Steve Lieblich's blog
PA narrative: All of Israel is "occupied" land
From a PMW Bulletin, 15 May 2012, by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik:
One of the most important impediments to long term peace between Israel and the Palestinians is the Palestinian Authority's refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist - and its teaching, especially children, that all of Israel is "occupied" land. As Palestinian Media Watchhas reported, part of Israel is said to have been "occupied" since 1948 during the "Nakba" or "catastrophe," the term Palestinians use to delegitimize Israel's establishment. The rest, the PA says, was occupied in 1967 during the Six-Day War. All of Israel's existence is said to be an "occupation" and illegitimate.
A recent PA TV children's program cited Israeli expropriation of land in the Galilee in 1976 as the source for Palestinian protests on what Palestinians call "Land Day." The PA TV host referred to the Galilee, part of Israel since its establishment in 1948, as "occupied lands" and "land occupied after 1948":
PA TV host:"On March 30, dear friends, in 1976, Israeli occupation forces confiscated a region - in other words, thousands of dunams of land in the Galilee (northern Israel), the occupied lands, that is, land occupied after 1948."
[PA TV (Fatah), March 30, 2012]
PA schoolbooks teach the same message that Israel since 1948 is an "occupation"
"Colonialism: Palestine faced the British occupation after the First World War in 1917, and the Israeli occupation in 1948."
[National Education, sixth grade, p. 16, PA schoolbook currently in use. http://www.pcdc.edu.ps/textbooks/watanyeh_G6.pdf- accessed March 11, 2012]
Official PA TV children's educational programs consistently present all of Israel as "occupied":
PA TV host:"We're on a trip in the 1948 lands. On our right is Baqa Al-Gharbiya (village in Israel) , the land [home] of many friends of our program. We're on our way [to see] many beautiful areas so that you can get to know them and see how beautiful our land is, and how many beautiful places it has -- beautiful villages and cities. We're in the north of the occupied lands, the 1948 lands (Israel), on the Lebanese border."
Israeli-Arab tour guide:"We're now at the Golan Heights border (inside Israel). We are at the exact border between Palestine and Syria."
[PA TV (Fatah), Oct. 22, 2010 and Sept. 16 and 17, 2011]
TV host to girl:"You live in Jerusalem. Do you visit the 1948 occupied cities (Israeli cities)?"
Girl (Lujayn):"I've been to Hebron."
TV host:"No, Hebron is a city [in the Palestinian Authority] that we all can enter. The occupied cities - such as Lod, Ramle, Haifa, Jaffa, Acre (all Israeli cities) - have you visited them?"
Girl:"I've been to Haifa and Jaffa."
TV host:"We hope all children of Palestine will be able to go to the occupied territories, which we don't know and have never been able to see. Personally, I have never been there."
[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 25, 2010]
PA TV host to kids:"Soon, if it works out, we will be among you [Israeli Arabs] in the 1948 territories [i.e. Israel] the occupied territories. Our friends from the 1948 territories - the occupied territories - they write wanting us [to broadcast] there with them. Many of them have come here, trying to be friends [of the program] and they are truly dear friends and regular [viewers]. There are also [some] from Lod [Israeli city] and also Ahmad from Nazareth [Israeli city] and there are so many. There's Adnan from Be'er Sheva [Israeli city]. Dear [Israeli Arab] children: We will definitely always remain in contact with you, because you have the right, and this program is definitely yours too, just as it belongs to every Palestinian child, since you are part of occupied Palestine."
[PA TV (Fatah), Feb. 26, 2010]
Click here to view more examples of the PA presenting all of Israel as an "occupation".
Antisemites "Anonymous"
From J-wire, May 16, 2012 by J-Wire Staff:
...the "Al-Nakba rally" and march took place as scheduled in Sydney last night….to almost deserted streets.
...The chants were the same. “Palestine will be free…from the river to the sea” remains a slogan which does not entertain moves towards peace. Also on display were the yellow flags of Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based terror organisation committed to the destruction of Israel.
With the march completed, some protesters began to chant “Khaybar, Khaybar yaa yahood, jayshu Muhammad sawfa ya’ood” (Khaybar, Khaybar, O Jews, the army of Muhammad will return [a nostalgic reference to a massacre of Jews]), but were told by organisers to desist, as in not now and not here.
