Mahmoud Abd Al-Ghaffar, erupts in anger when he thinks his interviewer is a Jew. He grabs the show's producer by the hair and demands to know the truth. "Who are you? Tell me who you are?"
Assured by the producer that "this is a candid camera show," he protests that "you brought me someone who looks like a Jew..."
He says to the female anchor, "If you weren't a girl, the moment you told me you were Jewish... I hate the Jews to death."
Without irony, the show's organizers held the bigoted reactions of these actors to be expressions of "patriotism" rather than racism. In so doing, their reactions reflect their audience's sentiments.
The clips from Al-Nahar TV were transcribed and distributed by the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a non-profit group that seeks to "bridge the language gap between the Middle East and the West by monitoring, translating, and studying Arab, Iranian and Turkish media, schoolbooks, and religious sermons."
Far from being an isolated incident, this prank gone wrong is revelatory for how anti-Semitism and displays of hatred against Jews remain deeply entrenched in Egyptian society as government officials, religious leaders, and media outlets permit a culture of daily incitement against Jews and Israelis. Egyptian citizens are fed with a steady diet of literature that assimilates Jews to Nazis, commentary rife with odious Jewish conspiracy theories, and your standard fare of cartoons that demonize Jews as hook-noosed, greedy, and as having ambitions to control the world.
Consider what happened to CBS reporter Lara Logan in February 2011. Logan, who's not Jewish, was attacked and sexually assaulted by a mob in Tahrir Square. Yelling "Jew, Jew," they violently set upon her. BBC reporter Thomas Dinham told a similar story about being the subject of an anti-Semitic attack in Egypt in September also last year. Dinham recounted that he was "relieved that a seemingly random assault was over, I was appalled by the apology offered by one of my assailants. 'Sorry,' he said contritely, offering his hand, 'we thought you were a Jew.' Shaking his head in disbelief on hearing the news, an Egyptian friend sympathised: 'That's stupid, you are obviously not a Jew.' The chilling implication I was left with was that, had I been Jewish, the assault would have apparently been justified."
It's little wonder that despite observing a cold peace with Israel since the Camp David peace accords in 1979, that a Cairo mob last year assaulted the Israeli embassy in an attempt to lynch Israeli diplomats who had to flee for their lives. With the fall of the Mubarak regime, increasing lawlessness along the Egypt/Israel border has seen countless bombings of natural gas pipelines, kidnappings, weapon smuggling, and increased terror which over the weekend, saw a group of 35 gunmen storm an Egyptian checkpoint on the Gaza border killing 16 Egyptian soldiers after they commandeered two vehicles which they used to attack the nearby Israeli border. Thanks to Israel's military intelligence and the swift action of its soldiers, a massacre was averted.
With the Muslim Brotherhood having taken the reins of Egyptian politics, various stakeholders, in and outside of Egypt, have expressed fear that the peace treaty with Israel will be abrogated, and that Egypt's minorities, specifically women and its non-Muslim population, may be targeted. To that effect, it's been reported that Egyptian Christians will increasingly see Canada as a place of refuge.
While Egyptian intolerance of Jews was on full display in the Egyptian TV prank show, it's important to note the huge disconnect between how Israeli Jews view and treat Arabs. As evinced in an Israeli hidden camera TV show aired last year called "What Would You Do," producers staged a scene in the Israeli city of Holon to determine if Israeli society was racist or tolerant.
A store clerk (played by an actor) refused to sell to an Arab woman (also played by an actor), but the people waiting in line witnessing the discrimination were real customers. Time and again, Israeli citizens stood up for the rights of the Arab patron by entering into verbal barbs with the racist clerk. They demanded that the clerk give the Arab woman equal service and due respect. Some Israelis went so far as to walk out, refusing to give the store their business in protest, and others purchased products and handed them over directly to the Arab woman in a show of solidarity.
If Egypt legitimately wants to promote peaceful coexistence and warm relations with Israelis and Jews, incitement must end and tolerance must be promoted. It's time for Egypt's citizenry, state actors, and media to embrace pluralism, seek harmony, and stand shoulder to shoulder with Israeli Jewry once and for all.]]>"Palestine" Should Use Water to Procure Peace, Not Perpetuate Conflicttag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.16636972012-07-11T08:14:45-04:002012-09-10T05:12:03-04:00Mike Fegelmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-fegelman/
In 2010, the United Nations recognized that access to clean drinking water was an inalienable human right. Through Resolution 64/292, countries and international organisations were called upon to provide financial resources, help capacity-building and technology transfer to aid established and developing countries provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all.
