CNN & Christiane Amanpour "Shoddy Journalism"

must-see TV...

MSNBC's Dan Abrams Slams "CNN's Holy War"

The August 27th broadcast of MSNBC's Live with Dan Abrams slammed CNN's "God's Warriors" as biased shoddy journalism, with host Dan Abrams saying at the outset that the three-part series "was not what it claimed or promised to be." In the segment, titled "CNN's Holy war?", Abrams also said "CNN should have called it what it was, a defense of Islamic fundamentalism and the worst type of moral relativism."

According to Abrams, CNN's Christiane Amanpour, "avoided getting bogged down in objectivity." (See the full video clip below.)

CAMERA offered its own detailed criticism of the Amanpour series in the articles linked below:

1. God's Jewish Warriors — CNN's Abomination

2. God's Muslim Warriors — CNN's Double Standard

3. God's Christian Warriors— CNN Slurs Christians

Here's the full video clip of the segment from MSNBC's Live with Dan Abrams:

http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_print=1&x_context=3&x_outlet=14&x_article=1360

from The Long Road from Kherson,
A PROFILE OF REV TASCHLICKY


Rev Taschlicky was born in Kherson, near Odessa, where his father, a gifted composer and chazan, taught him to read music as fluently as Hebrew.


Youthful breadwinner

Afte the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war in 1905, the family fled from Russian and eventually settle in Budapest, the capital of Hungary.

Thanks to his father, music and chazanut were the dominant factor in young Moshe's life well before he was eight. By then, with his father too ill to work regularly, sweet voiced Moshe became the family's breadwinner both as a concert performer and chorister.

The age of 13 conferred on him the traditional right to lead synagogue services. Accompanied first by his father and later by an impresario, the young wonder chazan toured the Jewish communities of Hungary, officiating at Sabbath prayers and giving Sunday recitals.

He was only 16 (and now a tenor) when he gained his first post as a resident chazan, at a Budapest synagogue. Three years later, the unrest unleashed by Bela Kun's short-lived communist revolution began to affect his career. To prevent his family's deportation back to Soviet Russia, he secured a state position in the Budapest Opera, where he sang while remaining a chazan.

Operas and oratorios

But with antisemitism rampant in Hungary, he felt uncomfortable there and in 1923 he moved across Europe to Holland. He was appointed chazan in Arnhem, which then contained about 700 families.

The Jews of Arnhem had a rich musical and cultural life and the young Taschlicky, with his fine voice and wide repertoire, soon found himself in demand as a soloist in such oratorios as Handel's Judas Maccabeus and Messiah, Mahlers Das Lied von der Erde, and Berlioz's Damnation de Faust.

Call to Berlin

Hoping to pursue and operatic career, he was obliged for a time to give up chazzanut. Nevertheless, he continued to appear before Jewish audiences, singing classical and liturgical music, including compositions by his father Salomon Taschlicky.

It was the offer of a synagogue vacancy in Berlin that took him on the next stage of his journey. Despite the subsequent rise of Nazism, some of Rev. Taschlicky's fondest memories of Germany are of the non-Jewish music lovers who came to hear him in the synagogue, sometimes leaving boxes of chocolates by his seat.

Cinema intervals

In 1929, an invitation to tour America raised his hopes that he could finally escape from the insecurity of Europe. In the United States he traveled from one major Jewish center to another and was hailed as a celebrity. In some synagogues, admission to Friday night services conducted by Chazan Taschlicky was by ticket only. He was even asked to perform in cinemas during the intermission in the silent movies.

But he failed to gain entry visas to the United States for his family and he returned after only a year to Europe--this time to a synagogue in Vienna. Once again, it was his worry about rising antisemitism that prevented him from settling down. He disbelieved the confident assurances of his synagogue employers that Nazism would never spread to Austria from Germany. In 1933, he left Austria for Holland. Little over a year later, he moved to England where in 1935 Golders Green synagogue wisely selected him as its cantor out of 13 applicants.

Safe haven

At last, this wandering minstrel had reached a safe haven. With his singing, he delighted the congregation for the next 35 years...

Moise Taschlicky, author of the piece below, with his mother  Sara (pregnant with Clara), Shlomo, Margit (vanished at the Holocaust), Judith, Samuel 

LECTURE ON JEWISH MUSIC by Rev. M. Taschlicky July 18th, 1946

Only few definite statements can be made concerning the kind and quality of the artistic developments of the Jewish traditional psalm singing. So much seems certain that folk music of olden times originated in family circles and developed into songs which were heard by professional singers in the temple.

When Moses redeemed the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt and when he led them through the divided Red Sea he praised the Lord by singing. And the children of Israel joined him in singing the Shirah , which is well known to all. Later Miriam, the prophetess, sister of Moses and Aaron, took a timbrel - a kind of drum - with all the other women following her with such instruments, they sang similar verses as Moses. It may, therefore, be that the music was influenced by the Egyptians as the Hebrews had been living in Egypt for many centuries.

Later on, at the time of the Jewish Kings, temple music appears to have been taught more systematically. We remember when King Saul was distressed by evil spirits he engaged David to play on his harp, and it was through his wonderful playing that the King found rest and peace. The Bible states that King David appointed trained singers, instrumentalists, and masters skilled in music who were responsible for conducting the divine service.

The prophet Nehemia in Jerusalem, after having marched around the city, is said to have stood opposite the temple singing hymns of praise to God. Nehemia and Joshua served in the sanctuary as members of the famous Levitical choir. The Levites were specially trained and had special duties to perform. They marched in body to the temple, beautifully dressed. They were trained not only vocally but also instrumentally. Trumpet, harp, cymbalon, violin are instruments they used skillfully.

We are reading in our daily prayers "Praise the Lord with the blast of the horn, with harp and lyre. Praise Him with dance, string instruments and the pipe." We can imagine how beautiful and impressive the service in the temple must have been in those days. Under such circumstances and in such atmosphere, decorum and devotion of the congregation must have dwelled in the sanctuary. (Which, of course, stands in no comparison to our services.)

It is an unfortunate fact that since the destruction of the temple we are forbidden to make use of instruments in orthodox Synagogues on Sabbath and Jomtovin (religious holidays) , as a sign of mourning over the loss of the temple. But let us hope that the time will come when a new temple will be built and we shall be able to praise the Lord and sing with even greater devotion and more beautifully still.

