Richard Falk apologises to Jews and dogs

From UN Watch in Geneva, July 7, 2011 — Issue 302:

UN Official Admits Posting “Strongly Anti-Semitic” [Palestinian] Cartoon

GENEVA, July 7 -- After the UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories finally admitted to posting a “strongly anti-Semitic” cartoon on his blog, in which Jews and Americans were depicted as bloodthirsty dogs, UN Watch today called on UN rights chief Navi Pillay to lead efforts to fire him.

Click here for Falk statement and timeline.

Richard Falk's “apology” raises serious questions that go to both his judgment and his character. Finding himself in a corner of his own making, he states that, “I oppose any denigration of a people based on ethnicity, race, religion,” as if this were a special badge of honor....

Even stranger is the banality that follows, “We must . . .. treat animals with as much respect as possible.” Falk here appears not only to be equating animals with human beings, but to be apologizing for his cartoon's insult to Jews as well as dogs. 

Do these mutterings truly befit someone the UN Human Rights Council has chosen to employ as an expert on human rights?

This is only the latest of several Falk blog posts this year which have harmed the reputation of the UN as a whole.

In January he implied American complicity in the 9/11 attacks—Falk is a revered figure among proponents of the 9/11 conspiracy theory—while last month he called UN chief Ban Ki-moon a shameless secretary-general.”

Richard Falk clearly lacks the judgment required for a credible human rights figure and moral authority.

• His support for the Hamas terrorist group is so strong that, as he himself disclosed to the Ma’an news agency, the Palestinian Authority last year urged him to quit.
• In 1979, he endorsed Ayatollah Khomeini in a New York Times op-ed.
• These days he offers apologetics for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Osama bin Laden.

...In January, after Falk suggested a 9/11 cover-up, Ban Ki-moon denounced Falk before the council plenary. “I condemn this sort of inflammatory rhetoric,” Ban told the assembled delegates. “It is preposterous—an affront to the memory of the more than 3,000 people who died in that tragic terrorist attack.”

US Ambassador Susan Rice said Falk’s comments were “despicable and deeply offensive.” She called for him to be fired, saying that the cause of human rights “will be better advanced without Mr. Falk and the distasteful sideshow he has chosen to create.” ....

UN Human Rights "investigator" posts an antisemitic cartoon but "did not perceive any racist connotations"

From UN Watch, July 6, 2011 in Human Rights Council (UNHRC):

Reaction: UN’s Falk Denies, Then Deletes Anti-Semitic Cartoon

After UN Watch today exposed his publication of an anti-Semitic cartoon, the UN Human Rights Council’s Richard Falk first denied publishing the cartoon—and then deleted it. See his blog here.
For those wishing to see a screen-capture of the original post prior to its deletion by Falk, please click here.

Go directly to Richard Falk's Blog and read the comments to see what the public think of him...

Israel's "Peace Partners" continue to glorify terrorism and incite hatred

From PMW, 5 July 2011, by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik:

 

Palestinian college class and Fatah summer camp group are named after arch-terrorist Mughrabi who led killing of 37 in bus hijacking

A Palestinian summer camp for children and a girl’s college in the West Bank have continued the Palestinian Authority policy of presenting terrorist Dalal Mughrabi as a role model for children. Mughrabi in 1978 led the most lethal terror attack in Israel’s history, in which 37 civilians were killed, 12 of them children.

The summer camp for children of the Fatah youth organization called “the Lion Cubs and Flowers,” was divided into three groups. One was named after terrorist Mughrabi and the two others were named after Yasser Arafat and Abu Jihad, who was the terrorist leader who planned Mughrabi’s bus hijacking.

Also reported in the official PA daily was a description of the graduation ceremony at the Al-Tireh Girls’ College in Ramallah for the current graduating class, likewise named after terrorist Dalal Mughrabi. The graduation ceremony was held under the auspices of two Fatah MPs.

