ZOA Op-Ed in LA Jewish Journal Opposing AIPAC Event Which Included Anti-Israel Group

It is appalling that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) organized and conducted a panel discussion event for visiting rabbis in Jerusalem last month that gave a platform to the vicious anti-Israel propaganda group “Breaking the Silence” (“BtS”).

Breaking the Silence is notorious for inventing and publishing throughout the world (and providing to the already biased-against-Israel UN investigators) false, unverifiable, anonymous “testimonies” defaming and demonizing the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as war criminals who deliberately target, shoot, and beat up Palestinian and Gazan civilians (See NGO Monitor report).  BtS also defames Jews living in Judea and Samaria with blood libels (that are then propagated throughout the world), such as falsely accusing Jews living in Judea/Samaria of “poisoning the entire water supply” of a Palestinian Arab village” and causing the “entire village being evacuated for a period of several years” – neither of which ever happened.

BtS also lectures and displays its false “photo exhibits” and “testimonies” demonizing Israel, and participates in anti-Israel, pro-BDS events in Scotland, Switzerland, the EU Parliament, South Africa, U.S. college campuses and numerous other international locales.   

I thus urge AIPAC to publicly apologize and disassociate itself from “Breaking the Silence” and to publicly resolve not to organize and conduct events with BtS in the future. 

The UN Report of the “Independent” Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza War quoted extensively from BtS’s false, anonymous “testimonies.” A Hamas press release complained that even more BtS falsehoods should have been included – namely, “explicit confessions” by “many soldiers affiliated to the Israeli organization of ‘Breaking the Silence’’’ of Israeli soldiers’ and officers’ “war crimes” and “direct instructions to target civilians.”

An Israeli Channel 10 study found that in a sample of ten Breaking the Silence testimonies, two claims of beating detainees and shooting innocents were complete lies, two were exaggerated and four were impossible to verify.  Mr. Admit Deri, the head of Israeli Reservists on the Front, said that the study affirmed what Reservists on the Front had been saying for months, and noted: “This is very serious research that was conducted by journalists who previously stated their support for Breaking the Silence, like Raviv Drucker. In the end it came out that the group does lie. . . . We need to exclude this organization [Breaking the Silence] from all forums and not invite them to speak.” (“More proof of Breaking the Silence’s lies,” Israel National News, July 15, 2016).

NGO Monitor estimates that Breaking the Silence receives 65% of its funding from anti-Israel European groups. BtS also receives funding from the extremist left-wing New Israel Fund (which has funded several groups that malign Israel and promote anti-Israel boycotts) and George Soros’s Open Society Institute (Soros is a notorious self-avowed anti-Zionist.)

Moreover, documents obtained by NGO Monitor (from the Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits) show that several BtS funders (including the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, ICCO (primarily funded by the Dutch government), and Oxfam Great Britain) conditioned their grants to BtS on BtS obtaining a minimum number of negative (anti-Israel, anti-IDF) “testimonies.”  See “Europe to Breaking the Silence: Bring Us As Many Incriminating Testimonies As Possible,” NGO Monitor, May 04, 2015.

The Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel Natan Sharansky (who was a prisoner of conscience in the ex-USSR) wrote: “Breaking the Silence Is No Human Rights Organization – and I Should Know.”

Interestingly, a video clip from the AIPAC/BtS event reveals that BtS knows full well that it is maligning the IDF to promote BtS’s political agenda.  In other words, their “human rights” label is a cover to hide BtS’s true purpose.  In the video clip, founding BtS member Yehuda Shaul admitted:  “Very deep inside, at Breaking the Silence, we don’t believe the IDF is the problem.  We believe the political mission the IDF was sent to carry out is the problem.”    (BtS Facebook page, July 14, 2016 10:37 a.m.) 

Breaking the Silence may also be engaging in anti-Israel espionage.  Israel’s Channel 2 news recently broadcast a video showing Breaking the Silence questioning ex-IDF soldiers (who were undercover agents) to obtain sensitive intelligence information about IDF security operations, equipment, tactical maneuvers, special forces deployed, and tunnel detection methods used along the border with Gaza – all of which had nothing to do with BtS’s supposed interest in exposing immoral IDF activities.   After the video was aired, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated: “Breaking the Silence has crossed another red line.  The investigative security forces are looking into the matter.”  See “Are Breaking the Silence Traitors?,” Israel National News, Mar. 23, 2016.  Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin denounced and accused BtS of treason and espionage after the video aired.  See “Breaking the Silence guilty of ‘treason, espionage,’ Likud minister says,” Jerusalem Post, Mar. 18, 2016.

