Israelis in Haiti - a complicated viewpoint

cartoon: Eran Wolkowski, "Haaretz"

Hurray to the Israeli delegation to Haiti!

Well, first, I don’t intend to be cynical here. I actually applaud the delegation of physicians and rescue personnel who made the transatlantic travel, and were the first to set up a field hospital in Port-O-Prince.
The point that I would like to make, though, is this: As an Israeli, I have the feeling that the Israeli people, and that includes almost everybody, are using this event, maybe unintentionally, as a diversion from what is happening in Israel (or rather, in Palestine).
To be perfectly clear about this, let us separate two things.
The first thing is that the men and women who were deployed to Haiti from Israel, not only have done a great job in saving the lives of a few hundred people; they also did it for the right reasons, for the most part – namely, really for the sake of humanity, life saving, and all the right values. I’m saying “for the most part”, just because, to be perfectly honest, and with all due respect to those fine people – they are also aware of the benefits that this gives to Israel, politically. And rightly so!
Just as a side note to this post: one reservation comes to mind, regarding the motives of such a good deed, and that is - being an extraordinary and unusual mission – it also comes with some significant benefits to the members of the delegations, themselves. I’m not talking about money, of course. I’m referring to the satisfaction, thrill, and even the joy, in the most pure and good form of those feelings. I’m not suggesting that they don’t deserve them – on the contrary; I’m not saying that it’s a pleasant mission – it’s not. It’s horrible, demanding and difficult at the highest levels. Those people are being exposed to the most horrific views known to humans. Yet, it’s not rare to see people fighting over the right to be in the delegation, and not only because of the utmost necessity of this mission. But enough, this is hard to explain to somebody who hasn’t been in these types of situations.
The second issue involved here, totally separately from the first, is the use of this event, and the response to it, by the Israeli government and media. They are simply and cynically using the photos of the Israeli flag, flying over the stadium in the Haitian capital, to cleanse their conscience from the crimes that they (the Israeli government, not the Israeli people as a whole) are committing against the Palestinians.
I know what you are thinking while reading this. “Why not give the credit, once some good deed is done? Why be so cynical?”. Well, here’s why: the Israeli politicians, headed by Prime Minister Nethanyahu, who decided on dispatching this delegation, are the ultimate example of cynicism. They don’t really care for the people of Haiti. They don’t care about 3 million people, much closer to home, who live as second class residents in a territory controlled by the country that they manage, without national or even some human rights. They don’t even care about their own people, 80% of whom share only 56% of the wealth; 24% of whom living under the poverty line, according to the Israeli government itself. (1)
They only care for one thing – staying in power.
The touching and moving pictures of people helping in Haiti are an important message of humanity. But they also help Bibi and his gang to stay in power. They do this by creating an image, for a country that doesn’t deserve it. They do it by giving its people both the excuse to continue supporting some terrible things that are done in their names; as well as, at the same time, creating for them the mindset, that they are always the victims; because they are only doing good, and the World doesn’t recognize it. In summary, we are more moral than the entire world, we are good and sophisticated and powerful in our goodness and high technology; and at the same time, we are so weak and miserable by not being understood as such; by being so harshly criticized by the international media (which, by the way, actually praised Israel for the good job in Haiti).
Just read some quotes from some of the very fine persons who served in Haiti: “We will travel there, save lives, we will get ‘Kudos’, and then what? Will they love us more around the world? Will they remember it the next time we bombard Gaza?...” Another one said: “This is coming to us at the best timing possible. Now that we finished recruiting new people to our Unit, we are also getting some real-life training, on a special budget…”. (2) Let me be very clear: I am not questioning the noble motives of the fine gentleman who was quoted; I’m just saying, there is more to it than what is visible on a 2-minute item on TV.
This is what the average person in Israel is thinking: “We can’t be that bad if we were the first country to offer real help in Haiti” (which is, well, close to be true; other countries sent some relief too, but we didn’t see much of it on Israeli TV). Well, sometimes two things can be true at the same time: The Israelis are very well trained to respond to disasters – mind you, it’s not so much fun to live in a country which specializes in those kinds of things! – and, at the same time, the Israelis, most of them without their real intention, share the responsibility to a big crime that is lasting for 43 years, namely – the occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people.
And what about the responsibility of the Palestinians themselves, for their situation? – Well that’s a good subject for another post. But like I said, two things can be true at the same time.