As documented by Palestinian Media Watch, Mughrabi has been glorified by the PA for many years with tournaments and summer camps named after her and music videos on TV honoring her and her terror attack. She has been presented as a role model for Palestinians and particularly for Palestinian youth.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has himself glorified Dalal Mughrabi. In 2009 he funded a computer center named after her, and in 2010 he sponsored a “birthday party” on what would have been Mughrabi's 50th birthday.
For more details see PMW’s bulletin “Abbas's duplicity about his support for honoring terrorist Dalal Mughrabi.”

The following are the two recent articles in the official PA daily about the summer camp and school class named after Mughrabi. Below them are additional examples from 2011 of the PA’s presenting Mughrabi as a Palestinian hero:

“The Halhoul [West Bank city] Cultural Forum, in cooperation with the Sanabel Al-Kheir Association, held the concluding ceremony yesterday for the second Sanabel [summer] camp, which comprised three groups: the Shahid (Martyr) Yasser Arafat group; the Shahid Abu Jihad group; and the Shahida Dalal Mughrabi group. Participating in the ceremony was the Coordinator of the “Lion Cubs and Flowers” (i.e., Fatah group for boys and girls) of the northern Hebron branch of the Fatah movement, Yahya Mifrih… At the end of the ceremony, certificates were awarded to the 130 boys and girls, including 30 special-needs children.”

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 4, 2011]

“Under the auspices of Madar [The Palestinian Forum for Israeli Studies] – the Shabiba [Fatah student movement] at the Al-Tireh [Girls’] College celebrated the graduation of the class of ‘Dalal Mughrabi’ … Under the auspices of MP’s Walid Asaf and Dr. Najat Abu Bakr, the Shabiba student movement held a graduation ceremony for the ‘Dalal Mughrabi’ class.”

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 17, 2011]

The following are additional examples from 2011 of the PA’s presenting Mughrabi as a Palestinian hero and role model:

PA Minister of Prisoners' Affairs glorifies Dalal Mughrabi and suicide bombers on
International Women's day

"[PA] Minister of Prisoners' Affairs [Issa Karake]... spoke at a ceremony honoring female prisoners in the occupation's (i.e., Israel’s) prisons, held by the Ministry [of Prisoners' Affairs] to mark International Women's Day and Mothers' Day...
[Karake] stated: 'This is the month of heroism and action on behalf of the male and female prisoners, and we must act so that their cause will be the most pre-eminent, like their predecessors, such as Dalal Mughrabi, Darin Abu Aisheh (i.e., suicide bomber whose attack in 2002, injured 2), Wafa Idris (i.e., first Palestinian female suicide bomber whose attack in 2002 in Jerusalem, killed one and injured more than 150), and all the female Shahids (Martyrs) and prisoners."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 21, 2011]

PA official: March full of “Palestinian national pride,” including “day of Dalal Mughrabi operation”District Governor of Hebron Kamel Hamid in PA TV phone interview on the importance of the month of March:

“It’s a special month, at a special time. It’s a month full of Palestinian national pride, with national struggle, with a long national campaign: the Al-Karameh battle (i.e., 1968, the Israeli army fought against the PLO and Jordanian army); National Unity Day to end the rift [between Fatah and Hamas]; Mothers’ Day, and more; [International] Women’s Day; Almond Day; the day of Dalal Mughrabi’s operation (i.e., terror attack killing 37 civilians); Land Day. Therefore, this month is a month of special struggle in the history of the Palestinian people.”

