Elder of Ziyon International Crisis Group allows propaganda to overwhelm facts in calling for Israel to allow medical aid into Gaza that is already allowed |  |
- International Crisis Group allows propaganda to overwhelm facts in calling for Israel to allow medical aid into Gaza that is already allowed
- Arab writers say that the Protocols proves that Jews are behind the coronavirus
- Israel’s Political Zoo (Vic Rosenthal)
| Posted: 02 Apr 2020 04:30 AM PDT  The International Crisis Group issued a report: The Gaza Strip and COVID-19: Preparing for the Worst What's new? COVID-19 cases have appeared in the Gaza Strip, where close to two million Palestinians live in 365 sq km, many of them in crowded refugee camps where social distancing is hardly feasible. The report itself includes lots of footnotes to prove its point. Unfortunately the facts are overwhelmed by anti-Israel propaganda and falsehoods. Here's just one paragraph, footnote in italics: After Hamas assumed control of the strip in 2007 (following elections the previous year), the Israeli government imposed a blockade that continues to severely restrict the movement of people and goods into and out of the territory. Apart from devastating the economy – in what the UN has termed a form of collective punishment – the blockade has crippled Gaza's health care sector.Yet that UN report linked to in the footnote, written by rabid anti-Zionist and terror supporter Michael Lynk, says the opposite! GENEVA (13 July 2018) – A UN human rights expert has called on Israel to reverse its decision to close the Kerem Shalom/Karm Abu Salem commercial crossing into Gaza.Even during an assault on Israeli civilians with incendiary devices dropping all over the south, Israel still didn't restrict medical aid - but the ICG uses that as proof that its does, today! The next sentence of the report shows that this isn't a one-off mistake: The World Health Organization has said that, while Israel generally allows pharmaceuticals and disposables to enter Gaza because of their humanitarian nature, Israel has either delayed or prevented the import of medical equipment, consumables and spare parts. Eleven year old reports are being used as proof of what Israel is doing today. In 2009, Israel was still formulating the rules of what to allow into Gaza without endangering Israelis and what the procedures would be. Those procedures have evolved over the years to facilitate entry of equipment that was previously delayed. Today is nothing like 2009. ICG realizes that, and goes on: These accusations have persisted. In 2018, the UN urged Israel to stop preventing the entry of humanitarian aid and medical supplies to the besieged strip. See Bel Trew, "UN urges Israel not to withhold aid from Gaza, as crisis deepens", The Independent, 23 August 2018.That article does not say one word about Israel limiting medical supplies! It does say that there is a shortage of such supplies, but that was entirely because the Palestinian Authority - which is responsible for medicines in Gaza hospitals despite Hamas' coup - actively decided to limit medicines and other critical products from Gaza. ICG mentions this in the next paragraph so it clearly knows about the PA's role in limiting medicine - yet it still blames Israel based on zero evidence, only a poor reading of newspaper articles and NGO reports that imply but do not show that Israel imposes restrictions. For example, Israel does not permit the import of hydrogen peroxide, a medical disinfectant, noting that it can also be used in explosive devices. "List of 'Dual Use' Items", Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), 2008. If you look at the document they mention, it says that hydrogen peroxide with concentrations above 18% are prohibited - and for good reason, because mixing high concentrations with acetone can create a very easy to build explosive. Hydrogen peroxide to treat wounds is typically at 3% concentration; hydrogen peroxide cleaning products for hospitals are even less, so as far as I can tell there is no valid medical reason to allow higher concentrations of H2O2 into Gaza. ICG then goes on to quote Amnesty and others claiming that Israel has targeted hospitals in the past, falsehoods that I have debunked many times, one at a time, showing how every one was targeting a valid military target that was using medical facilities as cover. It is also irrelevant to the discussion. In addition, ICG repeats the B'Tselem lie about Israel dismantling a medical clinic in the West Bank without noting COGAT's debunking. What about the ICG recommendation that Israel allow Gaza Covid-19 patients to be treated in Israeli hospitals? It's own report shows that this can only happen at the expense of Israel treating its own citizens! Even if Israel opened all its hospitals to Palestinians in Gaza who require hospitalisation without caring for its own citizens, it would be able to accommodate only 5,000 of the most severe