Friday, February 29, 2008
Try to censor peacepalestine? It's Tony wot done it.
Yes, dear friends and readers. You have been following the saga of Tony vs Gilad Atzmon and peacepalestine (or Mary Rizzo, since he seems to blur the distinction). Yes, you have signed an open letter for Tony to stop the defamation and harassment and let us continue our work of exposing Israeli crimes, Western complicity and in asking us to assume our responsibilities towards the Palestinian people and the other people oppressed by Zionism, and that includes you and me and all of us who want justice and rule of law. Rather than reflect and see that he is on the margin of the margin and no one wants him to dictate to Palestinians or activists for their rights what the discourse is supposed to be, who should be silenced and smeared and to mismanage every single campaign he works on. He is out to destroy and "target" all those who oppose him, and he doesn't care about what "the movement" says and requests. In the past day, we have seen this blog go down. Without any warning, it simply vanished. Thinking it was a technical glitch, I had contacted Google. I thought it would be a long wait, since this company is big and has millions of sites and blogs to think about. MUCH to Google's credit, they immediately informed me that there was legal action being taken against my site and sent me court documents. Actually, it was not against my site, but as I was already aware of, Tony Greenstein is suing Gilad Atzmon, although, on his friendly sites, he tells the 18 readers that he is being himself sued!!! Tony hates Gilad more than anything. More than Zionists. (Ask yourself why...) He never touches Zionist sites, seems to think my parody of Gilad Shalit campaign is horrors, but ignores the actual campaign, which he seems to have no qualms with. He only tries to bring down one of the most widely read Palestinian blogs, many hardworking and committed pro-Palestinian groups such as Redress and DYR, as well as now deciding that the list of signatories will comprise his new battles for justice. Yes, the activists in Palestinian activism don't only get insulted and called collaborators, now they will be targeted! Great Tony, glad to see you are consistent in your abuse, going only in the direction of those who engage in total solidarity with the righteous cause of the Palestinians!
So, I saw the suit, where he gives Google an ultimatum to take my blog down because HE SAYS SO. I ask you to read the PDF. It is quite interesting!
There are several interesting contradictions between it and the content of the Claim, which I am only reprinting the first page, although Google sent it all to me. (I can't believe how good Google was in all of this, and I intend upon sending them a thank you note as well as encouraging all of us to support them when they make these decisions). Read both items carefully (clicking on them enlarges them), and you will note some very odd things. There is a serious contradiction there, and I know all of you can see it. The letter practically contradicts the allegations of the claim itself!! This should not escape the attentive eye and it makes one wonder what the claim is even supposed to be about if not just stopping Gilad Atzmon and trying to squeeze money out of him based on the hope that others are inattentive. But let's examine still more: Yes, Tony is suing Gilad and yes, Tony claims, without any evidence, just his good name (sic) that "There is no truth in these allegations but they are, nonetheless, highly defamatory. The blog itself purports to be supportive of the Palestinians but is in fact deeply anti-Semitic".
So, besides the immediate huge support from my friends and fellow activists who already had it up to their eyeballs with his games, they nevertheless dropped what they were doing and went into action in a matter of moments, and were planning other actions - thinking, as I was, that this would be a long struggle, and they were going to fight to the bitter end. We were creating new blogs, saving content from archived material, sharing stuff on computers so that we all had backups.... these are the best friends in the world, as well as the greatest activists I have ever known... During this time I wrote twice to Google asking them to actually investigate the claim by Tony. These are my letters:
Dear Sirs,
If you read the pdf you sent, it is clear that there is no suit filed against me. Nor have I received any calls to alter or to delete information from anyone.
You may be aware that you have made a judgment yourself based on the comments of a person who has been repeatedly harassing in numerous ways over the course of years a great number of activists. As a matter of fact, he has been using the terminology to smear and defame others as his political tool. There has been no evidence provided in the claim he makes in the Pdf: "The blog itself purports to be supportive of Palestinians but is in fact deeply anti-Semitic."
IN fact, the claim is not against me, but against another person, who also has not been demonstrated to be anti-Semitic, despite the claims this individual uses to smear us. Read the Pdf, and you can see for yourself what the content is, and my blog should NOT have been pulled without warning, especially since it is one of the most widely circulated and trusted blogs on the subject of Palestinian rights, Human rights, Activism and Anti-War.
As a matter of fact, my blog is in no way racist or anti-Semitic. In fact, his "evidence" is that I have in the past sought to deter others from engaging in smear campaigns and rather do political work. This to him, especially when he operates to smear and damage activists, is defined as racist and anti-Semitic. I am not affiliated with anti-semites or neo-Nazis and he knows this. And, as a matter of fact, the BLOG is only composed of posts I have set up. There is not a single anti-Semitic post on it, and he has never been able to find one, yet continues in the harassment.
This harassment was requested also to be stopped by a large number of anti-racist activists, including a Holocaust survivor. In addition, being of Jewish origin myself, it is a strange claim to make on his part.
If that were not enough, I was actively involved in the campaign to extradite Michael Seifert, an SS officer in the Bolzano Camp to Italy to face his punishment. As a matter of fact, just a few days ago, the official news dispatch service that furnishes all the newpapers with their content released this: http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Esteri/?id=1.0.1880767965
It is in Italian, but it is clear enough. I was a protagonist in the capture of a Nazi criminal in hiding.
It is the dispatch, including my name TWICE, once in bold text, highlighting my involvement in the discovery and bringing to justice of this Nazi. I wonder just how many friends of Neo-Nazis, anti-Semites and Holocaust Deniers or Apologists have played an active part in such work. This is evidence, as if any other were needed, that this individual invents his charges and seeks to damage humanists who work for the Palestinian cause. I need to consult my blog. I ask you to reinstate it at least for my own personal use as I wish to archive all the information. My blog is very popular, and Google may not like repercussions coming from complaints from readers.
SECOND LETTER, (a few hours later)
I have requested that you reinstate the blog for my personal use (at the very least), as there has been no judgment against my blog, and you have yourselves decided to judge it, without any evidence that the person bringing legal action to another individual is justified in his claims.
I request that you examine the blog and you demonstrate where it is anti-Semitic if this is the decision you have made, as indeed you have made a decision and have passed judgment based on an arbitrary claim. I ask you to look up my own person history, or even just the dispatch linked to you from last week's Italian News Service dispatch Adnkronos, which supplies all the Italian media with their news feed, and you will see that I am a well-known activist and have an excellent track record FIGHTING hate crimes, and not supporting them.
I further request that since the material on the blog is intellectual property and contains not simply words, but the writing of many individuals as compiled by myself, almost all of these persons, if not the entirety, involved for many years in Human rights activism, and well-known persons, have been insulted and smeared as well by having their content removed from your server, and therefore, the net, and for this reason, out of respect for them, who work using their own names, I also that you identify yourselves also by name - not Blogger Team - so that I am allowed to know which human beings have made this decision.
I may not need to remind you that on the Social Rank rating (the currently most popular one for blogs) my blog is always among the top 3 Palestinian blogs. It has extensive readership, and its absence from your server is not going unnoticed.
Awaiting your quick reply
Mary Rizzo
THIS IS BLOGGER'S REPLY
From: "Blogger Help"
To: "mary rizzo" Cc: "mary rizzo" Subject: Re: [#246323120] [Spam?] Blog termporarily suspended due to lawsuit
Hello Mary,
After reviewing your blog and the suit filed against Mr. Atzmon, and the Claimant's alleged claim against you or your blog is unclear, we have reinstated your blog. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this temporary suspension has caused you and your readers.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support.
Sincerely,
The Blogger Team
Justice will prevail! Thanks Google, Thanks Blogger, and thanks to all the wonderful people who believed that we have to fight the Zionists, no matter what they call themselves. Tony says all the time... if it quacks like a duck....
There Will Always Be A Palestine!!
Labels: activism, anti-Semitism, Atzmon, Blogger, documents, friends, gatekeeping, good news, Google, journalism, UK
Release 11.000 Palestinians in Israeli jails!!! Please sign this petition
please sign and support these political prisoners!Disgrace for Democracy, Israel is detaining right now 40% of the Palestinian MPs who represent the people
Sponsored by:
Iqbal Tamimi Creator of Palestinian Mothers Network
Disgrace for Democracy: 51 Palestinian MPs and Ministers are Detained in Israeli prisons along with 11.870 Palestinian citizens
Sponsored by:
Iqbal Tamimi Creator of Palestinian Mothers Network
Disgrace for Democracy: 51 Palestinian MPs and Ministers are Detained in Israeli prisons along with 11.870 Palestinian citizens
A serious crime and new political slap in the face for democracy is committed by the Zionist system against representatives of the Palestinian people by the abduction of the Palestinian ministers and MPs.
The latest of which was the arrest of MP Ahmed al-Haj from the city of Nablus on 16/12/2007. Al-Haj is over Seventy-years old.
Earlier on the 10th MP Dr. Maryiam Saleh Minister for Women in the Palestinian government has been abducted too. Dr Mariyam is a member in the Legislative Council from Ramallah governorate.
The Minister of Palestinian Prisoner is in prison since many years... for the fifth time.
There are more than 11.870 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, 117 of them are mothers. Some give birth while chained, and their children are forced to live in the cells where they do not live their childhood or play or go out.
I don't have to tell you about lack of healthy conditions, or medical negligence. Some prisoners are denied warm clothes sent to them by their families. They are held in 30 different prisons, and detention centers. 1189 prisoners are schools, collage, and universities students of both genders, 330 of the detained are children. Not only the students were detained, but their teachers too, there are 107 Palestinian teachers in Israeli prisons. 1150 Palestinian prisoners suffer acute illnesses.
A large number of the detained are denied visits by family members.
Thousands of Palestinian detainees in the Negev desert prison and other detention camps such as Ofer prison near the town of Ramallah, Hawara, Qadumim, Megiddo, Nafha, Beer Sheva, Ashkelon and other prisons are shivering from the cold under waves of rain and snowfall coming from northern regions of the world especially that some are detained inside tents made of cloth surrounded by walls open to the cruel cold of the desert, living in wet tents caused by snow falls and rain, sleeping on boards made of wood which gets soaked wet.
Soon, April 17th is the International day of prisoners. I hope you can join in denouncing what the Israeli government is doing to those prisoners, and demand their release to join their families.
Do not rely on journalism to get the news, journalists were the first to be attacked and harassed so that you do not know what was going on.
The records documented 1147 aggressive attacks on journalists by the Israelis. Only between 28th of September 2000, and 31st of March 2007.
Please sign the petition and buy those prisoners some happiness.
We are hoping to get at least 11.000 signitures, one for each prisoner, and present this petition to International Human Rights bodies like Amnesty International, and United Nations. Please Circulate this petition to all the people you can get the message through to them. It is about time we show solidarity for each other on human level.
Labels: activism, call to action, human rights violations, Israel, Palestine, Palestinian politicians
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Israeli Democracy: Israel kills a baby, 9 children out of 33 victims in 24 hours!
One Palestinian has been killed and three others injured in a raid against a police station in the west of Gaza City. The station is located next to Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's house.Dr. Mu'awiya Hassanain, head of emergency and ambulance services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, said that ambulances transferred the dead body and the casualties to a hospital in Gaza.
Four Palestinian children were killed in an Israeli air raid in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday afternoon, bringing the number of those killed in the Gaza Strip to 27 in the last 24 hours. Eight of the dead are children. Hasanain said the bodies of 11-year-old Deib Darduna and 14-year-old 'Umar Darduna arrived at the Kamal Udwan hospital in Beit Hanoun torn to pieces. Meanwhile, the bodies of 7-year-old Muhammad Hammuda and 8-year-old Ali Darduna were taken to Ash-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
A short while later, an Israeli unmanned reconnaissance plane launched a missile at a car in Beit Hanoun injuring two people, one of them seriously.
Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip have been continuous throughout Thursday.
On Thursday afternoon Palestinian medics found the dead body of 12-year-old Amjad As-Sakani in eastern Gaza City. Meanwhile 25-year-old Hamas activist Rami Khalifa died of wounds he sustained on Thursday morning. Israeli warplanes launched a raid on Thursday afternoon on the northern Gaza Strip killing 23-year-old Al-Qassam Brigades member Abdullah Zuwaidi. A few minutes later, the Israeli warplanes launched another raid near the agricultural college in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. Several Palestinians were injured in the attack.
At around 9:30 on Thursday morning local time, Israeli warplanes fired missiles at Palestinian civilians in eastern Gaza City killing senior Hamas leader and Palestinian Legislative Council member and Hamza Khalil Al-Hayya and 23-year-old Jawad Tafish. Several others were also injured. Mu'awiya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian health ministry told Ma'an that Ash-Shifa hospital in Gaza City had received one of the dead and several people who had sustained serious injuries.
On Wednesday evening, three Palestinian children were killed and six others injured in an Israeli air strike on the Al Taw'am area close to the Khazandar gas station, north of Gaza City. One of the dead was 5-month-old Muhammad Nasser Al-Borey, who was in his family home when a missile struck the building.Mu'awiya Hassanain, said that ambulances transported the injured and dead children, including the headless body of a child, to the Shifa' and Kamal hospitals.
He added that five children were rushed to the intensive care unit and the operating room, with one clinically dead.Witnesses said that those involved were passing by a local-made missile launcher that was struck by the Israeli forces.Earlier on Wednesday, two Palestinians were killed and two others injured when Israeli artillery targeted an orange grove in the Ash-Shuja'iyya neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City.
