Analysis
Defining Israeli Zionist racism -- part 8 of 12
By Kim Petersen & B. J. Sabri
Online Journal Contributing Writers


Jan 16, 2008, 00:12

SECTION 1: [Continuation: G: Israeli Zionist racism in their own words]

Analysis: Zionist media vs. Israeli racist quotations

It is normal that people reject negative accusations -- especially in ordinary life. However, in the broad subject of imperialism and colonialism, the problem is quite different since the ideology of expropriation and domination requires constant propping up so the material enterprise could continue. Historically, it is dubious that British colonialism in Turtle Island, Australia, Aotearoa (New Zealand), or the openly racist state of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) would have managed to destroy and expropriate lands owned by its Original Peoples without racism as a cry of battle.

Likewise, expropriating Palestinian lands to install a �state for Jews� required racism. But how can Israel implement its �state� with constant exhortation and declarations of racism to harness that state and turn normal people into racist individuals so they can prop up its existence? Finally, as this state solidifies its existence, militarizes its social structures, and achieves a greater colonialist expansion, denying the racist nature that gives it life becomes a public relations necessity. Let us see how the American Zionist media does this task on behalf of Israel in the following examples:

Sample quotation # 1: �There is a huge gap between us (Jews) and our enemies? Not just in ability but in morality, culture, sanctity of life, and conscience. They are our neighbors here, but it seems as if at a distance of a few hundred meters away, there are people who do not belong to our continent, to our world, but actually belong to a different galaxy." [Israeli president Moshe Katsav, Jerusalem Post, 10 May 2001] [1]

STATUS: The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) contends this quotation was �taken out of context.�

Investigation: First, as a Zionist medium, CAMERA is not interested in accuracy for all Middle Eastern issues. It is solely and exclusively at the service of one party: Israel. Therefore, it is predictable that that CAMERA will try inevitably to manipulate information adversarial to Israel. Says CAMERA:

Wile nothing was found in the source given, there was an account in the following day�s edition of the Jerusalem Post. This remark is completely removed from its context to make it sound racist. In fact, Katsav was specifically talking about the brutal murders by Palestinian terrorists of two young schoolboys. The remains of Kobi Mandel and Yossi Ish-Ran, who had played hooky from school to explore a cave, were found on May 9, 2001. The Jerusalem Post clearly placed Katsav�s words in that context:

President Moshe Katsav said yesterday that Israel would never stoop to the brutality the Palestinians displayed in the stoning to death of two Tekoa teenagers this week.

"There is a huge gap between us and our enemies -- not just in ability but in morality, culture, sanctity of life, and conscience," Katsav told reporters at Beit Hanassi.

"We would never stoop to the kind of brutality inflicted on the victims in Tekoa and Ofra," he added. "They're our neighbors here, but it seems as if at a distance of a few hundred meters away, there are people who don't belong to our continent, to our world, but actually belong to a different galaxy."

Katsav said Israel must change its approach to the Palestinians, but stopped short of voicing exactly what that new approach should be -- although he appeared to imply that retaliation is at times necessary.

"Force is no solution to anything," he said, "but sometimes it's essential."

Referring to the brutal murders of two young boys from Tekoa, Katsav said he is sure there are Palestinians and other Moslems who oppose terrorism, but it was terrifying to realize how much cruelty and hatred the Palestinians harbor against Israelis. (Jerusalem Post, May 11, 2001)

Summary: Misrepresentation of comments by removal of context. [2] [Emphasis in original]

examination: CAMERA claims, on its website, that it is �devoted to promoting accurate and balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East. CAMERA fosters rigorous reporting, while educating news consumers about Middle East issues and the role of the media. Because public opinion ultimately shapes public policy, distorted news coverage that misleads the public can be detrimental to sound policymaking. A non-partisan organization, CAMERA takes no position with regard to American or Israeli political issues or with regard to ultimate solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict.� [3]

Hiding behind non-partisanship when morally reprehensible crimes are occurring is itself morally reprehensible. Would CAMERA have hidden behind �non-partisanship� when Nazis were overrunning their neighbors and persecuting Communists, Jews, Roma, homosexuals, and others deemed inferior or enemy by the Nazi authorities?

