tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1573756484477710162023-11-16T08:16:43.102-05:00MuzzleWatch WatchExposing MuzzleWatch's Extremism and DishonestyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-55511670180416022282012-10-17T16:16:00.001-04:002012-10-17T16:17:38.122-04:00Confusing the Muzzled and the MuzzlersAs documented throughout this blog, the radical anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace often smears those who critique and fact check their outrageous claims as "muzzlers" who hope to censor criticism of Israel.<br />
<br />
They might take note of what is what actual muzzling looks like. After an Israeli-Arab woman went to South Africa to tell the truth about her experience in Israel,<br />
<br />
<blockquote>“There were a number of articles in Israel, the international press and the Arab press even outside of Israel. They described me as a Zionist who sold out her people.” Others accused her of taking bribes to support the country. The media exposure led to real trouble. In Deir Hana, where she grew up, activists from Hadash and Balad, Arab Israeli political parties represented in parliament, “published flyers and articles saying that I sold out my people, that I was brainwashed.” Like the rest of us, Boshra didn’t get paid a cent for her troubles. “They wanted to banish me and my family –- all kinds of bad things.” The rancor eventually turned to threats. “I got many hostile phone calls and threatening Facebook messages. A Facebook group attacking me was started. At one point, even my husband was threatened and told that if I didn’t ‘calm down’ I’d pay a heavy price.”</blockquote>
Read the whole article <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/boshra-khalaila-telling-israel-like-it-is-in-arabic/">here</a>. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-80123300991040539272012-09-06T00:24:00.000-04:002015-06-03T16:45:40.811-04:00Unintelligent People Tap Intelligence Agency Against Pro-Israel ViewsMaybe if Jewish Voice for Peace weren't a radical anti-Israel group, its MuzzleWatch blog would have been bothered by <a href="http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishFeatures/Article.aspx?id=284011">this</a>. But, of course, they have nothing to say about the disturbing assault against academic freedom: <br />
<blockquote>
The University of Rostock consulted the state’s domestic intelligence
agency to justify the refusal of space for a pro-Israel event sponsored
by the German-Israel Friendship Society.<br />
<br />
With Israeli media
detailing an increasingly hostile attitude by German authorities toward
Israel, the involvement of a regional intelligence agency in the
cancellation of a pro-Israel lecture has sparked claims of increased
bias toward the Jewish state.<br />
<br />
Sacha Stawski, who heads the pro-Israel NGO Honestly Concerned in Frankfurt, told <span style="font-style: italic;">The Jerusalem Post </span>on Wednesday that the involvement of the intelligence agency with the
university in pulling the plug on the Israel event is “an absolute
scandal.”<br />
<br />
Alex Feuerherdt, a German journalist who writes
extensively about anti-Israel attitudes and contemporary anti-Semitism
in the Federal Republic, told the <span style="font-style: italic;">Post</span>
that the intelligence agency and the university have “criminalized de
facto engagement for Israel and this is a particularly huge scandal in
light of German history.”<br />
<br />
The <span style="font-style: italic;">Post</span>
conducted telephone interviews and email exchanges over a one-week
period in late August and early September to shed light on the highly
unusual form of government intervention to bar a pro-Israel speaker from
delivering an early July lecture on the property of the University of
Rostock, located in the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania.</blockquote>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-19380878216862095542012-04-27T13:13:00.001-04:002012-04-27T13:13:34.624-04:00JVP Celebrates CensorshipSomeone in the comments section drew our attention to a piece by Yizhak Santis, formerly of the JCRC of San Francisco, that's worth sharing more prominently. It begins,
<blockquote>MuzzleWatch, a project of the Jewish Voice for Peace, states its mission as, “Tracking efforts to stifle open debate about US-Israeli foreign policy.” With such a slogan one would expect the editors to be First Amendment purists. Yet, JVP recently (and again) gave a hollow ring to their stated values. Here is what happened.
Last month, JVP’s Seattle chapter participated in a successful effort to pressure the Seattle LGBT Commission, a sub-committee of the Seattle City Council, to cancel a planned program at Seattle City Hall that would have hosted a visiting delegation of Israeli LGBT activists. ...
At the same time that JVP was supporting the muzzling of Israeli LGBT activists in Seattle, they were condemning the cancellation of a talk to be given by The Crisis of Zionism author Peter Beinart in Berkeley. </blockquote>
Read the entire, damning piece for the compelling <a href="http://engagingzion.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/muzzle-puzzle/">details</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-5283075028228903662012-03-06T12:39:00.002-05:002012-03-06T12:42:50.940-05:00Campus Group Students for Justice in Palestine Conspire to Stifle Free Speech<span style="font-size: medium;">Here's another example of Israelis being muzzled, this time by the University of California's Students for Justice in Palestine. Yet6 again, Jewish Voice for Peace and it's MuzzleWatch blog ignore the incident, show that they're unconcerned with the stifling of free speech, as long as it's their political opponents' speech that's being shut down.</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">Dear President Yudof:</span><br />
<br />
<div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Last week, two shameful events occurred on University of California campuses that made Jewish students feel targeted, intimidated, harassed, and unsafe. We charge the UC administration with failing in their basic responsibilities: to protect Jewish students from a hostile environment and to ensure their rights to freedom of speech.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
On February 27 at UC Davis, Jewish student groups sponsored the presentation of talks by two Israelis, one Jewish the other Druze. The speakers were repeatedly interrupted by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45MB-ANIVls" target="_blank">hecklers</a>, whose intent was clearly to disrupt the proceedings. Not only did a heckler hurl outrageous accusations against one of the speakers, calling him a "rapist" and "child molester," but the heckler brazenly stated: “I will stand here and heckle you until you leave…My only purpose is that this event is shut down.” The heckler also told audience members that he was paid $50 by "Muslim students" to disrupt the event.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Twenty-four hours before the Jewish students' event, members of the UCD Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) sent a communication to SJP supporters outlining a two-pronged strategy for shutting down the event: they would pack the room with pro-Palestinian students who would leave en masse in the middle of the event, and some students would remain to continuously heckle the Israeli speakers. Both parts of the strategy were carried out at the event, as you can see <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZChRd0irVOc&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">HERE</a>, and the event ultimately had to be curtailed because of the disruption.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Besides illegally conspiring to disrupt a lawful meeting and thereby suppress the freedom of speech of the Jewish students and their speakers, members of the SJP and their supporters created a physically and emotionally hostile environment for the Jewish students. According to one eyewitness:</span></div><div><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;"> </span><br />
<div><div><div><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><span lang="0"> </span></span><br />
<div><div><div><div><div><blockquote><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><span lang="0">"As fear of physical altercations mounted, several "911" calls were made. The campus police appeared but refused to remove, reprimand or otherwise take any action against the disrupters. The police stated they were given "orders" not to take action against the disrupters, but instead, to close down the program if it got out of hand." </span></span></blockquote></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br />
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">Shockingly, and in stark contrast to your repeated assertions that the University is committed to protecting the rights of free speech and ensuring the safety of all students, the campus police did nothing, and even refused to take the names of disrupters. In addition, at least two high-level UC Davis administrators were present at the event, and they, too, refused to respond to these egregious violations of University policy and state law, which left Jewish students feeling unsafe and violated.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">A few days later, on February 29, SJP students at UC San Diego brought to the Associated Students Council for the third consecutive year a resolution asking the University of California to engage in a secondary boycott of Israel by divesting from American firms that do business with the Israeli Defense Forces. The resolution was defeated after seven hours, but the Jewish students and faculty who supported Israel were harassed and bullied by pro-Palestinian supporters and falsely accused of racism. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Several Jewish attendees felt targeted and threatened at the meeting: A UCSD faculty member reported that it was “emotionally difficult to bear the hatred and lies.” The president of the student group, Tritons for Israel, stated that “Jewish students feel targeted, and Jewish students don’t feel as safe or comfortable on campus.” Another Jewish student said, “ I am unsafe on this campus when there is talk of divestment…and by voting ‘yes’ you are making the campus very hostile for students who go here.” The Hillel Director stated: “Many of our students clearly suffered a traumatic blow from that experience. I witnessed the verbal assault on Jewish students and the tears that followed.” At the conclusion of the meeting, one Jewish student, concerned that other Jewish students might be physically assaulted on their way home, cautioned them to avoid walking alone. (In <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OzHXfq-wjk&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">this video</a>, Jewish students at UCSD describe the hostility they experienced as a result of the anti-Israel divestment campaign on their campus).