Who Are The Palestinians " III "

[Sixties Fan]

Part 1

FAIR - Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting - issued a report by Nora Lester Murad that claims that books for toddlers and youngsters that introduce kids to Israel are pretty much racist against Palestinians, because - they aren't about Palestinians.

However, Murad's critique exposes her own disdain for Arabs who live in Israel as well as her own hate for Israeli Jews.

Even though the books aren't about Palestinians, and aren't meant to be, she says that they"erase" Palestinians.

First, Murad claims that they erase through "appropriation:"

Rah! Rah! Mujadara!, for example, is a 12-page board book for ages 1–4 that has an attractive tagline: “Everybody likes hummus, but that’s just one of the great variety of foods found in Israel among its diverse cultures.”

There’s a subtlety in that tagline that may be lost on some. While diversity is acknowledged, it is represented only within the Israeli sphere, without its own history and separate identity. This is a political position that jibes with Israel’s intentional deployment of the term “Israeli Arabs” to refer to Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, whom Israel wants to incorporate as an Israeli minority, fragmenting them from the larger Palestinian community and from their national identity.

To progressives, referring to someone in ways that they object to - say, by using the wrong pronoun - is an unforgivable crime. But only a small percentage of Israeli Arabs refer to themselves as "Palestinian." According to a 2020 poll from Jewish People Policy Institute, only 7% referred to themselves as "Palestinian" while 74% referred to themselves as "Arab Israeli" or simply "Israeli."

FAIR is showing great disrespect to the people they are claiming to be defending from this book. And the simple children's book is far more accurate in its depiction of Arabs in Israel than FAIR is.

FAIR - Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting - shows extreme disrespect towards Israeli Arabs

Blogging about Israel and the Arab world since, oh, forever.

elderofziyon.blogspot.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

Part 2

The critique then veers into the absurd:

Newbies to the the Israeli/Palestinian narrative war may also not realize that food is an active battleground. Palestinians consider Israel’s claiming of hummus and falafel, among other foods, to be cultural appropriation.

Palestinians, therefore, are likely to consider both the people and the food appropriated when the same [Muslim] girl is featured behind the text:

Blow, slow.
Taste. Whoa!
Brown fa-LA-fel,
big green mouthful!

Since the state of Israel is not even 75 years old, any food with a longer pedigree must have been originated by someone else. But while Kar-Ben Publishing is surely aware of this contention, they either choose to ignore it or intentionally intend to steer readers towards the Israeli narrative—by hiding the Palestinian one.

But does the book say that falafel is an Israeli-created dish, or does it say that it is a dish that Israeli citizens of all backgrounds enjoy? Clearly it is the latter - "the great variety of foods found in Israel among its diverse cultures." It mentions bagels too - does anyone claim that they are Israeli? Other foods in the book are meant to highlight the different cultures that come together in Israeli society: nowhere does it claim that malawach, mujadara, hummus, or bourekas were created by Israelis except in the fevered imagination of Nora Lester Murad.




Murad is apparently opposed to kids from different backgrounds finding things in common that they like from different cultures. This hardly seems progressive.

Murad then says that books about Israel that show the Dome of the Rock are "erasure through deception" because, she claims, "east Jerusalem" is not part of Israel. However, Israel disagrees, and so do many international jurists. To Jews, the idea of an Israel without the holy places is anathema and extraordinarily offensive. There is no deception there - people who say that all of Jerusalem is part of Israel have that right.

But FAIR doesn't recognize that right. We must all believe as they do, or we are racists. So tolerant!

FAIR - Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting - shows extreme disrespect towards Israeli Arabs

Blogging about Israel and the Arab world since, oh, forever.

elderofziyon.blogspot.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

Part 3

The next "erasure" is "Erasure through both-sidesism." Yes, books about Israel that go out of their way to show Arab Israelis are awful, too - and her main target is, believe it or not, Sesame Street.

Welcome to Israel With Sesame Street (Christy Peterson, Lerner Publishing, 2021)...[has a] “both sides” approach, starting by teaching children how to say hello in both Hebrew and Arabic (pages 4–5). This “both sides” approach makes a nice visual while hiding Israel’s disrespect for Arabic and Arabic speakers, which is clear in the fact that Arabic had been an official language of Israel until it was officially downgraded in the 2018 Jewish Nation State Law.

Of course, Murad pointedly doesn't mention that the use of Arabic in government documents and in the public sphere is still mandated under Israeli law. Israel still supports and funds its Arabic-language schools. There is no disrespect in reality. But why let the facts get in the way of anti-Israel soundbites?