(1) Source: National Social Security Institute, 2007
(2) (Lt. Col. Dr. Chemi Blomberg); Source: Haaretz Israeli daily, January 22nd, 2010

The Oslo Accord, Settlements, and anti-Semitism

Dear readers,

Here is another interesting correspondence that I had with Mr. Shamrak:

Me: "Check out the recent increase in anti-Semitism (the real one), it's all because of the occupation."

Shamrak: "The sharp rise of anti-Semitism began immediately after the Oslo agreement!"

First, that's another "inaccuracy" of yours (this is in order not to say the L word).

Check the chart below:

The chart above was taken from the Anti-Defamation League web site: www.adl.org , which you should consider a reliable source. I met with their Director, Mr. Abe Foxman. This is by no means a Leftist organization.

The chart clearly shows a decline in anti-semitist events, following the year 1993 (when the Oslo process began). There is, however, a clear rise after the year 2000, the year that the negotiations failed, and the Second Intifada started, during which the Israeli military killed hundreds of innocent Palestinians.

So, with all my resentment to anti-semitism, like any other form of racism - I can't blame them for being antisemitic.

Not only did the occupation not subside, but on the contrary - since 1993 the number of Jewish settlers has grown by 150%, as of 2008! That's 2.5 times over:

(source: Israel Bureau of Statistics).

In addition, it's interesting to look at the correlation between Anti-Semitic incidents, and the number of victims of Israeli terror, among Palestinians.

After 1993, there has been a steady decline in casualties; which fits well the trend of anti-semitist events. But then, after 2000, the number of dead Palestinians has sharply increased again. Here are the data:

Between 1987 (first Intifada) and 1993, 1,100 Palestinians were killed by the IDF, and another 62 by Israeli civilians. Among those, 241 and 13, respectively, were minors under 17. That's an average of 157 and 9 killed per year, respectively. Clearly, many if not most of the dead were innocent people.

After 1993 and on to 2000, however, the number dropped to 39 per year (a reduction of 75%). Notice, however, that the Israeli civilians (most of them settlers) who killed Palestinians, were not so impressed by the Oslo accord, and their average per year remained at around 7.

Then, between 2001 and 2008, a staggering number of 4,791 Palestinians were killed by the IDF, that's 532 per year.

No wonder that the Palestinians hated us more than the usual, before 1993 and after 2000.

check out also this:

www.ifamericansknew.org

regards,

Avner

An answer to Steven Shamrak, vol. 5

*Obama Appointed Self-Hating Anti-Semitism Czar.

*by Aaron Klein***

In her first major interview since becoming President Obama's newly
appointed anti-Semitism czar (it took Obama a while to find an
ideologically compatible self-hating Jew to fill the position), Hannah
Rosenthal blasted the Israeli government. She characterized as "most
unfortunate" a decision by Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the
United States, to not attend the annual dinner in September of J
Street, a (self-appointed) lobby group that is mostly led by
left-leaning (anti-Israel and anti-Jewish)
here's another thinking-challenged demagogue, who can't comprehend the basic fact of life, that there could be smart people who think different than him.

Israelis and receives funds
from Arab and Muslim Americans... J Street supports talks with Hamas,
a terrorist group
Not more terrorist than the IDF
whose charter seeks the destruction of Israel. The
group opposes sanctions against Iran and is harshly critical of
Israeli offensive anti-terror military actions.
That’s because the "military actions" are even worse terrorist actions than those of the Hamas.

Regarding a recent UN report, accusing Israel of war crimes during
the Jewish state's defensive war in Gaza last year, Rosenthal told
Haaretz, "it is not anti-Semitic to look at a certain policy of Israel
and say - I disagree with it. Half of the population in Israel isn't
anti-Semitic by not agreeing with policies." (If this is so, will she
call for the investigation of war crimes allegedly committed by the US
army in Afghanistan and Iraq?)
Of course!


*When civilians actively have been supporting Islamic terrorism
against the state of Israel and actively participated in or covered
the hostile actions of enemies during the war, as they have been doing
in Afghanistan and Iraq. Therefore they became * enemy combatants
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemy_combatant>
. Killing them is not a war crime! The UN's high-priced international
lawyers know this, but anti-Semitic international politicians are
still waging an anti-Israel smear campaign!
By this definition (to which I don't agree), most of the Jewish residents of Israel are "enemy combatants" and are entitled to be killed.