Israel, a global leader in providing innovative water technologies and desalination processes worldwide, recognizes its responsibilities to its own populace and to its immediate neighbours in facilitating fair allocations of water.
Contrary to claims made by Dr. Shaddad Attili, the Minister of the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA), in his Huffington Post Canada commentary, Israel exports volumes of water to the West Bank greatly in excess of what the Oslo Accords had mandated. West Bank Palestinians have access to over 248 million cubic meters (MCM) of fresh natural water as Israel supplies an extra 21 MCM beyond its obligations under the Interim Agreements. This is done, among other reasons, to compensate for the Palestinian Water Authority's repeated failures to implement approved water projects.
According to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), a unit of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, West Bank Palestinians have ample access to water supplies with more availability than in Amman or Damascus. In a report published last month, COGAT noted that the Palestinian Authority has breached its water obligations in the following ways:
Drilling of wells and creation of other water-extraction sources on the Palestinian side without approval
Water theft by the Palestinian side through illegal connections to Israeli water infrastructure
Water contamination and environmental damage from untreated sewage
Water loss through poor infrastructure and well maintenance
Contamination of groundwater and pollution of the environment
Israel faults Dr. Attili's Palestinian Water Authority for "Corruption..., lack of organization and insufficient funds," but despite this, Israel seeks to work with its Palestinian counterparts to facilitate the extraction, transfer, and sanitation of its water resources and infrastructure. It's worth remembering that under Jordanian rule prior to 1967, only one in 10 West Bank households were connected to running water. Today, owing to Israel's water policy, the figure stands at 96 percent and is rising.
Instead of accepting responsibility for Palestinian failures to develop, manage, and enforce its water resources, Mr. Attili blames the so-called "Israeli occupation" for impeding progress, yet, as a result of the Israeli-Palestinian agreements following the Oslo Accords of 1993 and subsequent unilateral Israeli withdrawals, the Palestinian Authority now governs the civil affairs of the 98 per cent of Palestinian Arabs who live in the West Bank. In Area C of the West Bank, a sparsely populated land under Israeli control, just four per cent of Palestinians call this area home. As to Israel's settlements, they make up less than three per cent of the West Bank's overall territory.
Contrary to Attili's assertions, Israel does not sell water to Palestinians at an inflated price. The trade price of water was jointly agreed by Israel and its Palestinian counterparts which dictates that 2.6 NIS (Israel's currency) per cubic meter for the PWA. According to COGAT "This is a considerably lower rate than the full real price and also significantly lower than that paid by Israeli municipalities, both within Israel and the West Bank (the average Israeli Municipality pays 3.86 NIS per cubic meter)." Additionally, Israel's settlers use less than their annual allotment. The approximately 350,000 settlers in the West Bank consume less than their Israeli allowance per the Interim Agreements of 150 m3/year.
As to the peril of the Gaza Strip claimed by Attili, the International Red Cross has confirmed there is no humanitarian crisis. Instead, the Strip boasts five star restaurants, boutique hotels, vibrant and well-stocked markets, first class shopping malls, theme parks, luxury restaurants, sports cars, scenic beaches, and Olympic-sized swimming pools. Amazingly, a territory which Attili claims "needs fresh water now" has no problem filling up enormous recreational swimming pools for leisurely use.
Instead of suggesting pragmatic solutions to address pressing water issues in the region, Dr. Attili used the Huffington Post as a platform to protract the conflict and wage a water war with Israel. But water can serve as a valuable bargaining tool in the procurement of peace. Take for example Israel's peace treaty with Jordan in 1994 which to this day sees Israel transfer 50 million cubic metres of water a year to Jordan.
Israel recognizes Palestinian water rights in the West Bank and is of the firm belief that they should ultimately be negotiated in a Permanent Status Agreement, but to get to this state, Mr. Attili's boss, PA President Mahmoud Abbas, must embrace Prime Minister Netanyahu's repeated invitations to immediately start direct negotiations and boldly state what no other Palestinian leader has dared declare before him: that he will accept a Jewish State.