Presenting “both sides” is a device used to appear neutral, which conjures a sense of objectivity and truth. It is also a way to stake a claim to antiracism and respect. For example, page 11 says that Jerusalem is “special to people of many religions,” over a photo of Palestinian school girls, some wearing the Muslim hijab.

But presenting Palestinians only as linguistic and religious minorities of Israel, and not as a national group in and of itself, is an Israeli narrative tactic that dehumanizes Palestinians and undermines readers’ ability to understand Israel. While appearing respectful of diversity, the text and photo cleverly omit that Israel is an explicitly, self-declared Jewish state, that enshrines Jewish supremacy over non-Jews (and the corresponding inequality of Palestinians) by saying, in law, that only Jews have the right to self-determination.

A book for children that celebrates Israel's diversity is regarded as flawed because it should show what Murad declares to be the truth, that Israel is a racist state that doesn't give its Arab citizens equal rights.

This is all a lie, of course. The same poll I mentioned above shows that virtually the same percentage of non-Jews as Jews feel comfortable being themselves as Israeli citizens. Most Arab citizens of Israel are proud to be Israelis - but Murad the racist wants them to be considered part of a different nation that the vast majority want little or nothing to do with. The bigotry is in Murad's head and in her poison pen, not in the reality of Israel's non-Jewish citizens.

And by the way, virtually every Arab state declares itself to be an Arab state in their constitutions. By Murad's logic, they are all enforcing Arab supremacy. Does anyone think FAIR will ever mention that?

In Murad's twisted mind, Israel is by definition racist, so any children's book that doesn't highlight how terrible Israel is must be guilty of racism as well. The most bizarre part of her argument is that while it is obvious to all that children's books are meant to teach tolerance, which these books are doing, she is against it. Murad is the racist. Her arguments are as racist as those of a white supremacist upset at American schoolbooks that show white children playing with children of color without mentioning comparative crime rates for different groups.

FAIR - Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting - shows extreme disrespect towards Israeli Arabs

Blogging about Israel and the Arab world since, oh, forever.

elderofziyon.blogspot.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

Part 4

Finally, Murad freaks out over a map in the Sesame Street book:



The 1949 armistice lines are clearly drawn, and Israel is only shown inside those lines. Egypt, Jordan and Syria are not named. But Murad looks hard to find bias, and of course she succeeds:

Page 6 of Welcome to Israel With Sesame Streetincorrectly displays a map of Israel (“and Surrounding Area”) including the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the same shade of yellow. The outlines of the occupied Palestinian territory are visible but not labeled.

This is her entire argument - the yellow on the map of the territories is slightly different than the yellow of other countries. The actual lines that represent borders, prominently displayed, are meaningless to Murad's bizarre brain - the shade of yellow is offensive.

Hilariously, she sent this litany of paranoid complaints to Sesame Workshop, and they properly ignored her:

Welcome to Israel With Sesame Street, however, is not harmless. It uses subtle messages to contribute to erasure and distortion of Palestinians, which should cause concern among people who care about the educational reputation of the brand. Unfortunately, Sesame Workshop failed to respond to my several inquiries about this book.

Maybe because if she was honestly being as fair as FAIR pretends to be, she would realize that every single one of her complaints is baseless.

It would be amusing to see the same methodology used for children's books about "Palestine." Do they even mention or show pictures of Jews? Do they admit that Jews have the right to live in their historic homeland? Or are Jews not mentioned at best, and called "sons of apes and pigs" at worst?

If FAIR was fair, they would have a Zionist Jew do the exact same type of analysis on books pushing the Palestinian narrative, and see how they fare. Like the alphabet book that says "I is for Intifada." How are Jews represented there? How do they represent the emotional Jewish ties to Jerusalem? How are the feelings of millions of Jews taken into account?

Which side actually tries for coexistence, and which side wants to see the other be ethnically cleansed in the books meant for children?

The books being critiqued by her show smiling Arab children, some in hijabs. Find me a single children's book about Palestine that shows a smiling child in a yarmulke or tzitzit.

Just one.

That is the comparison that needs to be made to see which side is the side of progressiveness and tolerance, and which side is both implicitly and explicitly antisemitic.

For example, this drawing for Palestinian childrencontrasting Arabs and Jews is not exactly sending tolerant message. Yet I suspect it is a message that Murad wholeheartedly endorses all children should be exposed to..



Pro-Israel books go out of their way to teach tolerance. Pro-Palestinian books do the opposite. FAIR promotes the former as racist and doesn't want you to look at the latter.

FAIR isn't fair, and this article is exhibit A.