Arabs and Druze are Most Murderous Israelis. While Arab and Druze
Israelis constitute 20% of the country's population, they accounted
for 59% of the country's murders. Out of 121 murders in Israel in
2009, 71 were committed by or among Arabs and Druze. The vast majority
of criminal bombings occurred in the minority sector, particularly the
Arab sector, where 85 events of planting bombs and 65 of throwing
grenades at targets were recorded
By whom? Those are sheer lies.



In Spite of Having Oil. A report published by the United Nations
Development Program and the Arab League shows that 40% of people in
Arab countries live under the poverty line, a figure that has not
changed over the past 20 years. In addition, unemployment among young
people in the Arab world ranks among the highest in the world.
This is actually true.

Message to anti-Israel Objectors.

by Steven Shamrak

You would like to call and see yourself as genuine and objective
supporters of a just cause but you never worry about the factual
correctness of the anti-Israel information you are using. Quite often
you knowingly using forged information and even deliberately make fake
accusations or twist the facts in order to make an anti-Israel smear.
When we show you factual proof that so-called Palestinians are a fake
nation and are actually the occupiers of Jews' land, you dismiss it as
Zionist propaganda.
No, we dismiss it based on real facts, not wishful thinking. The Palestinians are here and nobody can tell any group of people that they are not a nation, if they feel that they are.
Years of suicide bombings and rocket attacks
against Jews in Israel are unable to shake off your support for
terrorists
that's because of years of massive killings of innocent Palestinians by the Israeli "defense" forces.

If you are not anti-Semites, why don't you care so much about the
occupation of: Tibet by China; Basque region by Spain and France;
Northern Ireland by the United Kingdom; Kurdistan by five countries;
Kashmir by India and Pakistan; Western Sahara by Morocco? Where is
your concern about the fate of refugees created by the war in Congo,
the genocidal policy of the Sudanese government and so on?
Yes we do, there is no contradiction.

Avner Efendowicz

An answer to Steven Shamrak, vol. 4

Dear readers,

I guess you know the routine already… here goes:

IDF Can when Politicians Want. Security Services in partnership with

soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed the murderers of
Rabbi Meir Avshalom Chai. All three were convicted terrorists who had
been committed to and later released from Israeli prisons.
This is actually killing without trial, which is considered a severe crime in any civilized country, except, of course, Israel.

*Goldstone Report Works Both Ways.* Fifteen Israelis who were injured
by Kassam rockets from Gaza Arab terrorists during Operation Cast Lead
have filed a lawsuit against Hamas in a Belgian court. The Israelis
are demanding that Belgian authorities issue international arrest
warrants for senior Hamas terrorists, including Khaled Mashaal, Ismail
Haniyeh, Mahmoud a-Zahar, Ahmad Jabbari, and Muhammad Deff. Part of
the case rests upon the Goldstone report, which ruled that Kassam
rocket fire by Hamas was a violation of international law, and that
the court could not ignore the case.
Good luck!

*Swastikas on Walls of Ancient Synagogue near Hevron.** * A group of
Jews, in a rare visit to the ruins of an ancient synagogue in a PA
controlled village southwest of Hevron, was shocked to discover that
swastikas had been scrawled on the walls. (No international outrage.
It was not even covered by the mainstream news! Why is Arab/Muslim
thuggery not news worthy?)
Interestingly, no word from you about anti-Arab and anti-Islamic graffiti, which is left intact for years on the walls of Arab neighborhoods, whose legal residents were forced out by the apartheid Israeli regime.


The Result of Non-Jewish Migration and Political Apathy. 1. The
government discussed imposing limitations on the sale of alcoholic
beverages. Under the proposed rules, individuals under 21 will not be
able to purchase alcoholic beverages, and no sales will be permitted
after 11 PM. In addition, drinking in public places would be
prohibited, and alcohol will be sold only in specially licensed
stores. 2. Five men were stabbed in a mass brawl that broke out in
Kiryat Gat early on Saturday a week ago over music blasting from a
car. ''The husband (of kiosk owner) was stabbed and seriously wounded.
A number of passersby came to his aid, and four more people were
stabbed,'' said a police spokeswoman.
So you are suggesting that only non-Jews drink and commit crimes? How low can you go, you racist low-life?

Hypocrisy of the Headlines.* *

*Israel feels tarnished as critics apply apartheid tag...

* - Why don't Arabs feel 'tarnished' wearing the well deserved tag of
blood-thirsty terrorists, anti-crusaders bigots and heroin pushers?
Where are the headlines about it?
Because there are equally blood-thirsty terrorists among the Jews in this land.