BtS’s Facebook posting (July 14, 2016, 10:37 a.m.) boasted that “we [Breaking the Silence] took part in a panel discussion organized by AIPAC – The American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Jerusalem, conducted by the director of AIPAC in Israel.”

By organizing and conducting this event, AIPAC gave unwarranted aid, comfort, legitimacy and credibility to a vicious immoral group that invents and purveys lies that damage Israel and weaken the IDF’s ability to protect Israel and the Jewish people.  

Both personally and on behalf of the Zionist Organization of America, I thus urge AIPAC to publicly apologize and disassociate itself from “Breaking the Silence” and to publicly resolve not to organize and conduct events with BtS in the future. 

Morton Klein is the President of the Zionist Organization of America.\

This article was published by LA Jewish Journal and may be found here.

Read more: http://zoa.org/2016/08/10331632-zoa-op-ed-in-la-jewish-journal-opposing-aipac-event-which-included-anti-israel-group/#ixzz4GJs4tDBP

PMW: Fatah brags it killed 11,000 Israelis - Official Fatah Facebook page boasts about leading Palestinians in terror

Fatah yesterday posted a list of Fatah's achievements on behalf of Palestinians. Significantly, Fatah did not cite even one peace-seeking or peace-promoting achievement, but only listed Fatah acts of violence and terror. Fatah even boasted that its attacks have killed 11,000 Israelis. While Fatah and the PLO have been killing Israelis since 1965, this number is a gross exaggeration.

One of the acts it bragged about was being the "first Palestinian faction to reach the [Israeli] nuclear reactor." This is a reference to Fatah's bus hijacking and murder of three Israeli civilians on their way to work at the Dimona nuclear plant in 1988.

Throughout the recent terror wave, Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the PA and Fatah have promoted violence and terror against Israelis, both in Israel and in the West Bank. 

The following is yesterday's Fatah post celebrating and bragging about Fatah's murder of Israeli civilians:   

"To those who argue [with Fatah], to the boors, and to those who do not know history: 

• Fatah has killed 11,000 Israelis
• Fatah has sacrificed 170,000 Martyrs (Shahids)...
• Fatah was the first to carry out operations (i.e., terror attacks) during the first Intifada (i.e., Palestinian violence and terror against Israel, 1988-1993), and it was the first Palestinian faction to reach the nuclear reactor in Dimona (i.e., 1988 murder of 3 working mothers on way to the Dimona plant)
• Fatah was the first to fight in the second Intifada (i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005) (Baha Al-Sa'id, an officer in the Preventive Security Forces, infiltrated an Israeli settlement on the border with Gaza) [parenthesis in source]...
• Fatah was the first to defeat the Zionist enemy (Battle of El-Karameh) [parenthesis in source]...
• Fatah led the Palestinian attack on Israel in the UN."

[Official Fatah Facebook, Aug. 2, 2016]

 

PMW reported that Fatah had posted a similar text on its official Facebook page in 2014.

Mothers' Bus attack - On March 7, 1988, 3 Fatah terrorists hijacked a bus carrying workers to the Negev Nuclear Research Center in Dimona, and murdered 3 civilians - Miriam Ben-Yair, Rina Shiratky and Victor Ram. The attack is referred to as the Mothers' Bus attack because many of the passengers were working mothers. The terrorists were all killed by an Israel Police counter-terrorism unit that stormed the bus. 

Baha Sa'id - was a terrorist active in the Popular Resistance Committees. On Nov. 18, 2000, he infiltrated the community of Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip, and killed two Israeli soldiers, Snir Flum and Sharon Shitoubi. Shitoubi shot the terrorist, who later died of his wounds.

The Karameh battle, or Al-Karameh - In 1968, Israeli army forces attacked the Al-Karameh village in Jordan, where Fatah terrorists were launching attacks on Israel. Arafat used the event for propaganda purposes, declaring the battle a great victory that erased the disgrace of the 1967 Six Day War defeat.

Palestinian Terrorists Incorporating Rat Poison in Attack Plans

A Palestinian terrorist planned to bomb the Jerusalem light rail last month with an explosive device containing poisonous material, Israeli police said Tuesday.