FAIR - Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting - shows extreme disrespect towards Israeli Arabs

Blogging about Israel and the Arab world since, oh, forever.

elderofziyon.blogspot.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

Part 1​

​

Who Are the Top Terror Groups in Jenin?​

1. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)​

PIJ is an Iran-backed terror group that opposes the existence of the Jewish state and seeks to replace it with an Islamic Palestinian state.

In the 40 years of its existence, PIJ has been responsible for a number of shooting and bombing attacks against Israeli civilians, including a 2003 suicide bombing at the Maxim restaurant in Haifa (21 killed), a 2006 suicide bombing of a Tel Aviv restaurant (11 killed), and a 2007 suicide bombing attack targeting a bakery in Eilat (3 killed).

2. Hamas​

Also known as the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist and seeks to replace it with an Islamic Palestinian state.

In the 35 years of Hamas’ existence, the internationally designated terror group has engaged in numerous deadly attacks against Israeli civilians.

Some of the most notable attacks include the 2001 suicide bombing of the Sbarro pizza restaurant in Jerusalem (15 killed), the 2002 suicide bombing of a Passover Seder in a Netanya hotel (30 killed), and the 2002 bombing of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (9 killed).

3. Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades​

The Brigades was founded at the turn of the millennium as a network of armed factions with close ties to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah party. The Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades subscribe to an ideology of secular Palestinian nationalism.

Since its founding in 2000, the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades have been responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians, including a 2002 suicide bombing at a Bar Mitzvah in Jerusalem (9 dead), a 2003 twin suicide bombing at the Tel Aviv central bus station (23 dead) and a 2022 shooting attack in Bnei Brak (5 dead).

4. The Jenin Battalion:​

Founded in May 2021, this PIJ-affiliated organization was formed as a way for armed Palestinian groups in Jenin and the surrounding area — including Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades — to increase attacks on Israeli forces operating in the area.

Using advanced communications methods to coordinate attacks, this new group uses gunfire, IEDs, and Molotov cocktails in an effort to halt Israeli counter-terror operations.

Spotlight on Jenin: Part Two: The Palestinian Terror Groups That Control the Streets of Jenin | Honest Reporting

Jenin, dubbed the Palestinian "terror capital" by observers, has been in the news for the past few months as Israel continues to carry out

honestreporting.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

Part 2

What Threat Do These Terror Groups Pose?​

With their radical hatred for Israel and its citizens, these terror groups are dead set on destroying the only Jewish state and replacing it with a monolithic Palestinian state.

By using violence and terror against civilians to achieve these aims, these groups pose a direct threat to millions of innocent Israelis, including Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

This use of violence by the Jenin-based terror groups also threatens the welfare of local Palestinians, who are faced with the possibility of economic losses during times of heightened tensions as well as the danger of being caught in the crossfire between the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian terror groups during counter-terror operations.

Spotlight on Jenin: Part Two: The Palestinian Terror Groups That Control the Streets of Jenin | Honest Reporting

Jenin, dubbed the Palestinian "terror capital" by observers, has been in the news for the past few months as Israel continues to carry out

honestreporting.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

• Abbas on Israel's creation:
  "A disgrace to humanity"
• Abbas on terrorists who were imprisoned:
  “Our brave prisoners, the living conscience of our people… these people cannot be described in words.”
• Abbas on terrorists who were killed:
  “The righteous martyrs … will remain symbols that the Palestinian generations will remember with gratitude and reverence, generation after generation.”
• Abbas on the murderer of seven Israelis:
  “Heroic prisoner Nasser Abu Hmaid”

In his speech before the United Nations General Assembly, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas again demonstrated why he and the Palestinians have rejected every Israeli offer of peace.

Denying and simultaneously rewriting history and the present reality, Abbas touched on most of the true impediments to peace. From his description of the creation of the State of Israel as a “disgrace to humanity” and a “heinous crime” through his pledge of unwavering support to the “righteous martyrs” – i.e. dead terrorists – and the terrorist prisoners, and his homage to the mother of six terrorist murderers, to his demand that the UN now implement the 1947 UN Partition plan that was rejected by all the Arab countries, Abbas presented to the world the real explanation for the absence of Israeli-Palestinian peace.

While almost every sentence of Abbas’ speech lacked a factual basis, the following are just a few excerpts of the speech that encapsulate the PA ideology, put into context with a brief PMW commentary.

Abbas:

“I speak to you on behalf of more than fourteen million Palestinian people, whose parents and grandparents lived through the tragedy of the “Nakba” seventy-four years ago, and they are still living the effects of this “Nakba”, which is a disgrace to humanity, especially those who conspired, planned and carried out this heinous crime.
Moreover, more than five million Palestinians have been suffering under the Israeli military occupation for fifty-four years.”

