Yesh Din: Justice for All?

More on the stench known as Yesh Din. Via NGO Monitor:

• Yesh Din, an Israeli NGO founded by members of Machsom Watch, claims to monitor legal procedures applied to Palestinian complaints against Israelis – both civilians and members of the security forces in the West Bank – in Israeli civilian courts. It also follows proceedings against Palestinian defendants in military courts.


• Yesh Din is funded by the European Union, the Irish, Dutch, German and British Foreign Offices, the New Israel Fund, the Open Society Institute, and private donors and foundations. As with other European-funded political NGOs based in Israel, Yesh Din’s agenda is one-sided, and ignores Palestinian violations of Israeli human rights, including terrorism.


• Their main activities consist of soliciting reports from Palestinians regarding alleged “criminal behavior by Israeli civilians”, and publishing reports on these topics. In these reports, many of the claims are subjective and cannot be verified.


• Reports generally omit the context of terror and use pseudo-legal human rights terminology and “apartheid” rhetoric to condemn Israeli policy.


• The appearance of academic methods notwithstanding, the methodological problems in the reports reduce Yesh Din’s credibility. In its report on military courts, conclusions are based on a small, unrepresentative sample of 800 cases, out of 42,000 indictment and arrest hearings conducted in the military courts in 2006 alone.

Backstabbers at the UN

From UN Peacekeepers Salute Hizbullah Terrorists:

Israel is calling for removal of two UN soldiers from Lebanon after photographs surfaced of the soldiers saluting the coffins of Hizbullah terrorists during a prisoner exchange last week. Israel's ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, said he was "shocked and horrified" by the photograph and that it was time for the saluting soldiers to go. "I think they should be recalled and be sent back to whichever country they came from....They are there as peacekeepers with a very clear mandate to disarm Hizbullah - they're not there to honor terrorists," he said.

Anti-Semitism at the University of California, Irvine

Muslims around the world conveniently forget that Israel is a prosperous and civilized nation founded by legal land purchases and predicated on international law. Muslims choose to ignore the fact that Israel is a legitimate and sovereign nation, voted imprimatur into sovereignty and legitimacy by the United Nations.

Regardless of the facts, empirical historical and archaelogical evidence that Jews have righteously returned to their indigenous homeland, Muslims at the University of California, Irvine, specifically the Muslim Student Union (MSU), a virulently anti-Semitic and anti-American student group, hold several programs which unabashedly support terrorist groups and unjustly denounce Israel, America, and the Western world. MSU events have featured speakers like Norman Finkelstein, Ward Churchill, Muhammad al-Asi and Amir Abdel Malik Ali, and have had titles such as "Hamas: the People's Choice" and "Israel: The 4th Reich."

Out of all the MSU’s speakers, al-Asi has the most lurid personal history. A former Air Force Officer, al-Asi became radicalized by the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and is an avid admirer of the late Ayatollah Khomeini. In 1983, he was removed from his position at the Islamic Center in Washington D.C. for being too radical, and since then, he preaches his hateful message in front of the very same mosque to passers-by. Al-Asi also makes regular trips to Iran to meet hard-line officials, and as reported by the Washington Post, is under constant surveillance from the United State’s government.

Over the past several years there have been a growing number of reports from Jewish and non Jewish students at The University of California, Irvine (UCI) alleging anti-Semitism on campus and biased treatment by certain University officials. These allegations are summarized as follows:

1. Jewish students have been subject to physical and verbal harassment because they are Jewish and support Israel;

2. Hate speech, both direct and symbolic, is directed at Jews by speakers and demonstrators;

3. An annual week-long event sponsored by the Muslim Student Union is an anti-Semitic hate fest targeting Israel and Jews using lies and propaganda dating back to the anti-Semitism of the Middle Ages;

4. Speakers who are pro-Israel and/or those who condemn speakers who espouse anti-American and anti-Israeli views are subject to disruptive behavior by Muslim students and their supporters;

5. Jewish students claim they are subject to a hostile class environment by faculty members who adopt an anti-Israel bias;

6. Materials contained in certain Middle-East Studies courses are biased and are indicative of a “leftist” orthodoxy that characterizes this area of study;

7. The UCI administration is not responsive to complaints by Jewish students.

8. Jewish students complain of a “double standard” when the administration enforces campus rules and regulations.

Muslims also conveniently forget that those who have the privilege of living in the United States enjoy rights of Freedom of Speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as further interpreted by the United States Supreme Court.

Any proscription of speech or an attempt to force anyone to stop speaking as they choose, even if it is hate speech, is unacceptable.

Presidents and Chancellors of public colleges and universities have an obligation to establish an environment for education at their institutions; that the values of that institution in the search for truth should represent the values of our democratic society such as tolerance for a diversity of opinions and beliefs and respect for the individual.

Education at colleges and universities takes place both within the classroom and outside the classroom.

Therefore, student affairs administrators and academic administrators are not bystanders to the education process.

Administrators are also democracy’s guardians of acceptable behavior in the academy. This includes ensuring civil discourse within the academy.

Administrators must aggressively condemn behaviors, including speech that threaten an individual’s well being, denigrate an individual’s ethnic, religious, or racial identity, or blame a religious or ethnic group for criminal activity.