...Joining in the march and walking behind the Hezbollah flags was the”The Skull”, Ross L May, who joined the National Socialist [Nazi] Party of Australia in 1963.
[No prizes offered for guessing what a Nazi has in common with the "Friends of Palestine".]
Ross May (far right), well-known Australian Nazi, marches in the "Friends of Palestine Al-Nakba Rally" 15 March 2012.
Ross May in 1971 (far right, then too)
...and more recently
Jerusalem hospital shows off a new vaccine that destroys cancer
From YourJewishNews.com, 9 April 2012:
Early human test results suggest a vaccine can train cancer patients' bodies to seek out and destroy tumour cells.
The therapy, which targets a molecule found in 90 per cent of cancers, eventually could provide an injection that would allow patients' immune systems to fight off common cancers including breast and prostate cancer.
The first results of trials in people, at the Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem, suggest the vaccine can reduce levels of disease. The human work is so preliminary it has yet to be published in a scientific journal.
The scientists behind the vaccine hope to conduct more extensive trials to prove it can be effective against a range of cancers. They believe it could be used to fight small tumours if they are detected early or to help prevent the return and spread of disease in patients who have undergone conventional treatment.
In the safety trial at Hadassah, 10 patients with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, received the vaccine. Seven have finished the treatment and the developer, drug company Vaxil Biotherapeutics, reported all had greater immunity against cancer cells compared with before they were given the vaccine. Vaxil added that three patients were free of detectable cancer following the treatment.
Cancer cells usually evade a patient's immune system because they are not recognized as a threat. While the immune system usually attacks foreign cells such as bacteria, tumours are formed of the patient's own cells that have malfunctioned.
Scientists have discovered that a molecule called MUC1, which is found on the surface of cancer cells, can be used to help the immune sys-tem detect tumours. The new vaccine, ImMucin, developed by Vaxil and researchers at Tel Aviv University, uses a section of the molecule to prime the immune system so it can identify and thus destroy cancer cells.
Vaxil suggested that if large-scale trials prove as successful, the vaccine could be available within six years. Initial research on the vaccine, in mice, was published in the journal Vaccine, and suggested the treatment induced "potent" immunity in mice and increased their survival from cancer.
Cancer charities gave the vaccine a cautious welcome. Dr. Kat Arney, at Cancer Research UK, said: "These are very early results that are yet to be fully published, so there's a lot more work to be done to prove that this particular vaccine is safe and effective in cancer patients."
Don't give aid to groups with terror connections
From:The Australian, May 03, 2012 , by Greg Sheridan :
AUSTRALIAN taxpayers should not be forced to fund organisations with links to terrorists. This is the case with aid to at least one Palestinian group. It's not against the law, but it's wrong. It's morally and politically objectionable. It ought to stop.
The Australian government aid agency, Ausaid, gives millions of dollars, through the private charity World Vision, to the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, which works in the Gaza Strip. The problem is the UAWC and its personnel have deep links with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The PFLP is a proscribed terrorist organisation under the relevant UN list, Australian legislation and the legislation of numerous other countries. It is one of the central progenitors of modern terrorism.
It was founded by George Habash and combined Arab nationalism with radical Marxist-Leninism. Its fortunes have waxed and waned as more direct Islamism has become dominant.
It pioneered aeroplane hijackings but then in the 1980s focused on assassinating Israeli civilians and moderate Arabs.
UAWC was founded in 1986 as part of the "institutional cluster of the PFLP" as a State Department report in the 1990s described it. The report said: "The PFLP's agricultural extension activities are provided by the UAWC".
The general, pro-Palestinian histories of the UAWC that I could find made no secret of the PFLP connection.
It is true that the UAWC is not a proscribed terrorist organisation; nor are its leaders proscribed individuals. And it seems that it does peaceful civilian work.
A few months ago a group of Israeli lawyers, Shurat HaDin, sent a complaint to Ausaid and World Vision charging that these bodies could be in breach of the law because support for UAWC could be easily construed as indirect support for a terrorist organisation.