cases. As a state comptroller's report explained, Israel's own health system is underprepared and overstretched. A former commander of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli army unit that deals with civilian needs in the West Bank and Gaza, said: "Israel cannot be blamed, [as] Israel is suffering already from this virus".If Israel would follow the recommendations in the report, it would result in many Israelis dying to save the lives of people who consider Israel their enemy. Why a nation sacrificing its own people to help those who want to destroy it is a moral decision is not explained. One other issue not mentioned in this report is that Egypt, also on the border with Gaza, is not called upon to open its crossings to help fellow Arabs. Only Israelis are expected to do that. It is most disappointing that an organization that clearly has access to the facts still says untruths. No one wants an epidemic in Gaza. Israel is doing everything it can to minimize the chances of that happening without putting its own citizens at further risk. Anyone who says otherwise is not stating facts but parroting propaganda. I don't know anything about the ICG's politics, and I hope that this poorly written report is more a reflection of unconscious bias than an attempt to smear Israel. We'll know soon enough if they issue corrections.           |
| Arab writers say that the Protocols proves that Jews are behind the coronavirus Posted: 02 Apr 2020 02:45 AM PDT Egyptian Dr. Makram El Nabrawy writes a seemingly reasonable article in Vetogate, where the author cautions against believing Egyptian claims that they have devised a vaccine for the coronavirus. He recalls an embarrassing incident from 2014 when the Egyptian army claimed to have created a device that could cure hepatitis-C and AIDS without touching the patient and warns against a repeat of that stunt. And then he reveals his crazed antisemitism. Through my readings of the situation and the realization of what I read in the past about conspiracies that are carried out today in full detail, which were mentioned in the book "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," I support all who work towards overcoming this ordeal, and we call upon God Almighty to lift this scourge from the country and people.The wonderful thing about the "Protocols" is that they can be used to show that Jews are behind everything! In another article, in Al Watan Voice, the author looks at the possible sources of the coronavirus. Could it be a natural event? Or perhaps biological warfare that got out too soon? No, we are told, the only theories that makes sense are the ones where Jews are behind it: Fourth: The hypothesis that the Corona crisis is related to the Deal of the Century, which was announced by US President Donald Trump in the presence of representatives of the Organization of the Elders of Zion and Zionism in conjunction with the spread of the virus in the Chinese state of Wuhan and the transmission of infection to the rest of the world, and I think that this hypothesis is the strongest and most explanatory of this crisis... In fact, every single thing that happens in the world is an attempt by Jews to divert the world's attention from Israel. It's amazing that Israel is ever mentioned in the media. it is all brilliantly diabolical! Also, while writing this I noticed that an Algerian political thinktank website that calls itself the Algerian Encyclopedia of Political and Strategic Studies includes the Protocols in its list of reference books.  We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.      |
| Israel’s Political Zoo (Vic Rosenthal) Posted: 01 Apr 2020 06:59 PM PDT  Vic Rosenthal's Weekly Column The greatest danger to Israel from the coronavirus is not a collapse of the healthcare system and a massive increase in the body count, as happened in Italy. It's not impossible, but most groups – with the notable exception of Haredi communities in several locations who might soon find their neighborhoods or whole towns under quarantine – are following social distancing rules, which have proven to be effective. Resources are being pumped into the healthcare system, testing and tracking of patients are being ramped up, and various promising drugs are being tested. It will probably be bad but not apocalyptic, despite statements by some religious figures that the virus is a sign of the imminent arrival of the Mashiach. I could be wrong. A shortage of doctors and nurses and other health workers is our weak spot. But I think that unless something entirely unforeseen happens, like a war with Iran, chances are that the virus will burn itself out within a few months (though nobody knows how many months). On the other hand, the economic crisis that may result from the almost total shutdown of the economy for an extended period could trigger a vicious downward spiral, a chain of bankruptcies and layoffs, a classic depression that will take years