PMW:

While at times pretending that he and the Palestinian leadership support a “two-state solution”, in this speech Abbas expressed the PA wordview that rejects Israel’s right to exist as a national homeland for the Jewish people. From his perspective, the creation of Israel - in any borders - was a “disgrace to humanity” and a “heinous crime.” In Abbas’ eyes, the decision of the international community in San Remo in 1920 and the decision of the League of Nations in 1922, to recognize the historic connection of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and endorse the reconstitution of the Jewish homeland was nothing more than a conspiracy against the “Palestinians”. All this, while simultaneously claiming that it is Israel “which disavows the resolutions of international legitimacy.”

Abbas:

“Israel is carrying out a frantic campaign to confiscate our lands and spread its colonial settlements and plunder our resources, as if this land was empty and had no owners, just as it did in 1948.”

PMW:

When Abbas talks about “our lands” and “our resources” he is trying to reinforce the fictional idea that a Palestinian people once owned the entire Land of Israel. This notion lacks any factual basis. No independent country called “Palestine” ever existed. In fact, from 1517 to 1917, the general area called “Palestine” was merely another province of the Ottoman Empire. Prior to that, it had been conquered by a long list of invaders, since the Romans expelled the Jewish people in 70 CE. From 1917 to 1948, “Palestine” was administered by the British under a Mandate of the League of Nations. The express purpose of the Mandate was to reconstitute the Jewish national homeland.

Furthermore, while many individual Arabs did and still do own land, Abbas ignores the fact that much of the area was indeed uninhabited and that these areas, similar to the status of uninhabited lands in many countries around the world, are considered “state lands.” Abbas also denies the fact, mentioned in the 1930 Shaw Report, following the Arab massacre of 130 Jews in 1929, that the Jews who moved to Israel following the adoption of the Mandate purchased huge areas of land from the Arabs “frequently at a very high price.”

While Abbas’ statements lack factual basis, they do expose a fundamental PA message, often highlighted by PMW. According to the PA, Israel has no right to exist. All of Israel is “Palestine” and no one has the right to relinquish any part of it.

Abbas:

“Israel has left us nothing of the land to establish our independent state in light of its frenzied settlement attack, so where will our people live in freedom and dignity? Where will we establish our independent state to live in peace with our neighbors? The settlers now constitute about 751,000, which constitutes 25% of the total population in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”

PMW:

This claim by Abbas similarly defies reality on multiple levels. Firstly, Abbas fails to explain why no independent “Palestinian State” was created from 1948-1967 when Israel did not control either the Gaza Strip nor Judea and Samaria, and no “settlements” existed. He similarly failed to explain why he rejected the 2008 peace offer of then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. That offer included creating a “Palestinian State” on a territory greater than that of Gaza, Judea and Samaria, prior to 1967. He also fails to note that today Palestinians control all of Gaza and at least 40% of Judea and Samaria – the areas defined as areas A and B in the Oslo peace accords. 95% of the Palestinian population lives in these areas. In addition, the PA has also promoted and funded wide-scale, illegal, Palestinian land grabs in area C. In these land grabs, according to the Israeli NGO Regavim, Palestinians have built tens of thousands of illegal structures. In comparison, figures recently released suggest that the “Israeli settlements” in area C cover no more than 2.5% of that area.

Abbas:

“Therefore, I present today to this UN organization, the title of international legitimacy in this world, with a formal request to implement General Assembly resolution 181, which formed the basis for the two-state solution in 1947, as well as resolution 194 calling for the right of return of Palestine refugees.”

PMW:

Having already called the creation of Israel a catastrophe, and added sundry lies and libels against Israeli and Israelis, Abbas then demanded that the UN implement the 1947 UN Partition Plan. Clearly, in Abbas’ eyes, it is possible to turn back the hands of time to implement a defunct decision that was thoroughly rejected by the Arabs at the time.

Regarding the implementation of resolution 194, as PMW has already demonstrated, when Abbas and the PA talk about the implementation of the so-called “Palestinian right of return,” what they are really calling for is for Israel to commit national suicide.

Abbas:

“All glory to the righteous martyrs of the Palestinian people who enlightened the path of freedom and independence with their pure blood. They will remain symbols that the Palestinian generations will remember with gratitude and reverence, generation after generation, and we remain accountable to them.
As for our brave prisoners, the living conscience of our people, who sacrifice their freedom for the sake of the freedom of their people, these people cannot be described in words. They are living martyrs, they are heroes and firm leaders, and we have an obligation to secure their freedom, and we will not abandon them. We will not leave their sons and daughters and their families, and we tell them and our detained children and the heroic prisoner Nasser Abu Hmaid and his companions that dawn is coming, and it is time for their chains to be broken. Greetings from me and our entire people to all our heroic martyrs and families. I salute from this podium Nasser’s mother, the mother of prisoners and martyrs, and it is unfortunate that the occupation authorities did not allow her to see her captive, heroic son for one minute as he is struggling with death due to medical negligence.”