Let me point out that although many of our old traditional melodies were lost through centuries of wandering all over the world, we still possess many original and lovely melodies of olden times. Melodies which are based on real oriental style and spirit. They are composed in minor key, mexolodish (could he mean "mixolydian"?) or freygish . They remind us of Arabic melodies. Something different. Something from far away. When we listen to these melodies you get a feeling of sadness and hope at the same time. You are reminded of the glory of Zion, the holy city of Jerusalem, her beautiful incomparable blue skies, her glorious white buildings, the mighty walls. Wisdom, Learning and Purity spread over the Holy City. This is the feeling that I have when I close my eyes and concentrate and listen to oriental music .... illustrations...

Another interesting fact I am sure you will remember from the time when you prepare to be a Barmitzvah. You found that the holy scripture was accompanied by accents known as "Ta'amim " or "Trop." On almost every word we find special signs placed above and under the word. Those melodies are probably thousands of years old and are typically oriental ....illustrations...
After the destruction of the temple which was about 2000 years ago, Jews were scattered all over the world. They immigrated to Spain, Russia, America, Britannia, France, Holland, Germany, Rumania, Hungary, etc. In order to keep up the tradition they opened houses of learning and prayer, and through this they kept Judaism alive. The chasan became primarily the reader of the service.
In the 16th century the Russian Jews introduced the first musical service. Later, prominent chasanim (plural of chasan ) and composers like Rosowsky , Minkowsky, Seidel Rovner and many others composed great musical works and harmonised them beautifully for full choir, Some of the chasanim harmonised without the theoretical knowledge of music, entirely through their natural hearing, and it so happened, that in spire of little theoretical knowledge all chords were sounded lovely.

A gifted boy aged 6 or 7 was sent to a famous chasan where we was living in order to be trained as a singer, and became a soloist later. This often proved to be a hard life for these little boys, as not all chasanim were in a good financial position. After years of training they became so perfect that they often touched their listeners to tears. They were so famous that they were kidnapped occasionally by other chasanim and after weeks of searching were recaptured, sometimes with the help of the police. This, by the way, happened to my father, when he was a boy of 10. He was a pupil of Seidel Rovner, * famous chasan and composer. Seidel Rovner had a choir of 40-50 boys and men. The compositions he composed, I think, can be compared to those of Verdi and Bach. The following is a true story which will show you his enthusiasm whilst conducting his choir:

One Thursday afternoon when the chasan had a rehearsal with his choir in his house, a little boy stood outside the window listening to the wonderful singing. He carried a cockerel which he was supposed to take to the shochet for the Sabbath meal. The choir was just in the middle of a very soft tune when suddenly the cock outside the window started to crow and spoiled the most beautiful pianissimo. The chasan, dressed in a long silken kaftan with white stockings, a long beard, and of course, a cap on his head, got so furious at this Interrupting that he threw the tuning fork , the only thing handy, at the boy. The fork smashed the window and shocked the little boy who quickly picked it up and ran away with the fork and cock. The chasan ran after the boy with the intention of beating him for this disturbance. After a while the chasan returned exhausted, accompanied by a few of his members with his precious tuning fork and the rehearsal could continue.

Many of those Jews at that time were strictly orthodox and great scholars, and many of them were chassidim. They did not attend opera houses or concerts, not because they did not like them, only because those places were not holy. They believed everything they did should be devoted to His Name only - to God. Music to them is something holy as the Bible considers music to be one of the seven wisdoms of the world. It was the Synagogue where they received musical education which was to their complete satisfaction. (A chassid is a pious Jew, originated in the 18 century in Eastern Europe. He does not expect much from this world but he believes in life to come, in reincarnation. He believes in the Rabbi being closer to God than anyone else. He believes in and fears evil spirits .) Chasidic melodies are the fundamental source of the Yiddische Lied. Imagine for a moment a long table with hundreds of chassidim and at the head of the table the holy Rabbi. The Rabbi with a long white beard starts to hum a tune, only the first sentence, and all the chassidim join in instantly.... illustration...

The chassidic melodies have a special charm, and express praise to the Lord for redemption and happiness. The well known Yiddische Songs are mostly based on these tunes .... A few examples...

In the 19th century with the removal of the Ghetto barriers Jews made important contributions to European music. Pupils of the aforementioned chasanim became famous composers, singers and conductors. In Italy Salamone Rossi , rabbi and composer, was an outstanding figure and devoted much of his energy to the harmonising of synagogal melodies. Towards the end of the 18th century, the Jews were permitted to enter academies of music. The results were speedy and phenomenal.

Amongst those who held high positions were Giacomo Meyerbeer (son of a chasan), who composed famous operas (in Hungary?) Jaques Halevy , composer of the famous opera "The Jewess" and composer of many beautiful synagogal music.

Jaques Offenbach (son of a chasan), composer of the famous oratorio "Eliju ", famous violin concerto and very many songs. Ferdinand Hiller , the originator of oratorio music. (His famous oratorio called "Destruction of Jerusalem" ) Anton Rubenstein, famous pianist and composer and founder of the Russian Conservatoire in Moskow.

I don't think you know that the king of all waltz and dance music was a Jew: - Johann Strauss . And of course his father and brothers were also musicians. (Who does not know the Blue Danube and Fledermaus which is supposed to be the classic operetta?) Later we have Gustave Mahler , who composed in the style of Wagner introducing many Jewish motifs.

In England, Jewish musicians have also contributed very much to the standard of English music. Sir Michael Costa, composer, John Barnet, composer, Isaac Nathan , vocalist, etc. We must not forget Carl Goldmark , who composed "The Queen of Sheva" introducing Jewish feelings and oriental colouring. Maurice Ravel , the most modern composer in France , an Impressionist of music, who prefers the oriental style in his compositions. He also composed many Yiddische Songs .............illustrations....

Arnold Schoenberg , composer. The greatest revolutionary force in music today.
In America , Louis Gruenberg , founder of jazz and negro music.

In Palestine today, composers have shown the world a great deal. The music in Palestine is of a very high standard, Joel Engel is one of the famous composers. He composed the famous drama called "The Dibuk" (The Spirits) Amongst his other compositions is the most popular Kaddish song. Palestine is the only country in the world that has her national orchestra, opera, oratorio played exclusively by Jews; and of course every text is sung in modern Hebrew. Palestinian music is produced exclusively by Jews. But we must not forget that music all over the world is being played and sung mostly by Jewish soloists.