Hassanain said that one of the dead was identified as 27-year-old Minwir Abu Mandeel, who worked as a guard at the grove. The second victim's identity remains unknown as the corpse arrived at the Kamal Udwan Hospital so badly damaged that it was not possible to identify the victim. On Wednesday morning, five Al-Qassam Brigades activists were killed, and several bystanders were injured, after Israeli helicopters launched two missiles at a car in western Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses told Ma'an's reporter that the car was targeted near Al-Aqsa University.In another Israeli raid on Wednesday morning an Islamic Jihad activist was killed and two others injured when an Israeli unmanned drone targeted two sites east of Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. A spokesperson of the the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, said that the victim was Zaky Abu Zaid. The wounded were evacuated to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital for treatment.
– Ma'an – http://www.slide.com/r/1hzUHyhY5T97vsNbHtKA_JkkTHihbCI3?previous_view=lt_embedded_url
Labels: absolute madness, Gaza, human rights violations, military, occupation, Palestine
Peacepalestine Returns!!
Yes, someone tried to shut us down. Apparently, he seems to think he can tell everyone what to do and how to think, that he is the receptacle of truth.
Blogger examined the case and they did not see anything in my blog that would be reason to close it down. I have the letter from Blogger on file, and due to some reserved and specific information, I am publishing it in an excerpted version :
Hello Mary,
After reviewing your blog ....(omissis).....we have reinstated your blog. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this temporary suspension has caused you and your readers. Thank you for your understanding and continued support.
Sincerely,
The Blogger Team
Meanwhile, I republish here the post on one of my new blogs, which I am going to keep available.
also see: http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2008/02/28/long-live-peacepalestine/#comment-352089
This blog takes up where peacepalestine left off (for now). And…It will go further -
Straight to the liberation of the Palestinian people so that Justice will be theirs, as well as the Peace they deserve after so much pain and hardship.
It may not be the definitive blog. I will decide how to fight the censorship forced upon me by someone who arrogantly defies the requests of many hardworking activists, Palestinians, Humanists, people from all around the world who care about the lives of the Palestinians.
Together with the blog, the person who has attacked it has brought down a gigantic slice of Palestinian activism: hundreds of links, almost all the major bloggers against Zionism and against Imperialism. He has silenced the voices of hundreds of writers, slammed the door on information about the Boycott of the Turin Book Fair, (the only blog in English covering this with immediate translations of the latest information), direct links to the Popular Committee Against the Siege in Gaza and other activist, relief and charitable works that are there only for the benefit of helping us wake up and listen to the cries of the Palestinians who have been victims of one of the worst crimes imaginable, and are treated instead as if they are the aggressors. Yes, in shutting down my blog, for personal gain of his own image, this person has probably damaged without remedy, his own “reputation” within campaign for Solidarity with Palestinians. Never has a Zionist blog been even slightly scratched, no. Apparently, they are better for the Palestinian cause than Peacepalestine.
Peacepalestine was (and is) a labour of love of just one person. I chose to do it myself, because my view is that nothing but the most radical activism, without compromising on a single right that belongs to the Palestinian people, is what it takes. I can’t ask anyone else to be responsible for my content, and my content is not tender with Israel or its supporters. My content is a true faith in the steadfastness and in the rightness of the Palestinians. Just to serve them, whatever it is they ask for to liberate themselves from their oppression.
I was able to have obtained some original documents (such as the only version of the Avrum Burg interview in its entirety in English, and many others besides), some important work by others, especially by Palestinian and Arab writers who probably don’t have as much chance of getting published as perhaps someone involved in politics or someone who represents the “peaceloving Israeli”. All of this has been decided by the censor that it is not good for others to see.
Mind, not a single Zionist blog or site has ever had even the slightest problem from this individual.
Ask yourself why.
This person has silenced the voices of 250 activists who want to hear what we say and want other people to respect our rights of free speech. Their request was not only ignored, but it was spat upon. Perhaps others will be subject to this same treatment. I don’t doubt it.
Yet, in these three years of blogging activity, I have learned one thing: a lot of other people believe in Radical Solidarity. I’m not the only one. Perhaps this blog, or another one with more features, will replace this one, and it will be built together with others who feel like I do. It may be a group blog. At any rate, we are not defeated, and I learned just how greatly my blog is loved. It’s not just “my” blog, it’s a blog of all the people who use it and love it.
A heartfelt thanks to my loving and supportive friends who are there for me right now, despite the fact that each of them has their own burdens to bear:
All my love and affection to the best friends anyone could ever hope to have, people who are so beautiful and whose hearts are made of pure gold:Gilad, Manuel, Iqbal, Steve, Annie, Laila, Haitham, Reham, Akram, Edna, Susanne, Kristoffer, Khalid, Robin, Nadia, Sumaia, Adib, Wael, Miguel, Sarah, Benedetta, Francis, Paul, Ariella, Mohammad, Khaled, Javier, Daniel, Mazin, Richard, Les, Juan, Walid, Glenn, Simon for their supportive letters and phone calls, putting things in perspective and giving me their encouragement and wisdom.
The practical help and the knowledge and advice of so many of you has gotten me through a few rough hours, and now we are ready to begin where we left off.
I love you all.
Blogger examined the case and they did not see anything in my blog that would be reason to close it down. I have the letter from Blogger on file, and due to some reserved and specific information, I am publishing it in an excerpted version :
Hello Mary,
After reviewing your blog ....(omissis).....we have reinstated your blog. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this temporary suspension has caused you and your readers. Thank you for your understanding and continued support.
Sincerely,
The Blogger Team
Meanwhile, I republish here the post on one of my new blogs, which I am going to keep available.
also see: http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2008/02/28/long-live-peacepalestine/#comment-352089
This blog takes up where peacepalestine left off (for now). And…It will go further -
Straight to the liberation of the Palestinian people so that Justice will be theirs, as well as the Peace they deserve after so much pain and hardship.
It may not be the definitive blog. I will decide how to fight the censorship forced upon me by someone who arrogantly defies the requests of many hardworking activists, Palestinians, Humanists, people from all around the world who care about the lives of the Palestinians.
Together with the blog, the person who has attacked it has brought down a gigantic slice of Palestinian activism: hundreds of links, almost all the major bloggers against Zionism and against Imperialism. He has silenced the voices of hundreds of writers, slammed the door on information about the Boycott of the Turin Book Fair, (the only blog in English covering this with immediate translations of the latest information), direct links to the Popular Committee Against the Siege in Gaza and other activist, relief and charitable works that are there only for the benefit of helping us wake up and listen to the cries of the Palestinians who have been victims of one of the worst crimes imaginable, and are treated instead as if they are the aggressors. Yes, in shutting down my blog, for personal gain of his own image, this person has probably damaged without remedy, his own “reputation” within campaign for Solidarity with Palestinians. Never has a Zionist blog been even slightly scratched, no. Apparently, they are better for the Palestinian cause than Peacepalestine.
Peacepalestine was (and is) a labour of love of just one person. I chose to do it myself, because my view is that nothing but the most radical activism, without compromising on a single right that belongs to the Palestinian people, is what it takes. I can’t ask anyone else to be responsible for my content, and my content is not tender with Israel or its supporters. My content is a true faith in the steadfastness and in the rightness of the Palestinians. Just to serve them, whatever it is they ask for to liberate themselves from their oppression.
I was able to have obtained some original documents (such as the only version of the Avrum Burg interview in its entirety in English, and many others besides), some important work by others, especially by Palestinian and Arab writers who probably don’t have as much chance of getting published as perhaps someone involved in politics or someone who represents the “peaceloving Israeli”. All of this has been decided by the censor that it is not good for others to see.
Mind, not a single Zionist blog or site has ever had even the slightest problem from this individual.
Ask yourself why.
This person has silenced the voices of 250 activists who want to hear what we say and want other people to respect our rights of free speech. Their request was not only ignored, but it was spat upon. Perhaps others will be subject to this same treatment. I don’t doubt it.
Yet, in these three years of blogging activity, I have learned one thing: a lot of other people believe in Radical Solidarity. I’m not the only one. Perhaps this blog, or another one with more features, will replace this one, and it will be built together with others who feel like I do. It may be a group blog. At any rate, we are not defeated, and I learned just how greatly my blog is loved. It’s not just “my” blog, it’s a blog of all the people who use it and love it.
A heartfelt thanks to my loving and supportive friends who are there for me right now, despite the fact that each of them has their own burdens to bear:
All my love and affection to the best friends anyone could ever hope to have, people who are so beautiful and whose hearts are made of pure gold:Gilad, Manuel, Iqbal, Steve, Annie, Laila, Haitham, Reham, Akram, Edna, Susanne, Kristoffer, Khalid, Robin, Nadia, Sumaia, Adib, Wael, Miguel, Sarah, Benedetta, Francis, Paul, Ariella, Mohammad, Khaled, Javier, Daniel, Mazin, Richard, Les, Juan, Walid, Glenn, Simon for their supportive letters and phone calls, putting things in perspective and giving me their encouragement and wisdom.
The practical help and the knowledge and advice of so many of you has gotten me through a few rough hours, and now we are ready to begin where we left off.
I love you all.
Labels: activism, friends, gatekeeping, good news, journalism, Palestine
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Gilad Atzmon - Send Them To Gaza: Gimmicks and Education
The Tory leader David Cameron seems to be struggling these days. After calling government funding for school visits to the former Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz a ‘gimmick’, he’s facing demands for an apology.In a speech on Friday, Cameron accused Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government of being "obsessed with short-term gimmicks", including a recommendation for schools to make "trips to Poland".
The British government announced this month it would give 4.65 million pounds to the Holocaust Educational Trust set up in 1988 to educate young people about the Holocaust. It wouldn't take a genius to guess that the Jewish political institutions in Britain were very quick to tear Cameron apart for his comment.
Henry Grunwald, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews said: "The Board of Deputies does not get involved in party politics, but we are surprised and disappointed that David Cameron should in any way have used the word ‘gimmick’ in connection with visits to Auschwitz."
Karen Pollock, the Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said, "We do not want to be involved in party politics. But you should not use visits to Auschwitz to score political points."
Seemingly, both Pollock and Grunwald do not like to get involved in 'party politics'. For that purpose they have some very dedicated agents such as Lord Levy, David Abrahams, the Tory Friends of Israel and the Labour Friends of Israel.
The Conservative party was very quick to understand the message. It immediately surrendered to the 'non-political' pressure. Within hours, the Tory spokesman said: "School trips to Auschwitz are a brilliant idea."
Trying to quell the storm, the Conservative spokesman said, "Cameron was not criticising the visits, but rather the fact that the government funding did not cover their entire cost."
Very much like Grunwald and Pollock, I would refrain from interfering with British politics, yet I may suggest that Cameron was absolutely correct. The trips to Auschwitz are indeed a gimmick. As far as I can see, the educational value of these trips is counter-effective.
Unlike Karen Pollock from the Holocaust Educational Trust, who said, "Students use their experience to raise awareness of the lessons of the Holocaust in their schools and local communities, challenging prejudice and racism today," I am convinced that trips to Auschwitz are there to divert the attention from crimes that are committed on a daily basis in before our very eyes and in our names. The trips to Auschwitz are there to silence ethical awareness. They are there to shutter the possibility of self-reflection.
It is indeed rather easy for the British government to spend some money trying to teach young students how bad the Nazis were 63 years ago. Yet, it is far more challenging for the British government and British educational institutes to confront British wrongdoing in the past and in the present.
Instead of sending British youngsters to Auschwitz, I would suggest spending governmental funds on student trips to Gaza concentration camp. This would have a far greater educational value in so as far as challenging 'racism and prejudice'. Clearly it is in Gaza where millions of Palestinians are starved by the Jewish state while the West keeps silent.
Britain bears some direct responsibility for the Palestinian tragedy. Firstly, the Palestinian disaster was set by the British Empire. It may have started with the Balfour Declaration, but it matured into devastating ethnic cleansing in 1948, three years after the liberation of Auschwitz. Secondly, whichever way we decide to look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Palestinians are the last victims of Hitler and the genocide in Gaza is a Shoah in the making.
If Karen Pollock is truly concerned with 'racism and prejudice', Gaza is the place to send the British kids to, so they can come home and ask their grandparents: 'Grandpa, what did you do when it all happened 60 years ago?' We have to send our kids to Gaza so they can come home and ask their parents: 'Mum, what can we do to help the Palestinians?'
If Karen Pollock still wants to increase our kids' ethical awareness, yet she might not be convinced that Gaza is the place to do so, she may also want to consider sending our youth to Basra or Baghdad. At the end of the day, the genocide of the Iraqi people, in which one and a half million Iraqis have died so far, is a war crime committed also by the current British Government.
But on second thought, there is no point in sending young British students to Baghdad; they can go there as soon they finish school. They can then participate and contribute to this very contemporary Holocaust that is being committed by Britain and America in the name of democracy and neo-conservative ideology, all they have to do is just join the British armed forces.
Labels: Atzmon, Gaza, holocaust, propaganda, UK
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Justice for Lebanon! International Citizen's Tribunal
I will be attending these sessions in Bruxelles this weekend on behalf of Gaza Vivrà. I will write a comprehensive report upon my return.Proposal for setting up international citizen's tribunal on deeds committed by Israeli army & secret services in Lebanon & occupied Palestinian territories
An international citizen's tribunal on the crimes committed by the Israeli army in Lebanon JUSTICE FOR LEBANON! Feb. 22-24, 2008, Brussels Int'l Jury Schedule
The deeds committed by the Israeli army and secret services in Lebanon, as in the occupied Palestinian territories, is a violent affront to the universal human conscience. These are criminal acts, as many people feel instinctively. They are different from the acts that take place in all armed conflict committed by the aggressor as well as by the aggressed. But feeling is not enough. The facts must be established. They must then be assessed in light of existing international law. This should be done with the detachment and rigour of a process that excludes any a priori conclusions, the results of which will convince all people of good will.