[PA TV (Fatah), March 15, 2011]

Ramallah square named after terrorist Dalal Mughrabi
Abbas’s advisor: “Every one of us has tried in his own way to express his pride in this Shahida (Martyr)”

Headline: “Residents insist on naming square in Ramallah after the Shahida Dalal Mughrabi”
“Unofficial Palestinian sources announced yesterday that they were insisting on naming a square in Ramallah after the Shahida Dalal Mughrabi. This follows the PA rejection of an official inauguration of the function, because of Israeli opposition. March 13 will be the 33rd anniversary of Dalal’s death as a Martyr in a military operation (i.e., terror attack) which she led inside Israel in 1978. About a hundred residents, representing universities and the General Association of Palestinian Writers, gathered yesterday and put up a large photograph, inscribed with the name Dalal Mughrabi, as well as a picture of the boat in which she entered Israel. Deputy Secretary of the Fatah Revolutionary Council [and advisor to Abbas], Sabri Saidam, told Agence France-Presse: ‘Today a popular inauguration of the junction is being held. There has been insistence on naming this junction after the Shahida Dalal Mughrabi. Every one of us has tried in his own way to express his pride in this Shahida.’
The junction was supposed to be inaugurated in March 2010, but Israeli protest at naming the junction after Dalal Mughrabi caused the PA to postpone the official inauguration. Saidam said: ‘The inauguration of the junction and the naming of roads lie within the jurisdiction of the local government in each town. What I know for certain is that there is no official withdrawal from [the intention to] name the junction after the Shahida Dalal.’”

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 14, 2011]

Abbas’s advisor proposes naming city square after terrorist Dalal Mughrabi

"Advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas... The weapons must be turned towards the main enemy (i.e., Israel)"
"Advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas and under-secretary of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, Sabri Saidam, delivered a speech in which he criticized [the fact] that many leaders don’t participate in the [events marking] the anniversary of Martyrs... He emphasized that the weapons must be turned towards the main enemy [Israel] and that internal differences of opinion must be set aside. Saidam noted the awful living conditions of the families of Shahids (Martyrs), in the country and outside of it, and as proof he said that the allowance to the family of Shahida (Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi (i.e., leader of the bus hijacking in 1978 in which 37 civilians were murdered) is a mere $123. He… emphasized that the anniversary of Dalal's Martyrdom-seeking (i.e., her terror attack) should be made greater by inaugurating a square in her name in the city of El-Bireh."

[Al-Ayyam, March 10, 2011]

Children in Fatah youth club glorify terrorists, including Dalal Mughrabi

“The Fatah Tulkarem region’s Boys’ and Girls’ Institute organized two ‘Yes, We Can’ workshops… These workshops are part of a series of activities that the institute is holding in order to enrich the boys and girls with national knowledge, and are part of the ‘Yes, We Can’ program. One of the boys, Sa’id Al-Zubeidi, spoke about the life and heroism of the Shahida (Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi. One of the girls, Aseel Al-Sheikh Yousuf, told the story of the three Shahids who were executed by the British Mandate: Ataa Al-Zir, Fuad Hejazi, and Muhammad Jamjoum.”

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 15, 2011]

Fatah chooses terrorist Mughrabi as example of the “people’s shining and glorious history” in university exhibition

“The Shahid Yasser Arafat unit of [Fatah’s] Shabiba student movement yesterday ended a week-long artistic exhibition on the campus of the Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, commemorating the 46th anniversary of the establishment of the Fatah movement and the modern Palestinian revolution. The exhibition, entitled ‘Pioneers of the Cause’ and visited by hundreds of students and visitors, included a number of sections, bearing the names ‘Shahid (Martyr) Yasser Arafat section’, ‘Intifada section’, ‘Nakba (i.e., “Catastrophe” - reference to the creation of the State of Israel) section’, ‘Dalal Mughrabi section’, and ‘Fatah section’… Anas Abu Al-Roub, head of the Student Council at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, praised the efforts of the university students… and said, ‘We must preserve our people’s shining and glorious history, and the revolution and the Shahids, and we must maintain the principles for which our Shahids, prisoners and the injured made their sacrifices.’”

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 7, 2011]

PA TV music videos honors Dalal Mughrabi

Just a few days apart PA TV broadcast two different music videos honoring Mughrabi and glorifying her terror attack:

"We [PLO squad] set out on patrol from Lebanon; with no fear of death or the darkness of prison. On the coast [Dalal] Mughrabi's blood was shed, the color of [red] coral on [white] lemon flowers."