"Palestine" needs this watershed moment now more than ever.]]>Hey UNESCO, Keep Politics Out of Religiontag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.16467482012-07-06T10:23:31-04:002012-09-05T05:12:07-04:00Mike Fegelmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-fegelman/politicized religion by labelling Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity as an endangered world heritage site, despite the fact that the UN's own experts investigating the state of the Church's premises concluded that the building is not in any urgent danger and that PA hype is just hot political air.
Cue Said Hamad, the Representative to the Palestinian General Delegation to Canada, who recently argued in a recent Huffington Post Canada commentary that UNESCO should urgently list the Church. Hamad misleadingly claimed the Church was "in need of critical restoration and protection" and that "the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), recommend(ed) that although the site unquestionably meets the requirements for world heritage, it is unclear whether the site requires urgent protection absent of further study. This is essentially UN-speak for "yes, the site meets the requirements for world heritage and it may be in need of urgent protection, but let's study it some more just to be sure."
Contrary to Hamad's assertions and spin, ICOMOS -- an organization which advises UNESCO on World Heritage bids like the PA's -- wrote that:
"[T]he Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage route in Bethlehem, Palestine should not be inscribed on the World Heritage List on an emergency basis. . . ICOMOS does not consider that the conditions required by paragraph 161 of the Operational Guidelines are fully met, concerning damage or serious and specific dangers to the Church of the Nativity that make its condition an emergency that needs to be addressed by the World Heritage Committee with immediate action necessary for the survival of the property."
Israel righty objected to the Church being included as a World Heritage site in "Palestine," seeing it as the latest Palestinian attempt to skirt negotiations in a unilateral pursuit of statehood through the United Nations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement saying that: "It has been proven that UNESCO is motivated by political, not cultural, considerations. Instead of the Palestinians carrying out steps that will advance peace, they take unilateral steps that only push peace further away.... the world needs to remember that the Church of the Nativity, which is sacred to Christianity, has been desecrated in the past by Palestinian terrorists..." The U.S. State Department also vociferously condemned UNESCO for "hotwiring the PA heritage site" saying there "was no imminent danger to the Church, so no emergency procedure was needed."
Likewise, the leaders of the Greek Orthodox, Catholic and Armenian churches all rebuffed the Palestinian proposal saying that "...we do not think it opportune to deal with this request... due to different considerations."
According to UN Watch, "... the 21-nation UNESCO committee... includes such great promoters of human rights and culture as Algeria, Cambodia, Iraq, Malaysia, Mali, Qatar, Russia, Senegal, and the United Arab Emirates..." Given the make-up of this "expert" and "unbiased" committee, it was a foregone conclusion that UNESCO would approve the PA's gambit to put politics in front of religious considerations. This was the same organization whose executive board elected Syria to sit on its human rights committees this past November, all while the Assad regime was massacring its own people. At the time, Canada strongly criticized UNESCO's myopic methods.
Interestingly, PA Representative Hamad was silent about the Palestinian responsibility to repair, preserve, and protect the Church of the Nativity. Instead, he derided Israel by saying that in the "last year there were more than two million visitors to the site despite obstacles in place by Israel's occupation." Even though Israel facilitated, financed, and encouraged tremendous tourism for Bethlehem which saw over two million visitors while enforcing necessary security measures, for the Palestinian Authority, Israel is damned if it does and damned if it doesn't.
The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO did one thing right by voting to list Israel's Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "The Site of Human Evolution at Mount Carmel in northern Israel consists of a group of prehistoric caves where early man lived continuously for hundreds of thousands of years... Nahal Me'arot joins 7 other World Heritage sites that are located in Israel. The other sites are: the Old City of Jerusalem; the Bahá'i Holy Places in Haifa and the Western Galilee; Biblical Tels - Megiddo, Hazor and Beer Sheba; the Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev; Masada; the Old City of Acre; and the White City of Tel-Aviv."
The politicization of religion is not new. Palestinian protagonists have mused about their intentions to exploit UNESCO to further deligitimize Israel. A recent Time magazine article noted how Palestinian officials openly talk about using UNESCO to prohibit Jews from worshipping at Hebron's Tomb of the Patriarchs despite Jewish ties to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Senior Palestinian Authority officials have claimed in the past that the Jerusalem's Western Wall, the closest accessible Jewish holy site, had no religious significance to Jews and was in fact holy Muslim property.