Here then are a few names of the most famous Jewish artists: -
(Some you may have enjoyed listening to)

• Pianists: Rubinstein. Solomon. Dr Weingartner. Moiseivitch. Schnabel. Dame Myra Hess. Harriette Cohen.
• Violinists: Yehudi Menuhin. Kreisler. Hubermann. Yasha Heifitz. Scigetti. Alex. Schmuler. Ida Handel, and many more
• Singers: Sopranos: Yearitza Maria. Selma Kurz (daughter of a shochet and chasan) (famous star of the Viennese opera.). Gitta Alpa (opera singer and film actress) (daughter of a Budapest choir master) Baritones: Joseph Schwartz (son of a chasan. First baritone at Berlin Opera House. Later Metropolitan, New York,)Schorr (Famous bass, Berlin Opera House, Son of a chasan.) Alex. Kipnis (called the successor of Schalyapin. Former choir boy at the Warschau Synagogue. Now New York Metoropolitan) Tenors: Yadlowka, (Berlin Opera House Kammersinger of Kasier Wilhelm). Joseph Schmidt, (concert singer, and film star. Former chorister Richard Tauber, known to everyone here .

And here are the famous chasanim of the last century: -

• Russia: Rosowsky, Minkowsky, Rosumna, Bachmann, etc
• Budapest: Prof. Lazarus. Quartin, etc Vienna: Prof. Sulzer (also composer). Bela Futtman. Male Goldstein
• Berlin: Musikdirektor Aaron Friedman (also composer)
• Warschau: Sirota, etc New York: Rosenblatt, David Reutmann
  Synagogal Composers
• Berlin: Levandowsky. Baer (Baal Tefillah)
• Vienna: Sulzer. Male Goldstein
• London: Prof. Sam. Allmann (composed also two operas. Conductor of Hampstead Synagogue) Rev. Monbach. Rev. Hast.
• Budapest: Salomon Taschlicky (my father. Yiddish opera "Three Good Deeds")
• 
  Conductors: Klemperer. Bruno Walter Prof Ochs.

Jewish Music makers online:
http://www.klezmershack.com/klezcontacts.html#horowitz_j

Some thoughts on BBC bias & NPR

Here's the deal for me. NPR carries the BBC World Service on most of its radio stations. If NPR is supposed to be "impartial," should it farm out its airwaves to a biased foreign press?


BBC admits: We are biased on religion and politics

Internal corporation memo on ‘impartiality’ summit leaked to British media exposes truth on BBC bias

Hagit Klaiman Published: 10.23.06, 16:10 / Israel News

LONDON – The British Broadcasting Corporation has been struggling for several years against criticisms and claims of biased reporting concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and distorted coverage of the global fight against terror.

Following a diplomatic incident with Israel, the BBC appointed an editor known for his objective reporting, however, the true stance of the corporation’s editors remained the same.

An internal memo, recently discovered by the British media, revealed what the BBC has been trying to hide. Senior figures admitted in a recent 'impartiality' summit that the BBC was guilty of promoting Left-wing views and anti-Christian sentiment.

Most executives admitted that the corporation’s representation of homosexuals and ethnic minorities was unbalanced and disproportionate, and that it leaned too strongly towards political correctness, the overt promotion of multiculturalism, anti-Americanism and discrimination against the countryside.

Okay to trash Bible, not Quran

A truly shocking revelation to come out of the summit was expected to invoke a storm in Britain, which has already reached the boiling point with regards to the treatment of Muslims and the issue of the veil.

For the purpose of illustration, the executives were given a scenario in which Jewish Comedian Sasha Baron Cohen would participate in a program titled ‘Room 101’, a studio program where guests would be asked for their opinions on different issues, and allowed to symbolically throw things they hated in a garbage bin.

The executives were asked what they would do if Cohen decided to throw ‘Kosher food’, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bible, and the Quran in the garbage bin.

The executives said they would allow everything to be thrown in the garbage bin, save the Quran, for fear of offending the British Muslim community.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3318582,00.html

But wait! There's more:

BBC pays £200,000 to ‘cover up report on anti-Israel bias’ - DailyMail.co.uk

An anti-Israel bias??? Say it ain't so!

Here is something from Dvorak about the bias in the coverage from the BBC, and then this!

The BBC has been accused of “shameful hypocrisy” over its decision to spend £200,000 blocking a freedom of information (FOI) request about its reporting in the Middle East.

I have to find the correct link for this:

The BBC has been accused of “shameful hypocrisy” over its decision to spend £200,000 blocking a freedom of information (FOI) request about its reporting in the Middle East'

The corporation, which has itself made extensive use of FOI requests in its journalism, is refusing to release papers about an internal inquiry into whether its reporting has been biased towards Palestine.
....
The corporation is fighting a landmark High Court action, which
starts next week, in a bid to prevent the public finding out what is in the review, which is believed to be critical of the BBC’s coverage in the region.

....

The BBC’s determination to bury the report has led to speculation that the report was damning in its assessment of the BBC’s coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict that the BBC wants to keep it under wraps at all costs.
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=10561

And be sure to read the following EXCELLENT article from the WSJ:

A Reporter's Fate - The BBC held hostage in Gaza.

BY BRET STEPHENS Tuesday, May 22, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT

Dozens of hostages were released in Gaza over the weekend, in the wake of a truce called between the warring factions of Hamas and Fatah. The BBC's Alan Johnston, now in his 11th week of captivity, was not among them.

20 Rabbis Arrested in NYC

Must Read

http://boroparkpyro.blogspot.com/2007/04/mass-rabbinic-arrest.html

Sharpton the Bigot ...

Today's Hannity show, in which he 'debated' Al Sharpton, was just wonderful. How I have longed to hear someone, particularly a Democrat (which I was once-- in a previous existence) to acknowlege Al's "colorful" past. Unfortunately, the Democrats don't. Kudos to Hannity for what he did! Imagine a hypocrite and racist chewing out others for their racism. It is enough to make one spit!

This article from Jeff Jacoby 2003 puts it clearly. Bolds mine.


Al Sharpton: The Democrat's David Duke
by Jeff Jacoby (February 26, 2003)

Among the earliest and clearest voices to condemn Trent Lott's benighted remarks last month were those of conservatives and Republicans, who were repelled by his nostalgia for segregation and quick to call for his ouster. When will liberals and Democrats show the same maturity and forcefully repudiate the noxious racial lout in their own tent, New York demagogue Al Sharpton?

And when will the media, which aggressively mined Lott's racial history and prominently reported the results, show a similar interest in digging into Sharpton's record -- a record far more shameful and egregious than anything Lott has to answer for.

This is a subject of more than idle interest. Al Sharpton says he is running for president. He has no hope of landing the White House, the Democratic nomination, or more than a handful of convention delegates, but that won't stop him from getting plenty of ink and air time. And maybe it shouldn't; presidential campaigns have often been enlivened and even enlightened by candidates who had no more chance of winning the presidency than they did of winning the Preakness.