Ali Abu Hassan – a civil engineering student from a village northwest of Hebron – infiltrated Jerusalem on July 15 armed with three pipe bombs forming a large explosive. The terrorist doused nails and screws fitted on the explosive with rat poison to maximize the carnage.

Hassan researched how to make a bomb that would inflict "the most, and most effective, damage" and "even carried out test explosions with a number of bombs in order to check them before entering Israel," said the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency.

The investigation revealed that Hassan originally intended to attack a restaurant, but changed his target after seeing numerous civilians boarding Jerusalem's light rail.  A security guard notified police after checking and discovering the explosive in Hassan's bag after boarding the train.

An Israeli court on Tuesday charged Hassan for building a weapon, attempted murder, and conspiracy.

Another major terrorist plot this year also involved the use of rat poison.

In June, Palestinian terrorists opened fire on a Tel Aviv café, killing four civilians and injuring 15 others. According to the indictment, the terrorists also planned to contaminate knives with rat poison and stab Israelis, going so far as to buy the poison, but never executed that part of the plan..

These incidents mark a significant development concerning the recent wave of Palestinian terrorism targeting Israelis. While most individual terrorist initiatives involved rudimentary means for attack – including stabbing and vehicular attacks – these high profile cases show that an educated Palestinian with the motivation to kill Israelis is capable of producing relatively sophisticated terrorist means that can maximize casualties. More importantly, the use of rat poison may signal the emergence of a new trend in which Palestinians seek to exploit unconventional attack methods, including chemical and biological agents, to inflict greater damage and spread fear throughout Israeli society.

Let's Talk REAL Facts About The Radical Muslim-Jewish Conflict In Israel

It is not difficult to be misinformed when mainstream media has clearly chosen an anti-Israel line of reporting. This inexcusable behavior can be seen every time a terror attack hits the streets of Israel.

For example, take this headline from the American CBS channel.

This headline is covering a story of 3 radical Islamic terrorists who opened fire with makeshift Carl Gustav firearms, stabbed 19-year old Hadar Cohen and seriously injured another officer in Jerusalem.

Unless one actually bothered to read the article, they would have come to the conclusion that Israel is simply shooting Arabs in the streets. Oh, by the way, they were not Palestinians, they were Israeli Arabs, but hey, why let facts get in the way!

It is unreal how some call Israel the aggressor only because we won the wars the Arabs started and then refer to Arabs, who actually started the wars, as the victims.

I have written numerous posts on the Palestine Lie as well as on the history, or lack thereof, of anArab Palestinian national people, so if you are looking for that info, hit the links in blue. Many people claim that the past does not matter and that we have to deal with reality as it is now. I find that claim offensive, immoral and totally dishonest as it ignores the source of this conflict which is based on radical Islamic anti-Jewish ideology.

My statement pertaining to the source of the conflict is not based on how I feel, but rather based on simple facts and history.  Israel was never and will never be interested in war.
We are six million Jews in Israel and over 450,000,000 Muslims surround us; war is not something Israel ever chooses. The fact is, Israel never started a war and we never called for the destruction of anyone. Israel has only reacted to terrorism and threats of annihilation. Just because we are stronger does not make the other side victims, it makes them stupid for messing with us. 

I said Jewish radical Muslim conflict because you have never seen a radical Christian or Druze or Buddhist shoot, stab or blow up Israeli buses in order to murder Jews in Israel. 100% of the time the perpetrators of terror attacks carried out against Israel are carried out by radical Islamic terrorists. 


While Israel's Declaration of Independence speaks of making peace with our Arab neighbors, all the Arab countries that have attacked Israel over the years have called for the total destruction of the only Jewish State in a sea of Muslim and Arab countries.


The PLO charter called for the destruction of Israel as does Hamas; Nasser of Egypt called for the total annihilation of the Jewish State as did Syria, Iraq, Jordan and other Arab countries. While Israel is always looking towards peace, the radical Islamic leadership in Hamas as well as in the Palestinian Authority are constantly encouraging war and violence. 


You will NEVER find Binyamin Netanyahu praising the murder of anyone and yet here is what Abbas (the moderate) has to say in reaction to the radical Islamic terrorist daily knife attacks on random Jews in Israel.

Leaders often make stupid remarks, but when religious leaders and kids TV programs spew hatred and violence against Jews, that should be sufficient for anyone who thinks Israel is the problem to change their minds.