</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">In light of your <a href="http://www.ucop.edu/newsroom/newswire/img/15/15382853384e7a6d1bcce55.pdf" target="_blank">May, 2010 statement</a> that the University of California would not divest from Israel, the SJP resolution was a wholly symbolic gesture intended to further the well-coordinated international campaign to economically strangle the Jewish state and bring about its destruction, a campaign which the US State Department has deemed anti-Semitic. Sadly, the resolution effort revealed the utter ineffectiveness of what you had previously touted to the Jewish community as one of your “assertive” moves to address anti-Jewish bigotry. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Please understand that the student groups behind these incidents are not like other University-funded student organizations. The SJP has as its primary mission the promotion of anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaigns and others efforts to harm the Jewish state. SJP chapters on UC campuses are closely allied with Al-Awda: the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, an organization which advocates the elimination of the Jewish state and has ties to terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah that call for the murder of Jews world-wide. Many students in the SJP are also members of the Muslim Students Association (MSA), an organization founded by the Muslim Brotherhood, a virulently anti-Semitic Egyptian-based organization dedicated to instituting Sharia law and a Muslim empire throughout the world, in part by means of violent jihad. According to an <a href="http://www.investigativeproject.org/3460/why-muslim-student-group-concerned-the-nypd" target="_blank">NYPD police spokesman</a>, "some of the most dangerous Western Al Qaeda-linked/inspired terrorists since 9/11 were radicalized and/or recruited at universities in MSAs," and more than a dozen former MSA leaders and members have been convicted of terrorist activities and plots. In addition, some pro-Palestinian UC students have expressed support for the Iranian regime, whose supreme religious leader recently called for the destruction of Israel and the annihilation of all Jews. In fact, one student who participated in the disruption of the Jewish students' event at UC Davis can be seen holding an Iranian flag in the left-hand side of a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45MB-ANIVls" target="_blank">video</a> clip of the event. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">These two incidents cannot be written off as political disputes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel students. The culpability for the harassment and intimidation lies squarely with the students from pro-Palestinian organizations and their supporters, who have directed their unmitigated, anti-Semitic hatred of the Jewish state against Jewish students who openly identify with it. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The two incidents that took place last week are by no means isolated events. They are merely the most recent examples of the longstanding and pervasive pattern of emotional and physical harassment that has been directed specifically at Jewish students, primarily by members of Muslim and pro-Palestinian student organizations with virulently anti-Semitic agendas. To make matters worse, the SJP and MSA students and their anti-Israel campaigns have found considerable support from numerous other student organizations, as well as from UC faculty and administrators. (For example, an <a href="http://amchainitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/20120304172603306.pdf" target="_blank">Israel Apartheid Week</a> event presented by the UCSD-MSA in 2010, which was replete with speakers, exhibits and imagery that demonized and delegitimized Israel and her supporters, was endorsed by the SJP and 8 other student organizations, and sponsored by 18 academic departments and administrative units on that campus, including the Literature and Ethnic Studies Departments and the Office of Graduate Studies and Thurgood Marshall College).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We must state the obvious: Jewish students face a concerted campaign of hatred, harassment and intimidation that has been promulgated by fellow students, professors, and administrators. No other minority on campus has been subjected to such a campaign, nor would the University administration tolerate such bigoted behavior were it to be directed against any other minority. In this regard, we believe that the University of California has a clear and discriminatory double standard towards Jewish students, one which is anti-Semitic in effect if not in intent.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On several occasions we have called for transparent, well-articulated policies to guarantee the safety of Jewish students and to ensure them an environment that is neither hostile nor threatening, and on each occasion you have ignored our request. We still believe these are essential and urge you to implement such policies as soon as possible.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Now, however, <b>we call on you and the UC Chancellors to issue a public statement that: 1) </b><b>condemns the campaign of intimidation and harassment of Jewish students that violates their rights to freedom of expression; and 2) </b><b>denounces the economic and academic boycott of Israel and acknowledges its hostile impact on Jewish students.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">We also encourage other members and supporters of the California Jewish community -- many of them UC alumni, parents, and donors -- to add their voices to ours in urging you to issue such a statement.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The Jewish community will not remain silent while Jewish students continue to be harassed and intimidated on UC campuses, and University administrators turn a blind eye.<span style="border-collapse: separate; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br />
</span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Sincerely,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
Leila Beckwith<br />
Professor Emeritus, University of California at Los Angeles<br />
Co-founder the AMCHA Initiative<br />
<a href="mailto:Leila@AMCHAinitiative.org" target="_blank">Leila@AMCHAinitiative.org</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Tammi Rossman-Benjamin<br />
Lecturer, University of California at Santa Cruz<br />
Co-founder the AMCHA Initiative<br />
<a href="mailto:Tammi@AMCHAinitiative.org" target="_blank">Tammi@AMCHAinitiative.org</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Cc: University of California Chancellors</span> <br />
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>University of California Regents</span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>UC Advisory Council on Campus Climate, Culture, and Inclusion (c/o Jesse Bernal)</span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>California Speaker of the Assembly John A. Perez</span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson</span></div></div><span style="font-size: medium;">California State Senator <span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Lois Wolk</span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> (Davis)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">California State Assembly Member <span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Mariko Yamada</span> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">(Davis)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">California State Assembly Member <span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Jim Nielsen</span> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">(Davis) </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">California State Senator <span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Christine Kehoe</span> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">(San Diego)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">California State Assemblyman <span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Nathan Fletcher</span> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">(San Diego)</span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: medium;">Bcc: Members and supporters of the Jewish community</span></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-81492119744431244212011-08-09T11:16:00.000-04:002011-08-09T11:16:05.832-04:00What American Jews BelieveAs do many fringe groups, Jewish Voice for Peace sometimes tries to cast itself as representing the mainstream, while painting the moderate majority on the left-of-center, center, and right-of-center as extremists. <br />
<br />
Just to reground ourselves: what do American Jews really think about the Middle East conflict? The results of a recent poll answering that question can be found <a href="http://www.camera.org/images_user/pdf/luntz.camera%20poll.results.final.pdf">here</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-46528070170932280202011-06-02T23:14:00.001-04:002011-08-09T11:17:07.847-04:00Pass the Bourbon, Pass on the BowmoreThis blog post is not strictly about MuzzleWatch and its parent organization Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). It is, however, about the bitter fruits of their efforts.<br />
<br />
As I've explained here, JVP, despite its name, is not peace group. It is an anti-Israel group.<br />
<br />
JVP is a proponent of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel for its presence in the West Bank, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem (which includes the Jewish Quarter). In other words, it promotes boycotting the Jewish state because Palestinian leaders have said no each time Israel offered almost all of the West Bank and Gaza in exchange for a secure peace agreement. Meanwhile, it is not a proponent of boycotting the Palestinians for rejecting those offers, for targeting Israeli civilians with rockets from Gaza, for repeatedly honoring terrorists thus teaching Palestinian children that the murder of Jewish children is a noble deed. <br />