But it is impossible to imagine, say, David Duke running for president as a Republican and not being shunned by every leading figure in the party. Impossible to imagine his campaign appearances being covered in news accounts that made no mention of his history in the Ku Klux Klan and his links to neo-Nazis. Impossible to imagine that he would be treated as just another candidate, albeit one with a "controversial" past. No one would roll over for Duke. Why are they rolling over for Sharpton?

After all, Sharpton's résumé is at least as vile as Duke's.

1987: Sharpton spreads the incendiary Tawana Brawley hoax, insisting heatedly that a 15-year-old black girl was abducted, raped, and smeared with feces by a group of white men. He singles out Steve Pagones, a young prosecutor. Pagones is wholly innocent -- the crime never occurred -- but Sharpton taunts him: "If we're lying, sue us, so we can . . . prove you did it." Pagones does sue, and eventually wins a $345,000 verdict for defamation. To this day, Sharpton refuses to recant his unspeakable slander or to apologize for his role in the odious affair.

1991: A Hasidic Jewish driver in Brooklyn's Crown Heights section accidentally kills Gavin Cato, a 7-year-old black child, and antisemitic riots erupt. Sharpton races to pour gasoline on the fire. At Gavin's funeral he rails against the "diamond merchants" -- code for Jews -- with "the blood of innocent babies" on their hands. He mobilizes hundreds of demonstrators to march through the Jewish neighborhood, chanting, "No justice, no peace." A rabbinical student, Yankel Rosenbaum, is surrounded by a mob shouting "Kill the Jews!" and stabbed to death.

1995: When the United House of Prayer, a large black landlord in Harlem, raises the rent on Freddy's Fashion Mart, Freddy's white Jewish owner is forced to raise the rent on his subtenant, a black-owned music store. A landlord-tenant dispute ensues; Sharpton uses it to incite racial hatred. "We will not stand by," he warns malignantly, "and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business." Sharpton's National Action Network sets up picket lines; customers going into Freddy's are spat on and cursed as "traitors" and "Uncle Toms." Some protesters shout, "Burn down the Jew store!" and simulate striking a match. "We're going to see that this cracker suffers," says Sharpton's colleague Morris Powell. On Dec. 8, one of the protesters bursts into Freddy's, shoots four employees point-blank, then sets the store on fire. Seven employees die in the inferno.

If Sharpton were a white skinhead, he would be a political leper, spurned everywhere but the fringe. But far from being spurned, he is shown much deference. Democrats embrace him. Politicians court him. And journalists report on his comings and goings while politely sidestepping his career as a hatemongering racial hustler.

When Sharpton came to Boston to promote his campaign last week, for example, the news coverage was uniformly upbeat. The Boston Herald noted the "joyous singing and thunderous applause" that greeted the "civil rights leader," whose "energetic visit left many enthusiastic about his presidential bid." The Globe announced the arrival of "the colorful and controversial 48-year-old community activist" with a story listing the places and times of his public appearances. The only allusion to his ugly record was a vague quote from a local minister: "He obviously has a lot of history and controversy to overcome." That was quickly countered by Sharpton's own self-description as a man known "for my fights against racial profiling and discrimination."

Well, that isn't what Steve Pagones or the family of Yankel Rosenbaum or the loved ones of those who were burned alive at Freddy's Fashion Mart know him for. As they can testify, Sharpton is a vicious liar and a dangerous bigot. As a matter of moral hygiene, his party and the press should be able to say so, too.

http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=2411

American Thinker has a terrific article on UNRWA by Moshe Dan, informative and super clear.

More than 400,000 "Palestinian refugees" living in UNWRA-supported "camps" in Lebanon cannot work or even go to school outside their designated areas. Ditto for Syria.

Most "Palestinian refugees" listed by UNRWA (which includes Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and Gaza) in 2002, don't even live in the camps, but in nearby villages and towns. All receive free assistance and services for the rest of their life, including their children, their grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, ad infinitum.

According to UNRWA's rules, anyone who applied for relief, claiming they lived in Palestine for at least two years prior to 1948 (when Israel was attacked) and claimed to have lost property and livelihood was entitled to assistance, regardless of where they came from, or where they live today. Once a "Palestinian refugee," always a "Palestinian refugee."

[..]

With multiple wives, families can comprise scores of children - all "refugees." And, according to UNRWA rules, even if one parent is "Palestinian," the entire family is eligible for assistance and "refugee" status.

UNRWA openly admits that they don't monitor programs that support terrorism, or payments to families of terrorists by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Hezb'allah and (until recently) Iraq's Saddam Hussein. In fact, nearly all teachers employed by UNRWA are members of terrorist-controlled unions. Funding these teachers and the curriculum of hatred and bigotry, supports terrorism and terrorist organizations. This may explain why so many children are willing to blow themselves up, carry weapons and explosives and place themselves as shields for terrorists.

UNRWA violates its own UN mandate (Resolution 302), which states (Paragraph 5): "constructive measures should be undertaken at an early date with a view to the termination of international assistance for relief."

That's what many of us have been saying for a long long long time!

HRW announces Middle East vacancies

This from NGO-Monitor:

Human Rights Watch announces Middle East vacancies Human Rights Watch is advertising for a Legal Director to head its International Legal and Policy Office. The job description involves “advancing the development of international human rights and humanitarian law through progressive interpretation and standard-setting. ”

HRW is also seeking a researcher on Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. The advert stresses that candidates must be “able to dispassionately investigate and report on abuses by both Israeli and Palestinian forces without prejudice or favor and despite the intense pressure for partisanship or solidarity that suffuses work on Israeli-Palestinian issues.” The job description requires “excellent skills speaking and reading in both English and Arabic,” but “proficiency in Hebrew is [only] very desirable”.

Given HRW's history of selecting candidates with strong anti-Israel bias, NGO Monitor will closely scrutinize this selection process.

NGO Monitor Eviscerates Human Rights Watch Ken Roth

Analysis of Ken Roths Defense of HRWs Policy on Israel

March 15, 2007

On December 10, 2006, Ken Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), spoke at a conference sponsored by the North American branch of Rabbis for Human Rights. <1> Roth's presentation consisted of a defense of HRW's credibility and agenda, particularly with respect to Israel, following criticism published by NGO Monitor and elsewhere. On March 3, 2007, Tikkun magazine printed an edited version of his comments.

The following is an analysis of Roth's claims, including numerous inconsistencies, distortions, and omissions:

1) On the criticism of HRW for failing to distinguish between aggressor (as in the case of Hezbollah in the 2006 war) and defender (Israel), Roth attempts to use international legal claims, acknowledging that "a source of frustration for some people is that the Geneva Conventions do not take sides. They are neutral about the purposes of a war, they do not identify who the defender is and who the aggressor is, they do not say who's right and who's wrong, they look simply at how the war is fought . . . We look at jus in bello, the way the war is fought, not jus ad bellum, whether it was right or just to go to war."