I think that overstates the legal case but I think the moral and political case against funding the UAWC is overwhelming.
Ausaid asked World Vision to investigate and World Vision conducted searches of registers of all proscribed organisations, as well as talking directly to UAWC and others on the ground in the Palestinian territories. Ausaid and World Vision then wrote to Shurat HaDin saying there was no evidence they were breaking the law by funding UAWC. Both organisations took the allegations seriously enough to briefly suspend the funding to UAWC.
Shurat HaDin then sent further information which Ausaid, with the assistance of other government agencies, is now evaluating.
In response to my inquiries, World Vision issued a statement saying, in part: "UAWC is a registered NGO with both the Israeli Ministry of Justice and the Palestinian Authority. World Vision is not UAWC's only partner. UAWC has partnered with multiple other government aid programs and United Nations agencies. These partners include UN agencies (such as UNDP), World Bank, and numerous international not-for-profit organisations."
World Vision also says it exercises all reasonable efforts to vet organisations it partners with. Ausaid says that since 2005 it has provided $4.7 million for UAWC through World Vision. I do not accuse either World Vision or Ausaid of bad faith. However, I do not believe Australian taxes should go to support organisations associated with terrorism.
In its dossier, Shurat HaDin points out that "the president of the UAWC board of directors, Bashir al Kheiri, is a well-known and senior member of the PFLP, (one-time) head of the PFLP Political Office in Ramallah, with a long record of arrests and jail time in Israel for terrorist involvement and still actively representing the PFLP as recently as January 2012".
It further says: "The vice-president of the UAWC board of directors, Jamil Muhammad Ismail al-Majdalawi, is also a well-known and senior member of the PFLP . . . and represents the PFLP on the PLO central committee."
It provides information about three other UAWC board members linking them to the PFLP.
In the Palestinian territories, it can be difficult to work effectively on the ground and not rub shoulders with people who have terrorist associations. But the answer is not to co-operate with organisations linked to terrorist outfits that espouse violence and hatred, as does the PFLP. Specific renunciation of such attitudes must be a prerequisite to receiving Australian aid.
It is, in any event, foolish for Australia to be making this effort. The Rudd and Gillard governments have doubled Australian aid to the Palestinian territories, and Palestinians in nearby areas, to $70m annually. There is more than a whiff of this being an effort, hopefully forlorn, to placate the Arab vote in the run-up to our ill-advised effort to secure a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
But it is also an example of the wider malaise in our aid program. The decision to wildly increase the aid program, $5 billion now and set to double in the next few years if the Gillard government keeps its promises, means we cannot spend the money properly, productively or prudently.
I asked Teresa Gambaro, the opposition's development assistance spokeswoman, about the UAWC.
She said: "It would appear that Ausaid is providing funds to World Vision to fund an organisation that has links to a terrorist organisation. For Ausaid to come back and say there is nothing wrong is totally unacceptable. This is a situation where World Vision has partnered with another organisation in a third-party arrangement. It seems evident that there is a total lack of transparency and inadequate reporting requirements on NGOs."
Regarding the aid budget more generally, Gambaro argues: "Australia's aid program is on schedule to be doubled and I am deeply concerned that there is not the capacity even now to make sure this money is appropriately and effectively spent."
For decades we have denied aid to people often on the brink of starvation -- among them North Koreans and Burmese -- because we quite rightly object to their governments. Whatever Australian taxes are for, they are not to support organisations with links to terrorist groups. This is just one example of many of how parts of our aid budget have spun bizarrely out of control and no longer reflect majority Australian values.
Israeli conductor for WASO
"Although I do appreciate the Perth weather, no, it's not a ploy to get more sunshine," he joked on the phone from Vienna.
Fisch, whose appointment by WASO's board after consultation with the orchestra's musicians was announced yesterday and will start in 2014, said it was more about the quality of the orchestra and Perth audiences.
"I've always enjoyed working in Australia, so taking this job was a no-brainer for me," the former protege of legendary conductor Daniel Barenboim said.
"(WASO) works very hard. They have an incredibly good idea of sound and music-making, but at the same time they're normal, nice people.
"And I know there's a wonderful audience and lots of community support for the orchestra."