PMW:

Having denounced Israel’s creation, demanded that Israel commit national suicide and that the UN turn back the hands of time to implement a defunct decision, ignored reality and rewritten history, Abbas then turned to the only subject that he can truly identify as his lasting legacy to the Palestinians and the Israeli Palestinian peace process: Glorifying terror and terrorists.

The “righteous martyrs” and “brave prisoners” Abbas refers to include thousands of dead terrorists, including suicide bombers and also murderers such as Abdallah Barghouti, responsible for the murder of 67 people, Ibrahim Hamed, responsible for the murder of 54 people, and scores of other terrorist murderers.

His support for these murderers includes paying them generous monthly salaries and demanding their release, as a precondition to any future peace agreement. Abbas’ dedication to the terrorists is not mere lip service. Rather, it is a reflection of the priorities of the Palestinian Authority which puts the interests of the terrorists above the welfare, education, and health of the Palestinians.

Put into context, this statement is the equivalent of Osama Bin Laden standing on the podium of the UN and singing the praises of Mohamed Atta, Marwan Al-Shehhi, and their accomplices, the terrorists who carried out the 9/11 terror attacks.

(full article online)

Abbas demands that UN turn back the hands of time | PMW Analysis

Abbas demands that UN turn back the hands of time

palwatch.org

 

[Sixties Fan]

Islamic Jihad (PIJ) mouthpiece Palestine Today has several recent articles about how the May fighting was a great victory for them.

They quote a Lebanese "expert" who describes how they achieved their goals in the fighting. A delegation from Islamic Jihad went to Syria and described their "victory,' saying the war never ended.

One reason for these articles is that PIJ is celebrating its 35th anniversary.

But another reason may be because the Palestinian public does not consider Islamic Jihad to have won anything in May.

The PCPSR poll I mentioned yesterday asked Palestinians who won the armed confrontations.
42% think that neither Israel nor Islamic Jihad won . But 27% (33% in the Gaza Strip and 24% in the West Bank) think Israel came out a winner while only 12% think Islamic Jihad came out a winner. Surprisingly, 11% think Hamas, who did not participate in the confrontation, came out a winner.

Half of the public (50%) says that Hamas’ decision not to become directly involved in the armed exchange between Islamic Jihad and the Israeli army was the correct decision while 37% say it was the wrong decision. The view that Hamas did the right thing is more widespread in the Gaza Strip (68%) compared to the West Bank (38%).

Gazans, who have to live with these battles, are pretty much against Islamic Jihad for instigating the conflict, and they are happy that Hamas didn't join - which PIJ clearly wanted to occur.

Islamic Jihad is not very popular in Gaza right now. Its 35th anniversary activities and articles are partially meant to shore up its reputation.

Islamic Jihad insists it won the mini-war in May. Palestinians don't agree.

Blogging about Israel and the Arab world since, oh, forever.

elderofziyon.blogspot.com

 

[P F Tinmore]

Mahmoud Abbas again demonstrated why he and the Palestinians have rejected every Israeli offer of peace.

Israel has never offered peace. They have only offered surrender.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Israel has never offered peace. They have only offered surrender.

The Palestinians never fought, how can they surrender?

 

[Hollie]

Israel has never offered peace. They have only offered surrender.

Obviously, not true.

 

[P F Tinmore]

The Palestinians never fought, how can they surrender?

Is there a war?

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Is there a war?

You said Israel offered surrender......were you lying?

 

[Hollie]

Is there a war?

Is there is, we'll expect a youtube video.

 

[P F Tinmore]

You said Israel offered surrender......were you lying?

When has Israel ever offered unconditional peace?

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

When has Israel ever offered unconditional peace?

You were lying.

 

[P F Tinmore]

You were lying.

Not so. Why are you ducking my question?

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Not so. Why are you ducking my question?

You said Israel offered surrender.
Show me.

 

[Hollie]

When has Israel ever offered unconditional peace?

Have you fallen down and bumped your head again?

That might be a matter of seeing the conditions for unconditional peace represented by the Islamic terrorists.

The Hamas Charter is not so peaceful.

 

[P F Tinmore]

Shadia Mansour ~ On this Earth is what makes life worth living (LIVE PERFORMANCE)​