Public colleges and universities are a public trust and therefore must be held accountable to the public through the Board of Regents and the campus administration.

Citizens can also hold institutions accountable by supporting or withholding support for the University either through direct contributions and/or through the support or nonsupport of public funding measures.

Although the university has the moral obligation to speak out against hateful speech directed at a portion of the student body, they have made it clear they are going to avoid commenting on the issue or ensuring a safe campus environment. At the very least, administrators need to uphold the rights of all students and make certain civil liberties are maintained rather than selectively enforcing regulations.

An independent task force investigation recently issued findings that clearly suggest anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism, and pro-terror speech is well documented at UC Irvine. The full report can be read here.

Click here for a video of Muslim hate speech at University of California, Irvine.

Who is Richard Falk?

Another Jewish schmuck. I would like to know why Richard Falk has fallen for the trumped-up concoction of superstitions and deceit which is Islam. He can't be too bright if he doesn't know that Islam, at its core, is lethally militaristic and institutionalizes homicide. Via JPost.

The United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday appointed American Jewish law professor Richard A. Falk - who has compared Israel to the Nazis - as special investigator on Israeli actions in the territories for a six-year term.

Falk, who formerly taught international law at Princeton University, replaces South African professor John Dugard, who was an expert on apartheid. Dugard leaves his post in June after seven years. He made waves when he compared Israeli actions in the territories with apartheid and colonialism.

Falk, in his academic writing, has already stated that a Palestinian holocaust was in the making. [Smooth: Yeah, Falk, and its their own doing. Arabs wanted war, then they should expect the consequence. I hope they're enjoying their nabka.].

Yitzhak Levanon, ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, spoke against Falk's appointment in an address to the council on Wednesday.

"In a recent article, [Falk] stated that he did not think it to be "an irresponsible overstatement to associate the treatment of Palestinians with the criminalized Nazi record of collective atrocity," Levanon said.

"He has taken part in a UN fact-finding mission which determined that suicide bombings were a valid method of 'struggle,'" Levanon said.

"He has disturbingly charged Israel with 'genocidal tendencies,' and accused it of trying to achieve security through 'state terrorism,'" Levanon said.

"Someone who has publicly and repeatedly stated such views cannot possibly be considered independent, impartial or objective,"Levanon said.

No one cared enough

Our plea to the world to prevent Jean Ziegler—founder of the "Muammar Khaddafi Human Rights Prize"— from being elected to the UN Human Rights Council has been ignored because no one cares if a Jew lives or dies, especially the Muslim despots that have infected and infiltrated the United Nations over the last 60 years.

Sadly, to the sound of cheers, and by an overhwelming majority of 40 out of 47 votes, the UN Human Rights Council today elected Jean Ziegler, the co-founder of the "Muammar Khaddafi Human Rights Prize," as an expert advisor representing the Western world. And for its new Palestine expert, the council chose Richard Falk, who, like Ziegler, accuses the U.S. of being responsible for many of the world's ills and describes Israel in Nazi terminology.

Another knife has been stabbed into the heart of Israel.

Click here to read the press release from UN Watch.

Who is Avi Lewis?

Avi Lewis, a Jew, is the son of Stephen Lewis, Canada's former ambassador to the United Nations and former head of Ontario's socialist New Democratic Party. His mother, Michelle Landsberg, is a longtime columnist with Canada's largest liberal daily, the Toronto Star. His grandfather, Stephen Lewis, once led the NDP party on the national level. He is married to radical author Naomi Klein.

And now, having been a former host with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Lewis has joined Al-Jazeera, the Middle East broadcaster that serves as a leading purveyor of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism.

Lewis' main claim to fame (or, rather, infamy) was an interview he conducted with former Dutch parliamentarian and author Ayaan Hirsi Ali in June 2007. The segment quickly made Lewis, and by extension the CBC, a worldwide laughingstock. But instead of ending his broadcasting career, that interview may have served as Avi Lewis's inadvertent "audition" for Al-Jazeera.

As Kathy Shaidle writes in FrontPage Magazine, Avi Lewis has now "gone to work for a network that actively supports the destruction of the culture that made his career possible."

Click here to read all about Al-Jazeera's rising Jewish star.

Who is John Dugard?

John Dugard is a UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories. Based on his credentials, he is educated in international law, and is qualified to lecture, among other things, in International Criminal Law and Public International Law capita selecta. He is also a blatant arabist.

John Dugard claims that Israel's righteous targeting of a Hamas government office was a "war crime" and those responsible should be punished, a United Nations official said Saturday.

John Dugard also slammed the killing of palestinians in other attacks and the closing of border crossings.

John Dugard ignores the fact that Muslim Hamas terrorists in Gaza have fired 130 rockets (since 15-1-08) targeting civilians in Sderot and other Israeli towns and communities during the last few days.

John Dugard ignores the fact that Muslim terrorist organizations' use of rocket and mortar shell fire between 2000 and 2007, the years of the terrorist campaign initiated by the Palestinians (called the Al-Aqsa intifada), totaled 2,383 identified rocket attacks aimed at unarmed Jewish civilians and more than 2500 mortar shells aimed at unarmed Israeli civilians.