NGO Monitor's Analysis: This portrayal of international law is selective, incomplete, and self-serving. Under international law, the only legitimate uses of force are for purposes of self-defense or pursuant to Security Council authorization under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. Article 51 of the UN Charter, for instance, states: "Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security." Under Article 2(4) of the Charter, states are prohibited from engaging in illegitimate use of force: "All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations." As international law precedents make clear, militias like Hezbollah, given de facto authority by the government of Lebanon, are bound to follow the legal commitments of the state. Lebanon is a signatory of the UN Charter, and Hezbollah, whose officials are also members of the cabinet, is obligated to abide by Article 2(4) of the UN Charter. Therefore, Hezbollah?s attack on Israel was illegal under any interpretation of international law, and there is both a moral and legal basis for distinguishing between aggressor and defender under the laws of war. HRW and Roth selectively chose to ignore these aspects in promoting their political agenda.

2) Responding to the criticism of HRW's credibility ("fact finding), Roth stated that "after a researcher returns from an investigation and writes up a report it must go through a series of experts: legal experts, policy experts, and people who double-check the fact-finding."

NGO Monitor's Analysis: Roth's general response does not attempt to explain the numerous examples of HRW statements that were false or based on unverifiable sources. For example, on August 1, during the Israel-Hezbollah war, after an Israeli strike against Qana in southern Lebanon, HRW immediately issued a press release based entirely on unverifiable "eyewitness claims," labeling the bombing indiscriminate and a war crime before any such determination could be reasonably made, and declaring that at least 54 civilians have been killed. The number of Lebanese killed was reduced subsequently and there are conflicting reports on many of the details. HRW, while belatedly revising the casualty estimate to half, did not remove the original statement from its website and repeated the allegations of war crimes and the absence of Hezbollah elements (rockets, fighters, etc.), based on claims made by people possibly connected to Hezbollah. Indeed, on December 5, the Center for Special Studies in Israel (C.S.S.) issued a detailed report on "the extensive military infrastructure positioned and hidden by Hezbollah in populated areas." The report documented a significant Hezbollah presence in and around Qana: 3 rockets were fired from within civilian houses, 36 within a 200 meter radius, and 106 within a 500 meter radius of the village.<2> The report also showed an aerial photograph of a weapons storehouse located next to a mosque in Qana. <3> Roth ignores these facts, and enormous impact of such false reports. And as a study published by Harvard University notes, Most reporters used the higher of the two estimates, some describing the scene as a massacre. It made for more sensational copy. <4>


3) Roth claims that HRW interviews witnesses and victims of human rights abuses with "an enormous dose of skepticism" because of their tendency to lie.

NGO Monitor's Analysis: In contrast to Roth's claim, HRW's statements demonstrate that the organization routinely uses such witnesses without any evidence of "skepticism". During the Israel-Hezbollah war, for example, HRW repeatedly relied on "eyewitnesses" from south Lebanon, where Hezbollah is politically and ideologically dominant. In a July 31 op-ed published in The Guardian (UK), Peter Bouckaert, HRW's Emergencies Director, dismissed Israel's statement that Hezbollah used human shields based on testimony from villagers, labeling the IDF's assertion a convenient excuse. In HRW's August 3 report entitled Fatal Strikes: Israel's Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon, Hashem Kazan, an HRW witness interviewed regarding a July 15 attack on Bint Jbeil, claimed that there was no fighting taking place in the village--there was no one but civilians. In contrast, the CSS report included an aerial photograph of 20 bases and 5 weapons storehouses in the village <5> , also documenting 87 rockets fired from within village houses, 109 from within a 200 meter radius, and 136 within a 500 meter radius. <6>

Furthermore, when credible evidence is available, HRW often ignores it if it does not support the dominant political position. On May 27, 2006 in a television interview, Hassan Nasaralah boasted ‘[Hezbollah fighters] live in their houses, in their schools, in their churches, in their fields, in their farms and in their factories...You can't destroy them in the same way you would destroy an army. <7>

4) Roth acknowledges HRW's close relationships with local organizations, and that since "some are more reliable than others," they need to be treated with skepticism.

NGO Monitor's Analysis: HRW often relies on highly politicized Palestinian NGOs, and the resulting reports show no evidence of skepticism. For example, on June 9, eight Palestinians were killed on a Gaza beach in disputed circumstances. Amnesty International and several Palestinian NGOs, including Miftah, Al Mezan and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights issued condemnations of Israel in the days following. On the basis of this concerted campaign, including clearly staged video, HRW dispatched Marc Garlasco, who claims to be a former Pentagon battle damage expert, to investigate. In a widely publicized press conference in Gaza. Garlasco repeated the claims that the evidence overwhelmingly supports the allegations that the civilians were killed by artillery shells fired by the IDF accepting the Palestinian position. He simply ignored the detailed evidence to the contrary, including shrapnel removed from the victims taken to Israel for treatment. (Garlasco was also among the authors of HRW's "Razing Rafah" report of 2004, which contained many unverifiable and disputed claims, and erased the context of terror.)

5) Roth stated that "while there were serious problems," HRW "put to rest" the international allegation of an Israeli "massacre" in Jenin.

NGO Monitor's Analysis: The record shows that HRW was disproportionately critical of Israel in its reporting on the events in Jenin, and its statements on the massacre myth were late and incomplete. In May 2002, HRW published a statement headlined "Jenin War Crimes Investigation Needed" followed by a detailed report entitled Jenin: IDF Military Operations, which alleged that "Israeli forces committed serious violations of international humanitarian law, some amounting prima facie to war crimes" adding that "particularly in the Hawashin district, the destruction extended well beyond any conceivable purpose of gaining access to fighters." The report was based on anecdotal and unsubstantiated testimony from what HRW described as "first-hand observers", and erased the context of mass terror attacks on Israelis. <8> Both documents remain on the HRW website. Furthermore, HRW's major report on Palestinian terror, Erased in a Moment: Suicide Bombing attacks against Israeli Civilians -- not published until October 2002, did not, as Roth claims, reveal "who at the top was responsible for ordering these murders." Instead, HRW's report vindicated Yasser Arafat, ignoring the documentary evidence of the PLO leader's direct involvement in terror.

6) Roth continues to claim that "most civilians died because, after Israel issued warnings for civilians to flee, the IDF falsely assumed that all civilians had in fact fled," adding that "Israel was firing at virtually anyone who moved."