Just as UNESCO wrongly politicized religion by designating the Church of the Nativity as an endangered site, it may be (mis)used as a political weapon to deny Jewish historical connection to revered biblical sites in Israel. One wonders, will Palestinian Representative Hamad's next Huffington Post commentary declare: "Dear UNESCO, List Jerusalem's Western Wall as a Muslim, not Jewish Holy Site"?
Only time will tell.]]>Meet Press TV: Iran's Hateful Mouthpiece in Canadatag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.15261632012-05-22T07:40:45-04:002012-07-22T05:12:24-04:00Mike Fegelmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-fegelman/came from an organization directly tied to the Iranian regime has left many Canadians feeling apprehensive.
Rife with blood libels, conspiracy theories and odious comparisons of Jews to Nazis, this "curriculum" was an affront to Canadian values which call for religious tolerance and mutual respect. Instead of teaching kids peace and promoting shared values, these books sought to indoctrinate hate, and fuel conflict.
It's not surprising that Iran would use a local proxy to export its dangerous dogma for western consumption. Domestically in Tehran, Iranian textbooks have instilled students with hatred toward the West, while urging grade-schoolers to become "martyrs" in a global holy war against countries perceived to be the enemies of Islam. In recent years, studies conducted by Freedom House have found that the Islamic Republic's textbooks were teaching children to embrace Islamic supremacism, with preparatory materials encouraging discrimination against women and non-Muslims.
Some Canadians may be surprised to learn that Iran's state-controlled broadcaster, Press TV, has been operating in Canadian cities like Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa for some years now, featuring "news reports" and "reporters" who disseminate radical propaganda and spew anti-Semitic tropes. Without a license from the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), these Press TV journalists presumably write articles hosted on Press TV's website, and file broadcast reports which are uploaded to its YouTube page, and then appended to the related news article.
One Press TV correspondent based in Calgary, Josh Blakeney, is a dedicated 9/11 conspiracy theorist who believes that "9/11 was primarily a Mossad operation." Blakeney also doubles as a staff writer for Veterans Today, which Canadian author Michael Ross described as a "dubious Holocaust-denying journal" which features commentary claiming that "the holy gas chamber is fake."
As to Blakeney's objectivity, he has no problem shilling for the Islamic Republic by saying that Iran is simply "expressing self determination and trying to develop a civilian and peaceful nuclear program." He unabashedly sent out his "condolences" to the family of an assassinated Iranian nuclear scientist and has reported that the "Zionist tail (is) wagging the American dog... AIPAC and the Israel lobby pretty much dictate Middle East policy..."
In April, Blakeney produced an on-the-street "report" from Calgary claiming that the Canadian government was supporting terrorist groups in Syria. As to Israel, Blakeney claims the Jewish state commits "genocide." This from a reporter who described Mohamed Elmasry as a "prestigious" scholar, a man who in 2004 notoriously proclaimed that any Israeli Jew over the age of 18 was a legitimate target for terror because they are "not innocent."
Just two weeks ago, Blakeney interviewed Calgary Police Chief Rick Hanson in a media scrum on the topic of Canada's hate speech laws. Hanson was likely unfamiliar with the background of this reporter and the lack of bonafides of this news organization. Blakeney subsequently included Hanson's comment in a report which claimed that Israel was a "criminal state" and that Canada had "Orwellian 'hate speech' laws" that have only been useful when "pro-Israel lobbyists" get involved.
In 2009, Canadian journalist Terry Glavin described a "nasty" encounter he had with another Press TV correspondent, Zahra Jamal, who has reported from Vancouver and Toronto. Glavin had refused to be interviewed by Jamal, citing Iran's rape and murder of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi in 2003, only to be threatened by Jamal herself.
Maclean's reporter Michael Petrou also shared his opinion of Jamal in an article for the magazine's website. Petrou wrote: "I can't think of any reason why a real journalist would work for the mouthpiece of a regime that imprisons and murders her journalistic colleagues in Iran, but if Jamal has one, I'd invite her to post it below." Press TV's website currently hosts a 2011 report that Jamal conducted on the streets of Vancouver where she referred to the creation of Israel as the "Nakba," translated from Arabic as "catastrophe," in which she claimed that Israelis have "poisoned" Palestinian water wells. Not to be outdone, another Press TV correspondent in Ottawa, Hamed Mousavi, described Israel as a war monger.
