Friends of Israel

Here is an example in which anti-Israel sentiment, combined with gullible and sloppy journalism adds fuel to the incessant campaign of vilification and demonisation against Israel.

An article was published in “The Countryman” dated 17 June 2010, by Kate Matthews  about an agricultural expertise exchange between some Israeli experts and Peter Harvey, a Western Australian who claims to be an expert.

It included some off-handed comments about the political situation in Israel, which are very negative and did not ring at all true to some of us familiar with the situation there.

To verify the actual facts of the matter and find out more about this particular “collaboration” I contacted the Israeli experts named in the article. In the email I received in response from Professor Haim Leibovich he says:

“…there is no similarity whatsoever between the visit of Peter Harvey with me and with Ran Solomon and the details given in the article. I find it hard to believe that Peter Harvey said these things…”

The following are some examples of The Countryman's "report"

Countryman

...to set up a feedlot to improve fertility rates in dairy sheep with the Israeli small ruminant Department of Agriculture, working with Professor Haim Leibovich....Mr Harvey was able to share his knowledge with a group of students and feedlot managers as well as Professor Leibovich and Professor Ran Salomon who were leading the project...

Haim Leibovich

“there was no joint project whatsoever. There was no feedlot built, no collaboration… I find this article unbelievable – there is hardly one true statement in it.”

Countryman

...To get to the kibbutz where the feedlot was to be built, Mr Harvey was flown in by helicopter and soldiers in tanks would drive past daily .
During his second visit, a female Palestinian suicide bomber killed three people in a four-car escort Mr Harvey was travelling in. His life was saved by one of the men who fell on top of him...

Haim Leibovich 

“...no tank and no helicopter…no suicide bomber..."

Countryman

Mr Harvey said many of those working at the feedlot were Palestinians who travelled daily to and from Gaza and the West Bank.
 "There are two factions of Palestians that are unfortunately fighting, like the Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, which doesn't help the situation...But the blockages are terrible and it's criminal."
Mr Harvey said the Israelis didn't ask questions, but acted instead .

These final off-handed comments at the end of the article are totally out of context and not relevant to an article about ruminant nutrition.

Why are the “blockages …criminal”? Between 2000-2005 there were almost 2000 deaths and tens of thousands of injuries from suicide bombers, drive-by shootings, stabbings etc perpetrated by infiltrators from the West Bank. The road blocks and security fence are a defensive measure that apprehends prospective terrorists on a daily basis to this day. The measure has succeeded to reduce the rate of deaths from terrorism from a high of over 100 in month to less than 1 per month.

“Israelis didn't ask questions, but acted instead” is a wild accusation and a lie.

Despite repeated requests to the journalist Kate Matthews and The Countryman's editor Paul Mole, commencing on 12 July 2010, it wasn't till 17 August that the Editor admitted that

What started out as a good little story about a local guy helping fellow farmers in Israel seems to have backfired.
 
...maybe his good news story got confused in the translation...
 
It appears there were some inaccuracies in original article.

The Countryman finally (reluctantly)  agreed to publish a "clarification" which ran in the 19 August edition. However not without altering the text that they had agreed with me, and even adding further false information alleged by the thoroughly discredited Peter Harvey, namely

Countryman has since verified Mr Harvey visited Israel three times through International Agricultural Technician Suppliers, which received a request from Hassan Rawi of the Kibbutz Rumama in the Negev Desert. Mr Harvey — at the time — had been assured it was a government project, which subsequently turned out not to be true.

This was also proven to be more bullshit, as Dr Leibovich explained in an email on 25 August and another on 26 August

...There was no business mentioned at any part of his visit.

...There was no project whatsoever Mr. Harvey was involved with. ...There was and is no new feedlot  built with Mr. Harvey's cooperation and I have no idea what he is talking about. Dr. Solomon and myself are deeply involved in the local agricultural industry and we would with no doubt know about such a new feedlot. ...

As for Kibbutz Ruhama in the Negev desert, which I know well  – we have not been there with Mr. Harvey, they do not have any small ruminants or a feedlot, and there is no person with the name you mentioned (Mr Hassan Rawi) working there.

However The Countryman's editor is not interested in the smell still hanging around.

On 26 August he wrote

Peter Harvey - for whatever reason - gave Countryman a story.
Cleary there were glaring innacuracies, but I don't think Peter's intention was to lie and pick on Israel.
We ran a correction about the story, which I think cleared up all the errors.
I am not in the habit of running corrections about corrections about corrections.
 

...I consider the matter sufficiently dealt with.

...and so The Countryman's bullshit still stinks....