<br />
<br />
What does this all have to do with bourbon? Well, read on. Below is an unauthorized cross-post from the <a href="http://muqata.blogspot.com/p/official-scotch-whisky-counter-boycott.html">Muqata blog</a>. I hope he forgives me. <br />
<br />
<blockquote>To The Fine Whisky Distillers of West Dunbartonshire;<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.morrisonbowmore.co.uk/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Morrison Bowmore Distillers Ltd. </span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small; font-weight: bold;">Auchentoshan Distillery, Dalmuir, Clydebank, Dunbartonshire G81 4SJ </span><br />
Distillers of Auchintoshan, Bowmore, Glen Garioch, McClelland’s<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lochlomonddistillery.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Loch Lomond Distillery Co. Ltd</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small; font-weight: bold;">Lomond Industrial Estate, Alexandria, Dunbartonshire G83 0TL</span><br />
Distillers of Loch Lomond, Scots Earl, Distillery Select, Glen Scotia,<br />
Littlemill, Croftengea, Craigslodge, Inchmurrin, Glen Douglas, Inchfad<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.chivas.com/en/INT/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chivas Brothers</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small; font-weight: bold;">Kilmalid, Stirling Road, Dumbarton, Lanarkshire, G82 2SS</span><br />
Distillers of Ballantine’s, Chivas, Royal Salute, Clan Campbell,<br />
Something Special, Passport, 100 Pipers, Imperial, Long John<br />
Aberlour, The Glenlivet, Glendronach, Strathisla, Longmorn, Scapa<br />
Tormore, Jameson, Paddy, Powers<br />
Walker Special Old, Wisers<br />
<br />
Gentlemen,<br />
<br />
I would like to preface this letter, in that I have enjoyed your fine whisky products for many years, and believe they are truly world-class. Unfortunately, due to the actions of your esteemed West Dunbartonshire council members, I will not be able to enjoy your whisky in the foreseeable future.<br />
<br />
It has come to my attention that the West Dunbartonshire Council claims to have voted unanimously to boycott Israeli products.<br />
<br />
The West Dunbartonshire Council clearly states their point on their website, updated on the 30th of May, 2011.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/news/corporate-statement-on-the-boycott-of-israeli-goods/">http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/news/corporate-statement-on-the-boycott-of-israeli-goods/</a><br />
<br />
The actual boycott resolution is as follows:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>‘This Council deplores the loss of life in Palestine which now numbers well over 1,000. This Council also recognises the disproportionate force used by the IDF in Palestine and agrees to boycott all Israeli goods as a consequence. Officers should immediately cease the purchase of any goods we currently source, which were made or grown in Israel. Officers should also ensure we procure no new goods or produce from Israel until this boycott is formally lifted by WDC.’</blockquote><br />
I find it disturbing that the esteemed council found no reason to mention the reason for the IDF’s operation in Gaza. There was no mention of the intentional targeting of civilian infants, children, women and men by Gaza’s Hamas government, the thousands of rockets they launched at Israel’s civilian population, and the restraint that Israel employed over the previous years when attacked on a daily basis. <br />
<br />
The IDF does not target civilians. The vast majority of Palestinians that Israel killed have been terrorists. Go check the facts. I have. Palestinians terrorists routinely use hospitals, mosques, and schools to launch their rocket attacks on Israel. Try defending your population from terrorists and see if you can guarantee zero collateral damage. Does your council not condemn the barbarism of the Arab terrorist because in the back of their minds they are concerned terrorists might hunt them down and terrorize THEIR families? <br />
<br />
Why was there an IDF operation in Gaza in the first place? To oppress poor Palestinian Arabs? How would you deal with Gazas’ Arabs’ targeting Scotland’s babies, other children, and other civilians. Have you not seen the pictures of atrocities the Arabs have visited on innocent children, or does your council not care? We are not talking about isolated attacks on Israel, but about thousands of rockets they have launched at Israel’s civilian population. <br />
<br />
The restraint of Israel under attack is astounding. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Kemp">Colonel Richard Kemp</a>, previous Commander of British Armed Forces in Afghanistan said when presenting his report to the United Nations Human Rights Council in October 2009: “During its operation in Gaza, the Israeli Defence Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.” (<a href="http://youtu.be/fko9F1EAU2g">source</a>)<br />
<br />
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said to the US Congress last week: "Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only Israel's Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights. I want you to stop for a second and think about that. Of those 300 million Arabs, less than one half of 1% are truly free, and they're all citizens of Israel! This startling fact reveals a basic truth: Israel is not what is wrong about the Middle East; Israel is what is right about the Middle East!" (<a href="http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Speeches+by+Israeli+leaders/2011/Speech_PM_Netanyahu_US_Congress_24-May-2011">source</a>)<br />
<br />
Lastly, the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas stated this past Saturday that the future state of Palestine will be “free of Jews.” (<a href="http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=222771">source</a>) <br />
<br />
The State of Israel offers equal freedom for all its citizens, Jew, Arab, and Christian alike, including full parliamentary and judiciary representation. The State of Israel is the unchallenged leader of democracy in the Middle East, and the West Dunbartonshire Council boycott unfortunately attempts to undermine the very success of Israel as a democracy.<br />
<br />
Therefore, it saddens me to have to inform you that the global counter-boycott of Scottish whisky products, distilled in the West Durbanshire Council region, is beginning. I don’t know anyone who bears malice toward these fine distilleries. When, however, your local council representatives boycott my country, under the most unethical and immoral of pretext, you cannot expect your market to sit idly and pretend you are not perverting justice.<br />
<br />
• The counter-boycott is on the purchase of Scottish Whisky, distilled in the West Durbanshire council region.<br />
• The counter-boycott is not retroactive and applies only to purchases made from June 2011 onwards.<br />
• The counter-boycott will not prevented global residents from purchasing whisky products, distilled outside of West Dunbartonshire.<br />
• Attempts to depict this counter-boycott as racist are also entirely inaccurate. The counter-boycott is instigated in response to conduct and boycott initiated by the West Durbanshire Council and applies to no specific ethnic or religious group. This is in direct opposition to the West Durbanshire Council which refuses to condemn the actions of Palestinian terrorists targeting Israeli civilians and the anti-Semitic, racist declarations of the Palestinian Authority, which calls for a “Jew-free” apartheid, State of Palestine.<br />
<br />
The counter-boycott is publicizing the list of West Durbanshire distilled whisky by internet and distributing press releases to news agencies and others around the globe.<br />
<br />
Sincerely,<br />
<br />
Jameel Rashid<br />
The Muqata Blog<br />
<a href="http://www.muqata.com/">www.muqata.com</a></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-85858821216337872452011-03-08T11:51:00.002-05:002011-05-10T11:02:17.800-04:00Heckling, Intimidation and Violence Silences Israeli Law LecturerMuzzleWatch and Jewish Voice for Peace insult the public's intelligence when they shamelessly promote themselves as being dedicated to free speech and peace, when in fact, just below the flimsy facade, they are nothing more than anti-Israel propaganda organizations. <br />
<br />
Especially insulting, too, is their favorite talking point — that anti-Israel activists are "muzzled" by the Jewish establishment. This is offensive because the evidence, some of which I try to highlight on this blog, shows that if anyone is in danger of being systematically muzzled, it is those who defend Israel. I'm not aware of any incident in which crowds of pro-Israel activists violently acted to intimidate pro-Palestinian speakers. Yet from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfwjiITrXaQ">Concordia</a> to <a href="http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/02/13/matt-gurney-anti-semitism-at-york-university.aspx">York</a> to Queen's University in Belfast, Israel's defenders have been harassed and intimidated in appalling ways.<br />
<br />
From the UK's <a href="http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/46077/israeli-lecturer-attacked-belfast-pro-palestine-activists-0"><i>Jewish Chronicle</i></a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>An Israeli law lecturer had to be rescued by security officers when a seminar was abandoned after being disrupted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.<br />
<br />
Solon Solomon, a former legal adviser to the Knesset Foreign Affairs committee, had been invited to speak to law school students at Queen's University in Belfast.<br />
<br />
But he was heckled by members of the university's Palestine Solidarity Society (PSS) and the youth wing of Sinn Féin shortly after starting his lecture about the legality of Israel's security wall on Wednesday last week.<br />
Sally Wheeler, the law school acting head, abandoned the lunchtime session after less than 10 minutes, and a security team bundled Mr Solomon out of the lecture theatre.<br />
<br />
Protesters then surrounded the room where Mr Solomon and other panel members were sheltering.<br />