[PA TV (Fatah), Jan. 2, 2011]

Click to view

"The coast was stormy with the glory of Dalal Mughrabi. On the [Israeli] coast the heroes landed, who shook the land, brought down mountains. Dalal declared the birth of the [Palestinian] Republic, the birth of the Republic."

[PA TV (Fatah), Dec. 30, 2010]

Click to view


PA TV shows Arab world TV clip of terrorist Mughrabi as “model woman” for the Arab worldThe Dalal Mughrabi promotion by the PA has led to international Arab world prominence and Mughrabi is now being presented as a role model for Arab women in general. The following is a video clip being broadcast to the Arab world as part of a project to encourage greater role be played by and given to women in society, that presents eight different women as role models - one is the terrorist Mughrabi:

Text on screen: "The Model Woman"

Host of program:
"Woman is the foundation of existence.
Love – Ishtar – the symbol of fertility and altruism.
(Ishtar - Babylonian goddess)
Willpower – Cleopatra – wit and wisdom.
(Cleopatra - Queen of Egypt)
Intelligence – Balqis [and] Zenobia – fighting.
(Queens of Sheba and Palmyra)
Resolve – Al Khansa – Martyrdom and giving.
(7th cent. poet who celebrated her four sons' deaths in battle)
Courage – Bint Al-Azwar – strong faith.
(7th cent. Arab poet who fought against the Byzantine Empire)Martyrdom – Dalal Mughrabi – victory over enmity.
(led terror attack in which 37 Israeli civilians were killed)Struggle – Djamila Bouhired – human freedom.
(Algerian terrorist who became a political activist)
Freedom, giving, patience, sacrifice, life, loyalty – "White Hands."
For her sake, for our sake, for the sake of a society aspiring towards giving – “White Hands” Campaign."
Text on screen: "The largest media campaign to support women's issues."

[PA TV (Fatah), weekly Nov. - Dec., 2010 and May - June, 2011]

Click to see PMW report on "The Model Woman" campaign

To view more on PA’s glorification of Mughrabi as role model, click here.

To view more on PA’s glorification of terrorists, click here.

To view PMW’s report From Terrorists to Role Models, click here.

Hamas looks forward to "the great massacre" of Jews

From The Wire, Thurs. 30 Jun. 2011:

Hamas foreign minister: as a ‘matter of principle’ Hamas will never relinquish ‘a single inch of the Palestinian land’.

‘In just a few years, all the Zionists and the settlers will realize that their arrival in Palestine was for the purpose of the great massacre, by means of which Allah wants to relieve humanity of their evil.’

Mahmoud Zahar, Hamas’ foreign minister, has used a recent interview to clarify the ideological difference between the Gaza-based Islamist party, and Fatah. According to the translation from Memri, Zahar stated during his 23 June appearance on the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV that:

‘The difference between [Hamas and Fatah] is that we will not give up a single inch. We say that we should establish a state on any piece of the land, but without relinquishing a single inch. That’s it, in a nutshell. That’s the difference between us and them. They want to establish a state within the 1967 borders, with certain land swaps, and to forget about 78% of the Palestinian land of the past. We say that we should establish a state on any piece of the land – not necessarily [the entire] 1967 territories, but any inch of land – but without giving up a single inch of the land.’

The clear message is that, while Fatah might be willing to accept two states as a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Hamas would only ever view the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel as an interim solution – the claim to the whole of Israel would continue.
Zahar further clarifies that this is a ‘matter of principle’ which ‘pertains to our strategy for the future’:

‘That is the different between us and them, and it is a matter of principle – a historical, ideological, and political dispute, which pertains to our strategy for the future. The difference is clear… We say that we accept the 1967 borders, but without recognizing Israel, and without giving up our right to the rest of Palestine.’