NGO Monitor's Analysis: As noted, the CSS report showed that contrary to HRW's claim to have found "no cases" of human shields, Hezbollah used human shields throughout Lebanon, deliberately endangering civilians. On December 28, 2006, NGO Monitor published a detailed comparison of HRW's claims and the CSS report, revealing that in numerous instances, HRW relied on "eyewitness testimony" that was inconsistent with the available videographic and documentary evidence.

7) Roth chastises others for their "name-calling" adding that it "dishonored the Jewish Tradition".

NGO Monitor's Analysis: In a July 31 letter published in The New York Sun, Roth used the term an eye for an eye, which he termed to be based on "the morality of some more primitive moment." The comment is a fundamental distortion of Jewish tradition, for which Roth has yet to apologize.

8 ) Omissions: Roth's defense omits reference to positions and political campaigns based on extremely bad judgment.

NGO Monitor's Analysis: For example, in 2006, Roth condemned the US and Israel for demanding more changes to the framework for the new UN Human Rights Council, which replaced the discredited UN Commission on Human Rights. He asserted that "The proposed Council has many new elements that will be useful in our work for the promotion and protection of human rights". <9> In fact, the Council is no better than the old Commission, and the objections were well founded.

Footnotes

1. On January 23, The Jerusalem Post reported that RHRI (Rabbis for Human Rights Israel) had criticized the highly politicized approach of the North American branch of this organization, particularly the decision to honor the Center for Constitutional Rights, which had sued two Israeli security officials for alleged war crimes.
2. Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Center for Special Studies, "Hezbollah's use of Lebanese civilians as human shields" Appendix 4, 5 December 2006, at 256 (http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/human_shields.htm)
3. Id., Part 1, at 44, Part 2, at 122.
4. Marvin Kalb and Carol Saivetz, "The Israeli-Hezbollah War of 2006: The Media As A Weapon in Asymmetrical Conflict", Research Paper Series, Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, February 2007
http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP07-012/$File/rwp_07_012_kalb.pdf
5. Id., Part 2, at 76.
6. Id., Appendix 4, at 256.
7. Staff Editorial, Whose War Crimes? The Wall Street Journal, December 11, 2006 http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/human_shields_efs.pdf
8. On July 30, 2002, the UN issued a report on the Israeli incursion into Jenin, concluding that no massacre had taken place. In HRW's August 2 criticism of the report, Hanny Magelly, HRW's Executive Director of Middle East and North Africa Division at the time, declared that the report "exposes the risk of compiling a report without first-hand information."
9. "U.S.: Accept Draft Resolution on Human Rights Council as It Is", February 24, 2006 http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/02/24/usint12718.htm

http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/02/24/usint12718.htm

Great Software

BBCode to HTML Converter

"This program will convert BBCode (Bulletin Board Code) to HTML. It's useful if you work on forums which support either BBCode or HTML and need to convert your "canned speeches" or if you have written something in bbcode that you would like to put on your website. You could also use it to preview your posts on boards that don't have that feature built in."

I have used it and it is simple and works. There is no spyware or anything bad associated with it. It is free. and can be found here.

Treatment of the Jews by the Arabs in the 10th Century

Little did he know that Hitler was coming, but I guess he might have predicted the situation in the middle east today. Here is more from the Netanyahu book I have finally got around to reading. It is so simple, so straightforward, such an honest book. Anyway, I had to add this quote from Moses Maimonides.

Later in the same century (the 10th), the philosopher Moses Maimonides declared that the return to Israel was the only hope of an end to Jewish suffering at the hands of the Arabs, of whom he writes that "Never did a nation molest, degrade, debase, and hate us as much as they." *

Benjamin Netanyahu, A Durable Peace , Israel and Its Place Among the Nations, pg 35

"*Maimonides' "Epistle to Yemen" in Isadore Twersky, A Maimonides Reader (New York: Berhman House, 1972), pp.456-57

Churchillian Quotes on Jews and Arabs

A couple of quotes from Churchill that did not hit the cutting room floor:


"The Jews are in Palestine by right, not by sufferance."

In 1921 he wrote:

It is manifestly right that the scattered Jews should have a national centre, and a national home to be re-united, and where else but in Palestine, with which for three thousand years they have been intimately and profoundly associated? We think it will be good for the world, good for the Jews, good for the British Empire, but also good for the Arabs who dwell in Palestine...they shall share in the benefits and progress of Zionism.

and

I am told the Arabs would have done it for themselves. Who is going to believe that? Left to themselves, the Arabs of Palestine would not in a thousand years have taken effective steps toward the irrigation and electrification of Palestine. They would have been quite content to dwell--a handful of philosophic people-- in the sun-scorched plains, letting the waters of the Jordan contine to flow unbridled and unharnessed into the Dead Sea.

also from Netanyahu, A Durable Peace

Arab on Arab Violence

How about the slaughter in Hama, Syria, in 1982 when an estimated 10000-20000 civilians were murdered by their brethren? Or in 1933 when the Iraqis massacred the ancient Assyrian Christian population and incited the Arab population to murder and plunder the survivors? Thousands fled the country. Or Dec 15, 1945 when the Kurds of Iraq declared an independent country and in 1961 when tens of thousands of Kurds were killed and 200,000 left homeless? That was the work of your Arab brethren. in the 1970's Saddam drove another 200,000 out into Iran. Syria massacred its Christian population in the 1920's and drove out tens of thousands of Armenians after WWII. The Druse have suffered a similar fate in Syria. Egypt under Nassar expelled its Greek Christian community in the 1950's and encouraged violence against them for years after. Sudan's Arab government has waged campaign after campaign gainst the Christian blacks in the South. Nassar used gas in Yemen in the 1960's, Saddam repeatedly gassed both the Iranian army and the Kurdish civilians in his own country in which thousands of Kurds died. The Egyptian invasion of Yemen resulted in 250,000 dead, the Algerian civil war, 1,000,000 dead, the Lebanese civil war - 15,000, the Libyan incursion into Chad - 100,000, the Sudanese civil war (at least 500,000) and the Iran-Iraq war -over 1,000,000 dead.