John Dugard ignores the fact that since 2001, rocket fire has been directly responsible for the deaths of ten Israeli civilians , nine of them Sderot residents. In addition, 433 individuals have been wounded, 2 the overwhelming majority of them civilians, and during the past year and a half more than 1,600 instances of stress were reported.

John Dugard ignores the fact that mortar fire has been responsible for the deaths of ten Jewish individuals, eight civilians and two IDF soldiers. Of the 150 wounded, 80 were civilians and 70 soldiers.

John Dugard ignores the fact that continued attacks by Muslims on the Israeli population have an accumulated psychological impact on the population and destroy the sense of security previously had by more than 190,000 people, who now live under the potential threat of daily rocket and mortar shell attacks .

Therefore, we can clearly state that John Dugard's comments are insignificant, and Israel's restrained retaliation targeting Muslim terrorists is completely justified.

Hamas terrorists, the obvious aggressors, are completely responsible for any civilian casualties incurred, especially as they purposely fire rockets at Jews and their families while ensconsed in densely populated civilian areas.

Video: Who is Yael Korin?

Yael Korin is the co-founder of the Los Angeles branch of Women in Black and is an ex-Israeli Jew working for the destruction of Israel. Yael Korin is a pathologist at the medical school of UCLA who believes the canard that Jews have no right to live in Israel. She is associated with Greta Berlin, another she-pig at Women in Black, and as Discover the Network writes,

"...Yael Korin... joins other fanatically anti-Israel ex-Israelis, including such people as Avi Shlaim in Britain; Gabriel Piterberg (also at UCLA); Zalman Amit in Canada; and Yigal Arens, a Los Angeles extremist and son of Israel's one-time Defense Minister Gilad Atzmon. "

These vermin seek to see their native homeland destroyed and replaced by an Arab majority.

Yael Korin may as well be a Muslim, because her hatred for Israel runs so deep and her lies are so vast.

Yael Korin is allegedly a child of Holocaust survivors, so she also brought shame to her parents as well as to the nation of Israel.

Watch her video here at a speech in California. Listen to Yael Korin's lies. If you weren't able to catch them all, I identify the mendacity below:



Yael Korin neglects to mention that Jews were also residents of the region of Palestine and were thrown out of their homes by Arabs.

Yael Korin neglects to mention that Palestinian Arabs do not have an absolute, natural right to self-determination without the reciprocal absolute natural right of the Palestinian Jews.

Yael Korin neglects to mention that Palestinian Jews had a prior right to create a national existence in the land of the Mandate of Palestine as was promised to them in several documents including the Balfour Declaration and the San Remo resolution.

Yael Korin neglects to mention that Palestinian Jews have the right to preserve themselves by defending themselves against a culture who wants to commit genocide against them.

Yael Korin was silent when Arabs forced hundreds of thousands of Jews out of their homes in 1948.

Yael Korin neglects to mention that when the West Bank and Gaza were "occupied" by Egypt and Jordan, from 1947 thru 1967, the palestinian leadership had no complaint about any "alien occupation " and expressed no desire for self-determination. There was no movement toward a palestinian state when Gaza was under the control of Egypt and the West Bank under Jordan. Jordan didn't give up its territorial claims until 1988.

Yael Korin neglects to mention that Fatah was founded in 1964 by Arafat; unless causality has no meaning, the resistance to Israel was born with no reference to 1967 or "ocupation", but, rather, with Israel's birth in 1948 and with the return of Jews to their homeland in the 19th century. Jews were living in Israel for 3000 years and the legitimate and sovereign nation of Israel is a resturn to their homeland, not an invasion, as Yael Korin and her minions claim. It only makes sense considering the archaeology, our Patriarch's tombs, our Matriarch's tombs, and most of all our Holy Temple, which Muslim supremacists usurped out from under the Jewish people just like they did to Christian chruches throught out the region. Talk about land grabs.

For Muslims and their apologists like Yael Korin, history starts anew each day.

For more on Yael Korin, see this.

What is Machsom Watch?

The she-pigs at Machsom Watch love to tour Hebron and other parts of the legitimate and sovereign nation of Israel with groups of Israelis and non-Israelis, against the Jews of Hebron by giving false, warped presentations. Furthermore, the she-pigs at Machsom Watch act with the cooperation of Palestinian interlopers and marauders in order to undermine the operations of the Israel Defence Forces, whose purpose is to defend the citizens of Israel against palestinian murderers. In fact, the actions perpetrated by the she-pigs at Machsom Watch are racist actions that aim to bring about the ethnic cleansing of Hebron of all of its Jewish citizens.

Ehud Olmert, acting prime minister of Israel who was never elected, who is responsible for the carnage at Amona, who is responsible for uprooting Jewish families from their homes, well, his wife, Aliza, is a charter member of 'Women In Black', an organization of Arabs and Jews who support Arab takeover of Israel. His son Shaul belongs to the extreme left group, 'Yesh G'vul'. He was arrested as a deserter from the Israeli Army. He now lives in New York. His son Ariel never even served in the Israeli Army. He lives in Paris, and his daughter Donna, a self-professed Lesbian, is one of the she-pigs at Machsom Watch.