• 26

Go ahead! I dare you to find an Israeli kids show that would be left on air for an hour after running something like this. This is the worst kind of child abuse and all the liberal anti-Israel activists couldn't care less. The problem is, this is just the tip of the iceberg! Some of the kids cartoons are taken right out of Nazi propaganda and lead to murder.

• 26

Then of course there are the religious leaders. I have yet to hear the Islamic public anywhere in the Middle East demand the resignation of religious leaders like the ones below.

This is the top Islamic leader in the Palestinian Authority
Irony is, it is the same position that met with Hitler in 1942

Sermon on Official PA Television

• 26

What is interesting about the videos above is the fact that none of them mentioned the 'Green Line', settlements, occupation or Zionism as the cause for their hatred of Jews.

While it is true that there are many good and peaceful Muslims, those are not the ones Israel ever had a problem with. The real moderate Muslims not only don't have a problem with Israel, they are our greatest friends!


I know, I know, it is because of the occupation and if there were no settlements, there would be no hate. I am so happy you say so, because the 15 quotes I am about to show you will help you understand just how untrue that statement is.

Here are a collection of statements made by Arab leaders before the 1967 war, when all the "disputed" areas of today were in Arab control and there were no settlements.
Seems like the settlements are not the real obstacle to peace! 

CAIRO RADIO

The immediate aim: perfection of Arab military might. The national aim: the eradication of Israel." – President Nasser of Egypt, November 18, 1965 

"Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel. The Arab people want to fight . . . The mining of Sharm el Sheikh is a confrontation with Israel. Adopting this measure obligates us to be ready to embark on a general war with Israel." – Nasser, May 27, 1967 

May 19, 1967: "This is our chance Arabs, to deal Israel a mortal blow of annihilation, to blot out its entire presence in our holy land" 

May 22, 1967: "The Arab people are firmly resolved to wipe Israel off the map" 

"We will not accept any ... coexistence with Israel. ... Today the issue is not the establishment of peace between the Arab states and Israel .... The war with Israel is in effect since 1948." – Nasser, May 28, 1967 

May 25, 1967: "Millions of Arabs are ... preparing to blow up all of America's interests, all of America's installations, and your entire existence, America." 

May 27, 1967: "We challenge you, Eshkol, to try all your weapons. Put them to the test; they will spell Israel's death and annihilation." 

May 30, 1967: "With the closing of the Gulf of Akaba, Israel is faced with two alternatives either of which will destroy it; it will either be strangled to death by the Arab military and economicboycott, or it will perish by the fire of the Arab forces encompassing it from the South from the North and from the East."  

Jordan

"All of the Arab armies now surround Israel. The UAR, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon, Algeria, Sudan, and Kuwait. ... There is no difference between one Arab people and another, no difference between one Arab army and another." – King Hussein of Jordan, after signing the pact with Egypt May 30, 1967 

Iraq

"The existence of Israel is an error which must be rectified. This is our opportunity to wipe out the ignominy which has been with us since 1948. Our goal is clear – to wipe Israel off the map. We shall, God willing, meet in Tel Aviv and Haifa." – President Abdel Rahman Aref of Iraq, May 31, 1967 

Local Arabs

"The Jews of Palestine will have to leave. We will facilitate their departure to their former homes. Any of the old Palestine Jewish population who survive may stay, but it is my impression that none of them will survive." – Shukairy, June 1, 1967 

"We shall destroy Israel and its inhabitants and as for the survivors – if there are any – the boats are ready to deport them." –  Shukairy, June 1, 1967, speaking at a Friday sermon in Jerusalem 

Syria

Syria's forces are "ready not only to repulse the aggression, but to initiate the act of liberation itself, and to explode the Zionist presence in the Arab homeland. The Syrian army, with its finger on the trigger, is united.... I as a military man, believe that the time has come to enter into a battle of annihilation." – Syrian Defense Minister Hafez Assad, May 20, 1967

"Our two brotherly countries have turned into one mobilized force. The withdrawal of the UN forces ... means 'make way, our forces are on their way to battle'.'' – Foreign Minister Makhous on his return from Cairo

Others

"We want war. War is the only way to settle the problem of Israel. The Arabs are ready." – Yemeni Foreign Minister Sala

Find me an Israeli Prime Minister that ever called for the annihilation of another people. Remember these statements were made when Jerusalem, the entire West Bank, all of the Gaza strip and the Golan Heights were in Arab control. 