The international community is not an autonomous political and juridical body. It is but a summation of positions adopted by a certain number of governments. In many situations it has proved incapable of applying existing law by distancing itself from geopolitical or ideological contingencies. This impunity has covered up the numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity that have been committed since the end of the second world war.
The unilateral attitude of the United States of America, like the double-speak of many European governments, make it necessary for those defending the law to take the place of failed political powers. The American administration is against any questioning of Israel’s role in acts committed in Lebanon as well as in the occupied Palestinian territories. Germany, Great Britain, Finland and France refuse to support a request formulated at the UN Human Rights Council to investigate the use by the Israeli armed forces of arms that are prohibited by international law. The systematic disinformation practised by an overwhelming majority of the media deprives Western public opinion of balanced information. All this justifies an initiative by the citizens themselves.
This initiative must aim at being of the same high quality as the tribunal initiated by Bertrand Russell during the Vietnam war. It should be carried out with the same rigour, the same credibility and the same concern to go beyond divisions which have no place when it is a question of the rights of people. It must bring together highly qualified experts and personalities who are universally recognized for their moral authority. It must not limit itself up to a restricted circle. For this reason I believe it should not follow in the footsteps of similar initiatives taken in the past, whatever the quality that such work has achieved in the past.
Such an action cannot be carried out properly in a hurry. It requires the formulation of a comprehensive project, together with a precise timetable, the mobilization of appropriate human and financial resources and an irreproachable moral framework. These requirements demand an international mobilization to support such an initiative.
For this purpose we propose that a preparatory committee be set up which will carry out as rapidly as possible all the tasks necessary for launching this initiative. We ask your active participation in creating this preparatory committee.
Coordinateurs:
An international citizen's tribunal on the crimes committed by the Israeli army in Lebanon JUSTICE FOR LEBANON! Feb. 22-24, 2008, Brussels Int'l Jury Schedule
The deeds committed by the Israeli army and secret services in Lebanon, as in the occupied Palestinian territories, is a violent affront to the universal human conscience. These are criminal acts, as many people feel instinctively. They are different from the acts that take place in all armed conflict committed by the aggressor as well as by the aggressed. But feeling is not enough. The facts must be established. They must then be assessed in light of existing international law. This should be done with the detachment and rigour of a process that excludes any a priori conclusions, the results of which will convince all people of good will.
The international community is not an autonomous political and juridical body. It is but a summation of positions adopted by a certain number of governments. In many situations it has proved incapable of applying existing law by distancing itself from geopolitical or ideological contingencies. This impunity has covered up the numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity that have been committed since the end of the second world war.
The unilateral attitude of the United States of America, like the double-speak of many European governments, make it necessary for those defending the law to take the place of failed political powers. The American administration is against any questioning of Israel’s role in acts committed in Lebanon as well as in the occupied Palestinian territories. Germany, Great Britain, Finland and France refuse to support a request formulated at the UN Human Rights Council to investigate the use by the Israeli armed forces of arms that are prohibited by international law. The systematic disinformation practised by an overwhelming majority of the media deprives Western public opinion of balanced information. All this justifies an initiative by the citizens themselves.
This initiative must aim at being of the same high quality as the tribunal initiated by Bertrand Russell during the Vietnam war. It should be carried out with the same rigour, the same credibility and the same concern to go beyond divisions which have no place when it is a question of the rights of people. It must bring together highly qualified experts and personalities who are universally recognized for their moral authority. It must not limit itself up to a restricted circle. For this reason I believe it should not follow in the footsteps of similar initiatives taken in the past, whatever the quality that such work has achieved in the past.
Such an action cannot be carried out properly in a hurry. It requires the formulation of a comprehensive project, together with a precise timetable, the mobilization of appropriate human and financial resources and an irreproachable moral framework. These requirements demand an international mobilization to support such an initiative.
For this purpose we propose that a preparatory committee be set up which will carry out as rapidly as possible all the tasks necessary for launching this initiative. We ask your active participation in creating this preparatory committee.
Coordinateurs:
Raoul Marc JENNA
Réchercheur URFIG / Fondation Copernic
consultant de la GUE/NGL au Parlement européen (bureau 4E202) 7
place du Château, F 66500 Mosset
Tél. (PE) : 00 32 2 283 10 43
Tel. : 00 33 468 05 84 25
Port. : 00 33 632 16 65 52
Leila Ghanem
Anthropologue
Forum Mondial des Alternatives
JUSTICE FOR LEBANON! Feb. 22-24, 2008, Brussels Int'l Jury Schedule
INTERNATIONAL JURY OF CONSCIENCE FOR LEBANON
INTERNATIONAL JURY OF CONSCIENCE FOR LEBANON
International Associations Center
Washington Street, 40
Brussels, February 22 - 23 - 24, 2008
Program
Friday February 22
8:30 to 11:15 p.m.:
· Opening, reception and general presentation (15 min)
· Declaration of the International Peoples Tribunal (15 min)
· Declaration of Jury on the decision to consider only the actions of the Israeli army (15 min)
· Reading the indictment (90 min)
· Reaction of the defendant (30min)
Saturday February 23:
The morning: victims
From 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.:
· 8 victims will testify (15 min each one)
From 11:30-to 11:45 a.m.: coffee/tea break
From 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
· testimony from the mayor of a village (30 min)
· testimony from the mayor of a city (30 min)
From 12:45 to 2 p.m.: Lunch break
The afternoon: witnesses
From 2 to 4:30 p.m.:
· the Lebanese Red Cross (30 min)
· Green Peace Lebanon (30 min)
· A Lebanese economic institute (30 min)
· The international NGOs (20 min each one)
From 4:30 to 4:45 p.m.: coffee/tea break
From 4:45 to 6:45: statements by 4 Lebanese lawyers (30 min each one)
The evening: round table with Lebanese and international journalists
From 8:30 to 11 p.m.: four Lebanese journalists will dialog with a French journalist, a British journalist and a Belgian journalist. The debate will be chaired by a European member of Parliament.
Sunday February 24:
From 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.: statement of Dr Hugo RUIZ DIAZ BALBUENA, attorney and representative of The Association of American Attorneys at the Human Rights Council of the United Nations
From 10:00 to 10:45 a.m.: statement from a representative of Amnesty International and a representative of Human Rights Watch
From 10:45 to 11:00 a.m.: coffee/tea break
From 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: statement from a representative of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations
From 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.: Lunch break
From 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.: indictment
From 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.: reaction of the defendant
Starting 4:00 p.m.: Jury deliberation
At 5:00 p.m.: Read the verdict
Program
Friday February 22
8:30 to 11:15 p.m.:
· Opening, reception and general presentation (15 min)
· Declaration of the International Peoples Tribunal (15 min)
· Declaration of Jury on the decision to consider only the actions of the Israeli army (15 min)
· Reading the indictment (90 min)
· Reaction of the defendant (30min)
Saturday February 23:
The morning: victims
From 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.:
· 8 victims will testify (15 min each one)
From 11:30-to 11:45 a.m.: coffee/tea break
From 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
· testimony from the mayor of a village (30 min)
· testimony from the mayor of a city (30 min)
From 12:45 to 2 p.m.: Lunch break
The afternoon: witnesses
From 2 to 4:30 p.m.:
· the Lebanese Red Cross (30 min)
· Green Peace Lebanon (30 min)
· A Lebanese economic institute (30 min)
· The international NGOs (20 min each one)
From 4:30 to 4:45 p.m.: coffee/tea break
From 4:45 to 6:45: statements by 4 Lebanese lawyers (30 min each one)
The evening: round table with Lebanese and international journalists
From 8:30 to 11 p.m.: four Lebanese journalists will dialog with a French journalist, a British journalist and a Belgian journalist. The debate will be chaired by a European member of Parliament.
Sunday February 24:
From 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.: statement of Dr Hugo RUIZ DIAZ BALBUENA, attorney and representative of The Association of American Attorneys at the Human Rights Council of the United Nations
From 10:00 to 10:45 a.m.: statement from a representative of Amnesty International and a representative of Human Rights Watch
From 10:45 to 11:00 a.m.: coffee/tea break
From 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: statement from a representative of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations
From 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.: Lunch break
From 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.: indictment
From 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.: reaction of the defendant
Starting 4:00 p.m.: Jury deliberation
At 5:00 p.m.: Read the verdict
The jury is composed of five people, one from each inhabited continent, each of them judges by profession.
The entire hearing will be recorded and filmed. The debates will be translated simultaneously into English, Arabic and French.
Various documents and reports/ratios will be placed at the disposal of the public. A bookstore will be accessible.
The hearing will take place in a room holding 250 people. Videos will be shown in an adjoining room.
"The International Jury of Conscience for Lebanon” is a project which intends to develop the struggle against impunity regarding the crimes committed, which intends to promote international law and in particular human rights and which places the respect of fundamental human rights above any other consideration. The discussion will proceed in greatest serenity and the publicity that arises from it will reside exclusively within the framework of human rights. It will question only the facts that occurred during the conflict of July-August 2006 in connection with the respect of these rights. This project does not include a political debate on the question of the relationship between Israel and its neighbors, nor about the Palestinian question.
Labels: activism, call to action, EU, human rights violations, Israel, journalism, Lebanon, military, refugees, war
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Fact Checking on Greenstein, Mission: Impossible
My article published on AMIN (Arabic Media Internet Network) http://www.amin.org/look/amin/en.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=7&NrArticle=44670&NrIssue=1&NrSection=3 By the way, there are many comments that have been sent, and they will be posted in a few days! Busy over here!! BUT, thanks to everyone who signed. It is greatly appreciated!!!
Fact checking on Greenstein, Mission: impossible
By: Mary Rizzo
One would think that if there were an article with my name in it, I would be more than a little interested in reading it. But, to be honest, it's been happening on a daily basis, and by one author alone, one Mr Tony Greenstein, that I can't bring myself to do anything more than give it a gliss reading, my “vanity” hasn’t gotten to extreme levels yet, and I have better things to be doing. But, considering the author, even by virtue of a skim, it is impossible not to constantly bang into a thick wall of lies so big that they quite simply jump straight out.
Not wanting to belabour anyone much longer, because 200 names, including some who have activist history spanning decades, academics, writers, bloggers, philosophers, editors, people from every continent and many religious, political, ethnic and economic backgrounds and yes... even a survivor of Holocaust, have signed their names to an open letter, http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2008/02/petition-for-two-activists-that-you.html calling for Tony Greenstein to stop abusing his "air time" by engaging in character assassination of two activists for Palestine, especially by use of distortion and fabrication. Rather than accept their plea, or listen to them, he has decided to increase his daily output and actually double it. So far, his echo chamber has been an obscure blog in the UK with maybe 50 readers, and one that’s been created ad hoc for it, judging by the comments, maybe it has two. It seems that it’s important for him to focus on three names he doesn’t like, but quite ignores that all the top bloggers are there. I wonder why this is? But now, Amin has published his reply to the article in question. Amin has quite a few more readers, so I believe it is essential to at least address some of the content within, given that I am called in cause. I do apologise, but I simply cannot bear to read the entire article, so I am not focusing on deconstructing the entire sandcastle that it obviously is. I will only focus on several key points that I am especially qualified to respond to.
Number 1) Greenstein writes:
"Rooij uses the adjective vile no less than four times. Ive written a vile article about him and made vile accusations of anti-Semitism against Atzmon and Rizzo [AR]."
Answer: What is so glaring here is that De Rooij does not once mention my name in the piece! How can we believe the rest of this paper the author simply is incapable of identifying who is involved? Yet, I already failed to mention that he gets the name of the author wrong as well. Last week, he said he had never heard of the chap. Strange... for a man who claims to be very active (and I have no doubt that he is, for all the time he spends on line) to never have encountered even one of the writings of Paul De Rooij. I remember widely circulating his Dictionary of the Occupation, almost every activist I know has read and greatly appreciated it. It was on Counterpunch, not some obscure UK socialist blog that mostly Zionists contribute to. Greenstein is simply doing a knee-jerk act of smear campaigning.
Number 2) Greenstein writes:
"But again, what has this to do with the Palestinians? Atzmon distributes Eisens pamphlets and now signs up to all the above nonsense. Read Gilad Atzmon Now an Open Holocaust Denier."
Answer: Calling other people's writing pamphlets can be overlooked, but then again, are they pamphlets because of their political orientation? If that is true, the very article Greenstein cites, another of his Socialist Unity smearfests, takes its information from two sources that are far from objective news sources, The Adelaide Institute, (a Holocaust Revisionist site), and Press TV, an Iranian site that seems to quite frequently print news that is inaccurate or outright disinformation, according to journalists who fact check their material. Once it had been established that Tony's sources (which make HIM a distributor of material from a Revisionist site) had actually used misquotes and disinformation, taken information from one trial and shifted it to another that had nothing to do with it, this did not cause him to wonder if his haste was not to be in some way suspect, and his opinion amended. No, he does not take any of this into account, and is still, on this date, distributing false material as if it were accurate! Another reason vile is an appropriate word to describe the attacks. And why is it vile? To quote Tony Greenstein: What has this to do with the Palestinians?