The she-pigs at Machsom Watch monitor and disseminate reports on Israeli soldiers at checkpoints, with the ultimate aim of “ending the occupation.” Machsom Watch publications regularly omit the context of terror and employ human rights terminology, “apartheid” rhetoric and emotive and politically charged language that contribute to the demonization of Israel. In many cases, their allegations are either inaccurate or unverifiable. Machsom Watch is funded by private donors, the New Israel Fund and the EU.

Background from NGO Monitor:

Machsom Watch (also known as “Checkpoint Watch” / “Women’s Fund for Human Rights” / “Women for Human Rights” / “Women Against the Occupation” / “Women of the Checkpoints”) was established in January 2001 “in response to repeated reports in the press about human rights abuses of Palestinians crossing army and border police checkpoints”. Its stated goals are “to monitor the behavior of soldiers and police at checkpoints; to ensure that the human and civil rights of Palestinians attempting to enter Israel are protected; to record and report the results of our observations to the widest possible audience, from the decision-making level to that of the general public.” On the New Israel Fund website, Machsom Watch claims another main goal of "end[ing] the Occupation."

This project has the potential to promote good practice at checkpoints, and increase awareness of the complexities of balancing Palestinian rights to dignity and freedom of movement, with Israeli rights to life and security. However, Machsom Watch's strong political agenda and its distorted approach to and portrayal of events at the checkpoints, undermine its credibility, and reveal its core anti-Israel ideology.

Machsom Watch was founded by three Israeli women: Ronnee Jaeger, a Canadian social worker formerly active in Friends of Pioneering Israel and New Jewish Agenda; lesbian Adi Kuntsman a 1990 immigrant from the former Soviet Union, who is currently pursuing a Ph.D in sociology and gender studies at Lancaster University; and UK-born Yehudit Keshet, who has been involved in a variety of groups, from the Communist Party to Bat Shalom.

Membership in Machsom Watch is open exclusively to Israeli women. The organization acknowledges its “definite bias towards mature, professional women”. Although it claims to be “politically pluralistic”, “opposition to the occupation” is a prerequisite for membership. According to its website, Machsom Watch has 400 members throughout Israel.

Description of Activities:

Machsom Watch members spend 3-4 hour shifts in small groups, at checkpoints throughout the West Bank, observing the interaction between Israeli soldiers or border police and Palestinians. They often document their observations as photographs or videos, and occasionally intervene with an Israeli officer on behalf of Palestinians. After each shift, they compose reports in Hebrew and English that are distributed to Knesset members, military commanders, High Court judges, the State Comptroller, other human rights organizations and the public. Machsom Watch’s website also features an exhibition of photographs taken at the checkpoints (see below for an analysis of the manipulation of these images to misrepresent events).

Funding:

Machsom Watch does not publicize its sources of funding nor its total budget, but accepts donations through the New Israel Fund, which acts as a fiscal agent, administering contributions from external sources and individual donors. The New Israel Fund also donates to Machsom Watch directly, though it refuses to reveal the sum[1]. This organization, whose stated mission is to fight for civil and human rights, promote religious tolerance and pluralism, as well as close the social and economic gaps in Israeli society, often funds politicized NGOs which fuel the conflict or which seek to end the status of Israel as a Jewish state. In 2005, Machsom Watch received €60,000 from the EU, as part of the “Partnership for Peace” program.

Highly Politicized Agenda:

Machsom Watch reports often deviate away from describing events at the checkpoints. Through omission of context, use of pseudo-legal terminology and emotive language, many reports become a platform for the author's radical political views.

Writing of the targeted killing of terrorists, on August 31 – September 6, 2003, Machsom Watch celebrates the “fortunately failed” attempts that week to assassinate Hamas leaders Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and Isma’il Haniyeh (both senior terrorists responsible for a number of suicide bombings, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs). The report lists the number and ages of the Palestinian casualties of these operations, but omits Hamas’ ongoing terror war against Israelis, and describes IDF actions as "revenge." In another report, “Invisible Prisoners” from April 2007, Machsom Watch describes the Palestinians as
“victims of collective punishment meted out in a complex scheme of oppression which is typical of tyrannical regimes elsewhere in the world. How did it happen that the Jewish nation, itself the eternal victim of persecution for generation upon generation, dreamt up and created such a dismal reality in the back yard of its own state?”

Such statements implicitly draw a parallel between Israel and Nazi Germany or Apartheid South Africa, demonizing Israel with no factual basis.

Omission of Context:

Machsom Watch reports regularly omit the context of terror and claim that the presence of checkpoints is arbitrary, unrelated to the security situation and created solely to disrupt the Palestinians’ daily lives, hinder their business and humiliate them. In her report “Systematic Abuse by Administrative Means: A Matter of Policy?”, Tsilli Goldenberg claims that “this entire arrangement [of checkpoints] bears no connection whatsoever to the security of Israeli citizens.”[2] Such statements are misleading, based entirely on the Palestinian perspective and not supported by fact. Don Morris of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East explains in his January 23, 2005 article, “Understanding Israeli Checkpoints,” that checkpoints constitute a necessary and effective measure for preventing terrorists from attacking civilians inside Israel. Prior to the outbreak of violence, there were no checkpoints and Palestinians could move around Israel and the West Bank freely. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the first 6 months of 2005, "389 Palestinians, among these potential suicide bombers… wanted terrorists and those suspected of terror activities," were apprehended at checkpoints. This crucial security aspect is ignored by Machsom Watch.