When the security team eventually moved him out of the university building, protesters attacked the car he was travelling in, punching the vehicle and attempting to smash its windows. One person's foot was run over in the melee.Mr Solomon declined to comment on the incident this week.<br />
<br />
A spokeswoman for Queen's University said an investigation had been launched. She added: "We are disappointed that the event could not take place."<br />
<br />
Supporters of the Northern Ireland Friends of Israel group were in the audience for the lecture but said that they had been forced to hide on the building's top floor until the protest ended, as they felt intimidated.<br />
<br />
The protest was organised by Gary Spedding, president of the university's Palestine Solidarity Society. Mr Spedding works for the Holy Land Trust charity, which seeks to empower Palestinians in the West Bank. <br />
When not studying in Belfast, he lives in Bethlehem.<br />
<br />
Mr Spedding, who led the disruption in the lecture theatre by shouting at Mr Solomon, said the attack on the Israeli's car was not perpetrated by PPS supporters and said he did not condone violence.<br />
<br />
Stephen Jaffe, of Northern Ireland Friends of Israel, said: "The situation on campus is extremely menacing for any speaker or student who is brave enough to be supportive of Israel."</blockquote><br />
MuzzleWatch and its parent organization Jewish Voice for Peace, of course, don't have anything to say about this incident; they don't care about when pro-Israel voices are gagged. On the contrary, as readers of this blog know, they celebrate the stifling of those who disagree with their radical politics.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-81517935094040085622011-02-08T17:20:00.001-05:002011-03-08T11:14:12.315-05:00Raheem Kassam on silencing of Israeli Bedouin diplomat: "Gagging is contrary to freedom of speech"Raheem Kassam, director of Student Rights, a London-based organization which fights extremism on campus, is appalled. MuzzleWatch <a href="http://muzzlewatch-watch.blogspot.com/2011/02/muzzlewatch-discovers-legitimate.html">surely</a> is not. And we are left with another example of speech <i>actually</i> being <a href="http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=206982">muzzled</a>. An excerpt:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Described as a scene “reminiscent of tyrants silencing their opposition,” a student organization has condemned a group of protesters who disrupted a talk at a Scottish university by an Israeli- Arab diplomat accusing them of shutting down debate and free speech.<br />
<br />
On Wednesday evening, a group of anti-Israel activists, mainly nonstudents, descended on an event at Edinburgh University where Ishmael Khaldi, an Israeli Beduin diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was scheduled to address students.<br />
<br />
The protesters surrounded the senior Muslim diplomat and hurled abuse at him. Security officers had to be brought in to contain the situation and the event was eventually canceled.<br />
<br />
“This isn’t free speech; it is hatred, it is vandalism,” Khaldi told The Jerusalem Post on Friday.<br />
<br />
“These activists abuse the values of freedom and democracy of the UK, they put the seeds of hatred in Europe and they betray the cause of moderate Palestinians who, despite everything, are ready to do everything to reach reconciliation and peace with Israel, toward establishing an independent Palestinian state.”<br />
<br />
Israel’s ambassador to the UK Ron Prosor said he was not surprised to see this at a British university.<br />
<br />
“Ishmael Khaldi reflects the tolerant and open Israel of 2011,” said the ambassador. “These attempts to suppress his freedom of speech come as no surprise.<br />
<br />
Once more a British university views this intimidating, mob-rule as acceptable.”<br />
<br />
Raheem Kassam, director of Student Rights, a London-based organization which fights extremism on campus, was appalled by the crowd’s behavior.<br />
<br />
“It’s a shame these protesters, many of whom weren’t even students, didn’t feel confident enough to quiz Mr. Khaldi in a rational and academic manner,” he said.<br />
<br />
Kassam highlighted that an event with the editor of an Arabic newspaper, Abdel Bari Atwan, at the London School of Economics in December was not disrupted despite radical views that people disagree with.<br />
<br />
“Atwan is on record as claiming he would dance in Trafalgar Square if Iranian missiles hit Israel. However, his event was not subject to the disruption that took place at Edinburgh. It flies in the face of those who defend controversial speakers on campuses, if they attempt to silence people they don’t agree with.<br />
<br />
“This gagging is contrary to the freedom of speech student groups work hard to defend,” Kassam said.</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-58783092976931229292011-02-08T09:32:00.001-05:002011-02-08T09:32:20.372-05:00MuzzleWatch Discovers "Legitimate Expression"Jewish Voice for Peace, <a href="http://muzzlewatch-watch.blogspot.com/search/label/michael%20oren">again</a> taking issue with the punishment of students who repeatedly <a href="http://muzzlewatch-watch.blogspot.com/2010/02/oren-muzzled-at-uc-irvine-muzzlewatch.html">disrupted</a> a speech at UC Irvine by Israeli ambassador Michael Oren, seems to have discovered the concept of "legitimate expression in an open and democratic society." A press release by the organization, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-uci-protest-20110208,0,4970341.story">quoted</a> in the <i>Los Angeles Times</i>, uses this phrase to describe the planned interruption of a speech by members of the Muslim Student Union.<br />
<br />
Looking back through this blog's postings, it seems pretty clear that to JVP (and its subsidiary MuzzleWatch) "legitimate expression" means anything said or done in order to criticize Israel. Meanwhile, the organization continues to regard anything said or done in order to defend Israel against unfair attacks as "muzzling."<br />
<br />
Speaking of this <i>LA Times</i> piece, the reporter describes Jewish Voice for Peace as "a liberal group that advocates for peace between Israelis and Palestinians and against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories." This, I believe, is an inadequately vague description that serves to mislead readers. Because that phase could be used to describe groups like Peace Now and B'tselem, which , <a href="http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_article=493&x_context=2">faults</a> and <a href="http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_article=1533">falsehoods</a> notwithstanding, belong in a wholly different category than Jewish Voice for Peace. A "liberal group that advocates for peace between Israelis and Palestinians and against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories" could also describe those who call themselves "<a href="http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/liberal-zionism-1.292270">liberal Zionists</a>," or even members of Israel's mainstream Labor party.<br />
<br />
Again, JVP does not fit in with these groups, and so should not share a description with them. It is, at best, a radical anti-Israel group.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-42333192923102311622011-01-20T14:34:00.000-05:002011-01-20T14:34:24.762-05:00Iranian Embassy Pressure, Anonymous Threats, Forced Cancellation of FilmNow <i><a href="http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Film+cancelled+after+Iranian+request/4128883/story.html#ixzz1Bbb631iW">this</a> </i>is an example of stifling free speech. The <i>Ottawa Citizen </i>reported yesterday that<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Threatening e-mails and phone calls resulted in the cancellation Tuesday evening of a film that exposes Iran’s efforts to build nuclear weapons and promote terrorism.<br />
<br />
The threats followed a formal complaint last weekend from the Iranian Embassy, seeking to stop the showing of the film Iranium at Library and Archives Canada.</blockquote><br />
It should come as no surprise to readers of this blog that MuzzleWatch, which pretends to care about free speech, had nothing at all to say about this straightforward attempt to muzzle the open exchange of ideas. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-58273116953206564162010-11-16T08:15:00.001-05:002010-11-16T10:06:06.565-05:00Jung, Yewish and Plod...Our good friends at <a href="http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/">Jewish Voice for Peace</a> have unleashed their most fearsome campaign yet: <a href="http://www.youngjewishproud.org/about/">Young Jewish and Proud</a>, the declaration of young Jews that they are mad dag-nabbit, and they don’t plan to take it anymore.<br /><br />Fortunately, an intrepid dumpster diver who is also a <a href="http://www.divestthis.com/">Divest This</a> fan stumbled across an earlier version of their manifesto which I thought I’d post for those who can’t get enough of those intrepid schmendricks of JVP. And so, we bring you:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.divestthis.com/2010/11/young-jewish-and-proud-oy.html">The Young Jewish Declaration (original draft)...</a>Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740145761799343210noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-47366477316106740492010-11-11T17:45:00.001-05:002010-11-17T16:06:35.272-05:00Jewish Voice for Peace Watches the Muzzlers in the MirrorThis blog has often shown how MuzzleWatch's purported concern over "muzzling" in fact amounts to nothing more than promoting anti-Israel rhetoric while <a href="http://muzzlewatch-watch.blogspot.com/2010/04/for-jvp-but-not-for-thee.html">attacking views they don't like</a>. But I've also been forced to correct my views on the group.<br />
<br />
You see, I first thought that MuzzleWatch and Jewish Voice for Peace merely "<a href="http://muzzlewatch-watch.blogspot.com/2010/02/oren-muzzled-at-uc-irvine-muzzlewatch.html">looked elsewhere</a>" when anti-Israel activists attempted to disrupt the free speech of moderate pro-Israel voices. Then I realized that JVP went so far as to "<a href="http://muzzlewatch-watch.blogspot.com/2010/02/jvp-cheers-muzzlers-really-and-they.html">cheer</a>" when the open exchange of ideas was stifled, so long as it's ideas they don't like that are targeted.<br />
<br />
Now I know better. JVP, it turns out, actually <i>engages in</i> the very muzzling they purport to watch.<br />
<br />