Loosely quoted from Benjamin Netanyahu A Durable Peace

Qur'an Quotes from R Spencer's New Book

The Truth About Muhammad

My notes:

Mo is "an excellent model of conduct" Q 33:21, "an exalted standard of character 68:4
"he who obeys the Messenger, obeys Allah 4:80
Obey Mo : 3:32,3:132,4:13,4:59,4:69,5:92,8:1,8:20, 8:46,9:71, 24:47,24:51, 24:52, 24:54, 24:56, 33:33, 47:33, 49:14, 58:13, 64:12

Death to Blasphemers:
Theo Van Gogh 2004
Iranian Lawyer Ahmad Kasravi 1947
Iranian PM Haji-Ali Razmara assassinated 1951
Egyptian writer Faraj Foda apostasy
1992Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz stabbed 1994 Salman Rusdie

hadith, qur'an and sira (bio)= sunnah

Against the Jews, 5:64 5:82 9:30
Muslims are superior 3:110
arabic is 'pure and clear' 16:103
4 witnesses: if they cannot produce witnesses they verily are liars in the sight of Allah: 24:11-20
women's testimony: 2:282
punishments for mo's enemies: 111:1-5,21:11-15
Jihad for Islam 2:193 "Fight them so there will be no more seduction and the religion is God's"
Satanic Verses 17:73-75

The pact with the Jews of Medina, the Jews of Banu Auf
The Hypocrites (munafiqin) of Medina were Muslims who had conveted out of fear and convenience.

Mo attacks the hypocrites 2:8-15 63:1-8
Use of 'martyrdom' as one who kills and is killed for God...9:111
killing during the Holy months 2:214
Pickthal's Quran Translation of 2:216.

Warfare is ordained for you, though it is hateful unto you; but it may happen that ye hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that ye love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knoweth, ye know not. Y S C 2:217.


They question thee (O Muhammad) with regard to warfare in the sacred month. Say: Warfare therein is a great (transgression), but to turn (men) from the way of Allah, and to disbelieve in Him and in the Inviolable Place of Worship, and to expel His people thence, is a greater with Allah; for persecution is worse than killing. And they will not cease from fighting against you till they have made you renegades from your religion, if they can. And whoso becometh a renegade and dieth in his disbelief: such are they whose works have fallen both in the world and the Hereafter. Such are rightful owners of the Fire: they will abide therein. Y S C

2:218. Lo! those who believe, and those who emigrate (to escape the persecution) and strive in the way of Allah, these have hope of Allah's mercy. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

No compulsion in Religion: 2:256
Curse of Allah on disbelievers: 2:89
changes the direction of prayer: 2:143-144 turn their backs on Jerusalem
fighting is good 47:20
Smite at their necks 47:4, 8:9,12-13,47: 4.

Now when ye meet in battle those who disbelieve, then it is smiting of the necks until, when ye have routed them, then making fast of bonds; and afterward either grace or ransom till the war lay down its burdens. That (is the ordinance). And if Allah willed He could have punished them (without you) but (thus it is ordained) that He may try some of you by means of others. And those who are slain in the way of Allah, He rendereth not their actions vain. Y S C

8:12. When thy Lord inspired the angels, (saying): I am with you. So make those who believe stand firm. I will throw fear into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Then smite the necks and smite of them each finger. Y S C

8:13. That is because they opposed Allah and His messenger. Whoso opposeth Allah and His messenger, (for him) lo! Allah is severe in punishment. Y S 8:14. That (is the award), so taste it, and (know) that for disbelieve

8:12. Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message): "I am with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instil terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them." S P C Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation

Unbelievers will be routed by Allah:

8:64. O Prophet! sufficient unto thee is Allah,- (unto thee) and unto those who follow thee among the Believers. S P C
8:65. O Prophet! rouse the Believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of the Unbelievers: for these are a people without understanding. S P C
Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation

strike terror in the heart of the enemy: 8:60

unbelievers bad treatment:

3:10. Those who reject Faith,- neither their possessions nor their (numerous) progeny will avail them aught against Allah: They are themselves but fuel for the Fire. S P
3:11. (Their plight will be) no better than that of the people of Pharaoh, and their predecessors: They denied our Signs, and Allah called them to account for their sins. For Allah is strict in punishment. S P C 3:12. Say to those who reject Faith: "Soon will ye be vanquished and gathered together to Hell,-an evil bed indeed (to lie on)! Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation

Take not Jews or Christians for friends: 5:51, 5:52

5:51. O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust. S P

Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation

2:26. Allah disdains not to use the similitude of things, lowest as well as highest. Those who believe know that it is truth from their Lord; but those who reject Faith say: "What means Allah by this similitude?" By it He causes many to stray, and many He leads into the right path; but He causes not to stray, except those who forsake (the path),- S

2:27. Those who break Allah's Covenant after it is ratified, and who sunder what Allah Has ordered to be joined, and do mischief on earth: These cause loss (only) to themselves.
Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation

reject friendship with others 3:149-151
send terror to Jews: 5911-17
divine terror to Jews (Banu Nadir) 59:2-3
christians and jews are idolartors 4:51-52
hypocrites plotting against Muslims 33:13-14
sabbath breaking Jews are pigs and monkeys: 2:62-65,559-60,7:166
imitate Mohammed: 33:21
Massacre of the Banu Qurayzah
prayers not helpful for the evil-doer: 9:809:84

Caliphate of Umar 634-644 the Jews who remained at Khaybar were banished to Syria and the rest of the land was seized.

hate until everyone believes in Islam: 60:1-4

60: 3. Your ties of kindred and your children will avail you naught upon the Day of Resurrection. He will part you. Allah is Seer of what ye do. Y S C
60: 4. There is a goodly pattern for you in Abraham and those with him, when they told their folk: Lo! we are guiltless of you and all that ye worship beside Allah. We have done with you. And there hath arisen between us and you hostility and hate for ever until ye believe in Allah only - save that which Abraham promised his father (when he said): I will ask forgiveness for thee, though I own nothing for thee from Allah - Our Lord! In Thee we put our trust, and unto Thee we turn repentant, and unto Thee is the journeying. YPickthal's Quran Translation

allah punishes the unbelievers 9:26
invite to Islam 3:64
jizya and subordinate dhimmi (guilty or protected) position 9:29, 9:33
allah first: 9:33
Jews and Christians cursed: 9:30 Christians, esp hellfire 9:31-2,33-5
Allah curses other Moslems who ignore Mo: 9:107
Those that refuse Jihad will face terrible punishment 9:107
Jihad the best thing you can do 9:41
Those who refuse Jihad aren't believers 9:44-45
Beduins are the worst 9:97
Hypocrits will get nasty punishment 9:73-4
Kill or be killed for Allah 9:111
Beat your wife: 4:34
Unbelievers get out of Arabia 9:1-3 or die 9:4-6
Only conversion to Islam will save you from death 9:6-11
terror in the hearts of unbelievers 3:151, 7:4-5,8:12,8:60 etc
marriage ok with non menstruating children 65:4
woman are a field for men to plow: 2:223
woman's testimony 2:282
marry 4 have sex with many 4:3
woman's inheritance half of a man's 4:11
a rebellious woman can be banished and beaten 4:34
an adulterous woman can be confined to their homes until death 4:15
amputation for theft 5:38
ibn ishaq reports that mo particapted in 27 battles
The religion before allah is Islam 3:19 The only true faith in God's sight is Islam
People of the book are wrongdoers: 3:110
Jews and Christians accursed 5:12-16
Don't take Christians as friends 5:51
Jews and Christians are intolerant 2:120; cf 2:135

imitation of mohamed
march 28, 2003 Pal Sheikh Muhammad Abu A- Hunud
sept 5 2003 Sheikh Ibrahim Mudeiris on the Battle of Tabuk

jews are liars: 3:17,4:46
Jews are cursed 2:61-58, 5:78-82
Jews are Pig and Apes 5:60,2:65,7:166