In its December 2006 report, Machsom Watch accuses Israel of implementing “draconian regulations,” including the law prohibiting the transportation of West Bank Palestinians in Israeli cars. The report omits the fact that this rule was issued following several instances of Palestinian terrorists using Israeli drivers to cross checkpoints, enter Israel and carry out terror attacks, according to the Shin Bet Security Services and the IDF. Although this explanation appears as the rationale in the text of the law which Machsom Watch cited in its report, the NGO's analysis completely ignores the terror threat and criticizes Israel for this new measure.[3]

Pseudo-Legal Terminology:

Machsom Watch members routinely employ the rhetoric of human rights law in order to condemn Israel. In her article “Checkpoint witnesses” that appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, Amelia Thomas quotes Adi Dagan, Machsom Watch’s spokesperson, who claims that the system of checkpoints “violates international law.”[4] Furthermore, in her article “On Founding Machsom Watch,” Yehudit Kirstein-Keshet refers to “abuse” and “human rights violations at checkpoints”, and accuses Israel of “collective punishment, pure racism, violation of freedom of worship, and cruelty”.[5] These terms are not defined, nor applied universally to the situation. They are merely employed to provide a veneer of legality to Machsom Watch's political position against Israel.

Similarly, Machsom Watch’s December 2006 report begins with the subtitle “Apartheid?” but no evidence is provided for the existence of such a state in Israel. Phrases such “the apartheid roads and checkpoints” merely serve as slogans, to draw a parallel between Israel and Apartheid South Africa and to promote the “Durban Strategy”.

Emotive Language:

Machsom Watch reports frequently employ emotionally charged language in order to demonize all Israeli actions at checkpoints. In her February 24, 2006 article, “Where Do you Draw the Line?” Esti Tsal’s states: “Now I see sharp and clear. The sight is anything but simple. It's cruel. … you're in another world. Neglected, tense, unstable. Lawless. With a different body language of dominator and dominated." In a 2003 report, “Systematic Abuse by Administrative Means: A Matter of Policy?" one mention is made of the "suicide bomb attack" which prompted additional security at the checkpoint, but such factors are overwhelmingly ignored in the nearly 4000 word piece, which includes the description that, "all of the stories speak of humiliation and simple harassment, of the indescribable suffering of an entire population that wants to live its life with dignity and is unable to do so."[6] Furthermore in the summary of their observations for July 2007, Machsom Watch members cynically describe the Bethlehem checkpoint as a site enfolded by “Orwellian language,” with its negative evocation of an invisible controller. This interpretation ignores the fact that decreased interaction with the Israeli soldiers has been identified as an improvement toward a more dignified and efficient way of running checkpoints.

Affiliation with Other NGOs:

Machsom Watch is a member of the “Coalition of Women for Peace”, which conducts highly politicized campaigns to further its stated goal of "support[ing] … human rights and a just peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.” The first of its nine principles is “an end to the occupation,” but an end to terror does not appear as one of its goals. Machsom Watch members regularly participate in events sponsored by the “Coalition of Women for Peace”, including a 2006 “Call for International actions against the siege on Gaza,” which demanded that “Israel and the international community … respect the political choice of the Palestinian people” and declared that “the siege is sowing anarchy and death in Gaza.” This campaign urged dialogue with Hamas and ignored Palestinian infighting, blaming the internal situation in Gaza entirely on Israel.

Machsom Watch has signed several petitions with the aim of changing Israeli policy. For instance, along with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the Public Committee against Torture in Israel, HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual, Gisha, Physicians for Human Rights and Bimkom Planners for Planning Rights, Machsom Watch signed the petition initiated by Yesh Din on January 7, 2007 against the ban on transporting Palestinians in Israeli vehicles in the West Bank, which was submitted to the Israeli Supreme Court. These NGOs claimed that “the Directive implements an ideology of 'segregation'" and "creates an apartheid regime, as well as a regime of persecution of a national group, both of which constitute international crimes.” However, the context of terror that necessitated this law was overlooked and even denied, as demonstrated by the statement that “the chief purpose of the Directive is to create segregation and discrimination, and not to preserve security.” The negative connotations associated with the term “apartheid” due to its South African origins distort the reality of the situation in Israel, while the use of pseudo-legal terminology to support its case and demonize Israel demonstrates Machsom Watch’s pursuit of the “Durban Strategy.”
In its reports, Machsom Watch takes advantage of the “Halo Effect” (the high regard in which NGOs are held in public opinion), often citing statements made by other politicized NGOs, such as the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR). In turn, other NGOs rely on Machsom Watch’s reports and use its photographs taken at the checkpoints as evidence of Israeli aggression.