"Hecklers interrupted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a prominent American Jewish group on Monday," the AP <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/9/protesters-interrupt-netanyahus-new-orleans-speech/">reports</a>. But AP, who exactly were these hecklers?<br />
<br />
"The hecklers, members of the Young Leadership Institute of <b>Jewish Voice for Peace</b>, stood up and shouted at different times during Mr. Netanyahu's speech to the Jewish Federations of North America."<br />
<br />
Seems that MuzzleWatch should watch itself. Maybe next time members of its parent organization think of stifling the open exchange of ideas, they should take a deep breath, gaze at the looking glass, and <a href="http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaeljackson/maninthemirror.html">sing</a>:<br />
<br />
<i>I'm Starting With The Man In<br />
The Mirror<br />
(Ooh!)<br />
I'm Asking Him To Change<br />
His Ways<br />
(Ooh!)<br />
And No Message Could Have<br />
Been Any Clearer<br />
If You Wanna Make The World<br />
A Better Place<br />
Take A Look At Yourself And<br />
Then Make A Change!</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-8816291029136771052010-10-20T12:51:00.002-04:002010-10-20T12:52:22.928-04:00Professor Kicked Off Panel; Dissent Not Tolerated at Queen’s University BelfastProfessor Geoffrey Alderman, a historian who has defended Israel, was disinvited from a panel discussion about the Middle East conflict, apparently because the two other invited panelists, Avi Shlaim and Beverley Milton-Edwards, objected to his views.<br />
<br />
Shlaim is well-known for his harsh, one-sided criticism of Israel, while Milton-Edwards has <a href="http://israelmuse.blogspot.com/2010/09/audio-beverley-milton-edwards-hamas-are.html">argued</a>, in blatant contradiction to Hamas's own charter and repeated statements by its leaders, that the Islamist group "is not anti-peace" nor "anti-negotiation," and are not "anti-Israel" but rather "anti Israeli occupation."<br />
<br />
CiF Watch <a href="http://cifwatch.com/2010/10/18/professor-geoffrey-alderman-disinvited-from-panel-convened-to-discuss-%E2%80%9Cconflict-in-the-middle-east%E2%80%9D/">posted</a> Professor Alderman's statement about the incident:<span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<blockquote>On 20 September 2010 I received an email from the Director of the Belfast Festival, Mr. Graeme Farrow, inviting me to join a panel convened to discuss “Conflict in the Middle East” as part of the 2010 Belfast Festival, held under the auspices of Queen’s University Belfast. Mr. Farrow’s exact words were: “I would be delighted if you would join our panel.”<br />
<br />
I was naturally pleased to accept this invitation.<br />
The panel discussion is due to take place on Monday evening, 18 October 2010, in Belfast.<br />
<br />
On Friday afternoon, 15 October 2010 I was shocked to receive an email from Mr. Farrow informing me that “a mistake” had been made in extending the invitation to me and that although I could join the audience the event was to go ahead without my panel participation.<br />
<br />
In effect, I was being “disinvited.”<br />
<br />
In a series of email exchanges with Mr. Farrow I refused to accept this situation, and I have made it clear to him that I intend to travel to Belfast tomorrow and shall expect to participate fully as a member of the panel.< I am frankly appalled at the way I have been treated, for which I hold Queen’s University, Belfast, responsible.</blockquote><br />
And as of this writing, we hear not a peep from MuzzleWatch. Why? Why don't the purported opponents of this type of "muzzling" have anything to say about this?<br />
<br />
Well, that's because MuzzleWatch doesn't really care about muzzling.<a href="http://muzzlewatch-watch.blogspot.com/2009/07/muzzlewatch-muzzling-understandable-if.html">As</a> <a href="http://muzzlewatch-watch.blogspot.com/2010/03/consider-muzzler.html">thoroughly</a> <a href="http://muzzlewatch-watch.blogspot.com/2010/02/morris-muzzled-muzzlewatch-silent.html">documented</a> on this site, their purported concern for the open exchange of ideas is no more than a selectively-utilized vehicle for their radical anti-Israel activism — fine china filled with trans-fat. Yum.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-39054003816069513292010-10-18T19:08:00.004-04:002010-10-18T19:14:11.925-04:00The Rarefied Jewish Voice for PeaceCongratulations are in order to Jewish Voice for Peace. The parent company of MuzzleWatch (definitely not to be confused with MuzzleWatch Watch — see below for the distinction between the two) came in <b>7th place</b> on the Anti-Defamation League's <a href="http://www.adl.org/PresRele/IslME_62/5875_62.htm" target="_blank">list</a> of top anti-Israel groups in America.<br />
<br />
Of course, because the list is alphabetical, we don't know exactly where they stand relative to the others. But we do know they're in some pretty distinguished company. The ADL's list follows:<br />
<blockquote>* Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER)<br />
* Al-Awda<br />
* Council on American-Islamic Relations<br />
* Friends of Sabeel-North America<br />
* If Americans Knew<br />
* International Solidarity Movement<br />
* Jewish Voice for Peace<br />
* Muslim American Society<br />
* Students for Justice in Palestine<br />
* US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation</blockquote><br />
And as promised above, here's a cheat sheet to help you understand the difference between MuzzleWatch and MuzzleWatch Watch.<br />
<br />
<b style="color: #fff2cc;">MuzzleWatch</b> watches for anything it can find to cast Israel or its defenders in a negative light (See <a href="http://badnewsfromthenetherlands.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>Bad News from</i>...</a>); supports BDS campaigns (including one whose website slurs Israel as a practitioner of apartheid, www.caldivestfromapartheid.com); backs Israel's most extreme defamers (e.g, Ali Abunimah, the International Solidarity Movement), claims that criticism of radical anti-Israel activists is akin to "muzzling," and poo-poos the intimidation of those who support Israel's right to self defense (you can find that type of poo <a href="http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/08/26/anti-zionists-scare-volunteer-soldier/" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
<br />
<b style="color: #fff2cc;">MuzzleWatch Watch</b>, on the other hand,<b> </b>watches Muzzle Watch.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-56562722865396503522010-10-13T13:50:00.000-04:002010-10-13T13:50:42.658-04:00MuzzleWatch's Sister Site Also MuzzlingLike MuzzleWatch, TheOnlyDemocracy is a web site run by the anti-Israel advocacy organization Jewish Voice for Peace. And as on its MuzzleWatch blog, JVP sees no irony in censoring other opinions even while accusing those in the holders of those opinions "muzzling."<br />
<br />
TheOnlyDemocracy's <a href="http://theonlydemocracy.org/about/" target="_blank">comments policy</a>:<br />
<blockquote>We read all comments, but only publish a select few that we believe will contribute to the overall discussion about the struggle for democratic rights in Israel and Palestine.</blockquote>Interestingly, all articles on the website conclude with the welcoming phrase, "Comments are closed." So in other words, if you email Jewish Voice for Peace, and your email is sufficiently in lockstep with their narrow, fringe viewpoints, they might just publish your email on their blog. Otherwise, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxY7Q7CvQPQ&feature=channel">shaddup</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-12839723253869536602010-09-20T09:17:00.003-04:002010-09-20T09:22:30.310-04:00Sydney and Omar's BDS JourneyWell it seems that Muzzlewatch finally roused from its slumber after a blissfully quiet slumber.<br /><br />Before going over what the new Genralisimo of MW, Jesse Bacon, has to say I thought some MWW readers might be interested in this little bit of warped fantasy which stars one of the key players at Jewish Voice for Peace (the puppeteer behind Muzzlewatch). Enjoy:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.divestthis.com/2010/09/sydney-and-omars-bds-journey-part-1.html">Sydney and Omar's BDS Journey - Part 1</a><br /><a href="http://www.divestthis.com/2010/09/sydney-and-omars-bds-journey-part-2.html">Sydney and Omar's BDS Journey - Part 2</a><br /><a href="http://www.divestthis.com/2010/09/sydney-and-omars-bds-journey-part-3.html">Sydney and Omar's BDS Journey - Part 3</a>Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740145761799343210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-31495153882353164252010-07-23T12:14:00.000-04:002010-07-23T12:14:28.832-04:00Right! Right! Right! Right? Wrong.Check out the introduction to MuzzleWatch's July 16 posting. Anything stick out? (It will, because I'll bold the relevant text!)<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Fenton Communications is a well-known liberal, Democratic public relations firm that caught the “adoring” eye of the Israeli <b style="color: #e06666;">Likudnik crowd</b> because liberal Zionist lobby group J Street founder Jeremy Ben Ami is a former Senior Vice President. Back in March, 2009 Fenton signed a contract with the Qatar based Fakhoora campaign to advocate for accountability over Israel’s attacks on Gaza. Accountability and Israel-now that’s a no-no for the <b style="color: #e06666;">pro-settler lobby</b>. But back then, the <b style="color: #e06666;">right wing echo chamber</b> couldn’t do anything with that information, Ben-Ami had left the year before and denied any connection.<br />
<br />
Fast forward over a year and The Israel Project and their <b style="color: #e06666;">right wing buddies</b> are after Fenton (and Ben Ami) again. Amazingly, this time, they were successful and Fenton dropped the account. Completely.</blockquote><br />
Yes, it's the smoke-and-mirrors technique that casts anyone opposed to demonization and other types anti-Israel bigotry as a loyal minion of Dick Cheney. MuzzleWatch's version (though, to be fair, they're hardly the first anti-Israel activists to try this) is a subset of the practice by extremists of all stripes who act as if <i>they</i> represent the sober mainstream while <i>everyone else</i> represents the fringe. <br />
<br />
So let's clear something up: <i>The bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable. It encompasses our national security interests, our strategic interests, but most importantly, the bond of two democracies who share a common set of values and whose people have grown closer and closer as time goes on.</i><br />