As the propaganda arm of the Islamic Republic, Press TV has a long history of promoting Holocaust denial, giving platforms to neo-Nazis, and perpetuating a radical anti-Israel and anti-western agenda.
Described by UN officials as an unreliable source that "exaggerates and openly fabricates reports," Press TV deliberately attempted to suppress information on the Syrian uprising, claimed that the murder of Iranian protester Neda Sultan was a western conspiracy, and was accused of faking the death of 1,370 Somalis by U.S. drones.
Then there's the case of Maziar Bahari, the Canadian-Iranian Newsweek journalist, who was arrested in Iran while reporting on the country's 2009 post-election protests. Press TV interviewed Bahari in Iran's Evin prison with Bahari forced to read answers prepared by his interrogators. Ofcom, Britain's media regulatory body, cited this coerced interview as just one of many reasons as to why it revoked Press TV's license to broadcast in the UK.
We recently marked World Press Freedom Day. Iran not surprisingly has been described by Reporters Without Borders as the "world's biggest prison for journalists," listed by the Committee to Protect Journalist's as the fourth worst country when it comes to censorship. Despite this, these Press TV journalists operating in various cities throughout Canada, work for a regime that muzzles, murders, and censors media personnel. A country which possesses one of the world's worst human rights records, led by a leader whose state-sanctioned incitement to genocide and procurement of weapons of mass destruction have made Iran a pariah in the international community.
Canada's citizenry and political establishment should take heed and not confer any credibility to the Iranian regime's propaganda tool by cooperating with it. Instead, relegate Press TV to the fringes where it rightfully belongs.]]>Israel, Canada has Accepted your Friend Requesttag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.14676952012-05-04T09:55:29-04:002012-07-04T05:12:04-04:00Mike Fegelmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-fegelman/Hamilton Spectator put it in an article published on Israel's Independence Day, "At 64, Israel celebrates, but with fewer friends than before."
According to this narrative, Israel's supposed pariah-like status is the resultant effect of the Jewish state's disinterest in achieving peace with its Palestinian neighbours. Of course, only the inverse is true. As evinced by the 1993 Oslo Accords or other Israeli proposals in 2000 and 2008, Israel has consistently displayed its genuine interest in resolving the outstanding conflict.
Israel's repeated peace overtures have met almost all Palestinian demands for state sovereignty in areas Israel won in the 1967 war, including the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and close to 98 per cent of the West Bank.
In Facebook terms, Israel's "friend requests" have been ceremoniously rejected by Palestinian Arab leaders since time immemorial, because doing so meant accepting final status agreements, ending the conflict, renouncing future claims and importantly, acknowledging the existence of the Jewish state.
Friendship does have its benefits. Israel's 1979 treaty with Egypt saw it relinquish the Sinai, giving up close to $100 billion in oil reserves. And Israel's 1994 peace accord with Jordan still allows for the transfer of 50 million cubic metres of water on an annual basis.
Israel is situated in a very dangerous neighbourhood and it certainly wouldn't win a popularity contest in the region. Bordered by some nations that don't recognize its existence, Israel is surrounded by enemies who want to wipe it from the map.
Notwithstanding, Israel is well "liked" and it enjoys the support, respect, and admiration of those who share its interests and values. In sharp contrast, isolation is a term more apt for countries like Syria which has massacred over 10,000 of its own people, or Iran, whose atrocious human rights record and destructive pursuit of nuclear weapons has resulted in the country being an outcast in the international community.
According to Israel's Ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, Israel has "excellent relations with the nations of Eastern Europe as well as Greece, India and China; and an unbreakable alliance with America. Many democracies, including Canada, Italy and the Czech Republic stand staunchly with us. Israel has more legations abroad than ever before and recently joined the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which comprises the most globally integrated countries."
On the YnetNews website, Israeli intelligence analyst Nimrod Asulin described Israel's "peripheral policy" of engagement where, "Israel and Cyprus have capitalized on their blooming relations with enhanced economic and security cooperation with regard to recently discovered natural gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean. Meanwhile, Israel continues to maintain productive ties with Romania and other Balkan countries evident in recent joint-military aerial drills."