• So, we see that the conflict did not start in 1967 and when it did start it had nothing to do with settlements or occupation. 
• We see leaders, TV shows and religious leaders explain time and time again that the hatred for Jews is based on radical religious beliefs and has absolutely nothing to do with a national Arab claim. 
• We see the radical Islamic leaders calling to murder Jews, teaching kids to hate and murder Jews and rewarding the murder of Jews. 

My question for all of you out there is simple: based on what track record or history would one think a deal with those who seek Israel's destruction is justified?
How is a Two State solution that takes more land away from the very tiny Jewish country and hands it over to the Arabs who already rule over the entire Middle East considered justice? 

PA TV falsifies video to hide handshake between Israeli soldier and boy

PA TV falsifies video and lies to its viewers

 

• PA edits out scene of Israeli soldier and Palestinian boy shaking hands and then falsely claims:

Even the 4-year-old Palestinian knows it's "forbidden to shake hands with soldiers" and "forbidden to make peace with them"

 

Actual unedited version:

 Soldier reaches out to boy and they shake hands

 

 
    

PA TV's falsified edited version: 

Freezes video after soldier reaches out to boy

 

then continues video from a few seconds later,

lying to viewers that the boy refused to shake hands with the soldier

• PA TV reporter: "His son, who has yet to reach the age of five, also knows, despite his young age, that it is forbidden to shake hands with the soldiers, just as it is forbidden to make peace with them"

By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Click to view on PMW's website

A Palestinian father pushed his 4-year-old son toward armed Israeli soldiers on Friday, encouraging his son to throw stones at the soldiers. At the same time, he taunted the Israeli soldiers to shoot at his son, calling out to them: "Shoot this little boy, after all you always do that to small children."

 

However, when the little boy reached one of the Israeli soldiers, the soldier stretched out his hand to the boy who immediately "high fived" and shook the soldier's hand. Finally, when the boy fulfilled his father's instructions to throw stones, he threw the stones at the empty field and not at the soldiers.

 

Palestinian Media Watch has viewed two video versions of this incident. The unedited version appears as described above and was published on the Facebook page of Israeli Army Spokesperson and Head of the Foreign Press Branch Lt. Col. Peter Lerner. However, official PA TV did not want its viewers to see a friendly handshake between a young Palestinian child and an Israeli soldier, so they distorted the footage. In slow motion, PA TV showed the Israeli soldier reaching out his hand to the Palestinian boy, but then jumped a few seconds ahead so it seems as if the boy never shook the soldier's hand. The PA TV reporter completed the deception by lying to the viewers, claiming the boy refused to shake hands with the soldier:

"His son, who has yet to reach the age of five, also knows, despite his young age, that it is forbidden to shake hands with the soldiers, just as it is forbidden to make peace with them."

[Official PA TV, July 29, 2016]

 

These are two consecutive screen shots from the unedited footage:

 

  

This is the same scene after deceptive editing by PA TV. The frame on the left - the soldier's outstretched hand - is followed immediately by the frame on the right, so the PA TV viewers never see the handshake:

  

 

Click to view actual unedited version and the PA TV deceptive broadcast.

 

The following is the transcript of the original unedited video followed by PA TV's edited version: 

Unedited version

Palestinian father to soldiers: "Shoot this little boy, after all you always do that to small children! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot him! Go, go! (unclear) Shoot him, heroes!"

Palestinian father to son: "Go, go! Don't be scared! Don't be scared! (unclear) Raise the flag! Raise, raise!"

Palestinian father: "Let them shoot and kill him! Kill him, shoot him!"

Boy and soldier shake hands

[Facebook page of Lt. Col. Peter Lerner Israeli Army Spokesperson 

and Head of the Foreign Press Branch, July 30, 2016]

Edited by PA TV

Official PA TV reporter: "Not only does [Palestinian] civilian Ayoub Sorour defend [his land], but his son, who has yet to reach the age of five, also knows, despite his young age, that it is forbidden to shake hands with the soldiers, just as it is forbidden to make peace with them, as long as the foreigners defile the land and settle it."

PA TV edits out handshake (slow-motion by PA TV)

Palestinian father to son: "Shoot him! After all you are always doing things like this. Always shooting small children and killing them. Don't be scared! Throw the rock! Throw!"

Palestinian father to son: "Throw!"

[Official PA TV, July 29, 2016]