*Opposition to Rabin Bank Note.** *Bank of Israel was asked by Land
of Israel activists to reconsider its decision to put the portrait of
former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin on bank notes: "Let it be clearly
understood that Rabin's image was controversial... Rabin caused
inestimable and indescribable damage to the state of Israel." (And it
is conveniently forgotten that Yitzhak Rabin was a Haganah commander
who carried out the attack on the Irgun weapon supply boat, the
Altalena, killing and wounding Jews and sinking the boat, at the time
when Jews needed weapons most!)
This is exactly why the late Rabin deserves a note. He fought against Jewish terrorists who were responsible for the killings of hundreds of innocent Arabs during the period 1931 - 1938. All documented by the Jewish underground Etze"l itself, in the book "Chronicles of the War for Independence," by Yaakov Amrami and Arieh Melitz, 1951.

Avner Efendowicz

An answer to Steven Shamrak, vol. 3

Dear readers,

Below is another response to yet another article I received by email, from Mr. Steven Shamrak.

Mr. Shamrak is a very knowledgeable individual, who runs a very patriotic "pro-Israeli" web site (from Australia), called "Shamrak's report" (www.shamrak.com) .

I embedded my humble response to his claims, marked with yellow highlighting. I hope that you find this interesting, maybe even entertaining.

Arab-Israel Conflict – Forgotten Facts! – Intro1

The term "Palestinian" is itself a masterful twisting of history. To portray themselves as indigenous, Arab settlers adopted the name of an ancient Mediterranean tribe, the Philistines (“Invaders” in Hebrew),

This is BS. There is no connection between "Plishtim" and "Polshim".

1. Nationhood and Jerusalem - Israel became a nation in the 14th century B.C.E. Two thousand years before the rise of Islam.

So?!

2. Since 1272 B.C.E. the Jews have had dominion over the land for up to 1,000 years with a continuous Jewish presence in the land for the past 3,300 years.

So?!

3. The only Arab dominion since the Arab invasion and conquest in 635 C.E. lasted no more than 22 years.

So?!

4. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.

So?!

6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in Tanach, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.

Irrelevant.

7. Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray facing Mecca (often with their backs toward Jerusalem).

Don’t confuse Muslims with Palestinians. Many Palestinians are Christians. How is this relevant?

15. Did you know that Saudi Arabia was not created until 1913, Lebanon until 1920? Iraq did not exist as a nation until 1932, Syria until 1941; the borders of Jordan were established in 1946 and Kuwait in 1961. Any of these nations that would say Israel is only a recent arrival would have to deny their own rights as recent arrivals as well. They did not exist as countries. They were all under the control of the Turks. Over 80% of the original British Mandate land was given to Arabs without population transfer of Arabs from the land designated for Jews.

Did you know that the US was created in 1776? And on the expense of thousands of "Indians"?

How is this relevant? The only thing that matters is - that there were Palestinians in the land before the Zionists came.

16. In 1947, the Jewish state huddled on 18% of the original British Mandate land. The Jews accepted it gratefully. The Arabs rejected it with a vengeance and seven Arab states immediately declared war against Israel.

That is actually True.

17. In 1948, the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews. Most of them left in fear of being killed by their own Arab brothers as traitors.

Not entirely true. Arab leaders did urge them to leave, but many were forced to leave by the Zionist forces.

18. Some 850,000 Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab countries, due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.

They don't want to go back there, they don't see them as their homes.

19. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is claimed to be around 630,000 (where did they get this number?) maybe from the same source which gave you the number 1272 B.C. (nobody knows that for sure).

Propagandists of the whole World, Unite!

24. There is only one Jewish state. There are 60 Muslim countries, including 22 Arab nations.

This is like saying that there are 105 Christian countries, and 10 English-speaking nations.

You are nothing but a racist if you include all Muslims in the same category.

25. The PLO's Charter still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel.

Not true.

26. Pan-Arabism or the doctrine of Muslim Caliphate declares that all land that used to belong to Muslims must be returned to them. Thus, Spain, for example, must eventually be re-conquered.

Excellent example of how irrelevant all this is. Is there a war between Spain and any Arab country? People can have aspirations to every crazy idea, but they can live in peace at the same time because they leave their aspirations at home when they go to do business with other people. That’s applicable for the Hamas, Fatah, and the crazy Jews who want to rebuild the Temple.