Number 3) Greenstein writes:
"Rooij describes me on the Cork PSC article as close to the anti-boycott Engage. But that is ironic since I have campaigned ceaselessly to support boycott. Unison, the second largest union in Britain voted to support boycott last summer. I spoke in favour of that position, as a Jewish member of the union, and it was passed by at least 80%. For that I am some form of racial segregationist?!! Get real Rooij."
Answer: The fact that Greenstein still circulates the lie that I am against the boycott, when he himself encouraged me to break it, is quite rich. But, let me mention another item that sticks out at me, UNISON. As a matter of fact, given that Redress, a UK site dedicated to the Palestinian cause, managed by Palestinians, had published the open letter, was cause for Tony to write this:
"Yes an excellent idea this petition. I'm so glad you included the following paragraph: We also take the opportunity to condemn the strangling siege that is being imposed over the Gaza Strip in particular and the West Bank and the rest of the Palestinian Arab people in general to complete their ethnic cleansing from their historic homeland.
It's quite important you know, pity that it was an afterthought to the 'defend Mary Rizzo and Gilad Atzmon' campaign because of course they are the people who matter most.
http://redressnewsblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/petition-in-support-of-pro-palestinian.html
Since it is published on redress I am asking my own union UNISON to remove all references to Redress from its sites and I will contact the TUC and SERTUC, of which I am a trades council delegate, to ask that they contact all unions and ask them to have nothing to do with Redress on their websites or any similar anti-semitic web site since it is clear that they are part of this.
Perhaps you could ask Atzmon what he means by this statement?
'I do not wish to enter the debate regarding the truth of the Holocaust'. Does he believe there is a debate about the 'truth' of the holocaust? And about whether the earth is flat?
http://www.redress.btinternet.co.uk/gatzmon29.htm
It seems Atzmon's lies are catching him out now that we all know that he has signed up as a holocaust denier.
It would appear that those whom the gods seek to destroy they first drive mad.
Tony Greenstein”
He proudly announces that they have done so. This is lobbying ad personam. The unions do his personal bidding, and he expects them to.
Number 4) Greenstein writes:
"Ironically, at the same time, Atzmon was denouncing the academic boycott as book burning (and here)."
Answer: This famous misrepresentation and distortion of the opinion of someone is PURE MacCarthyism. What did Gilad Atzmon say to me in the interview? Let's look (and to avoid any accusations of manipulative editing, I am quoting the response in full):
“Gilad: Boycott is a real complicated issue. For years we’ve been arguing in favour of divestment and boycott. At the time I supported any form of boycott in Israel, its products and its culture.
There are some elements in the boycott that are obviously very welcome. For instance, the fact that UK unions are standing up against Zionist evil is a major shift in the very right direction. The Boycott is certainly bad news for Israel and this is wonderful news in itself. Yesterday, I went to a reading of a play, it was actually a theatrical adaptation my latest book. The producer is Jewish, and at a certain stage when we were discussing the meaning of the play he stood up and said. You see, we had a Jewish State, it is now sixty years later, and it is a very horrible place, it is so horrible that it has now been boycotted. And this is there to make us think, where did it go wrong? This is the most positive impact of the boycott. It makes people reflect.
Yet, I have some serious reservations, which I am inclined to mention. One, I see a tremendous difference between banning an avocado and a book. I would welcome any form of financial restrictions on Israel and its supportive bodies yet, I truly believe in freedom of speech and oppose any form of Maccarthyism or intellectual censorship of any sort. Thus, interfering with academic freedom isnt exactly something I can blindly advocate. Unlike some of my best enlightened friends, I am against any form of gatekeeping or book burning. But it goes further, I actually want to hear what Israelis and Zionists have to say. I want to read their books. I want to confront their academics. If justice is on our side we should be able to confront them.
Mary: Of course, they wont stop writing or proposing their ideas, and actually, they might become more reactionary in the process.
Gilad: Actually, I do not think that they can become any more reactionary. The second point is, to impose a boycott is to employ a boycotter. When it comes to an academic boycott I would expect the inquisitor in charge to be a scholar of great esteem. This isn’t the case obviously. The reason is simple. As it naturally happens, major intellectuals are engaged in scholarship rather than in union politics, working class and proletarian activity. Seemingly, it isn’t the leading minds in British academic life and ethical thinking who are leading the Boycott. In fact it is the other way around, the boycott is led by some minor academics with very little to say about ethics and even less to say about the specific conflict. This fact is actually repeatedly exposed in televised debates. The anti-Zionist movement in Britain has yet to find the appropriate eloquent answer to the Dershowitzes of this world.
Three, when it comes to the Palestinian solidarity discourse I can identify two modes of discussion: the ethical and political. The ethical mode is obviously evoked by a natural humanist reaction to the endless flood of images of Israeli criminal activity. The political discourse, on the other hand, is pretty much autonomous and detached from the conflict. It has a lot to do with maintenance of some particular decaying old-school socialists within the fading progressive Western discourse. It has very little to do with Palestine and the transitions within the Palestinian struggle. When it comes to the current boycott we are unfortunately operating within a political mode rather than an ethical one. I say unfortunately, because Palestinian reality is neither an isolated event in history nor it is isolated in the region. Had the academics been ethically orientated, they would have to ask themselves what they, their unions and Universities have been doing to stop the ongoing slaughter in Iraq. What do they do to oppose the British Government that is engaged in crimes not different from Israel’s? What are the British academics doing now to stop the British value system from a total collapse? I am very sad and ashamed to say that as far as State terrorism is concerned Blair and Olmert are pretty much an equal match. If this isn’t enough, Brown Launch is not very promising either. Yet, British academics expect the Israelis to do something they fail to do.
However, as I said before, I am in favour of any form of restrictions on Israel, on its financial sectors, yet, by behaving politically while avoiding an ethical debate we are actually losing to the Israelis and to their lobbies.
Most importantly, if we decide to go for an academic Boycott, if we decide to burn books or to silence other peoples thoughts, then I really want to know why do we stop with Israeli academics or institutes? Shouldn’t we really ban any possible contact with any Zionists, people and institutes who openly support the idea of a racist State? As you certainly realise, unlike South Africa, Zionism, the ideological core behind Israel, is a global movement. Shouldn’t we ban as well any form of racially orientated activity? Shouldn’t we stop academic as well as smear campaigner David Hirsh and his racially orientated cohorts and then later continue with Jewish Socialists (being a racially oriented progressive group)? Where do we draw the line? I do not know the answers, instead I believe that the best way around it is to support freedom of speech categorically, whether it is David Irving, David Hirsh or even Tony Greenstein.
Mary: OK, so you fully support any kind of instrument that puts pressure and pulls the economic rug out from under Israel, but you have some reservations about the academic boycott against Israeli universities, because of the nature of the boycott being restricting academic freedom.
Gilad: I would even just call it intellectual freedom. I do love diversity. To impose a single narrative is in itself a Talmudic approach and I have to resist it. Being trained as a continental philosopher, I know very well that the proponents of the most enlightening ideas in the late 19th century and pre WWII 20th century were not exactly progressive. How to say it, Heidegger was a Nazi at least for a while and as it seems, both Levinas and Leo Strauss were courageous enough to admit that the man may be the greatest thinker of our millennium.”
I myself would add that if Tony Greenstein actually articulated an argument, rather than smear and engage strictly in character assassination, I would not have to waste so much time exposing some of his lies, and mind, I am ignoring the bulk of the others due to time constrictions. But it seems he does not produce anything but texts using character assassination, not against Zionists, but against people who denounce Zionism on a constant and daily basis, and therefore, I believe that the letter Palestinians and activists wrote is a step in the right direction. If he wants to participate in the discourse, he should, and as a matter of fact, while he is calling for us to be excluded and silenced, based on a series of smears and distortions, we are calling on him to focus on Palestinians rather than on two European Palestinian activists who are quite well-circulated. But rather than address the content in any meaningful way of the material others write and distribute, he comes out with a lie and distortion to smear the author. It is just what Dershowitz does.
Number 5) Greenstein writes:
"The one semi-sensible question Rooij asks is what in American society produces support for Zionism. But the only answer his friends provide is the Jews. Apart from ignoring the much more numerous Christians for Zionism they totally fail to even begin to answer it. Yet it is not difficult to understand why the USA projects its power in the way it does economic, military, imperial reasons oil for example. But this means having an analysis of class society and imperialism, something Atzmon and friends explicitly reject."
Answer: Now, this in itself is quite interesting. On my blog, I have dozens of articles denouncing Christian Zionists. I have never seen a single thing written or circulated on the argument by Greenstein, ever. I have, on the other hand, seen him say he is "thrilled" that Zunes "demolished Walt and Mearsheimer". You see, differently from almost all the major scholars and researchers, not to mention activists, Tony doesn't think there's a lobby. And, where does he get the idea Atzmon and his friends reject the discussion of class society and imperialism!? Again, Atzmon rejects imperialism quite often in his writing. He may not be quoting Gramsci, but his thesis is about hegemony and consensus by the super powers in order to restrict the narrative and allow the powers to maintain dominance. I myself have so many articles against imperialism on the blog alone, I can't begin to see where he finds a rejection of this concept.
Number 6) Greenstein writes:
"There are a number of errors in Rooijs article, eg. That I sent defamatory letters to the venue where Atzmon was due to speak. Not true. I sent no letters. It was an article in the local press that alerted them to the meeting. Nor was it a church hall. But it is this attention to detail that marks out Rooij as the quality journalist that he is."
Answer: No, he may not have sent defamatory letters. He merely plastered the walls with flyers. Indeed, the venue was a church. This is a letter the organiser wrote to Tony, which was published on my blog:
"The immediate reason that I withdrew from the Brighthelm, Tony, was that you had, without permission, started pasting notices on the premises opposing the meeting and this notice included a copy of the Calder article. These notices were bound to be a major embarrassment to the church. Moreover by the manner in which you acted, the manager was bound to deduce that further such behaviour was likely. Indeed you were announcing your picket. To say, therefore, that you did not put pressure on the Brighthelm is disingenuous. It is ironic that you take me to task for damaging the Palestine solidarity movement in holding this meeting when your actions do precisely that - and I, of course do not accept that the Gilad Meeting does anyway. I do not believe for a moment that you thought it unfortunate that the manager of the Centre caught you in the act of putting up these posters. Certainly he was affected by the grossly distorted view of Gilad Atzmon given in the article - that was precisely your intention. He hadn't got the time to investigate what, at your instigation I'm sure, Jean Calder had written. When he called me to discuss the matter I relieved him of any further embarrassment by withdrawing."
Cheers,
Francis
Number 7) Greenstein writes:
"Yes Sue Blackwell, who led the academic boycott is my comrade. But surprising as it may seem, I am not responsible for her web site! This is what is usually called guilt by association. McCarthyism in other words."
Answer: It is strange he says this! I am held responsible for things that I have not written, and for websites I have nothing to do with. As a matter of fact, by way of his accusations, Greenstein habitually quotes commenters from my blog posts. Not my own comments, and he attributes them to me. He also is now going through the names with a nit comb (as if my friend who has compiled and thought of the list is supposed to filter people who sign, we are in a free society, still, aren’t we? And, I wonder, has petitions he has signed had only names he knows and swears bonafides on?) This is usually called guilt by association. MacCarthyism, in other words." If the mirror fits….. Oh, not to mention, I keep getting harassed now to chop this name or that name off the list. Well, that will still leave a few hundred people who said “enough”. There are many other inaccuracies and insinuations from Tony that are not verified, as well as his opinion bandied as fact and truth. I don't care to address them now. I am sure that just this small sampling is sufficient to give an idea of who we are dealing with. And, to close, I would like to mention that the top Palestinian bloggers, well-known and respected activists and writers have signed the open letter, many with comments stating their total solidarity with Gilad and I, and stating that his campaigns were obscene and must end. In five days, 200 people have signed. In five days, I have not seen a single Palestinian, or anyone else, for that matter, come out in solidarity or defence of Tony Greenstein. He himself has to write his own harangue and defence, while spamming sites and even my own inbox with more bald-faced lies that he is unable to substantiate. These are the people and groups that have asked for him to stop it.