According to Asulin,
"Israel is expanding further still by forging relationships in Africa. Since 2011, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other high ranking Israeli officials have been meeting with their counterparts from predominately Christian African nations, including Angola, Burundi, Kenya, Nigeria, South Sudan and Uganda, among others... As tensions have soared between Israel and Iran over the last few months, another stage of Israel's strategy has surfaced -- strengthening ties with Georgia and Azerbaijan."
Israel recently won adulation from the Prime Minister of Albania who proclaimed that the two countries are a "model of co-existence and mutual respect."
Israel also recently secured membership in the executive committee of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) where its members cited Israel's technological and agricultural know-how as just two reasons warranting its inclusion in this UN body. Israel also joined UN Women last year, a UN entity for gender equality and empowerment of women.
On the domestic front here in Canada, members of our municipal, provincial, and federal political parties have proudly declared that they are Israel's B.F.F. (best friends forever).
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has led the way with his stalwart defence of the Jewish state, while our Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has proudly stated that Canada is Israel's best friend.
Meanwhile, the leader of the official opposition, the NDP's Thomas Mulcair, has been outspoken in his support for Israel, along with Liberal Party leader Bob Rae. When Prime Minister Netanyahu was in Ottawa a couple months ago, Canada's political establishment warmly embraced the Israeli leader who subsequently noted how impressed he was with the sense of kinship between both countries.
Indeed, much of the same is expected next week when Israeli President Shimon Peres arrives here in Canada.
It must be noted that celebrating Israel's Independence doesn't equal a negation or rejection of other communities, nor is it an appropriate time to conjure up an image of conflict or to falsely claim that Israel is being "unfriended."
As Netanyahu proclaimed in a speech marking Yom Ha'atzMaut (Israel's Independence Day), Israel is
"unique in having such passionate friends, Jews and non-Jews alike, for whom the well-being, security, and future of our country is so important. This passionate support, along with Israel's strong army, free economy and dynamic society is the pillar of our national strength and this Independence Day, I want to thank the tens of millions of friends of Israel throughout the world for their unwavering support for the one and only Jewish state."
Had the Spectator's coverage captured the essence in Netanyahu's words and/or focused on the historic revelry where tens of thousands of Canadians celebrated in cities like Hamilton, Montreal, and Toronto to mark Israel's 64th anniversary, the headline might have blared: "At 64, Israel celebrates, and is more popular than ever."]]>Don't Newspapers Care About Facts Anymore?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.14372592012-04-20T10:04:19-04:002012-06-20T05:12:02-04:00Mike Fegelmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-fegelman/
With proper editorial practices put in place, these discussion boards provide an opportunity to explore and cultivate an important marketplace of ideas. However, when rudimentary fact-checks and balances are not observed, the letters page can become a conduit for the misinformation of ideas.
Case in point, on March 30, the Toronto Star published a letter replete with errors and false statements submitted by members of the fringe anti-Israel group, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV). The letter was entitled "Iran obsession a dangerous charade."
While IJV members are entitled to their own opinions, they are not allowed to invent their own facts. Contrary to their claims that the Canadian Inter-Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism dictated that "criticism of Israel is anti-Semitism," in actuality, the Coalition pointedly stated that "... criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic." The Ottawa Protocol clearly states that "Criticism of Israel is not antisemitic, and saying so is wrong. But singling Israel out for selective condemnation and opprobrium -- let alone denying its right to exist or seeking its destruction -- is discriminatory and hateful, and not saying so is dishonest."
In their letter, IJV seemed less concerned with Iran's quest for nuclear weapons and calls for Israel's annihilation as it "rolls out the drums of war." Instead, IJV appeared more disturbed that AIPAC, a lobby group that advances the legitimate interests of Israel and the Jewish people, are "frighteningingly powerful" as even President Obama is alleged to be towing "the usual pro-Israel party line." Were the good doctors ascribing conspiratorial overtones in their own obsessive and "dangerous charade?"
Israel has valid existential concerns that Iran may carry out a second Holocaust if it were to use weapons of mass destruction against the Jewish State's close to 8 million people, with over 20 per cent of the population being Arab citizens. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statements in no way "cheapens" the tragedy of the Holocaust, he simply reinforced the message that the world should stand up and declare: "Never Again."
As to the current impasse brought on by the Palestinian leadership, Netanyahu has consistently said that he is "... willing to immediately start direct negotiations with him (PA leader Mahmoud Abbas) without preconditions. I am willing to invite him to my house in Jerusalem and I am willing to go to Ramallah."