But CAMERA is not neutral. It states, �Frequently inaccurate and skewed characterizations of Israel and of events in the Middle East may fuel anti-Israel and anti-Jewish prejudice.� [4] Transparently, the concern of CAMERA is how Zionism and the Jewish state are portrayed in the media. As such they engage in flak by demanding corrections of various media. Indeed, demanding accurate reporting and journalism is de rigueur. But manifestly more odious is the tendentious advocacy of CAMERA on behalf of Israel and Zionism.

Its focus is on denying or obscuring Zionist hate speech. There is no pretence of such advocacy for Arabs or Muslims by CAMERA.

Hence, even though CAMERA may expose some incorrect quotations attributed to Zionists, this does not hide the manifold overt crimes of Zionism and the state of Israel. Readers rightly demand accuracy, but readers should also demand to know the full agenda of media watchdogs that engage in advocacy.

Sample quotation # 2: "The Palestinians are like crocodiles, the more you give them meat, they want more" [Ehud Barak, prime minister of Israel at the time -- August 28, 2000. Reported in the Jerusalem Post, August 30, 2000] [5]

Sample quotation # 3: "[The Palestinians are] beasts walking on two legs." [Menachem Begin, speech to the Knesset, quoted in Amnon Kapeliouk, "Begin and the Beasts". New Statesman, 25 June 1982.] [6]

STATUS: here again CAMERA takes exception to journalist Robert Fisk�s use of the quotation attributed to Begin. Says CAMERA:

Internet hate sites, as well as Fisk, attribute this derogation of Palestnians [sic] as �two-legged beasts� to former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. The source generally given is:

Menachem Begin, as quoted in Amnon Kapeliouk, "Begin and the Beasts,"New Statesman, June 25, 1982

Indeed, the radical French-Israeli journalist, Amnon Kapeliouk, did attribute such a quote to Begin in his New Statesman article criticizing Israel�s invasion of Lebanon. The author posited:

For this reason the government has gone to extraordinary lengths to dehumanise the Palestinians. Begin described them in a speech in the Knesset as "beasts walking on two legs".

However, further investigation by CAMERA reveals that the actual speech upon which Kapeliouk based his quote, as well as news reports at the time demonstrate that the journalist distorted the quote, giving it a completely different tone and meaning. Begin was talking, not about "the Palestinians" but about terrorists who target children within Israel.

On June 8, 1982, Begin addressed the Knesset in response to a no-confidence motion over Israel's invasion of Lebanon. He talked about defending the children of Israel, and according to a June 9, 1982 AP report, �his voice quaver[ed] with anger and sadness.� According to the minutes of the session, Begin stated:

The children of Israel will happily go to school and joyfully return home, just like the children in Washington, in Moscow, and in Peking, in Paris and in Rome, in Oslo, in Stockholm and in Copenhagen. The fate of . . . Jewish children has been different from all the children of the world throughout the generations. No more. We will defend our children. If the hand of any two-footed animal is raised against them, that hand will be cut off, and our children will grow up in joy in the homes of their parents.

Kapeliouk neither recanted nor apologized for his deception.

Summary: Distortion by an Israeli critic of a Begin speech discussing terrorism and terrorists. [7] [emphasis in original]

examination: In this case, CAMERA has minutely parsed the language. But does this fine-tooth parsing pass muster, or is CAMERA engaged in semantics to cover hate speech by leading Zionists? We submit that Zionists, by and large, draw little distinction between a Palestinian and a terrorist. [8] Indeed, the Israeli Foreign Ministry accuses Palestinian mainstream political organizations of being complicit in the exploitation of children and teens by terrorist organizations. [9] Therefore, we consider CAMERA�s accusing Kapeliouk of deception to be hypocritical and disingenuous.

Sample quotation # 4: "[The Palestinians] would be crushed like grasshoppers . . . heads smashed against the boulders and walls." [Then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir in a speech to Jewish settlers, New York Times, 1 April 1988] [10]

Sample quotation # 5: "When we have settled the land, all the Arabs will be able to do about it will be to scurry around like drugged roaches in a bottle." [Raphael Eitan, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, David Shipler, �Most West Bank Arabs Blaming U.S for Impasse,� New York Times, 14 April 1983, A3.] [11]

STATUS: again, CAMERA takes exception with a quotation mentioned by Fisk. Says CAMERA,

According to Fisk�s article:

 [Arafat] is chastised by George Bush while his people are bestialised by the Israeli leadership. Rafael Eytan, the former Israeli chief of staff, used to talk of the Palestinians as "cockroaches in a glass jar". Menachem Begin called them �two-legged beasts� . . .