Adib S. Kawar, Nazareth, Palestine - Beirut, Lebanon, Activist, writer and translator
Walid Halabi, France-Italy
Arab Abdel-Hadi PMWATCH, Ansar Al-Quds. LEBANONVIEW, Free Palestine and others
Malak Abdel-Hadi, Palestinian living in Dubai
Shahira Mehrez, Egyptian living in Cairo, Egypt
Paola Pisi, Italy, http://uruknet.info/
Ismail Zayid, Canada, http://izayid.tripod.com/
Nizar Issa, London, UK , Musician
Nadia Hasan, Chile, http://palestinaresiste2.blogspot.com/
Dr Sadek Pharaon MD, Syria
Oren Ben Dor, UK
Manuel Talens, Spain, http://www.manueltalens.com/
Dima Hamdan, London, UK, Journalist
Iqbal Tamimi, Exiled Journalist Network UK, A Palestinian journalist and poet, http://palestinian.ning.com/
Samir Daoud - Akka Palestine - residence: Beirut Lebanon
Nadia Daoud - Akka Palestine - Residence: Beirut Lebanon
Hala Kawar Nazareth, Palestine - Residence - Beirut Lebanon
Wajih Freij Jerusalem, Palestine - Residence: Beirut Lebanon
Lamia Kawar Nazareth, Palestine - Residence - Beirut - Lebanon
Ibrahim Kawar Nazareth, Palestine - Residence - Beirut - Lebanon
Fausto Giudice, Zapatist Alliance for Social Liberation, France, http://azls.blogspot.com/
Ginette Hess Skandrani, Zapatist Alliance for Social Liberation, France, http://azls.blogspot.com/
Wael Al Saad, Dusseldorf-Germany. PYN Coordinator-Germany Palestinian Community Dusseldorf Board, http://www.anis-online.de/1/rooms/wael/
Dr Hajo G. Meyer, Heiloo, the Netherlands, survivor of Auschwitz, writer, physicist, lute maker
Mauro Manno, Italy , professor, writer, translator
Manuela Vittorelli, Italy, http://mirumir.blogspot.com/
Diego Traversa, Italy, writer, translator
Vicente Romano, Spain, writer
Carlos Sanchis, Spain
Nancy Harb Almendras, United States, Germany http://www.umkahlil.blogspot.com/
Zuhair Nafa, Palestine
Raja Chemayel, The Hague, Netherlands, http://frustratedarabdiary.blogspot.com/
Theodore D. Turner, Brooklyn, New York
Kristoffer Larsson, Sweden, http://altahrir.blogspot.com/
Ellen Rohlfs, Germany, German-Palestinian Society and Gush Shalom
Hergen Matussik, Germany
Benedetta Scardovi-Mounier, USA/Italy
Cristina Santos, London, UK
Rocio Anguiano, Spain
Sigge Andersson, pre-med student, Sweden
Guenter Schenk, France/Germany, Aktionsbndnis fr einen gerechten Frieden in Palstina
LanceThruster, LA, CA, USA
Mary Sparrowdancer, Tallahassee, FL, USA, http://www.sparrowdancer.com/
Birgit Jdahl, Sweden
Miguel Martinz, Florence, Italy, http://kelebek.splinder.com/
Susanne Scheidt, Al-Awda Italia
Jean-Marie Flemal, writer and translator, WPB (Workers' Party of Belgium), Charleroi, Belgium
Edna Spennato, South Africa-Brazil, Earth Heal Geoharmonic Research Project
Abdullah Husain, Palestine by birth, KSA, India by life accident
Wendy Campbell, California, USA, MarWen Media, http://www.marwenmedia.com/
Peter Brooke, UK, www.peterbrooke.org.uk
Daniel McGowan, Geneva, NY, Exec. Director, Deir Yassin Remembered, http://www.deiryassin.org/
Debbie Brown, Hacienda Heights, California USA
Kenneth Rasmusson, Sweden
Redress Information & Analysis, London, UK
Schuyler Ebbets, USA, http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/
Ragnar B. Johannessen, Norway, http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/
Annie Selden Annab, USA, http://annies-letters.blogspot.com/
Jim Leven, UK, PSC member
Javier Fernndez Retenaga, Spain
Shaukat Khawja, Toronto, Canada Profession: Engineer
Volker M., Canada
Lina Abu Baker, London, UK, Poet
Brenda Heard, UK, Friends of Lebanon, http://www.friendsoflebanon.org/
Letizia Tessicini, Orte, Italy
Simon R-Levin, Manchester, UK
Paloma Valverde, Spain, member of CEOSI
Sarah Stevens, UK
Ralph Pinner, UK
Inge Soder, Germany
Sarah Gillespie, London, UK, musician
Raja Ibrahim, Pistoia, Italy, ASSOCIAZIONE AMICIZIA ITALO - PALESTINESE, www.amiciziaitalo-palestinese.org/
Adriano Mencarelli, Roma - Italy
Diego Ianiro - Caserta, Italy, of Khalas Napoli - khalasnews.splinder.com
Francesca Longhi- Bergamo, Italia
Antonio Corraine - Aosta, Italy
Stuart Cary Welch - USA
Haitham Sabbah, Tulkarm, Palestine/Bahrain, blogger, http://sabbah.biz/
Latuff, Rio De Janiero, Brazil, Cartoonist, http://latuff.blogspot.com/
Nureddin Sabir, London, UK, Editor of Redress Information & Analysis
Steve Amsel, Jerusalem-Al Quds, blogger, http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/
Lasse Wilhelmson, Sweden
Richard Jones, Swansea, Wales, http://a-fistful-of-poetry.blogspot.com/
Einar Schlereth, Sweden, Journalist
Karaiskos Kostas, Komotini, Greece, ANTIFONITIS director, http://www26.brinkster.com/karaiskos/
Adeline Rec, N/A
Alex Tarradellas, Catalonia
Nuria lvarez, Spain
Guillermo F. Parodi, Paraguay, Universitary Professor
Dennis Zackrisson, Uppsala, Sweden
Mark Roland, Eugene Oregon, USA
Robert Wagner, Italy
Graham Derrick, West Yorkshire, UK
Gabriele Repaci, Milano, university student
Emmanuel St John, London, UK
Sami Joseph, UK
Ernesto Paramo, Mexico/UK
Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, Glasgow, Scotland, blogger, http://fanonite.org/
Jeffrey Blankfort, California, USA
David Baldinger, USA, Cartoonist, http://www.dbaldinger.com/
Olivia Zémor, Paris, France, cofounder CAPJPO (Coordination des Appels pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient)
Ana Cleja, France
John W. Blalock, N/A
Maryam Husain and Children, Displaced Palestinian/KSA/Italy/India currently
Emanuela Borrelli, Italy
Rachel Bridgeland, UK
Maria Ingrosso, Lecce, Italy
Riccardo Di Vito, Roma, Italia - Campo Antimperialista, http://www.antiimperialista.org/
Wilhelm Langthaler, Vienna, Austria, Anti-imperalist Camp, http://www.antiimperialista.org
Camilla Rahm, Gothenburg, Sweden
Nahida Izzat,Palestine/ Jerusalem Poetry for Palestine, http://poetryforpalestine.spaces.live.com/
Maurizio Neri, Rome, Italy, Editor Magazine of Politics and Philosophy, "Comunismo e Comunit"
Nicolas A. Sayegh - Laval, Quebec, Canada, Columnist
Asad Khan, Manchester, UK: doctor and blogger, http://chestdocinpalestine.blogspot.com/
Ali Mallah, Canadian Peace Alliance, Canadian Arab Federation, http://www.caf.ca/HomePage.aspx
Khaled Mouammar, Toronto, Canada, National President, Canadian Arab Federation, http://www.caf.ca/HomePage.aspx
Gonzalo Barona, Caceres, Espana
Nicole Hille-Priebe, Germany
Randa Farah, Canada
Felisa Sastre, Espana
Caty R., Spain
Christine Mihil Sharp - London, UK; www.Red-DesertProductions.com
Emanuela Di Piramo, Italia
Dr Raymond Deane, Dublin, Ireland
Katherine Eilbeck, Glais, Swansea, Wales
Katie Murphy, UK
Samira Rantisi, Italy
Sergio I. Moya Mena, Costa Rica, http://wiphala.org/
Paul Eisen - Director (UK) Deir Yassin Remembered
Akram Awad, Palestinian blogger in the UK, www.akramawad.com/
Daniel Alba, writer/musician, USA http://detainthis.wordpress.com
Gunvant Govindjee, South Africa
Agustin Velloso, Madrid - Spain
William Buttrey, Southern California, USA
Gilberto Jordan, Professsor de Histria, Brazil
Mireille RUMEAU, from ISM-France
Colin Pritchard, UK
kim petersen, korea, co-editor, http://www.dissidentvoice.org
Juan-Antonio Julin, Bruselas
Mahmud Said Hamad - Italy
Arlene L. Johnson, Publisher/Author http://www.truedemocracy.net
Jeff Spencer, Bristol, UK, Musician
Agostino Sanfratello, Beyrouth, Lebanon
Karin Maria Friedemann, Boston, Massachusetts,Editor, World View News Service, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wvns/
Gianfranco La Grassa, Conegliano, Italy, Economist
Mondher Sfar, Collectif de la Communaut Tunisienne en Europe, Paris, France
Mireille Delamarre http://www.planetenonviolence.org/
Ann El Khoury; Sydney, Australia, http://peoplesgeography.com/
Razan Ghazzawi, Damascus, Syria, blogger of Decentering Damascus, http://www.ya-ashrafe-nnas.blogspot.com/ member of Free Tariq Campaign
Maher Osseiran, Arab-American investigative reporter, http://www.mydemocracy.net/
Marion SOLITAIRE, Firminy, France
Hala Abou-Zaki, Paris, France
Khadidja ATTOU, Montpellier-France
Joe Fallisi, Baranzate (Milano), Italy, Tenor, http://www.nelvento.net/
Antonia Cilla Ortega, Spain
Djamal BENMERAD, Bruxelles, Journaliste, écrivain (Journalist, writer)
Abdelfattah Abu-Srour, PhD. Director of Alrowwad Cultural and Theatre Training Center, Bethlehem - Palestine, http://alrowwad.virtualactivism.net/
Aymen JEMNI, Engineer and PhD Student - Barcelona - Spain
Chafik HBILA, doctorant en sociologie, France
Atenea Acevedo, Interpreter, translator, activist, Active member of Babels, Tlaxcala and Rebelin, Mexico City, Mexico http://mujerypalabra.com/ http://my.opera.com/mujerypalabra/blog
Sandrine Corten, Bruxelles, Bloggeuse : http://acteursdeterrain.canalblog.com/
Charles Beillard, France, http://www.enfantsdepalestine.org/
Alan 'Masher1' Reid, USA, Wake up from your Slumbers Blog, Melted238
Nadjiam Saoudi, France
Ada KRONFLI, Adhrente ; 1. Association France Palestine Solidarit, ( France), 2. Association des Palestiniens en France (France), 3. CAPJPO- EURO PALESTINE ( France)Catherine de Crombrugghe, Charleroi, Belgium Djanet Mokrani, France
Anika Persiani, Firenze, biologa, "Sumud"
Frédric Herr, Strasbourg, France, etudiant
Dr Francis Clark-Lowes, founder and organiser of Invitation to Learn, member and ex-chair of Palestine Solidarity Campaign and member United National Association (UK)
Sami Sabaana, Switzerland
Safia FARHAT, TUNISIE
Boualem SNAOUI, Paris France
Paul de Rooij, writer/economist, London
Sarah Marshall, N/A
Thomas Bischoff, Strasbourg, France www.thomasbischoff.fr
Saidi Nordine, Mouvement Citoyen Palestine, Bruxelles - Belgique, http://mcpalestine.canalblog.com/
William Ross, Canada
Snorre Lindquist, Architect, Sweden
Ben Heine http://www.benjaminheine.blogspot.com/
Franck Hirsbein, France http://groups.google.com/group/lesamisdelaroutedelissa
Sabina Paolini, Abruzzo, Italy
Moura Nouara, Caen (FRANCE), association Kultures
Elisa Davinca - Vienna/Austria - http://anotherworldispossiblenow.blogspot.com/ - http://refusetokill.blogspot.com/
Leonardo Mazzei, Italy, Gaza Vivrà www.gazavive.com
veronique roudil, marseille, france
Nadim Mahjoub, London, http://middleeastpanorama.blogspot.com/
Rubén Kotler - Historiador, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina, De Igual A Igual http://www.deigualaigual.net/
Simone Maggiolo, Italy
Julieta Obedman, Argentina
Palestinian Refugee Portal http://palref.net/
Dr Yassar NAFA, Doctor, UK
Lydia Lauks, political communication officer, UK
Keny Arkana, Marseille - France, Collectif AASV
Omar Khamoun, New Zealand
Raymond Richa, France
Toni Solo, Nicaragua
Reham Alhelsi, Jerusalem, Palestine
David Nir, Israel
Maria Grazia Da Costa Lucca, Italy, Campo Antimperialista
this Petition is also on:Rebelion Redress, Uruknet here and here, Arab News, Friends of Lebanon
Tlaxcala, Kelebek, The People's Voice Sabbah's Blog Desert Peace Umma, Asherah's Journal, Palestine Blogs "The Gazette", Window into Palestine , Detain ThisAlterinfo (in French)Basta!
Fact checking on Greenstein, Mission: impossible
By: Mary Rizzo
One would think that if there were an article with my name in it, I would be more than a little interested in reading it. But, to be honest, it's been happening on a daily basis, and by one author alone, one Mr Tony Greenstein, that I can't bring myself to do anything more than give it a gliss reading, my “vanity” hasn’t gotten to extreme levels yet, and I have better things to be doing. But, considering the author, even by virtue of a skim, it is impossible not to constantly bang into a thick wall of lies so big that they quite simply jump straight out.
Not wanting to belabour anyone much longer, because 200 names, including some who have activist history spanning decades, academics, writers, bloggers, philosophers, editors, people from every continent and many religious, political, ethnic and economic backgrounds and yes... even a survivor of Holocaust, have signed their names to an open letter, http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2008/02/petition-for-two-activists-that-you.html calling for Tony Greenstein to stop abusing his "air time" by engaging in character assassination of two activists for Palestine, especially by use of distortion and fabrication. Rather than accept their plea, or listen to them, he has decided to increase his daily output and actually double it. So far, his echo chamber has been an obscure blog in the UK with maybe 50 readers, and one that’s been created ad hoc for it, judging by the comments, maybe it has two. It seems that it’s important for him to focus on three names he doesn’t like, but quite ignores that all the top bloggers are there. I wonder why this is? But now, Amin has published his reply to the article in question. Amin has quite a few more readers, so I believe it is essential to at least address some of the content within, given that I am called in cause. I do apologise, but I simply cannot bear to read the entire article, so I am not focusing on deconstructing the entire sandcastle that it obviously is. I will only focus on several key points that I am especially qualified to respond to.