He concludes by arguing that if it weren’t for this ‘matter of principle’, Hamas would simply be a ‘carbon copy’ of Fatah:

‘I think it is wise to stress this issue, because it is misunderstood. We say that we will establish a state on any inch of land that is liberated, but without relinquishing a single inch of Palestine. This is how we should put it. But when we start talking about readiness to accept 1967 or 1948… This makes you seem like a carbon copy of Fatah. We are not a carbon copy of Fatah. I take full responsibility for saying this. We will never relinquish a single inch of the Palestinian land, which has been and remains Palestinian – the 1948 [borders].’

Zahar’s clarification of Hamas’ position in relation to Israel is in line with an interview he gave in May 2011, when he told the Palestinian news outlet Ma’an that Hamas would never recognise Israel since this would ‘preclude the right of the next generations to liberate the lands.’
The explicit claim by Hamas’ foreign minister that he regards all of Israel as Palestinian land is only the latest in a series of rejectionist statements from the Islamist group. In May, Osama Hamdan, head of Hamas’ international relations department, stated that ‘armed confrontation’ would remain ‘the backbone of the resistance’. Earlier that month, Ismail Haniyeh, de-facto prime minister of Gaza, argued that ‘the Zionist project in Palestine must end’, while a Hamas cleric claimed that:

‘In just a few years, all the Zionists and the settlers will realize that their arrival in Palestine was for the purpose of the great massacre, by means of which Allah wants to relieve humanity of their evil.’

University and College Union (UK) "inhospitable to Jews"

From The Jewish Chronicle Online, July 1, 2011, by Jennifer Lipman:


A British academic has announced that he is taking legal action against the Universities and Colleges Union ["UCU"] after it made the "indecent" decision to distance itself from the European Union's working definition of antisemitism.

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt

"inhospitable to Jews"

Lawyers acting for Ronnie Fraser, the chair of the Academic Friends of Israel, have written to UCU general secretary Sally Hunt complaining that the UCU's vote breached the 2010 Equality Act's commitment.

The letter said Mr Fraser was to sue because as a result of the vote the UCU had "harassed" him by "engaging in unwanted conduct" relating to his Jewish identity. It went on to say that without the protection of the otherwise widely-accepted definition of antisemitism, Mr Fraser now faced an "intimidating, hostile, degrading humiliating" and "offensive environment".

The lawyers added: "In simple terms, the UCU is not a place that is hospitable to Jews. This is not just a violation of equality legislation, it is also a scandal."

They said the situation was worsened by the fact that union was breaching "energetically fought-for laws against discrimination".

The letter also accused the UCU of having been "inhospitable to Jews" since its inception, because of annual Israel boycott resolutions, a failure to engage with Jewish members and the welcome it gave last year to "a confirmed antisemite" Bongani Masuku.

"This indecent, discreditable resolution was passed in active disregard of the feelings of Jewish members - a disregard amounting to a kind of inflamed contempt for all Jews other than that minority among them ready to abet a degraded and obsessive "anti-Zionist" activism," said the letter. It said Mr Fraser had now "had enough" and felt he had little option but to sue.

After the UCU vote, the union was branded "institutionally racist" by the chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council.

Its decision was also heavily criticised this week by cabinet minister Eric Pickles, who wrote that it sent "a chilling message" to Jewish students and academics.

The UCU said Ms Hunt would not comment on the lawsuit. She has until August to respond.

Tarek Fatah: “The Jew is Not My Enemy”

In this special edition of The Agenda on TVO, Tuesday, April 5, 2011, host Steve Paikin talks to author Tarek Fatah about his new book, “The Jew is Not My Enemy.”

"Stand Up to Islamism!!"

Speech by Tarek Fatah* to Ideacity (Canada), 28 June 20011:



Excerpts:

"...there's a difference between Islam as a faith ...and Islamism, which is ...a political ideology that says that Western civilisation has to be destroyed..."

"...I've never seen one Canadian stand up to the goon who distributes [literature that promotes] that..."

"...we make noise after noise at games, but we don't make noise [about] what is happening to Western civilisation..."

*Tarek Fatah is the author of "The Jew is Not My Enemy", a widely acclaimed book that investigates the roots of Muslim anti-Semitism.