Issues Raised by Journalists: More on al-Dura:

Issues Raised by Journalists: More on al-Dura:

The link above will take you to more on the extraordinary al-Dura story. On September 30 2000, two days after Ariel Sharon, then the leader of Israel's opposition Likud Party, went for a walk on Temple Mount, Palestinians mounted a demonstration at Gaza's Netzarim Junction. A 55-second piece of video footage of that demonstration, transmitted that day by the French TV station France 2, was to cause unprecedented violence in the Middle East and throughout the world.

FOR FULL ORIGINAL BACKGROUND STORY CLICK HERE

Holocaust Inversion

By MANFRED GERSTENFELD - The Wall Street Journal
January 28, 2008

Solemn ceremonies around Europe marked yesterday's Holocaust Memorial Day. But 63 years after the liberation of Auschwitz on Jan. 27, 1945, one of the most perfidious forms of contemporary anti-Semitism is Holocaust inversion -- the portrayal of Israelis and Jews as modern-day Nazis. The charge is that Israel supposedly behaves toward the Palestinians as Germany did to the Jews in World War II.

This distortion of history is particularly widespread in the Muslim world. But it is also gaining currency in the West, where it is no longer just the domain of the extreme Left. Last year, a German bishop visiting Israel compared Ramallah to the Warsaw Ghetto. Portuguese Nobel laureate for literature José Saramago in 2002 compared Ramallah even to Auschwitz.

Cartoons are a particularly popular medium to express such distortions. Portraying Jews as Nazis, Israeli prime ministers as Hitler and the Star of David as equal to the swastika is almost routine in the Arab world. This trend has also reached Europe, where during the anti-Iraq war protests, for instance, many demonstrators held placards depicting similar images. In the Netherlands you can now buy T-shirts and greeting cards showing Anne Frank wearing a kaffiyeh, the traditional Palestinian headdress, wrapped around her neck like a scarf. In other words, the Palestinians are the new Jews, which makes the Israelis the new Nazis.

Holocaust-inversion caricatures appear also occasionally in Western mainstream papers. In July 2006, the Norwegian daily Dagbladet carried a drawing showing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as SS Major Amon Göth, the commander of a Nazi death camp depicted in Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List." A 2002 cartoon in the Greek daily Ethnos showed two Jewish soldiers dressed as Nazis, with Stars of David on their helmets, thrusting knives into Arabs. Its caption reads: "Do not feel guilty, my brother. We were not in Auschwitz and Dachau to suffer, but to learn."

Many Western Holocaust inverters may simply aim to bolster the Arab and Palestinian cause by demonizing Israel. The most extreme, though, aim at the destruction of Israel by first undermining its moral legitimacy. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki explained it at a December 2006 conference in Tehran of Holocaust deniers and minimizers: "If the official version of the Holocaust is thrown into doubt, then the identity and nature of Israel will be thrown into doubt."

Whatever the motives, Holocaust inversion has made major inroads in Europe. In a 2004 poll conducted by the University of Bielefeld, 51% of German respondents agreed with the statement that: "What the state of Israel does today to the Palestinians, is in principle not different from what the Nazis did in the Third Reich to the Jews."

Holocaust Memorial Day should not only be a day of commemoration. Its meaning is undone when at the same time new versions of the old anti-Semitic demonizations are gaining ground.

Mr. Gerstenfeld is chairman of the board of fellows of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

Losing the War of Ideas?

Farid of RPS sent over this interesting item about Karen Hughes' failure in her job. I have to say that he has a point. Setting up so many "regional hubs" has diffused effort rather than improved things. Things were better before Karen messed them up. But we did tell her. We were part of the consultative process. Anyway - the article is interesting - and at least they have a good man in charge currently under Dan Sreebny - lessons need learning though.