Number 1) Greenstein writes:
"Rooij uses the adjective vile no less than four times. Ive written a vile article about him and made vile accusations of anti-Semitism against Atzmon and Rizzo [AR]."
Answer: What is so glaring here is that De Rooij does not once mention my name in the piece! How can we believe the rest of this paper the author simply is incapable of identifying who is involved? Yet, I already failed to mention that he gets the name of the author wrong as well. Last week, he said he had never heard of the chap. Strange... for a man who claims to be very active (and I have no doubt that he is, for all the time he spends on line) to never have encountered even one of the writings of Paul De Rooij. I remember widely circulating his Dictionary of the Occupation, almost every activist I know has read and greatly appreciated it. It was on Counterpunch, not some obscure UK socialist blog that mostly Zionists contribute to. Greenstein is simply doing a knee-jerk act of smear campaigning.
Number 2) Greenstein writes:
"But again, what has this to do with the Palestinians? Atzmon distributes Eisens pamphlets and now signs up to all the above nonsense. Read Gilad Atzmon Now an Open Holocaust Denier."
Answer: Calling other people's writing pamphlets can be overlooked, but then again, are they pamphlets because of their political orientation? If that is true, the very article Greenstein cites, another of his Socialist Unity smearfests, takes its information from two sources that are far from objective news sources, The Adelaide Institute, (a Holocaust Revisionist site), and Press TV, an Iranian site that seems to quite frequently print news that is inaccurate or outright disinformation, according to journalists who fact check their material. Once it had been established that Tony's sources (which make HIM a distributor of material from a Revisionist site) had actually used misquotes and disinformation, taken information from one trial and shifted it to another that had nothing to do with it, this did not cause him to wonder if his haste was not to be in some way suspect, and his opinion amended. No, he does not take any of this into account, and is still, on this date, distributing false material as if it were accurate! Another reason vile is an appropriate word to describe the attacks. And why is it vile? To quote Tony Greenstein: What has this to do with the Palestinians?
Number 3) Greenstein writes:
"Rooij describes me on the Cork PSC article as close to the anti-boycott Engage. But that is ironic since I have campaigned ceaselessly to support boycott. Unison, the second largest union in Britain voted to support boycott last summer. I spoke in favour of that position, as a Jewish member of the union, and it was passed by at least 80%. For that I am some form of racial segregationist?!! Get real Rooij."
Answer: The fact that Greenstein still circulates the lie that I am against the boycott, when he himself encouraged me to break it, is quite rich. But, let me mention another item that sticks out at me, UNISON. As a matter of fact, given that Redress, a UK site dedicated to the Palestinian cause, managed by Palestinians, had published the open letter, was cause for Tony to write this:
"Yes an excellent idea this petition. I'm so glad you included the following paragraph: We also take the opportunity to condemn the strangling siege that is being imposed over the Gaza Strip in particular and the West Bank and the rest of the Palestinian Arab people in general to complete their ethnic cleansing from their historic homeland.
It's quite important you know, pity that it was an afterthought to the 'defend Mary Rizzo and Gilad Atzmon' campaign because of course they are the people who matter most.
http://redressnewsblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/petition-in-support-of-pro-palestinian.html
Since it is published on redress I am asking my own union UNISON to remove all references to Redress from its sites and I will contact the TUC and SERTUC, of which I am a trades council delegate, to ask that they contact all unions and ask them to have nothing to do with Redress on their websites or any similar anti-semitic web site since it is clear that they are part of this.
Perhaps you could ask Atzmon what he means by this statement?
'I do not wish to enter the debate regarding the truth of the Holocaust'. Does he believe there is a debate about the 'truth' of the holocaust? And about whether the earth is flat?
http://www.redress.btinternet.co.uk/gatzmon29.htm
It seems Atzmon's lies are catching him out now that we all know that he has signed up as a holocaust denier.
It would appear that those whom the gods seek to destroy they first drive mad.
Tony Greenstein”
He proudly announces that they have done so. This is lobbying ad personam. The unions do his personal bidding, and he expects them to.
Number 4) Greenstein writes:
"Ironically, at the same time, Atzmon was denouncing the academic boycott as book burning (and here)."
Answer: This famous misrepresentation and distortion of the opinion of someone is PURE MacCarthyism. What did Gilad Atzmon say to me in the interview? Let's look (and to avoid any accusations of manipulative editing, I am quoting the response in full):
“Gilad: Boycott is a real complicated issue. For years we’ve been arguing in favour of divestment and boycott. At the time I supported any form of boycott in Israel, its products and its culture.
There are some elements in the boycott that are obviously very welcome. For instance, the fact that UK unions are standing up against Zionist evil is a major shift in the very right direction. The Boycott is certainly bad news for Israel and this is wonderful news in itself. Yesterday, I went to a reading of a play, it was actually a theatrical adaptation my latest book. The producer is Jewish, and at a certain stage when we were discussing the meaning of the play he stood up and said. You see, we had a Jewish State, it is now sixty years later, and it is a very horrible place, it is so horrible that it has now been boycotted. And this is there to make us think, where did it go wrong? This is the most positive impact of the boycott. It makes people reflect.
Yet, I have some serious reservations, which I am inclined to mention. One, I see a tremendous difference between banning an avocado and a book. I would welcome any form of financial restrictions on Israel and its supportive bodies yet, I truly believe in freedom of speech and oppose any form of Maccarthyism or intellectual censorship of any sort. Thus, interfering with academic freedom isnt exactly something I can blindly advocate. Unlike some of my best enlightened friends, I am against any form of gatekeeping or book burning. But it goes further, I actually want to hear what Israelis and Zionists have to say. I want to read their books. I want to confront their academics. If justice is on our side we should be able to confront them.
Mary: Of course, they wont stop writing or proposing their ideas, and actually, they might become more reactionary in the process.
Gilad: Actually, I do not think that they can become any more reactionary. The second point is, to impose a boycott is to employ a boycotter. When it comes to an academic boycott I would expect the inquisitor in charge to be a scholar of great esteem. This isn’t the case obviously. The reason is simple. As it naturally happens, major intellectuals are engaged in scholarship rather than in union politics, working class and proletarian activity. Seemingly, it isn’t the leading minds in British academic life and ethical thinking who are leading the Boycott. In fact it is the other way around, the boycott is led by some minor academics with very little to say about ethics and even less to say about the specific conflict. This fact is actually repeatedly exposed in televised debates. The anti-Zionist movement in Britain has yet to find the appropriate eloquent answer to the Dershowitzes of this world.
Three, when it comes to the Palestinian solidarity discourse I can identify two modes of discussion: the ethical and political. The ethical mode is obviously evoked by a natural humanist reaction to the endless flood of images of Israeli criminal activity. The political discourse, on the other hand, is pretty much autonomous and detached from the conflict. It has a lot to do with maintenance of some particular decaying old-school socialists within the fading progressive Western discourse. It has very little to do with Palestine and the transitions within the Palestinian struggle. When it comes to the current boycott we are unfortunately operating within a political mode rather than an ethical one. I say unfortunately, because Palestinian reality is neither an isolated event in history nor it is isolated in the region. Had the academics been ethically orientated, they would have to ask themselves what they, their unions and Universities have been doing to stop the ongoing slaughter in Iraq. What do they do to oppose the British Government that is engaged in crimes not different from Israel’s? What are the British academics doing now to stop the British value system from a total collapse? I am very sad and ashamed to say that as far as State terrorism is concerned Blair and Olmert are pretty much an equal match. If this isn’t enough, Brown Launch is not very promising either. Yet, British academics expect the Israelis to do something they fail to do.
However, as I said before, I am in favour of any form of restrictions on Israel, on its financial sectors, yet, by behaving politically while avoiding an ethical debate we are actually losing to the Israelis and to their lobbies.
Most importantly, if we decide to go for an academic Boycott, if we decide to burn books or to silence other peoples thoughts, then I really want to know why do we stop with Israeli academics or institutes? Shouldn’t we really ban any possible contact with any Zionists, people and institutes who openly support the idea of a racist State? As you certainly realise, unlike South Africa, Zionism, the ideological core behind Israel, is a global movement. Shouldn’t we ban as well any form of racially orientated activity? Shouldn’t we stop academic as well as smear campaigner David Hirsh and his racially orientated cohorts and then later continue with Jewish Socialists (being a racially oriented progressive group)? Where do we draw the line? I do not know the answers, instead I believe that the best way around it is to support freedom of speech categorically, whether it is David Irving, David Hirsh or even Tony Greenstein.
Mary: OK, so you fully support any kind of instrument that puts pressure and pulls the economic rug out from under Israel, but you have some reservations about the academic boycott against Israeli universities, because of the nature of the boycott being restricting academic freedom.
Gilad: I would even just call it intellectual freedom. I do love diversity. To impose a single narrative is in itself a Talmudic approach and I have to resist it. Being trained as a continental philosopher, I know very well that the proponents of the most enlightening ideas in the late 19th century and pre WWII 20th century were not exactly progressive. How to say it, Heidegger was a Nazi at least for a while and as it seems, both Levinas and Leo Strauss were courageous enough to admit that the man may be the greatest thinker of our millennium.”
I myself would add that if Tony Greenstein actually articulated an argument, rather than smear and engage strictly in character assassination, I would not have to waste so much time exposing some of his lies, and mind, I am ignoring the bulk of the others due to time constrictions. But it seems he does not produce anything but texts using character assassination, not against Zionists, but against people who denounce Zionism on a constant and daily basis, and therefore, I believe that the letter Palestinians and activists wrote is a step in the right direction. If he wants to participate in the discourse, he should, and as a matter of fact, while he is calling for us to be excluded and silenced, based on a series of smears and distortions, we are calling on him to focus on Palestinians rather than on two European Palestinian activists who are quite well-circulated. But rather than address the content in any meaningful way of the material others write and distribute, he comes out with a lie and distortion to smear the author. It is just what Dershowitz does.
Number 5) Greenstein writes:
"The one semi-sensible question Rooij asks is what in American society produces support for Zionism. But the only answer his friends provide is the Jews. Apart from ignoring the much more numerous Christians for Zionism they totally fail to even begin to answer it. Yet it is not difficult to understand why the USA projects its power in the way it does economic, military, imperial reasons oil for example. But this means having an analysis of class society and imperialism, something Atzmon and friends explicitly reject."
Answer: Now, this in itself is quite interesting. On my blog, I have dozens of articles denouncing Christian Zionists. I have never seen a single thing written or circulated on the argument by Greenstein, ever. I have, on the other hand, seen him say he is "thrilled" that Zunes "demolished Walt and Mearsheimer". You see, differently from almost all the major scholars and researchers, not to mention activists, Tony doesn't think there's a lobby. And, where does he get the idea Atzmon and his friends reject the discussion of class society and imperialism!? Again, Atzmon rejects imperialism quite often in his writing. He may not be quoting Gramsci, but his thesis is about hegemony and consensus by the super powers in order to restrict the narrative and allow the powers to maintain dominance. I myself have so many articles against imperialism on the blog alone, I can't begin to see where he finds a rejection of this concept.
Number 6) Greenstein writes:
"There are a number of errors in Rooijs article, eg. That I sent defamatory letters to the venue where Atzmon was due to speak. Not true. I sent no letters. It was an article in the local press that alerted them to the meeting. Nor was it a church hall. But it is this attention to detail that marks out Rooij as the quality journalist that he is."
Answer: No, he may not have sent defamatory letters. He merely plastered the walls with flyers. Indeed, the venue was a church. This is a letter the organiser wrote to Tony, which was published on my blog:
"The immediate reason that I withdrew from the Brighthelm, Tony, was that you had, without permission, started pasting notices on the premises opposing the meeting and this notice included a copy of the Calder article. These notices were bound to be a major embarrassment to the church. Moreover by the manner in which you acted, the manager was bound to deduce that further such behaviour was likely. Indeed you were announcing your picket. To say, therefore, that you did not put pressure on the Brighthelm is disingenuous. It is ironic that you take me to task for damaging the Palestine solidarity movement in holding this meeting when your actions do precisely that - and I, of course do not accept that the Gilad Meeting does anyway. I do not believe for a moment that you thought it unfortunate that the manager of the Centre caught you in the act of putting up these posters. Certainly he was affected by the grossly distorted view of Gilad Atzmon given in the article - that was precisely your intention. He hadn't got the time to investigate what, at your instigation I'm sure, Jean Calder had written. When he called me to discuss the matter I relieved him of any further embarrassment by withdrawing."
Cheers,
Francis
Number 7) Greenstein writes:
"Yes Sue Blackwell, who led the academic boycott is my comrade. But surprising as it may seem, I am not responsible for her web site! This is what is usually called guilt by association. McCarthyism in other words."
Answer: It is strange he says this! I am held responsible for things that I have not written, and for websites I have nothing to do with. As a matter of fact, by way of his accusations, Greenstein habitually quotes commenters from my blog posts. Not my own comments, and he attributes them to me. He also is now going through the names with a nit comb (as if my friend who has compiled and thought of the list is supposed to filter people who sign, we are in a free society, still, aren’t we? And, I wonder, has petitions he has signed had only names he knows and swears bonafides on?) This is usually called guilt by association. MacCarthyism, in other words." If the mirror fits….. Oh, not to mention, I keep getting harassed now to chop this name or that name off the list. Well, that will still leave a few hundred people who said “enough”. There are many other inaccuracies and insinuations from Tony that are not verified, as well as his opinion bandied as fact and truth. I don't care to address them now. I am sure that just this small sampling is sufficient to give an idea of who we are dealing with. And, to close, I would like to mention that the top Palestinian bloggers, well-known and respected activists and writers have signed the open letter, many with comments stating their total solidarity with Gilad and I, and stating that his campaigns were obscene and must end. In five days, 200 people have signed. In five days, I have not seen a single Palestinian, or anyone else, for that matter, come out in solidarity or defence of Tony Greenstein. He himself has to write his own harangue and defence, while spamming sites and even my own inbox with more bald-faced lies that he is unable to substantiate. These are the people and groups that have asked for him to stop it.