These quotes appear on numerous anti-Israel Web sites, raising the question of whether Fisk obtained his information on one of the sites that share his agenda. While there is some truth to these quotes, they are either distorted or taken out of context.

Investigation--Example 1: Fisk suggests that Eitan routinely referred to the Palestinians as �cockroaches� He states this as fact, giving no source, but other internet sites refer to an April 13, 1983 article by Gad Becker in the Israeli daily, Yediot Ahronot. This original source of the quote, however, indicates that Eitan�s comment was atypical, made in specific reference to Arab violence. According to Becker, this �uncharacteristic� (as he puts it) and controversial comment was made by outgoing Chief of Staff Eitan during a discussion of how best to deal with Arab violence in the West Bank. In responding to suggestions by Knesset members that the army should stop stone throwers by shooting at their feet or throwing stones back, Eitan reportedly said:

The Arabs will never win over us by throwing stones. Our response must be a nationalist Zionist response. For every stone that�s thrown�we will build ten settlements. If 100 settlements will exist�and they will�between Nablus and Jerusalem, stones will not be thrown. If this will be the situation, then the Arabs will only be able to scurry around like drugged roaches in a bottle.

Summary: A single (albeit controversial) remark made in a specific context is misrepresented as a generalized, routine slur by an Israeli leader. [12]

EXAMINATION: A microfiche search did turn up Eitan�s quotation in the New York Times. Clearly, CAMERA is turning itself into a pretzel trying to whitewash a racist remark by Eitan. It distracts readers by noting that Fisk did not disclose the source of the quotation. Then CAMERA admits Eitan make the comment, but insists it was �atypical� by citing one person. Is this supposed to be compelling evidence of atypicality?

In examining these three cases, it should be evident that CAMERA is running damage control for Zionist racism. With this in mind, we will present next further examples of racist comments by prominent Zionists.

Zionist websites with grandiose names that play the �accuracy game� are omnipresent across the net. One such outfit is Accuracy in Media founded by the Zionist Reed Irvine. As for disinformation on Arab and Palestinian issues, as well as for anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism, none can top Daniel Pipes.org.

Next: Part 9 of 12

NOTES

[1] �Israeli quotes about Palestinians� at IsraelForum.com.

[2] Ricki Hollander, �Exposing False Zionist Quotes (Quote Busters),� CAMERA, 1 October 2004.

[3] �About CAMERA,� CAMERA.

[4] Ibid.

[5] �Israeli quotes about Palestinians� at IsraelForum.com.

[6] �Israeli quotes about Palestinians� at IsraelForum.com.

[7] Ricki Hollander, �Exposing False Zionist Quotes II (Quote Busters II),� CAMERA, 4 October 2004.

[8] �Palestinian Terrorism,� Jewish Virtual Library. At the IsraelForum.com, �Israeli quotes about Palestinians,� one commenter, physics, wrote, �If you replace the words Arabs/Palestinians with terrorists, then all of the quotes are justified. For every single Arab/Palestinian that is involved in terrorism, this is certainly justified. For every single Arab/Palestinian that is not affiliated with terrorism, then the comments are not justified. I see these comments directed at the terrorists.� But many people read literally. What physics does not deal with is the planting of a seed whereby �Arab� or �Palestinian� has become synonymous with �terrorist.� The language of Zionist figures is deliberate, and the overwhelming number of such quotations in existence adduces this Zionist tactic.

[9] �Palestinians exploit children for terror - Background,� Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2004. One can even find �Palestinian political violence� on Wikipedia, and although �Zionist political violence� is found, apparently such political violence ceased in 1948. Further, there is no Wikipedia page for �Israeli political violence.� Presumably Israeli political violence does not exist for the mavens at Wikipedia, and all the contemporary political violence (read terrorism; if you do a search on �political violence� at Wikipedia, the �terrorism� page appears) is confined to the Palestinians.

[10] �Israeli quotes about Palestinians� at IsraelForum.com.

[11] �Israeli quotes about Palestinians� at IsraelForum.com.

[12] Ricki Hollander, �Quote Busters II, op. cit.