IJV also incorrectly claimed in their letter that: "...each and every American President in the past 20 years has declared that the continuing expansion of the settlement population is the single greatest impediment to peace..." There is no basis for this assertion which was presented as a statement of fact. While American presidents have in the past said that Israeli settlements are obstacles to peace, there has never been a declaration claiming they are the "single greatest impediment to peace."
If Canada is, as IJV argues, the most pro-Israel western nation in the world, then we should be very proud that our political leadership commendably recognizes the shared interests and values between both countries, along with the genuine concerns, aspirations, and security threats that Israel faces every day.
On the same day that IJV's letter was published, HonestReporting Canada submitted a counter letter to the editor to Toronto Star editors to rebut IJV's false claims. However, our letter was declined and the Star's Bureau of Accuracy informed us they would not follow-up on our request to set the record straight.
That the Toronto Star elected to publish a letter full of erroneous statements, as well as to not review this matter is revelatory of an unfortunate lack of commitment to accuracy and fairness to set the record straight about false statements made against the State of Israel by IJV.]]>Memo to Toronto Sun: Israel is Gay Capital of the Middle Easttag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.13831202012-03-27T14:23:46-04:002012-05-27T05:12:02-04:00Mike Fegelmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-fegelman/ following headline appear in the Toronto Sun recently, a tabloid newspaper which has consistently shown its stalwart support of the state of Israel: "Lesbian pair fear return to Israel" with the sub-head "Muslim couple says they'll be killed if deported" (March 18).
The unfortunate impression this headline may have left readers with is that Israel enforces capital punishment, condones extra-judicial killings, or, at the very least, discriminates against members of the LGBT community. In reality, only the inverse is true. The Sun's article reported that a lesbian couple claimed they would be "killed if turfed to Israel for being a same-sex Muslim couple."
According to the couple, same-sex relationships "are not permitted or accepted in all Arabic countries... which is forbidden back home." Of course, Israel is not an Arabic country and this couple only feared being targets of "honour killings," a barbaric practice which Israel not only condemns, but which is considered criminal under the rule of law. Israel takes every effort to protect those at risk from individuals who carry out these odious feudal practices.
Israel has arguably the most liberal record on gay rights in the world, certainly in the Mideast. It's progressive gay-friendly policies are a natural outgrowth of Israel's democratic value system and the Jewish state proudly adheres to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which dictates that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights," and all are "equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law."
Israeli law prohibits workplace and employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, same-sex couples can adopt children, gays and lesbians openly serve in Israel's military, and Israeli law recognizes same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.
Just last year, Out Magazine named the Israeli city of Tel Aviv "the gay capital of the Middle East," a place where the pride flag flies high and where the colours of the rainbow adorn Israel's gay clubs, beaches, and cafes. Israel also has several pride parades each year where tens of thousands of people travel from around the world to partake in the festivities. The Israeli government even has its own gay tourism website which it wears like a badge of honour.
It's no wonder that LGBT Palestinian Arabs oftentimes relocate to Israel fleeing from threats of physical abuse, death, and familial disownment. Israel is a paragon for safeguarding LGBT rights in a world where it's still illegal to engage in same-sex conduct in 76 countries, and according to the UN, in at least five countries (Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen) the death penalty prevails.
This month, the Associated Press reported that 58 gay Iraqis (or those believed to be gay), were murdered in just the last six weeks. The victims appeared to have been bludgeoned to death with heavy cement blocks that smashed in their skulls. According to reports, 750 gay Iraqis have been killed because of their sexual orientation since 2006. According to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sad, gay Iraqis are a "lesion on the Muslim community."
In a majority of Middle Eastern countries, members of the LGBT community often live in the underground fearing state-sanctioned persecution. In some countries, the mere perception that you are gay makes you a fair target where perpetrators of violence are let off scot-free. In a region resistant to moderation and intolerant to LGBT communities, one can't forget Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's ridiculous assertion or what some speculated was his wishful thinking that: "In Iran we don't have homosexuals."
The situation for the LGBT community in the broader Mideast, Arab world, and North Africa is especially dismal, with countries shirking their obligations to prevent violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. But in Israel, the Jewish state is an oasis of tolerance and mutual respect. A proud and ardent protector of the LGBT community and a tireless advocate for their collective interests and individual rights.]]>
