Elder of Ziyon Daily News |  |
| Miftah apologizes for blood libel - but only in English! Posted: 02 Apr 2013 06:25 PM PDT Miftah, the somewhat obscure Palestinian Arab NGO founded by media darling Hanan Ashrawi, issued a belated apology for publishing an article that declared that Jews drink Christian blood on Passover. From JTA/Times of Israel: While the belated apology is welcome, it is obviously not sincere. The apology says "We are whole-heartedly committed to fighting racism, hatemongering, discrimination and persecution of any kind wherever it should exist, and especially in our own society." Yet the original offensive article was written and published in Arabic. Two days later, Miftah's Arabic website shows no indication of regret, apology or condemnation of the classic blood libel against Jews that it published. Readers of the Arabic website have only been exposed to the original blood libel article and to Miftah's justification for it but they have not been informed by NGO that claims to "fight hatemongering" that there was anything wrong about the original article. (In fact, their attack against me and original justification for the blood libel article as part of "its mandate for open dialogue" remains on its website as well. Was that also written by a "junior staff member"?) As we saw back in the days of Yasir Arafat, saying one thing in English and another in Arabic is a classic way to appease the West while keeping the status quo to the intended audience. Indeed, Miftah has previously happily published the modern equivalents of the blood libel, parroting false claims that Israeli Jews targeted and stole organs from Palestinian Arabs, Ukrainians and Haitians. And Miftah itself ridiculed the idea that such accusations are in any way anti-semitic. In other words, this apology rings hollow. But it was necessary, not because Miftah cares about doing the right thing, but because it was clearly under pressure from its donors to do something so as not to embarrass them. In fact, even UNESCO denounced the blood libel published in Miftah: The U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which has partnered with Miftah on various projects, rebuked the group Tuesday.Miftah's about-face was not a result of an epiphany where it realized how offensive the article was. It was simply a belated attempt at firefighting. That may be enough for its donors, anxious to fund seemingly liberal Palestinian Arab NGOs and unwilling to have the controversy reflect on them. And in one sense the insincere apology is still a victory because Miftah will be more careful about publishing anti-semitism in the future. But don't be fooled into thinking that Miftah is sorry. If it was, it would apologize and educate the audience that the original article was addressed to - the Arabic speakers who still believe, based purely on what they have read in Miftah, that the medieval blood libel is true.           |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2013 05:00 PM PDT From Ian: Free Beacon: This Blood Libel Brought to You by the West Western-backed Palestinian nonprofit apologizes for anti-Semitic blood libel Miftah, which has been criticized in the past for glorifying terrorism and advocating in favor of boycotting Israel, received support from the taxpayer-funded NED until 2010.The Letter the New York Times Didn't Print Here's the response the New York Times didn't print regarding its feature on the Palestinian village that spawned the terrorist who killed our daughter. The editors of the New York Times Magazine chose two weeks ago to publish a partisan, tendentious and extraordinarily selective piece of advocacy journalism about the village of Nabi Saleh. Located a few kilometers north of our home in Jerusalem, it's a place that holds significance for us since almost all the residents have the same surname: Tamimi.Jordanian singer cancels Jaffa gig after threats Israel Radio reported that the Jordanian singer cancelled his performance after receiving death threats from pro-Palestinian organizations.UC Hebrew lecturer ties student groups to Hamas Benjamin is shown describing students from the Muslim Students Association and Students for Justine in Palestine as often being foreign students arriving at American universities from Muslim countries where they are "fed on a diet of anti-Semitism."Lawrence Solomon: Christian exodus could fuel Middle East decline Christians in their millions are leaving Muslim lands, a heartbreak for the region's 12 million remaining Copts, Catholics, Chaldeans and other Christian communities, many of which predate Muslim communities. But their exodus also represents a great tragedy for the region's Muslims: The Middle East's Christians, with their free-wheeling, free-market orientation, have for centuries created prosperity in an otherwise stagnant Middle East; once the Christians are gone, an economic desolation is likely to revisit their historic homelands.BBC advances political propaganda on Jerusalem Once again we see the BBC adopting a narrative whereby Middle East history begins in 1967. That narrative of course completely ignores the Jordanian conquest of part of the city and its subsequent division for the first time in its long history, as well as the fact that the Jordanian occupation was never recognized as legitimate by the UN. The same narrative also ignores the expulsion of Jews from Jerusalem neighbourhoods during the waves of Arab violence in the riots of the 1920s and 1930s, as well as during the 1948 Jordanian invasion.Hamas law bans mixed sex schools in Gaza Strip New rules will bar men from teaching at girls' schools, mandate separate classes for boys and girls from the age of 9. "Instead of hiding behind traditions, why don't they say clearly they are Islamists and they want to Islamize the community," she said.Poll: Palestinians prefer Barghouti over Abbas By Khaled Abu Toameh Jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti would defeat Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in presidential elections, a public opinion poll published on Monday showed.Egypt becoming a nightmare for Muslim Brothers Investors have fled, tourists are scared. Hunger riots may not be far off. Yet the Brotherhood surges blindly on, not ready to let go of the golden prize achieved after nearly a century. And so the standoff goes on between the regime and the opposition, while quicksand threatens to engulf them all.Start your engines: Formula 1's coming to Jerusalem For the first time, Formula 1's internationally renowned race cars and drivers will traverse the capital's streets.3 African-Israeli women hope to use their fame to bolster integration Having overcome challenges themselves, a beauty queen, an actress and a singer aim to help others from immigrant communities and to showcase Israel's diversity When Yityish Aynaw immigrated from Ethiopia to Israel at age 12, she was thrust into an Israeli classroom. An orphan lacking Hebrew skills, Aynaw says she relied on other kids and her own sheer ambition to get through.Top 10 Israeli strides against Parkinson's April is Parkinson's Awareness Month. Find out about the most promising research in Israel to find preventions, treatments and cures. As many as 10 million people worldwide (one million in the United States alone) suffer the tremors, impaired balance and rigidity associated with Parkinson's disease (PD), a chronic and progressive disorder caused by the death of nerve cells in the brain's muscle-movement control areas. The cause is unknown and there is no cure, only medication to manage symptoms.      |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Elder of Ziyon To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
אין תגובות:
הוסף רשומת תגובה