TO VIEW THE ARTICLE CLICK HERE

The Hijacking of British Islam

Felix sent this disturbing item round on the kind of printed material being distributed at some mosques:

TO VIEW FULL ITEM CLICK HERE

Sudan: Gross disinformation

This Al Qaidah story is probably one of the crudest pieces of disinformation around at the moment:

Sudan: Gross disinformation

TO VIEW ORIGINAL FRAUDULENT ARTICLE CLICK HERE

Jihadi Websites

Many thanks to Felix for pointing me to this link.  This is a highly important issue, since Jihadi websites play a key part in the information operation with which Islamists attempt to poison minds:


Extremist Islam makes extensive use of the Internet.  One can hardly imagine the growth of radical Islam and its jihadi organizations in recent years without the immense reach, impact and capabilities of the Internet. The threat posed by Islamist websites has recently been demonstrated by three cases: the case the New Jersey group that planned a terrorist attack on FortDix; the planned terrorist attack on JFK; and the attempted car bombings in the UK. According to media reports, the terrorists in all three cases were inspired by jihadist websites. There were also two recent court cases in Britain and Switzerland in which terrorists were convicted of using Internet sites to promote terrorist activities.

The National Intelligence Esitmate recently published by the U.S. National Intelligence Council stressed the following, "We assess that the spread of radical - especially Salafi - Internet sites, increasingly aggressive anti-US rhetoric and actions, and the growing number of radical, self-generating cells in Western countries indicate that the radical and violent segment of the West’s Muslim population is expanding, including in the United States. The arrest and prosecution by US law enforcement of a small number of violent Islamic extremists inside the United States - who are becoming more connected ideologically, virtually, and/or in a physical sense to the global extremist movement - points to the possibility that others may become sufficiently radicalized that they will view the use of violence here as legitimate..."

The jihadist terrorist organizations utilize the Internet for two main purposes: for operational needs, and for indoctrination and da'wa (propagation of Islam).

See full briefing here

Blair's talks with Murdoch on eve of war

Most of the UK newspapers have covered a story regarding Tony Blair's talks with Rupert Murdoch, just ten days before the invasion in to Iraq. Lord Avebury made the following comment published in the Guardian today: "The public can now scrutinise the timing of his contacts with the former prime minister, to see whether they can be linked to events in the outside world..."

Tania Branigan, political correspondent - Thursday July 19, 2007 The Guardian
Tony Blair spoke to Rupert Murdoch three times in nine days in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, it emerged yesterday, after the government caved in to a four-year campaign for the release of details of their conversations and meetings.
The Cabinet Office agreed to publish the dates of their contacts one day after the former prime minister left office. No further details of the calls are available and no details of informal meetings or conversations have been disclosed.

TO VIEW FULL ITEM CLICK HERE

The War on Terror phrase helps terrorists

I have to say I agree with Hilary in this instance. The term 'war on terror' has strengthened terrorist groups according to Hilary Benn. Last year the Foreign Office asked diplomats and politicians to no longer use the term (The Guardian).

Bush's 'war on terror' phrase helps terrorists, minister warns - Tania Branigan
"President George Bush's "war on terror" rhetoric has strengthened terrorist groups by helping them to create a shared identity, the development secretary, Hilary Benn, warned yesterday."

TO VIEW ARTICLE CLICK HERE

The Policy Exchange - The Evil Side

From Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK

As political parties set out their stalls of new ideas in preparation for a general election, the increasing influence of privately funded research on political discussion will demand closer scrutiny. Private thinktanks are increasingly shaping national debates in the media, something made possible through the private funds required for high-profile launches, websites and email campaigns.

A striking example of this symbiotic relationship is Policy Exchange's report Living Apart Together, on Muslim social attitudes, which is officially launched today. It was released to the press two weeks ago to provide research cover for David Cameron's speech attacking multiculturalism and prominent Muslim organisations. The report included claims that a significant minority of Muslims were "living apart" from British society, claims that were widely reported in the media and appeared to legitimise Conservative party rhetoric.

To see the full article please click on the title