An answer to Steven Shamrak, vol. 2

In a response to an article entitled “Message to anti-Israel Objectors,” yours truly wrote:

"I make it a habit to read every email I receive about Middle Eastern politics. I do it mainly to be educated about new facts, as well as to listen to opinions may challenge my own ones.
However, I have never read an article so full of lies, half-truths, racism, ignorance and disconnection from reality, as this one, in my entire life. For this reason, I don't have the time to even begin to respond to these shortcomings."


To which Mr. Shamrak responded:
Dear Avner,
Re: "however, I have never read an article so full of lies" - Could you come with one or two examples of lie, please?
Best regards.
Steven shamrak


Of course I could:

"Here is one example:
"When we show you factual proof that so-called Palestinians are a fake nation and are actually the occupiers of Jews’ land..."

This is a lie, because nobody can show any "proof". In the best case, you can state your own interpretation of the facts, which you are absolutely entitled to do, and I would respect your interpretation. The facts are that people who call themselves "Palestinians" have been living on this land some time before the Zionists came. Everything in the previous sentence is a mere fact, which you can't deny: they lived here, they call themselves "Palestinians", etc. Everything else is an interpretation. So you are lying when you say that you can prove anything.

But the worst part for you, is that you are not lying to me or to the Palestinians. In your case, you are lying to yourself, because you disregard the political and humanistic problem, and dismiss it as "anti-Semitism". When you do that, you (actually, we in Israel) are doomed to suffer from the history repeating itself, because we refuse to learn from it.
By stating that there is no Palestinian nation, and hoping for their disappearing (or worse, for their annihilation by military power, or by slow and quiet Transfer which is happening at this moment) - you are damaging the security of Jews in Israel and also around the world. This conflict is on going because we are hoping for it to just go away, which only makes it worse and makes life in Israel insecure. Jews around the world suffer from hatred for many reasons, but the policy of the Israeli government is among its major ones.

Avner"

משחק השבוע: דרשוביץ נגד פינקלשטיין

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=247803848714490692&hl=en&emb=1#

יוצא מהכלל
הלוואי שאפשר היה לקיים דיון כזה בישראל

קראתי את ספרו של דרשוביץ, ושמעתי על פינקלשטיין
לפי מה שידעתי, השניים שונאים זה את זה בנפש, עד כדי כך שדרשוביץ פעל, באופן לא אקדמי ומאד לא ליברלי, לפיטוריו של פינקלשטיין מאוניברסיטת דה-פול. כמו כן פינקלשטיין סורב להיכנס לישראל, בניגוד לחוק השבות, ומבלי שעבר כל עבירה
הוא נפגש בלבנון עם אנשי חיזבאללה, אבל הוא לא יודע שום סודות אז אין כאן עבירה על שום חוק

מדהים היה לראות איך שניים אלה יכולים להתדיין באולפן אחד באופן יהודי כל כך, מתוך מחלוקת אך ללא התשוקה לחנוק, המאפיין את הדיונים בטלויזיה בישראל. ברור שאין שם אהבה אבל הורגש מין סוג של הערכה הדדית, שהוא ערך יהודי נושן שאבד לנו בלהט הכיבוש

באשר לדעתי, אני מעריך את דעותיו של דרשוביץ כאותנטיות והגונות. הוא באמת שמאלני שנחלץ להגן על ישראל (למעשה, על ממשלת ישראל) בגלל מה שבעיניו הוא ביקורת בלתי הוגנת
למרות זאת, ולמרות שפינקלשטיין הוא המעצבן מבין השניים, אני נוטה יותר אליו מאשר לפרופסור מהרווארד
מעבר לויכוח הקטנוני אם דרשוביץ ביטא נכון את שמו של המנסח השני של החלטה 242, יש לדרשוביץ שגיאה בסיסית בתפיסת הסכסוך
והיא התבטאה בצטטו את קביעתה המושמצת של גולדה מאיר על הערבים שמכריחים אותנו להרוג אותם; בהבחנה השגויה שהוא עושה בין הרג מכוון של אזרחים להרג לא מכוון; בקביעתו שאזרחים פלסטיניים יכולים להיות תומכי טרור, בשעה שאזרחים יהודיים תמימים אינם כאלה; אפילו בקביעתו שהעיתונים מעריב וידיעות הם מבקרים חריפים של השלטון בישראל - קביעה מופרכת

בכל מקרה, הישארו בארה"ב, מקום שלפחות מאפשר דיונים פוליטיים עיניניים