Machsom Watch lists several organizations on its “Links” page, including B’Tselem, Adalah, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Gisha. It has also collaborated with lawyers from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) on its latest project dealing with blacklisted Palestinians. NGO Monitor has issued reports on these organizations, detailing their unbalanced, politicized approach to the conflict.
Videos and Photographic Exhibition:

Machsom Watch has a record of deliberately propagating inaccurate information based on visual materials gathered at the checkpoints

On November 9, 2004, a Palestinian man was filmed playing his violin at a checkpoint. Machsom Watch publicized the video in the media, accusing the Israeli soldiers of forcing him to perform in order to humiliate him. It later emerged that he had only been asked to open his violin case (to ensure that it did not contain explosives) and that the Watchers were not close enough to hear the conversation between the soldier and the man.[7] This unscientific interpretation of visual information based on speculations and false assumptions raises questions about the credibility of Machsom Watch’s reports.

Machsom Watch's website features an exhibition (from 2006) of over a hundred and thirty photographs entitled Endless Checkpoints: Photographs Taken by Machsom Watch Women. The photo descriptions encapsulate Machsom Watch’s ideology, using the same techniques apparent throughout its reports and website. These include omission of context ("the regime practiced at the checkpoints is arbitrary and random"), legal human rights terminology ("collective punishment") and emotive language (“the scars will remain with us for the generations to come”).

The exhibition has been presented in public galleries in many Israeli cities. Be’er Sheva mayor Ya’akov Turner banned Machsom Watch from exhibiting the photographs in the local Teachers’ Center, claiming that the contents of the exhibition were “harmful to the sensitivities of the public.” This decision was upheld by the Be’er Sheva District Court, after the city’s attorney, Elisha Peleg, stated that the exhibit constitutes “political propaganda whose aim is ‘to undermine the moral right of the State of Israel to exist as a Jewish state in the land of Israel’.” The Israeli High Court refused to interfere with the mayor’s decision, despite an appeal submitted by Machsom Watch in April 2006, complaining that the ban infringed upon the organization’s freedom of expression.

Below are two representative examples of the distortions deliberately created by the exhibition. The final chapter of the exhibition is entitled “body language” and aims to show that the Israeli soldiers present themselves as masters over the Palestinians. However, this impression of Israeli supremacy is not apparent in the picture, but created through the manipulation of the photograph, or through techniques such as perspective, layout and composition.

Figure 1

Figure 2

The photograph Beit Iba Checkpoint: God and Men’s [sic] Hands: Checking an I.D. (December 2004)by Esti Tsal (figure 1) evokes Michelangelo’s painting of The Creation of Adam (1512). The viewer is directed to identify the Israeli soldier with God, and the Palestinian man with Adam. In the original photograph taken by Tsal (figure 2), the Israeli soldier and the Palestinian civilian are aligned horizontally, just as in Michelangelo’s mural. Yet, for the purposes of this exhibition, the picture was rotated by 90 degrees to the right, dissolving the balance and equality among the protagonists, and creating an artificial hierarchal relationship, with the Israeli at the top. The cropping of the picture also contributes to a false impression of Israeli domination. We see neither of the men’s faces, human beings’ most expressive feature. Both men may be smiling, but we are denied this view and left to deduce the nature of their interaction from the position of their hands. In sum, the representation of Israeli control over the Palestinian civilians is not objective, but artificially constructed through the rotation of the photograph and arbitrary cropping. This modified picture appears three times, first as part of the title page of chapter twelve, then as a background for the synopsis and finally on its own as an object in the exhibition.

Figure 3

The misrepresentation of photographs in order to portray the Israeli soldiers as aggressors and the Palestinian civilians as victims is again apparent in Huwwara Checkpoint: A Taxi Driver Attacked by a Soldier and Pushed to the Ground (2004), also by Esti Tsal (figure 3), featured in chapter seven, “Violence at the Checkpoints”. Once again, the title is misleading and is not supported by the poses of the figures. The soldier stands upright with both hands on his gun barrel (pointing to the ground), while a Palestinian man lies on his back and stretches out his arm for the soldier to help him up. If the soldier had just pushed the man to the ground, he would be leaning forward and at least one of his hands would be outstretched. In addition, the Palestinian man would appeal to his Palestinian comrades for help and not to the Israeli soldier. Moreover, the other Palestinian men are standing around in all kinds of relaxed poses, leaning on the railing or on each other’s shoulders, not in the least alarmed or fearful, and do not rush to help their companion up. One of the men, standing on the left in the white shirt, even appears to be laughing, but covers his mouth with his hand. In fact, it seems that the man on his back is just lying down to rest in the shade, until the Israeli soldier announces that his turn has come to cross the checkpoint, and so the Palestinian man asks him for help in getting up. Yet the caption condemns the Israeli soldier and accuses him of aggression toward the Palestinian.

Conclusion:

Machsom Watch’s stated goal of protecting the human rights of Palestinians passing through Israeli checkpoints is admirable. However, in reality, Machsom Watch pursues a political campaign against the Israeli government and military, with the aim of “ending the occupation”. Its omission of the context of terror, as well as its use of legal human rights vocabulary, “apartheid” rhetoric and emotive language contribute to the demonization and delegitimization of Israel. The work of Machsom Watch would be much more effective if it reported accurately, and promoted human rights universally, recognizing the difficulties in balancing Israeli rights to life and security, and Palestinian human rights.

