Prof. Gerald M. Steinberg - http://tinyurl.com/y7xv4msj
The primary threats to Israel's survival do
not come from Iran's weapons of mass destruction, or from Palestinian
terrorists. Rather, the deeper danger comes from the continuing propaganda
campaign that rejects Israel's legitimacy and seeks to rollback the UN
partition decision of November 1947. This campaign produced the infamous UN
resolution equating Zionism with racism in 1975, which was revived in the 2002
Durban conference. The Israel-bashers have shifted the focus away from the
Palestinian responsibility for terrorism and the failure of the Oslo process,
while promoting the great lies of massive human rights violations by Israel.
While Arab and Islamic organizations lead the
way, such Israel-bashing is promoted by journalists, diplomats (including the
UN), academics, and self-proclaimed human rights groups. Non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) enjoy a halo effect, and their claims to promote noble
causes without a political axe to grind exempt them from scrutiny. In reality,
however, these NGOs are at the very core of this other axis of evil. By
promoting the campaign of hatred and delegitimization directed against Israel,
these human rightsNGOs are themselves contributing to the justification of
terrorism.
Charges of Israeli war crimes, violations of
international law, systematic human rights abusesare commonplace in the reports
and press-releases of NGOs such as Amnesty International, OXFAM, Christian Aid
and Human Rights Watch. These reports generally rely on information supplied by
Palestinians and their political or ideological supporters (often employed by
the NGOs or UN agencies with whom they are in close contact), and the claims
are rarely subject to independent confirmation. In addition, dozens of
Israeli-based and Palestinian groups receive massive funding from abroad to
produce a steady stream of anti-Israel political propaganda which has nothing
to do with human rights. As documented in the analyses of the NGO Monitor, the
lies and distortions are reported by journalists, repeated by diplomats and in
UN publications, cited in academic journals, and then reappear as in the NGO
websites.
In this propaganda war, it is surprising that
some of the NGOs and their ignoble activities are funded by Jewish and
Israel-oriented organizations such as the New Israel Fund. The most notorious
example -- Physicians for Human Rights Israel, emphasizes illegal Israeli
occupation, and uses the medical dimension as a thin cover to promote its
ideological agenda. PHR-I's crude propaganda is seen by many as anti-Semitic,
and has prompted the Israeli Medical Association to end all cooperation with
this group. The cartoons published by PHR-I use stereotypes of Palestinian
victims and Israeli oppressors, with no mention of brutal suicide attacks.
Similarly, a group calling itself "The Israeli Committee Against House
Demolitions" uses terms such as "apartheid" to describe Israel
efforts to prevent suicide bombings, and encourages Israeli Arab citizens to
remember the Nakba (disaster) on May 15. Supports are urged to send donations
through the NIF.
The NIF also funds the Nazareth-based Arab
Association of Human Rights (HRA) and Adalah. Rather than working primarily to
encourage values such as equality and tolerance among Israeli citizens, both
Jewish and Arab, and delegitimize terrorism, these groups are at the forefront
of the externally directed campaign to distort the Israeli reality. Instead,
under the cover of human and civil rights, both groups promote blatant
ideological and political agendas anchored in the delegitimation of Israel as a
Jewish and democratic state. In its press review, HRA consistently condemns
Israeli actions to prevent terrorist attacks. Vital security measures are
misleadingly labeled as evidence of discrimination, while facts that do not
support this false charge are ignored. Similarly, Adalah has played a leading
role in the promoting the myth that Israel is not a democracy.
Propaganda attacks on Israel are not included
in NIF's stated goals, but the results undermine the claim to provide an
alternative approach in support of Israeli democracy and Zionism. Many Israelis
associate this organization primarily with the propaganda campaigns and funding
for extremist fringe groups, while NIF's more positive activities are lost in
the noise. A number of NIF supporters and officials have resigned following
these revelations, and others are demanding a thorough accounting and change in
policy. Given the important contributions that NIF makes in other areas, an
immediate end to involvement in Israel-bashing disguised as support for human
and civil rights would not come to early.
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