Adib S. Kawar, Nazareth, Palestine - Beirut, Lebanon, Activist, writer and translator
Walid Halabi, France-Italy
Arab Abdel-Hadi PMWATCH, Ansar Al-Quds. LEBANONVIEW, Free Palestine and others
Malak Abdel-Hadi, Palestinian living in Dubai
Shahira Mehrez, Egyptian living in Cairo, Egypt
Paola Pisi, Italy, http://uruknet.info/
Ismail Zayid, Canada, http://izayid.tripod.com/
Nizar Issa, London, UK , Musician
Nadia Hasan, Chile, http://palestinaresiste2.blogspot.com/
Dr Sadek Pharaon MD, Syria
Oren Ben Dor, UK
Manuel Talens, Spain, http://www.manueltalens.com/
Dima Hamdan, London, UK, Journalist
Iqbal Tamimi, Exiled Journalist Network UK, A Palestinian journalist and poet, http://palestinian.ning.com/
Samir Daoud - Akka Palestine - residence: Beirut Lebanon
Nadia Daoud - Akka Palestine - Residence: Beirut Lebanon
Hala Kawar Nazareth, Palestine - Residence - Beirut Lebanon
Wajih Freij Jerusalem, Palestine - Residence: Beirut Lebanon
Lamia Kawar Nazareth, Palestine - Residence - Beirut - Lebanon
Ibrahim Kawar Nazareth, Palestine - Residence - Beirut - Lebanon
Fausto Giudice, Zapatist Alliance for Social Liberation, France, http://azls.blogspot.com/
Ginette Hess Skandrani, Zapatist Alliance for Social Liberation, France, http://azls.blogspot.com/
Wael Al Saad, Dusseldorf-Germany. PYN Coordinator-Germany Palestinian Community Dusseldorf Board, http://www.anis-online.de/1/rooms/wael/
Dr Hajo G. Meyer, Heiloo, the Netherlands, survivor of Auschwitz, writer, physicist, lute maker
Mauro Manno, Italy , professor, writer, translator
Manuela Vittorelli, Italy, http://mirumir.blogspot.com/
Diego Traversa, Italy, writer, translator
Vicente Romano, Spain, writer
Carlos Sanchis, Spain
Nancy Harb Almendras, United States, Germany http://www.umkahlil.blogspot.com/
Zuhair Nafa, Palestine
Raja Chemayel, The Hague, Netherlands, http://frustratedarabdiary.blogspot.com/
Theodore D. Turner, Brooklyn, New York
Kristoffer Larsson, Sweden, http://altahrir.blogspot.com/
Ellen Rohlfs, Germany, German-Palestinian Society and Gush Shalom
Hergen Matussik, Germany
Benedetta Scardovi-Mounier, USA/Italy
Cristina Santos, London, UK
Rocio Anguiano, Spain
Sigge Andersson, pre-med student, Sweden
Guenter Schenk, France/Germany, Aktionsbndnis fr einen gerechten Frieden in Palstina
LanceThruster, LA, CA, USA
Mary Sparrowdancer, Tallahassee, FL, USA, http://www.sparrowdancer.com/
Birgit Jdahl, Sweden
Miguel Martinz, Florence, Italy, http://kelebek.splinder.com/
Susanne Scheidt, Al-Awda Italia
Jean-Marie Flemal, writer and translator, WPB (Workers' Party of Belgium), Charleroi, Belgium
Edna Spennato, South Africa-Brazil, Earth Heal Geoharmonic Research Project
Abdullah Husain, Palestine by birth, KSA, India by life accident
Wendy Campbell, California, USA, MarWen Media, http://www.marwenmedia.com/
Peter Brooke, UK, www.peterbrooke.org.uk
Daniel McGowan, Geneva, NY, Exec. Director, Deir Yassin Remembered, http://www.deiryassin.org/
Debbie Brown, Hacienda Heights, California USA
Kenneth Rasmusson, Sweden
Redress Information & Analysis, London, UK
Schuyler Ebbets, USA, http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/
Ragnar B. Johannessen, Norway, http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/
Annie Selden Annab, USA, http://annies-letters.blogspot.com/
Jim Leven, UK, PSC member
Javier Fernndez Retenaga, Spain
Shaukat Khawja, Toronto, Canada Profession: Engineer
Volker M., Canada
Lina Abu Baker, London, UK, Poet
Brenda Heard, UK, Friends of Lebanon, http://www.friendsoflebanon.org/
Letizia Tessicini, Orte, Italy
Simon R-Levin, Manchester, UK
Paloma Valverde, Spain, member of CEOSI
Sarah Stevens, UK
Ralph Pinner, UK
Inge Soder, Germany
Sarah Gillespie, London, UK, musician
Raja Ibrahim, Pistoia, Italy, ASSOCIAZIONE AMICIZIA ITALO - PALESTINESE, www.amiciziaitalo-palestinese.org/
Adriano Mencarelli, Roma - Italy
Diego Ianiro - Caserta, Italy, of Khalas Napoli - khalasnews.splinder.com
Francesca Longhi- Bergamo, Italia
Antonio Corraine - Aosta, Italy
Stuart Cary Welch - USA
Haitham Sabbah, Tulkarm, Palestine/Bahrain, blogger, http://sabbah.biz/
Latuff, Rio De Janiero, Brazil, Cartoonist, http://latuff.blogspot.com/
Nureddin Sabir, London, UK, Editor of Redress Information & Analysis
Steve Amsel, Jerusalem-Al Quds, blogger, http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/
Lasse Wilhelmson, Sweden
Richard Jones, Swansea, Wales, http://a-fistful-of-poetry.blogspot.com/
Einar Schlereth, Sweden, Journalist
Karaiskos Kostas, Komotini, Greece, ANTIFONITIS director, http://www26.brinkster.com/karaiskos/
Adeline Rec, N/A
Alex Tarradellas, Catalonia
Nuria lvarez, Spain
Guillermo F. Parodi, Paraguay, Universitary Professor
Dennis Zackrisson, Uppsala, Sweden
Mark Roland, Eugene Oregon, USA
Robert Wagner, Italy
Graham Derrick, West Yorkshire, UK
Gabriele Repaci, Milano, university student
Emmanuel St John, London, UK
Sami Joseph, UK
Ernesto Paramo, Mexico/UK
Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, Glasgow, Scotland, blogger, http://fanonite.org/
Jeffrey Blankfort, California, USA
David Baldinger, USA, Cartoonist, http://www.dbaldinger.com/
Olivia Zémor, Paris, France, cofounder CAPJPO (Coordination des Appels pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient)
Ana Cleja, France
John W. Blalock, N/A
Maryam Husain and Children, Displaced Palestinian/KSA/Italy/India currently
Emanuela Borrelli, Italy
Rachel Bridgeland, UK
Maria Ingrosso, Lecce, Italy
Riccardo Di Vito, Roma, Italia - Campo Antimperialista, http://www.antiimperialista.org/
Wilhelm Langthaler, Vienna, Austria, Anti-imperalist Camp, http://www.antiimperialista.org
Camilla Rahm, Gothenburg, Sweden
Nahida Izzat,Palestine/ Jerusalem Poetry for Palestine, http://poetryforpalestine.spaces.live.com/
Maurizio Neri, Rome, Italy, Editor Magazine of Politics and Philosophy, "Comunismo e Comunit"
Nicolas A. Sayegh - Laval, Quebec, Canada, Columnist
Asad Khan, Manchester, UK: doctor and blogger, http://chestdocinpalestine.blogspot.com/
Ali Mallah, Canadian Peace Alliance, Canadian Arab Federation, http://www.caf.ca/HomePage.aspx
Khaled Mouammar, Toronto, Canada, National President, Canadian Arab Federation, http://www.caf.ca/HomePage.aspx
Gonzalo Barona, Caceres, Espana
Nicole Hille-Priebe, Germany
Randa Farah, Canada
Felisa Sastre, Espana
Caty R., Spain
Christine Mihil Sharp - London, UK; www.Red-DesertProductions.com
Emanuela Di Piramo, Italia
Dr Raymond Deane, Dublin, Ireland
Katherine Eilbeck, Glais, Swansea, Wales
Katie Murphy, UK
Samira Rantisi, Italy
Sergio I. Moya Mena, Costa Rica, http://wiphala.org/
Paul Eisen - Director (UK) Deir Yassin Remembered
Akram Awad, Palestinian blogger in the UK, www.akramawad.com/
Daniel Alba, writer/musician, USA http://detainthis.wordpress.com
Gunvant Govindjee, South Africa
Agustin Velloso, Madrid - Spain
William Buttrey, Southern California, USA
Gilberto Jordan, Professsor de Histria, Brazil
Mireille RUMEAU, from ISM-France
Colin Pritchard, UK
kim petersen, korea, co-editor, http://www.dissidentvoice.org
Juan-Antonio Julin, Bruselas
Mahmud Said Hamad - Italy
Arlene L. Johnson, Publisher/Author http://www.truedemocracy.net
Jeff Spencer, Bristol, UK, Musician
Agostino Sanfratello, Beyrouth, Lebanon
Karin Maria Friedemann, Boston, Massachusetts,Editor, World View News Service, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wvns/
Gianfranco La Grassa, Conegliano, Italy, Economist
Mondher Sfar, Collectif de la Communaut Tunisienne en Europe, Paris, France
Mireille Delamarre http://www.planetenonviolence.org/
Ann El Khoury; Sydney, Australia, http://peoplesgeography.com/
Razan Ghazzawi, Damascus, Syria, blogger of Decentering Damascus, http://www.ya-ashrafe-nnas.blogspot.com/ member of Free Tariq Campaign
Maher Osseiran, Arab-American investigative reporter, http://www.mydemocracy.net/
Marion SOLITAIRE, Firminy, France
Hala Abou-Zaki, Paris, France
Khadidja ATTOU, Montpellier-France
Joe Fallisi, Baranzate (Milano), Italy, Tenor, http://www.nelvento.net/
Antonia Cilla Ortega, Spain
Djamal BENMERAD, Bruxelles, Journaliste, écrivain (Journalist, writer)
Abdelfattah Abu-Srour, PhD. Director of Alrowwad Cultural and Theatre Training Center, Bethlehem - Palestine, http://alrowwad.virtualactivism.net/
Aymen JEMNI, Engineer and PhD Student - Barcelona - Spain
Chafik HBILA, doctorant en sociologie, France
Atenea Acevedo, Interpreter, translator, activist, Active member of Babels, Tlaxcala and Rebelin, Mexico City, Mexico http://mujerypalabra.com/ http://my.opera.com/mujerypalabra/blog
Sandrine Corten, Bruxelles, Bloggeuse : http://acteursdeterrain.canalblog.com/
Charles Beillard, France, http://www.enfantsdepalestine.org/
Alan 'Masher1' Reid, USA, Wake up from your Slumbers Blog, Melted238
Nadjiam Saoudi, France
Ada KRONFLI, Adhrente ; 1. Association France Palestine Solidarit, ( France), 2. Association des Palestiniens en France (France), 3. CAPJPO- EURO PALESTINE ( France)Catherine de Crombrugghe, Charleroi, Belgium Djanet Mokrani, France
Anika Persiani, Firenze, biologa, "Sumud"
Frédric Herr, Strasbourg, France, etudiant
Dr Francis Clark-Lowes, founder and organiser of Invitation to Learn, member and ex-chair of Palestine Solidarity Campaign and member United National Association (UK)
Sami Sabaana, Switzerland
Safia FARHAT, TUNISIE
Boualem SNAOUI, Paris France
Paul de Rooij, writer/economist, London
Sarah Marshall, N/A
Thomas Bischoff, Strasbourg, France www.thomasbischoff.fr
Saidi Nordine, Mouvement Citoyen Palestine, Bruxelles - Belgique, http://mcpalestine.canalblog.com/
William Ross, Canada
Snorre Lindquist, Architect, Sweden
Ben Heine http://www.benjaminheine.blogspot.com/
Franck Hirsbein, France http://groups.google.com/group/lesamisdelaroutedelissa
Sabina Paolini, Abruzzo, Italy
Moura Nouara, Caen (FRANCE), association Kultures
Elisa Davinca - Vienna/Austria - http://anotherworldispossiblenow.blogspot.com/ - http://refusetokill.blogspot.com/
Leonardo Mazzei, Italy, Gaza Vivrà www.gazavive.com
veronique roudil, marseille, france
Nadim Mahjoub, London, http://middleeastpanorama.blogspot.com/
Rubén Kotler - Historiador, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina, De Igual A Igual http://www.deigualaigual.net/
Simone Maggiolo, Italy
Julieta Obedman, Argentina
Palestinian Refugee Portal http://palref.net/
Dr Yassar NAFA, Doctor, UK
Lydia Lauks, political communication officer, UK
Keny Arkana, Marseille - France, Collectif AASV
Omar Khamoun, New Zealand
Raymond Richa, France
Toni Solo, Nicaragua
Reham Alhelsi, Jerusalem, Palestine
David Nir, Israel
Maria Grazia Da Costa Lucca, Italy, Campo Antimperialista
this Petition is also on:Rebelion Redress, Uruknet here and here, Arab News, Friends of Lebanon
Tlaxcala, Kelebek, The People's Voice Sabbah's Blog Desert Peace Umma, Asherah's Journal, Palestine Blogs "The Gazette", Window into Palestine , Detain ThisAlterinfo (in French)Basta!