to come out of. The government is hoping to avoid this with a massive program of aid to individuals and businesses to get them over the hump. It will provide 80 billion shekels ($22.3 billion), the biggest such package in Israel's history. As a result, the deficit will increase from 3.5% to 10% of GDP. I believe that whether the program will succeed or not depends on how long the national lockdown continues. When the schools reopen, the economy will come out of its suspended animation. If it's still alive. So how is our political class responding to the situation? Like zoo animals? No, that's unfair to animals, who after all usually only want basic necessities of life and to be left alone. They are more like really, really, spoiled, greedy, sociopathic, children. After three elections, it was announced that Netanyahu and Gantz had agreed to form a unity government. But no, it turns out that there are serious difficulties and no solution on the horizon (read this excellent summary of the deadlock by Haviv Rettig Gur). Gantz, as Speaker of the Knesset, can make whatever demands he wishes, since – by procedural maneuvers – he can prevent Netanyahu from doing anything, including forming a government without him, even though Bibi could easily get the 61 votes needed to do so. But with the split-up of Blue and White, Gantz himself has no chance to form a government without Bibi, even with Lieberman and the Arabs. At this writing (Wednesday, 1 PM) neither side has budged. So here we are. Even if they had succeeded, the cabinet would have been a criminal enterprise. The plans were for a government with as many as 36 ministers! A country the size of Israel does not need 36 ministers, each of whom are paid more than 50,000 shekels ($14,000) a month. It is already outrageous that the 120 regular Knesset members get 45,000 ($12,000) each month, a result of voting themselves raises every couple of years, but when you consider that ministers have well-paid staffs, offices, and so on, the cost is astronomical. Assuming (conservatively) that each minister costs the taxpayers 100,000 shekels a month, if the government were reduced in size to "only" 18 ministers, it would save 21.8 million shekels in a year, more than one fourth the cost of the coronavirus aid program. As MK Gideon Sa'ar pointed out, the time that the Treasury is about to take an 80 billion shekel hit that will be financed by borrowing is no time to create the largest, most expensive government in Israel's history. Sa'ar himself has declined to take the most recent pay raise. It's possible to argue about who is the most responsible for this travesty of "public service." Gantz whines that he deserves as many ministries as Netanyahu, even though after the split of Blue and White, he brings only 15 mandates to government, while Bibi has at least 58 MKs to reward by doling out portfolios. Maybe the root of the problem is a system by which a MK is given a ministry as a political favor, and not because he or she is the best person to manage a part of government that actually provides services to the public. The contest between Netanyahu and Gantz is part of a broader struggle between the "nationalists" (represented by Netanyahu), the group that wants Israel to be a Jewish state in a more significant way than just a state with a Jewish majority; and the "social democrats," the legal and cultural/media/academic establishments that want to model Israel after Western Europe's secular democracies. This tension has existed since the pre-state period, and I think it is more explanatory today than the traditional right/left distinction. Even after agreement on a unity government, we can expect more ideology-fueled "constitutional crises" as the opposition attempts to pass laws to oust Netanyahu because of his indictments, and the Supreme Court takes up petitions regarding the Nation-State law. Several times in our history, this basic divergence – more than just a political disagreement – has endangered the state. This is such a historical moment. Here are my suggestions for what our government should do to survive it – if there ever is a government, and if it has a few free weeks between plagues, wars, and elections: 1. Amend the Basic Laws for the Knesset and the Government to eliminate the system of proportional representation by party, which has led to the present impasse, and replace it with a system in which the citizens vote directly for their representatives, whether by districts or otherwise. Other countries make this work; we can too. It would greatly de-emphasize ideology in our politics, as well as reduce the likelihood of deadlocks like the present one. Israeli politicians need to grow up and begin to accept responsibility for the people who are depending on them. These changes would give them a framework in which to do so. We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.      |
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