Currently principal guest conductor of the Seattle Opera, over the past two decades Fisch has conducted many of the world's greatest orchestras and opera companies.
He has worked with WASO five times before as well as other major Australian music organisations such as the South Australian Opera.
Its 2004 production of Wagner's Ring Cycle won 10 Helpmann Awards, including best musical direction for Fisch.
Fisch's appointment is for three years. He will conduct nine weeks a year, except in 2014 because he will do two weeks in September next year when he is principal conductor designate.Christian Palestinianism
Uploaded to YouTube by TheBereanCall on Jan 20, 2012:
This 1-hour video is featured in the January 2012 Berean Call Newsletter and was recorded at the 2011 Berean Call Conference
Australasian Union of Jewish Students hosts a stall at ECU Joondalup
Perth MLA and Friends of Israel member John Hyde praised the work of the Australasian Union of Jewish Students for hosting a stall at Edith Cowan University’s Joondalup campus.
“It was great to see a strong showing from the AustralasianUnion of Jewish Students at this important international food fair which is organised by the United Macedonia Diaspora on Joondalup campus,” said Mr Hyde.
Israel Law Center refers World Vision Australia to the Australian Federal Police.
Further to our recent posting about the work of "Shurat Hadin" (the Israel Law Center) in relation to World Vision Australia and AusAID, some of our members, who were also long-time supporters of World Vision, wrote to them, indicating that they may withdraw their support.
Follow this link to download a copy of the attachment sent with the response from World Vision.
Shurat Hadin has responded to this World Vision Australia statement as follows:
World Vision's response to [the FOIWA members who made the enquiry] is misleading in a number of respects:
1) World Vision only asked Shurat HaDin for its information on 29 Feb 2012 AFTER it had already stated that it had conducted its investigation and a few days before it publicly announced that the allegations were "unfounded" without having received our information yet.
2) The statement "Other than stating that its allegations are based on publicly available information, Shurat HaDin has not provided us with further information." is quite misleading. I attach the letter sent to World Vision on 22 March 2012 which includes substantial factual detail on the PFLP - UAWC links including the names of 5 UAWC directors who are senior & active members of the PFLP.
A relevant extract from the Shurat Hadin letter to World Vison Australia:
Given this “Alice in Wonderland” approach to the investigation of allegations of serious criminal offences and gross misuse of public funds, it appears you are not capable of investigating these matters competently and we are planning to refer the matter to the Australian Federal Police and other relevant international law enforcement agencies.
Yom Hashoah - Holocaust Commemoration - WA 2012
The annual WA communal commemoration of the Holocaust took place last night.
The following dignitaries were present:
- Mr Stephen Irons MP - Member for Swan (wife Cheryle)
- Mr Kenneth Wyatt MP - Member for Hasluck (wife Anna)
- Mr Michael Sutherland MLA - Representing the Premier (wife Michelle)
- The Hon Kate Doust MLA - Representing the Leader of the Opposition
- The Hon Philip Gardiner MLC - Member for Agricultural Region
- The Hon Elizabeth Behjat MLC - Member for North Metropolitan Region (partner Chris Hatton)
- Hon Linda Savage MLC - Member for East Metropolitan Region
- Janine Freeman MLA - Member for Nollamara
- Mr Bill Johnston MLA - Member for Cannington
- Mrs Janet Davidson OAM JP - Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Perth
- Councillor Rod Willox - Representing the Lord Mayor of the City of Stirling (wife Lynn)
- Mr John Cox of the RSL
- Mr Joseph Caruso - UNAA Global Ambassador
- Mrs Lisa Moreno - UNAA
- Carolyne Gatward - UNAA
- Maria Saracini - Ethnic Communities Council and People of Australia Ambassador (husband Richard Goldsmith)
- Mr Bob Kucera - FOIWA (wife Susan)
- Mr David Taylor - Principal, Carmel School
The following schools, who have utilised the Holocaust Institute program in their history classes, also sent contingents:
- the Peter Carnley Anglican Community School
- St Stephens School
- Somerville Baptist College
- Atwell College
- Newman College
- Australind Senior High School, and
- Canning Vale College