Labels: activism, Atzmon, documents, friends, gatekeeping, journalism, Tlaxcala, UK
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Miguel Martinez - Looking for the King of Copy and Paste
Translated by Ernesto Páramo. Revised by author
Two days after the FARC guerrillas delivered two kidnapped parliamentarians to president Chávez of Venezuela, the Spanish newspaper El Pais followed by many other mass media outlets everywhere, was determined to confuse its readership and nip in the bud all reports of a significant news item which could have given us hope for the future. This event was, however, against their political editorial line, so they replaced it with a pseudo-report entitled " Are Hugo Chávez and Naomi Campbell engaged?"
In Italy, the press behaved in a similar fashion. Israel managed to snatch the role of guest of honour at the Turin Book Fair away from Egypt, to whom the event had been solemnly promised: thus, in the sixtieth anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, two of the three great publishing events (Turin and Paris) are both dedicated to Israel this year (Frankfurt was dedicated to Israel in 2005). Repubblica, the leading Italian daily close to the centre-left, replied by devoting its front page and two full pages inside to a weird and unknown blog which had copied a list of signatories to a pro-Israel petition that had been in the public domain for months: La Repubblica pretended that the appearance of this list on the blog was a clear sign of a dangerous anti-Semitic revival.
Note from the Spanish translator Juan Vivanco
In Italy there are probably at least half a million, perhaps a million blogs.
Because of inevitable statistical constraints, we have to assume that a small proportion of these blogs – which still could amount to something like 10.000 - are written by mad people.
Now, “Mad“ is a strictly scientific term, which does not refer to the contents, but to a series of unequivocal psychoelectronic indicators. For example, the random use of capital letters (known as CapsLock syndrome).
Among these mad characters, there is one that likes to be known as KING SHAULOS II, and up to yesterday, His Majesty had a blog covered with banners reading “ NO TO TURKEY IN EUROPE ”. Actually he does not use random capital letters: he uses nothing but capital letters.
And he proclaims to be the only sovereign of THE CHRISTIAN WEST, clearly under “JESUS VINCIT-REGNAT-IMPERAT IN LISBON AND IN SAINT PETERSBURG, THERE IS ONLY ONE KING – THE KING OF KINGS”.
On the pages of his blog we can also see the image of the Three Kings, and more significantly, a True Portrait of His Majesty SHAULOS in person:
The blog is also full of useful advice:
“THE INSTANT THAT SYNCHRONIZES THE PRESENT IS THE WILL OF GOD, KING SHAULOS II”
His political program is very clear:
ELECTIONS:
“LET'S ADOPT ISRAELI ELECTORAL LAW –
LET'S PRESERVE THE ITALIAN CHARACTER OF DEMOCRACY,
LET'S PREVENT THE CONTAMINATION OF ITALIAN IDENTITY BY ISLAM AND JUDAISM”
In short, he is as twisted as the late Oriana Fallaci, with the difference that he adds Judaism to his pet hates (…).
I have seen the King's blog a couple of times, and it has given me some cheerful laughs (I know, we should not laugh at mad people, but I have never claimed to be politically correct).
However, this morning I saw him again.
On the front page of Repubblica. Plus, they dedicated the whole of pages 10 and 11 to him.
Just a question… how much would it cost a run of the mill blogger to buy all that newspaper space?
The headlines are simply fantastic:
Black list of Jews “return to fascism”
On the Net, the black list of Jewish teachers
Amato [ Interior Minister]: An offense against the law and against civilization
The blog closed, the hunt is on for the author. "We will get him”
Public derision, just as during fascism
Memory must be studied at University to put a stop to hate
Too dangerous a climate, according to the University's point of view.
Code name H5N1, a year of poison sown in the internet
The alarm of the Department of the Interior …Anti-Semitism is reborn in Italy in this way
As you get your breath back, let's try to understand exactly what His Majesty did. First, what is all that about a “Jews black list”?
Very simple. It is the list of signatories of an appeal “against anti-Semitism ” that has been in the public domain for a long time.
If you read the petition, you will see that it has nothing to do with anti-Semitism, and everything to do with the State of Israel (yes, the usual, "those who fight on behalf of the native Palestinians population are anti-Semitic”).
So public was the petition that the promoters bought space in the newspaper Corriere della Sera to publish it, on 14th May 2005.
The space was not bought by the Neonazi International but by “Luzzato Amos, President of the Union of Jewish Italian Communities”. This means, that those on the list paid to publish their full names in a newspaper that sells a million copies a day, if my memory serves me right.
Three months ago (15.11.2007) [1] His Majesty King Shaulos II, with a simple copy and paste job, took the list from a Jewish web-page and put it on his blog (ten readers a day?) with this presentation:
“THIS IS A LIST OF THE JEWISH UNIVERSITY PROFESORS WHO DECLARE OPENLY THEIR SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL”
A piece of nonsense, since the majority of the professors on the list are right wing extremists, racial segregation fanatics and genocide apologists, they are anything, but Jewish.
On the other hand, no one has said that Shaulos II was a wise king.
As it happens, he did not compile the “black list” himself.
The supposedly black-listed put it together themselves (…).
However, now His Majesty King Shaulos II will have to face the Jewish community who call him “ a cancer that can propagate and affect anyone ”, the Chancellor of Rome's University says “ it is an unacceptable act of intolerance ”, the Chancellor of the other Roman university of Tor Vergata, Alessandro Agro, calls for the King to be jailed (being a King, I suppose to be guillottined). ” And also, he will have to face the whole Italian people, as Walter Veltroni, leader of the centre-left (and the enemy and scourge of gypsies) assures us.
Ready for the fight, the Minister of the University said his whole ministry would “pursue charges in court against the the authors of the list”.
The authors of the list, let us not forget, are Amos Luzzato and the Corriere della Sera.
Soon, Shaulos II will have to face scores of accusations from all the interested parties. The newspaper La Repubblica assures us that the professors are going to take him to court for libel.
Let’s see. The blogger has said (erroneously) that all those on the list are Jewish and (correctly) that they are all apologists of Israel.
Wonder which of the two statements they will sue him for.
Note:
[1] In other words, both I and those “included on the black list ” have had time to find that the list existed. After all, something called Google exists.
This means these people kept silent until the scandal of how Israel stole from Egypt the place of honor at the Turin Book Fair blew up in their faces. (see the document in Italian).
Source: http://kelebek.splinder.com/post/15873818/ Original article published on 9th February, 2008
About the author Miguel Martínez and Ernesto Páramo are members of Tlaxcala, the network of translators for linguistic diversity. This translation may be reprinted as long as the content remains unaltered, and the source, author, translator and reviser are cited.
URL of this article on Tlaxcala: http://www.tlaxcala.es/pp.asp?reference=4646&lg=en
French Spanish Italian
Two days after the FARC guerrillas delivered two kidnapped parliamentarians to president Chávez of Venezuela, the Spanish newspaper El Pais followed by many other mass media outlets everywhere, was determined to confuse its readership and nip in the bud all reports of a significant news item which could have given us hope for the future. This event was, however, against their political editorial line, so they replaced it with a pseudo-report entitled " Are Hugo Chávez and Naomi Campbell engaged?"
In Italy, the press behaved in a similar fashion. Israel managed to snatch the role of guest of honour at the Turin Book Fair away from Egypt, to whom the event had been solemnly promised: thus, in the sixtieth anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, two of the three great publishing events (Turin and Paris) are both dedicated to Israel this year (Frankfurt was dedicated to Israel in 2005). Repubblica, the leading Italian daily close to the centre-left, replied by devoting its front page and two full pages inside to a weird and unknown blog which had copied a list of signatories to a pro-Israel petition that had been in the public domain for months: La Repubblica pretended that the appearance of this list on the blog was a clear sign of a dangerous anti-Semitic revival.
Note from the Spanish translator Juan Vivanco
In Italy there are probably at least half a million, perhaps a million blogs.
Because of inevitable statistical constraints, we have to assume that a small proportion of these blogs – which still could amount to something like 10.000 - are written by mad people.
Now, “Mad“ is a strictly scientific term, which does not refer to the contents, but to a series of unequivocal psychoelectronic indicators. For example, the random use of capital letters (known as CapsLock syndrome).
Among these mad characters, there is one that likes to be known as KING SHAULOS II, and up to yesterday, His Majesty had a blog covered with banners reading “ NO TO TURKEY IN EUROPE ”. Actually he does not use random capital letters: he uses nothing but capital letters.
And he proclaims to be the only sovereign of THE CHRISTIAN WEST, clearly under “JESUS VINCIT-REGNAT-IMPERAT IN LISBON AND IN SAINT PETERSBURG, THERE IS ONLY ONE KING – THE KING OF KINGS”.
On the pages of his blog we can also see the image of the Three Kings, and more significantly, a True Portrait of His Majesty SHAULOS in person:
The blog is also full of useful advice:“THE INSTANT THAT SYNCHRONIZES THE PRESENT IS THE WILL OF GOD, KING SHAULOS II”
His political program is very clear:
ELECTIONS:
“LET'S ADOPT ISRAELI ELECTORAL LAW –
LET'S PRESERVE THE ITALIAN CHARACTER OF DEMOCRACY,
LET'S PREVENT THE CONTAMINATION OF ITALIAN IDENTITY BY ISLAM AND JUDAISM”
In short, he is as twisted as the late Oriana Fallaci, with the difference that he adds Judaism to his pet hates (…).
I have seen the King's blog a couple of times, and it has given me some cheerful laughs (I know, we should not laugh at mad people, but I have never claimed to be politically correct).
However, this morning I saw him again.
On the front page of Repubblica. Plus, they dedicated the whole of pages 10 and 11 to him.
Just a question… how much would it cost a run of the mill blogger to buy all that newspaper space?
The headlines are simply fantastic:
Black list of Jews “return to fascism”
On the Net, the black list of Jewish teachers
Amato [ Interior Minister]: An offense against the law and against civilization
The blog closed, the hunt is on for the author. "We will get him”
Public derision, just as during fascism
Memory must be studied at University to put a stop to hate
Too dangerous a climate, according to the University's point of view.
Code name H5N1, a year of poison sown in the internet
The alarm of the Department of the Interior …Anti-Semitism is reborn in Italy in this way
As you get your breath back, let's try to understand exactly what His Majesty did. First, what is all that about a “Jews black list”?
Very simple. It is the list of signatories of an appeal “against anti-Semitism ” that has been in the public domain for a long time.
If you read the petition, you will see that it has nothing to do with anti-Semitism, and everything to do with the State of Israel (yes, the usual, "those who fight on behalf of the native Palestinians population are anti-Semitic”).
So public was the petition that the promoters bought space in the newspaper Corriere della Sera to publish it, on 14th May 2005.
The space was not bought by the Neonazi International but by “Luzzato Amos, President of the Union of Jewish Italian Communities”. This means, that those on the list paid to publish their full names in a newspaper that sells a million copies a day, if my memory serves me right.
Three months ago (15.11.2007) [1] His Majesty King Shaulos II, with a simple copy and paste job, took the list from a Jewish web-page and put it on his blog (ten readers a day?) with this presentation:
“THIS IS A LIST OF THE JEWISH UNIVERSITY PROFESORS WHO DECLARE OPENLY THEIR SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL”
A piece of nonsense, since the majority of the professors on the list are right wing extremists, racial segregation fanatics and genocide apologists, they are anything, but Jewish.
On the other hand, no one has said that Shaulos II was a wise king.
As it happens, he did not compile the “black list” himself.
The supposedly black-listed put it together themselves (…).
However, now His Majesty King Shaulos II will have to face the Jewish community who call him “ a cancer that can propagate and affect anyone ”, the Chancellor of Rome's University says “ it is an unacceptable act of intolerance ”, the Chancellor of the other Roman university of Tor Vergata, Alessandro Agro, calls for the King to be jailed (being a King, I suppose to be guillottined). ” And also, he will have to face the whole Italian people, as Walter Veltroni, leader of the centre-left (and the enemy and scourge of gypsies) assures us.
Ready for the fight, the Minister of the University said his whole ministry would “pursue charges in court against the the authors of the list”.
The authors of the list, let us not forget, are Amos Luzzato and the Corriere della Sera.
Soon, Shaulos II will have to face scores of accusations from all the interested parties. The newspaper La Repubblica assures us that the professors are going to take him to court for libel.
Let’s see. The blogger has said (erroneously) that all those on the list are Jewish and (correctly) that they are all apologists of Israel.
Wonder which of the two statements they will sue him for.
Note:
[1] In other words, both I and those “included on the black list ” have had time to find that the list existed. After all, something called Google exists.
This means these people kept silent until the scandal of how Israel stole from Egypt the place of honor at the Turin Book Fair blew up in their faces. (see the document in Italian).
Source: http://kelebek.splinder.com/post/15873818/ Original article published on 9th February, 2008
About the author Miguel Martínez and Ernesto Páramo are members of Tlaxcala, the network of translators for linguistic diversity. This translation may be reprinted as long as the content remains unaltered, and the source, author, translator and reviser are cited.
URL of this article on Tlaxcala: http://www.tlaxcala.es/pp.asp?reference=4646&lg=en
French Spanish Italian
Labels: absolute madness, anti-Semitism, documents, hasbara, Israel, Italy, journalism, propaganda, Tlaxcala