Endnotes:

1. In our telephone conversation of October 25, 2007, NIF representative Liora Halivni would not say how much NIF gives to Machsom Watch from its own budget.

2. Tsilli Goldenberg, “Systematic Abuse by Administrative Means: A Matter of Policy? A Report on the Operational Practices of the Civil Administration in Occupied Palestinian Territories”, Machsom Watch, 2003. Available: http://www.machsomwatch.org/docs/civilAdministration.asp?link=summaries&lang=eng

3. “MachsomWatch Observations During December 2006”, Machsom Watch. Available: http://www.machsomwatch.org/docs/monthlyReports/December2006Eng.asp?link=summaries&lang=eng

4. Amelia Thomas, “Checkpoint Witnesses,” The Christian Science Monitor, June 7, 2006. Available: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0607/p13s02-wome.html

5. Yehudit Kirstein-Keshet, “On Founding Machsom Watch,” originally published in Hedva Isachar’s Sisters in Peace, Feminist Voices of the Left, Resling, 2003. Available: http://www.gilasvirsky.com/yehuditkeshet.html

6. Tsilli Goldenberg, “Systematic Abuse by Administrative Means: A Matter of Policy? A Report on the Operational Practices of the Civil Administration in Occupied Palestinian Territories”, Machsom Watch, 2003. Available: http://www.machsomwatch.org/docs/civilAdministration.asp?link=summaries&lang=eng

7. NGO Monitor, “Machsom Watch Reports Distorted by Political Bias”, December 15, 2004. Available: http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/_machsom_watch_reports_distorted_by_political_bias

Ruth Matar: Freedom of religion for whom?

Folks, I don't like to publish long posts because I know that people, myself included, enjoy reading short sound bytes which get to the point so that they could move on quickly to their other favorite blogs, video games, and families. But this time I am going to publish something and, yes, it is lengthy but it is important to read.

What is the following all about? Jews who backstab Jews, and in this particular case, it's about the Jews of Machsom Watch, a radical organization of leftist Israeli women.

Here's a must-read letter from Ruth Matar (Women in Green), Jerusalem:

Dear Friends,

My blood is literally boiling!

On the front page of today’s Jerusalem Post there is a huge ad by MACHSOM WATCH, a radical organization of some leftist Israeli women (including Dana Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister’s daughter), but with a large contingent of imported radicals from abroad. The Hebrew word ‘machsom’ refers to ‘checkpoint’. These women have made it their life’s mission to “watch” all checkpoints in Israel, so as to interfere with the work of the Israeli soldiers, whose duty it is to guard against Arab terrorists entering from the territories. They continually incite the Arabs against our soldiers, and even try to bodily prevent them from doing their duty. Tragically, some soldiers have lost their lives as a result of the activities of the Machsom Watch organization.

The ad of Machsom Watch is chock full of falsehoods. Is it possible that these people honestly believe their own fabrications in this ad? What is their motive in presenting the Israeli people as violently intolerant of other peoples’ religion?

I want you to be able to judge for yourself. I am, therefore, including the entire ad.
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FREEDOM OF RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE FOR ALL

“The State of Israel will guarantee freedom of religion…will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions…will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”

Declaration of Independence

Muslims are observing the month of Ramadan. Upon the conclusion of the fast, next week, they will celebrate their holy festival, Id el-Fitr.

The State of Israel PREVENTS tens of thousands of Palestinians from reaching their holy sites to pray.

The State of Israel FORBIDS Muslim men under the age of 45 from praying at the el-Aksa Mosque, one of the three holiest sites in Islam.

The army prevents the passage of crowds of observant Muslims, pushing them back behind checkpoints and fences - by threats, shouts, shoving and tear gas.

Let the Palestinians pray at the holy sites in Jerusalem.

RESPECT THE FREEDOM OF OBSERVANCE FOR ALL

MACHSOMWATCH
Women Against the Occupation and for Human Rights
www.machsomwatch.org 054-5300385
machsomwatch@hotmail.com
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Dear friends, I know that you are too sophisticated to be taken in by this leftist-inspired propaganda. Unfortunately, it is the Muslims who prevent others, such as Jews and Christians, from reaching their holy sites to pray.

Here are only a few of the true facts:

*The Tomb of our forefather Joseph was assaulted by a turbulent mob of Arabs on October 7, 2000. They completely demolished the millennial-old holy site in a matter of hours. They hacked, chopped, smashed and destroyed one of the most hallowed sites belonging to the Jewish People. The Arabs set alight holy books and other sacred religious objects. Two Israeli soldiers were murdered in this pogrom.

*On many occasions hundreds of Arabs, after prayers at the el-Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount, hurled stones and blocks onto Jewish worshippers praying at the Western Wall below.

*The ancient synagogue in Jericho, Shalom al Israel, was vandalized and almost completely destroyed. Israelis now have to obtain a permit from the Arabs to visit what’s left of it. This ancient synagogue was built during the time of the Second Temple.