<br />
Actually, those aren't my words. They are the <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-obama-and-prime-minister-netanyahu-israel-joint-press-availabilit" target="_blank">words</a> of well-known Likudnik, pro-settler, right wing echo chamber member President Obama.<br />
<br />
Republicans support Israel, yes. And so do Democrats. In a January 2009 poll, a convincing plurality of liberal Democrats sympathized more with Israel than with the Palestinians or "neither." <i>Liberal</i> Democrats. <i>During the Gaza War</i>. Over twice as many Democrats of all stripes expressed sympathy with Israel vs. the Palestinians in that same <a href="http://people-press.org/report/482/" target="_blank">poll</a>. <br />
<br />
So MuzzleWatch can pretend that people like me — pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-environment, pro-gay rights and pro-Israel — don't exist. But we very much do. On the other hand, MuzzleWatch types — pro-Norman Finkelstein, pro-Stephen Walt, pro-BDS, and staunchly anti-Israel? Not so much.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-64273824301779616242010-07-05T08:00:00.003-04:002010-07-06T14:27:26.091-04:00Blue and WhitewashMuzzlewatch seems incapable of letting the whole issue of <a href="http://muzzlewatch-watch.blogspot.com/2010/06/gay-pride-and-prejudice.html">gay rights</a> go, possibly because they realize what might happen to their self-anointed characterization as progressive heroes if the fact that they are allied with the most murderous anti-gay forces on the planet becomes widely discussed. Alternatively, they may simply be giving the latest term in the anti-Israel lexicon “<a href="http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/06/28/pinkwashing-listen-to-elle-flanders-cecilie-surasky-on-wbai-healing-the-gay-jewish-divide/">pinkwashing</a>” a drive around the block.<br /><br />“Pinkwashing” refers to Israel’s alleged scheme of demonstrating its progressive cred (vs. that of its adversaries including, or should I say, especially, with those forces in the Middle East – such as Hamas - most beloved by Muzzlewatch’s Jewish Voice for Peace masters) by pointing out that Israel is the only place in the Middle East with genuine gay rights.<br /><br />In the area of gay rights, similar to women’s rights, there is such a glaring contrast between Israel and its neighbors that any direct discussion of the matter must be avoided at all costs by JVP and its allies, and so they come up with creative terms (such as “pinkwashing”) to make the discussion of the reactionary attitudes of JVP friends and allies seem like a nefarious plot.<br /><br />Under the circumstances, their choice is understandable, especially since their entire endeavor is an attempt to “blue-and-whitewash” the atrocious human rights record of those societies most at odds with the Jewish state. After all, JVP’s pose as humanitarians doesn’t hold up quite so well if they stated honestly that – in their opinion – the rights of gays, women, religious minorities and (in the cases of places like Sudan) ethnic minorities must all be thrown under the bus in favor of their holy cause of Palestinianism, regardless of how many gay (or female, or Christian) Palestinians find themselves forced to flee into Israel to escape death at the hands of their clansmen.<br /><br />The thing I find most amusing about Cecile’s latest post on the subject is the notion that she and members of the fringe Queers Against Israel Apartheid (QAIA) group they’ve allied with are now involved with “Healing the Gay-Jewish Divide.” After all, there was no Gay-Jewish divide, at least in Toronto, until the QAIA group pulled out all the stops to ensure its divisive message was inserted directly into Toronto’s gay pride parade.<br /><br />And so the divide they are trying to bridge is one they have created, a conflict they have chosen to cause through their own single-minded, selfish, obsession. And if the rest of the gay community in Toronto has to suffer for JVP/QAIA actions, they can at least comfort themselves with Muzzlewatch willingness to heal the breach they were responsible for opening.Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740145761799343210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-50618980517278134912010-06-24T11:48:00.002-04:002010-06-24T12:01:29.445-04:00Yoo hoo! Muzzlewatch!Just a quick thought for today.<br /><br />Whenever I periodically Google “Muzzlewatch” as part of this or that research project or ego trip, the Muzzlewatch-watch Web site periodically comes up second only to the site we’re watching. And we’ve even gotten above them periodically on the blogsearchers.<br /><br />I have no doubt that an organization as Web media-savvy as Jewish Voice for Peace (which, despite its despicable nature and program are reasonably good at leveraging Web 2.0 PR to help them punch above their weight) can see these same results and thus is fully aware of the existence of a site that has been taking apart each and every one of their accusations quite neatly for nearly a year and a half. And yet I don’t recall one mention of this fact (even a condemnation) in any of the volume of accusations JVP hurls at its critics on a daily basis.<br /><br />Now I’m not making the claim that JVP/Muzzlewatch is under any obligation to pay attention to us, or even defend itself in our (still open!) comments section. But it is interesting that an organization that claims to crave debate over every issue it throws out has both shut down its own comments in order to prevent critical voices from challenging their claims and continues to ignore some folks who have offered them exactly what they supposedly desire more than anything else: a debate over the Middle East on their terms.<br /><br />Sorry for the interruption – back to what you were doing.Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740145761799343210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-63984460914502132852010-06-22T14:22:00.000-04:002010-06-22T14:22:41.307-04:00Muzzlewatch vs. ConsequencesMuzzlewatch’s Commander-in-Chief Cecilie Surasky returns to the issue of the <a href="http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/03/17/university-of-california-faculty-support-arrested-muslim-students/">UC Irvine students</a> who decided to shout down Israel’s ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, when he attempted to speak on campus last spring. Having never brought herself to consider the irony of a web site allegedly dedicated to free speech having nothing to say when her allies deny that right to those with whom they disagree, Surasky again chooses to focus on the punishment allotted to the Muzzlers.<br />
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At least <a href="http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/06/21/uc-irvines-muslim-student-union-possibly-suspended-for-1-year-for-israeli-ambassador-protest/">this time</a>, she’s dealing with realty vs. speculation, although the punishment meted out by the Irvine administration (suspension of the group responsible for the incident – the Muslim Student Union or MSU –for one year, plus a year on probation) could very likely be turned around via appeal or even legal challenge. The ability of the Middle East dispute to generate actual hard costs (in the form of legal bills) to student government is just one more aspect of the expensive chaos that tends to ensue when Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP – the organization that actually works the Muzzlewatch hand-puppet) decides to import the Arab-Israeli conflict into every institution in the land.<br />
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When reviewing Muzzlewatch’s selectivity on campus muzzling mattes <a href="http://muzzlewatch-watch.blogspot.com/2010/02/poster-child.html">previously</a>, I pointed out my personal discomfort with campus administrators telling students what they could and could not say while also commenting on the challenges such administrators face when one person (or group) decides that their own free speech rights include the right to harass, intimidate, or put a halt to the free speech of others. <br />
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JVP/Muzzlewatch (as usual) also misses a bigger picture in which the type of debate they have dragged into campus after campus has a 100% track record of coarsening conversation, turning student against student, dividing the school along racial and religious lines, leading inexorably to a poisoned college atmosphere that administrators (not JVP) must deal with. <br />
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Naturally, Surasky presents “context” for the Irvine decision by pointing out a number of alleged (and undocumented) instances where people with whom JVP does not agree (supports of Israel, Republicans) supposedly behaved in ways Muzzlewatch’s friends always do. (And just as naturally, she hides this unproven set of accusation behind the quote from someone else, in this case the MSU’s lawyer.)<br />
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But even presuming these accusations are true, shouldn’t that trigger some spark of reflection on the part of those behind Muzzlewatch regarding the degeneration of discourse on our campuses to which they have contributed so much? When I attend events that require me to run a gauntlet of protestors (or cops), and have to pull myself closer to the stage to hear over protestor’s bullhorns, it depresses me that another place where a conversation could have taken place has been turned instead into an infantile shouting match.<br />
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Is there any similar sentiment to be found at Muzzlewatch? Any thought that their activity (including attempts to accuse critics of censorship for having the temerity of criticizing them) might be doing more harm than good? Not a chance. Just the usual self-righteousness and childish attempts to restate their ongoing case which can be boiled down to: “Free speech for me, but not for thee.”Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740145761799343210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-82597142576633869612010-06-15T20:23:00.002-04:002010-06-16T01:40:54.870-04:00Gay Pride and PrejudiceTime to close out this month’s review of Muzzlewatch misfires with a discussion of their most <a href="http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/06/11/lgbt-leaders-in-open-rebellion-against-toronto-pride-for-censoring-israeli-apartheid/">bizarre accusation to date</a>: that Israel supporters are somehow trying to stifle discussion of “Israel Apartheid” within the gay and lesbian community.<br /><br />I say “bizarre” because if there’s one issue where Israel’s human rights record shines with supernova-scale light when compared to its neighbors (the folks who, among other things, support and fund Israel=Apartheid campaigns) it’s in the area of gay rights.<br /><br />After all, it’s one thing to sweep the repression of women in the Muslim world under the carpet with a turn of the head and some feeble muttering about “understanding cultural differences” that implies that it is only the kept, hajibbed women trailing along her owner/husband by ten paces that is truly “free.” But there really is no way to ignore that gay pride parades that take place routinely in Israel would be met with machine gun fire if it took place in Cairo or Tehran (the latter being spared such concerns since, according to the Iran’s President, there are no homosexuals in that country – so much for 1 in 10).<br /><br />Now I know that within Israel there are Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox individuals groups who rail against homosexuals, lesbians and the "Sodom and Gamorah" of Tel Aviv’s gay scene. But that’s simply because Israel has a gay scene to verbally rail against. And I know that some defenders of Israel with no track record of defending gay rights in the US will often draw a Muslim homophobia arrow from the quiver during political debate. But if only non-black pots were allowed to debate the subject of kettles, well there would be no Muzzlewatch or Jewish Voice for Peace, now would there?<br /><br />The ludicrousness of trying to use the gay issue as a bludgeon against the Jewish state came home when someone forwarded me a letter begging Elton John to not play a concert in “Apartheid Israel,” claiming that, despite its supposed open-mindedness regarding homosexuality, Israel has in the past yielded to demands of Palestinians families to have their fleeing gay children returned to them. Yes, you heard that right. Partisans of the Palestinian cause now list, among Israel’s crimes¸ the Jewish state’s alleged choice to send gay men and women into the clutches of the very Palestinians these partisans spend their lives fighting for, and then blame Israel when said gay Palestinians are beaten to death by their brethren.<br /><br />This nonsense makes sense only if you realize that the entire point of Muzzlewatch is as a preemptive strike. Remember, Jewish Voice for Peace wants to be able to say whatever it wants and do whatever it wants, whenever and wherever it wants. Yet it also wants to claim that anyone else exposing its lies or hypocrisy, or battling against its causes (such as BDS) are “muzzlers” trying to stifle debate on the Middle East. This moral inversion can only be accomplished because supporters of Israel actually possess a respect for open discussion and debate that JVP and its friends simply feign. And so, Muzzlewatch hopes that they can get their critics to question their own rights to engage in political activity, leaving JVP et al free to do their dirty work unhindered.<br /><br />Extending this tactic to a gay pride matter is simply Muzzlewatch’s childlike way to try to preempt the facts stated above, notably that it is Jewish Voice for Peace that unquestionably supports a culture that tortures and murders gay people against an Israeli society that welcomes them. Hiding behind a “Queers Against Israeli Apartheid” splinter group that’s even more marginal that JVP itself is simply their clumsy way of hiding their own opinions behind someone else's.<br /><br />Now that I think about it, if gay rights are such a vital issue with which to bash the Jewish state, why hasn’t Jewish Voice for Peace taken up this matter with gay leaders in JVP’s own North California stronghold? Could it be that local gay pride groups know how to respond to narrow partisans trying to morally blackmail them into embracing a cause they know is not theirs (with a hearty FU)?<br /><br />Or perhaps the Muzzlewatchers haven’t gone down this route simply because, as in Tehran, there are no gay people in San Francisco.Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740145761799343210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-23359328575028027302010-06-13T10:22:00.001-04:002010-06-13T10:29:35.807-04:00Muzzlewatch: Lost at SeaGod how I miss those weeks in May and June when the Jewish Voice for Peace crew were busying themselves with trying to spin the dogshit of defeat of their failed <a href="http://www.divestthis.com/2010/04/bds-loses-big-at-berkeley.html">BDS campaigns in California</a> into the gold of fantasy victory. For four blissful weeks, Muzzlewatch stayed silent, allowing me to do something other than shooting their latest “fish-in-a-barrel” arguments.<br /><br />Alas, four accusations in one week require four responses. <a href="http://muzzlewatch-watch.blogspot.com/2010/06/words-words-words.html">One </a>and <a href="http://muzzlewatch-watch.blogspot.com/2010/06/dont-sanction-me.html">two </a>can be found in last week’s postings, so today we take on Muzzlewatch’s take on the “<a href="http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/06/10/silencing-gaza-flotilla-activists-in-the-united-states/">Freedom Flotilla</a>” in which a boat load of Turkish mercenaries suffered the fate that inevitably comes to those who bring a knife to a gunfight.<br /><br />Muzzlewatch has a sticky problem with regard to portraying the recent Flotilla incident as nothing more than Israeli butchers dropping down to peaceful aid ships for Gaza and massacring or beating everyone in sight. <br /><br />It’s not just that the world has seen <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk?blend=3&ob=4">video evidence</a> demonstrating what happened before and after Israeli soldiers boarded the Mavi Mavera. After all, JVP and friends can simply rant on about how such evidence was “obviously” doctored (quoting like-minded Web sites as their only source for de-legitimizing overwhelming, clear-cut evidence regarding how violence broke out on that ship). After all, when JVP and its pals act as judge and jury (as they do at Muzzlewatch), it goes without saying any evidence Israel and its supporters provide for the defense will be immediately thrown out of court.<br /><br />No the trouble for JVP is evidence those participating in the Flotilla provide. After all, there were six ships in that convoy (seven if you include the Rachel Corrie which rode on the wake of the previous week’s mayhem). And on all those ships except one, no one was shot, no one was wounded. Like every other ship that tried to run the legal, legitimate Israeli blockade of Gaza (including at least two gun running ships from Iran), the crew and passengers of all ships that did not go on the attack were brought safely to an Israeli port and sent home.<br /><br />Israel’s video evidence is not all that’s needed to show the difference between the many blockade running ships where no one was hurt, and the one ship where several people were killed. For once the survivors of Mavi Mavera returned home to Turkey, they were not wailing about how they had been victimized. No, they were <a href="http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/2010/06/clash-of-perceptions-picture-is-worth.html">bragging </a>about how they had drawn the blood of Israeli soldiers.<br /><br />In other words, just as JVP and other friends and allies of the Flotilla are painting a picture of pristine victims on every boat that’s sailed towards the Gaza coast, crews full of nuns and orphans who would never lift a finger against anyone, other Flotilla friends (including those that participated) are boasting in national newspapers that attacking Israelis was why they set sail in the first place.<br /><br />Here you have an interesting example of the dual role proponents of violence and propaganda play in the Arab-Israeli conflict with some parties (like Turkey’s IHH terrorist organization or Hamas) providing the muscle, the blades, the bullets and the rockets that allow the folks at JVP to get off on surrogate violence. In the meanwhile, JVP’s job is to turn the propaganda volume up to 11, trying to turn self-proclaimed warriors into the reincarnation of Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Jesus Christ. <br /><br />According to JVP and Muzzlewatch, their hands are clean (except, perhaps, for the whitewash).Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740145761799343210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-40826438756571998162010-06-12T07:10:00.003-04:002010-06-12T11:37:59.846-04:00Don't Sanction Me!I guess another month of silence on the Muzzlewatch front was too much to hope for. Once again, they seem to be in the business of throwing accusation after accusation up against the wall in dim hope that at least one will stick. <br />
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Having dealt with their <a href="http://muzzlewatch-watch.blogspot.com/2010/06/words-words-words.html">laughable attempts</a> to make victims of themselves and Helen Thomas, one of Muzzlewatch’s most <a href="http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/06/09/israeli-law-to-criminalize-advocates-of-boycotts-inside-or-outside-of-israel/">recent postings</a> attempts to turn Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and all their allies in the BDS “movement” into martyrs of a scale never seen since Rome threw Christians to the lions.<br />
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Once more, a quick clarification. Muzzlewatch is not an organization, but a tactic used by the organization Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a group whose main missions are to (1) pronounce anyone accused of anti-Semitism “not guilty” (with a Jewish accent) and (2) getting everyone in the world to boycott, divest from and sanction the state of Israel as the leading BDS organization with the word “Jewish” in its name.<br />