*Worshippers have to go in bulletproof buses to the tomb of Mother Rachel near Bethlehem to avoid being stoned. The tomb itself is now protected by a security wall.

*Immediately after the Jews were expelled from Gush Katif, the Arabs desecrated all the synagogues and victoriously danced on the rooftops of the religious institutions before burning them down.

*The Arabs attempted to build a mosque in front of an existing Christian church in Nazereth, this was meant to obstruct the entrance to this historical church.

Finally, the composers of the Machsom Watch advertisement asks us to “respect the freedom of religious observance for all”. The advertisement ends with an impassioned plea to let the Palestinians pray at the holy sites in Jerusalem.

What hypocrisy! It is the Jews and the Christians who are prevented by the Arabs from praying at their holiest sites!

In this regard, I want you to carefully read a shocking article about a well-known Christian leader who was arrested and expelled from the Temple Mount for praying.
* * *
Christian leader expelled from Mount for praying
Islamic intolerance and incitement permitted on Israel’s holiest site
jnewswire.com, October 14 , 2003

Israeli police escorted one of the top leaders of the Jerusalem-headquartered international Christian Zionist movement off the Temple Mount Tuesday, [October 14, 2003] on the grounds that he had been silently praying in the area.

While Christians and Jews are forbidden from praying on the hill the Bible designates as a site holy to the God of Israel, Muslims are free to worship and preach incitement against Israel from the four mosques straddling the Mount.

Accosted while silently praying

Jan Willem van der Hoeven, founder of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem and currently director of the International Christian Zionist Center, said he had been walking alone and “speaking to the Lord in his heart,” when a policeman demanded to know whether he was praying.

“I could have lied and said no,” Van der Hoeven told Jerusalem Newswire, “but of course I did not want to and so said yes.”

According to several eyewitnesses, three policemen had then handcuffed and escorted Van der Hoeven to the police station at the nearby Western Wall Plaza.

Police log prayer

Van der Hoeven said when he arrived at the police station the officer in charge asked what he had been praying. He replied that he had been praying for the Messiah to come and bring peace to Israel and to the world.

“The police noted my prayer down in their official report,” Van der Hoeven said.

He had been allowed to leave a short while later.

Putting their feet down

The incident took place after Van Der Hoeven led a group of about 40 visiting Christian Zionists onto the Temple Mount, a highlight of their weeklong celebration of the biblical Feast of Tabernacles.

Before ascending the hill, which the Bible describes as the place of Messiah’s future throne, Van der Hoeven had advised the pilgrims to separate into small groups and walk quietly around inside the walled compound, praying silently.

Reminding them of past instances of intolerance shown by the Muslim authorities on the Mount towards Jews and Christians, he urged the group to be “as wise as serpents and harmless as doves,” quoting the words of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament.

“Every place where your feet tread, pray that it will be given back to Israel,” he added.

On the Mount

Before climbing the ramp to the compound, the pilgrims were instructed to leave all Bibles, Israeli flags and any other apparently provocative items at the security checkpoint.

The group entered at the so-called Mughrabi Gate, before spreading out and walking in twos and threes around the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock and the Golden Gate.

Apart from Van der Hoeven’s expulsion, the group reported no other incidents and departed the area after about an hour.

Unbridled Islamic incitement

While Christian and Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount is not tolerated by the Islamic Authorities, Muslim clerics are free to foment hatred of the Jewish people and the State of Israel in weekly sermons in the mosques on the hill.

The Palestinian Authority-appointed Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Ikrema Sabri, whose offices are situated inside the compound, has issued rulings upholding the longstanding practice banning the worship of any god other than Allah, the ancient Arabian moon god.

“It is forbidden for Muslims to permit non-Muslims to supervise, conduct services or pray in any part of the mosques or underneath them," he has said.

Sabri regularly stokes up rage against Israel and the United States while conducting Muslim Friday prayers for the thousands of Arabs freely permitted by Israel to attend the services.

Speaking in the Al Aqsa Mosque, Sabri has been recorded saying: “Oh Allah, destroy America! For she is ruled by Zionist Jews!! Allah shall take revenge on behalf of his prophet against the colonialist settlers who are sons of monkeys and pigs!! Forgive us, Mohammad, for the acts of these sons of monkeys and pigs, who sought to harm your sanctity!!”

Earlier this year, the official PA Radio broadcast live sermons from the Al Aqsa Mosque in which Sabri denounced the "criminal United States" and "rancorous Britain."

Sabri has appealed to Muslims everywhere “to stand as one rank, stop the aggression, and cleanse their territories of US military occupation…

“O Allah, make the plots of the aggressors backfire on them. O Allah, annihilate them to the last man. O Allah, protect Al-Aqsa Mosque from every evil. O Allah, protect Iraq and its people.”

While Sabri’s instatement as Mufti was in violation of the Oslo Accords, Israel has chosen not to make an issue of it.

* * *

Dear friends, I think it is very important that you distribute this particular Letter from Jerusalem as widely as possible to everyone you can think of, specifically including your government representatives.

All of us are responsible to disseminate the true facts, so that truth prevails over these printed deception of the Radical Left.

With Blessings and Love for Israel,

Ruth Matar
Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:michael@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org