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Let’s think a moment about what BDS stands for (literally and conceptually). By “Boycott” (the “B” of BDS), that means they would like every retail organization on the globe to stop selling Israeli products. They would also like academics and artists to boycott the Jewish state, meaning researchers and professors (in any field) should stop sharing information with Israelis, stop inviting them to conferences, stop allowing them into graduate programs. And by “Israelis,” I mean just the Jewish ones. Palestinian “academics” like <a href="http://www.divestthis.com/2010/05/barghouti.html">Omar Barghouti</a> are, in contrast, free to not only skip such a boycott, but to enjoy a subsidized lifestyle at an Israeli university of their choosing while they jet around the world advocating for all other academics in the world to boycott their Israeli colleagues. And any attempted boycott of people like Barghouti is denounced as a form of bigotry.<br />
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Divestment (BDS’s “D”) means all institutions that in any way invest in Israel or in companies that do business with Israel should drop those investments in protest of this or that policy of the Jewish state. And Sanctions (“S”) extends this call for punishment to governments and international organizations, all of which are called upon by BDS advocates (like Jewish Voice for Peace) to take official action denouncing and punishing (economically and otherwise) Israel, using their government power and authority to pass judgment and take action against one and only one nation: the Jewish one.<br />
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But apparently, JVP has a problem when a government follows their advice to the letter, only this time turning that advice about “sanctions” against BDS activists themselves. Yes, after a decade of BDS activity targeting Israel, some <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3902932,00.html">Israeli parliamentarians </a>are trying to create consequences for that activity, calling for Israelis who take part in a boycott to pay for any damages caused to those being boycotted, and not continuing to give BDS advocates all the privileges they have enjoyed entering and leaving Israel to spread their poison at will.<br />
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Now truth be told, I’m not personally a big fan of any government taking action against political activity inside or outside of their borders. And, while I could definitely be wrong, the resolution Muzzlewatch has gotten its panties bunched up over looks a lot like “get tough” posturing that rarely becomes law (or stays law) within a democracy (unlike, say, outlawing drawings of Mohammed which Muslim nations seem to be succeeding in turning into a global blasphemy law – to the silence of “Muzzlewatch,” of course).<br />
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The problem is, any case that such laws do more harm than good is undercut by the activities of Jewish Voice for Peace which clearly stands for universal jurisdiction of every country against every other through its incessant calls that all governments everywhere (not to mention all other institutions everywhere) drop their core missions to focus instead on JVP’s top priority: punishment of the Jewish state.<br />
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It gives me no pleasure to say “sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander,” and I would prefer that all governments stop shaking their fists at one another for reasons of political posturing. But if JVP finds the notion of government sanction turned against it and its allies so repellent, perhaps they should have a talk with the folks they see in the mirror every morning regarding how their own activity has made an Israeli response inevitable.Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740145761799343210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-81037293717723019672010-06-10T08:59:00.002-04:002010-06-10T09:04:40.821-04:00Words, words, wordsWell those delicate flowers at Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) seem so bent out of shape (or so busy jumping for joy) over events from the last few weeks that they have lost track of the fact that their Muzzlewatch site, which pretends to be advocating for free speech and open discussion of the Middle East, has broken into a huff over the fact that someone dares say things with which JVP does not approve.<br /><br />First off, after nearly a month’s blissful hiatus, Muzzlewatch posts <a href="http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/06/07/stand-with-us-members-shout-pigs-for-palestine-threaten-activists-in-san-francisco/">this disturbing video</a> and transcript about angry voices allegedly raging against them by supporters of Israel protesting an event held by JVP and its friends denouncing the Jewish state for piracy and murder. <br /><br />Naturally, we are required to take JVP at their word that this alleged hostility was the Alpha and Omega of the response to their protest, and that the hostility they encountered was only one-way. Those of us who have attended pro-Israel events where vile epitaphs are routinely shouted at us through megaphones (not to mention events where such protests degenerate into “direct action” to disrupt Israeli speakers and entertainers) may be a bit skeptical of Muzzlewatch’s self-serving account of the SF event.<br /><br />And then we move onto <a href="http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/06/08/helen-thomas-hypocrisy-here-and-there/">Helen Thomas</a>. After making the requisite criticism of “The Grand Dame of White House journalists” as “offensive and wrong” for calling for the Jews of Palestine to go back to Poland, they then dedicate the following 14 paragraphs to condemning all of their critics as contemptible racists. (Funny how a site which claims that its critics routinely try to shut down discussion of the Middle East through cynical accusations of anti-Semitism seem to have a hair trigger when it comes to stifling use of the “R-word.”)<br /><br />What is missing from all of their discussion of the hurtful impact of words is commentary on this language:<br /><br />“Shut up! Go back to Aushwitz!”<br /><br />or the only slightly more tasteful:<br /><br />"We're helping the Arabs go against the US, don't forget 9/11 guys!"<br /><br />No, these are not recently discovered lyrics from John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance.” They are, in fact, the words spoken by <a href="http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5460978/gaza_flotilla_shut_up_go_back_to_auschwitz.html">“peace activists”</a> aboard the one (and only one) ship in the recent “Peace Flotilla” that decided to attack Israelis with deadly force, leading to deadly force directed against them, leading to a crisis, leading to a JVP march against “Israeli barbarism,” leading to people protesting against JVP and its friends. <br /><br />And what has Muzzlewatch distilled this entire episode down to? Selective excerpts of people saying mean things to them on the streets of San Francisco. <br /><br />Unlike the boiling, hate-filled rage that spews daily from the Middle East media and educational curricula, Jew-hating incitement that has led directly to the death of thousands and doom for any hope of peace, any hostility JVP and its critics hurled at each other is not likely to ever go beyond angry rhetoric. <br /><br />So the question is, does Muzzlewatch point its radar only at its critics, rather than its allies, because it feels it can impact the former, but not the latter? Or does it actually approve of the bile associated with those JVP supports, and hopes it can shame those who have the audacity to point out their hypocrisy into silence?Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740145761799343210noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157375648447771016.post-29728312814668444682010-05-10T14:31:00.002-04:002010-05-10T14:35:37.293-04:00Muzzlewatch's Broken RecordI suspect that Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is having trouble finding a way to portray the defeat of its beloved <a href="http://www.divestthis.com/2010/05/uc-divestment-enough-already.html">Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions</a> (BDS) resolutions up and down the State of California as a form of “censorship,” which is why JVP’s Muzzlewatch mouthpiece has had to suffice with acting like a broken record over the last month.<br /><br />The groove on they seem stuck is <a href="http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/05/07/sf-and-boston-jewish-charity-blacklists-and-the-israel-question/">their reaction</a> to the fact that the organized Jewish community of San Francisco is starting to exercise some judgment with regard to whom it gives money to and how people are allowed to present themselves when traveling under the official Jewish Federation banner.<br /><br />You see, last year JVP and its friends managed to hijack the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, turning it into an event created in their own image where films and lectures depicting Israelis as intentional murderers were welcomed and hailed, while those defending Israel against such outlandish charges were heckled and jeered. <br /><br />Members of the community naturally asked what had led to such behavior and what mechanisms were in place to ensure that people were not using the community’s money, facilities and name to assault the very things that community held most dear (including not being accused of being accomplices to war crimes). <br /><br />Despite the enormous bureaucratic inertia that usually prevents institutions like the Federation from enacting changes of this type, the behavior of JVP and its allies was so outrageous that reforms began to be put in place. And, right on cue, the notion that an establishment Jewish organization would not automatically continue to underwrite the defamation of the Jewish people brought howls of “censorship” from JVP/Muzzlewatch’s Cecilie Surasky.<br /><br />Naturally, Muzzlewatch’s outrage is portrayed in the form of statements made and petitions signed by local Jewish organizations who are understandably concerned with decisions of this type. The fact that these statements/petitions need to be seen in the context of equally valid statements supporting the Federation’s position (not to mention the reasons for the change in which JVP was so intimately involved) are dealt with at Muzzlewatch by simply pretending they don’t exist. And thus their cartoon of Federation fat cats suppressing a silent majority of peace-loving Jews prevails (at least in the minds of the 30 or so people who regularly read Muzzlewatch for something other than a laugh).Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740145761799343210noreply@blogger.com0