Pick up a free searchable Qur'an here. It does not seem to have any associated malware.
http://www.shaplus.com/

Jimmah Says "No Factual Errors"....hmmm

(I don't usually post anything this long but I was encouraged to do so)

From CAMERA
Factual errors about borders and international agreements

On Nov. 27, 2006, Jimmy Carter appeared on Larry King Live to discuss his book, Palestine: Peace not Apartheid. During the interview, Carter repeated an assertion that he has made in various venues: "Everything in the book, I might say, is completely accurate."

In line with this defense, the former president repeatedly has argued that his critics, who supposedly have no grounds to criticize the factual accuracy of the book, have resorted to name-calling and ad hominem attacks.

He told Wolf Blitzer that "Most of the criticisms of the book have been the one word in the title, apartheid, and the other one is personal attacks on me."

To an audience at a University of Georgia conference, he said:

"I have been called a liar. I've been called an anti-Semite. I've been called a bigot. I've been called a plagiarist. I've been called a coward. Those accusations, they concern me, but they don't detract from the fact that the book is accurate, and that it's needed."

In the Boston Globe, he asserted:

Not surprisingly, an examination of the book reviews and published comments reveals that these points have rarely if ever been mentioned by detractors of the book, much less denied or refuted. Instead, there has been a pattern of ad hominem statements, alleging that I am a liar, plagiarist, anti-Semite, racist, bigot, ignorant, etc. There are frequent denunciations of fabricated "straw man" accusations: that I have claimed that apartheid exists within Israel; that the system of apartheid in Palestine is based on racism; and that Jews control and manipulate the news media of America.

In the Washington Post, he repeated that "most critics have not seriously disputed or even mentioned the facts ..."

The truth is, much of the criticism of the book has pointed to the misrepresentations of fact in the book, and a number of specific errors have been cited.

CAMERA ran full page ads in the New York Times and New York Sun specifically itemizing factual errors and refuting them (and calling on Carter's publisher, Simon and Schuster, to correct the false claims). But because of space limitations and the sheer number of errors in Carter's book, those ads could only highlight and correct a fraction of Carter's falsehoods.

Here, we have compiled a more detailed and inclusive list of factual errors from Carter's book (page numbers are in italics) and media appearances. The list will be updated as we come across any further errors of fact made by the former president.

CARTER:
Page 125: withdrawal to the 1967 border specified in U.N. Resolution 242 and as promised in the Camp David Accords and the Oslo Agreement...

PBS NewsHour, Nov. 28, 2006:

The demand is for them to give back all the land. The United Nations resolutions that apply, the agreements that have been made at Camp David under me and later at Oslo for which the Israeli leaders received the Nobel Peace Prizes, was based on Israel's withdrawal from occupied territories.

FACT:
One of the documents mentioned U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, the Camp David Accords and the Oslo Agreement require Israel to return to the vulnerable pre-1967 armistice lines.

Resolution 242 calls on Israel to withdraw from territory in exchange for peace, but does not specify the extent of that withdrawal. The drafters of 242 have repeatedly explained why it is worded in that way. For example, Lord Caradon, the chief architect of the resolution, explained: "We could have said: well, you go back to the 1967 line. But I know the 1967 line, and its a rotten line. ... Had we said that you must go back to the 1967 line, which would have resulted if we had specified a retreat from all the occupied territories, we would have been wrong."

The Camp David Accords, which were signed by Carter himself, similarly do not define Israels borders: "The negotiations will resolve, among other matters, the location of the boundaries ...."

The Oslo Agreements, too, deferred "borders" as "one of the issues that will be negotiated in the permanent status negotiations" (Article XVII, 1, a).

CARTER:
Page 57: The 1949 armistice demarcation lines became the borders of the new nation of Israel and were accepted by Israel and the United States, and recognized officially by the United Nations.

FACT:
The 1949 armistice lines separating the West Bank from Israel never became permanent borders recognized by Israel, the United States or the U.N. Security Council. On the contrary, the Jordanian-Israeli General Armistice Agreement of April 3, 1949 specifically notes that the lines are not borders: "The Armistice Demarcation Lines defined in articles V and VI of this Agreement are agreed upon by the Parties without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines or to claims of either Party relating thereto."

CARTER:
Page 71: Israel has relinquished its control over ... almost all of Lebanon ...

Page 98: Israels decision in May 2000 to withdraw almost completely from Lebanon after eighteen years of occupation, retaining its presence only in Shebaa Farms.

FACT:
On June 16, 2000, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan reported to the Security Council that "Israeli forces have withdrawn from Lebanon in compliance with resolution 425" and "in compliance with the line of withdrawal identified by the United Nations."

(Security Council Resolution 425 called on Israel to "withdraw forthwith its forces from all Lebanese territory." The line identified by the United Nations "conform to the internationally recognized boundaries of Lebanon based on the best available cartographic and other documentary material.")

Two days later, the Security Council endorsed the Secretary Generals conclusion.

CARTER:
Page 190: The governments of Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert have built the fence and wall entirely within Palestinian territory, intruding deeply into the West Bank to encompass Israeli settlement blocs and large areas of other Palestinian land.

CNBC, The Tim Russert Show, Dec. 2, 2006:

And this wall, unlike the Berlin Wall, which was built on East German territory, none of this wall is built on Israeli territory. It's all built inside the West Bank .... And in no place along that wall does it separate Palestinians from Israelis to protect Israelis. Everywhere the wall separates Palestinians from other Palestinians.

CSPAN2, Book TV, Dec. 3, 2006:

... this wall is not built between Palestinian land and Israeli land. No place does the wall touch Israel. The wall is entirely inside Palestine. And the wall is designed as its presently planned and being built completely inside Palestine not to protect Israelis but to take Palestinian land, and all you have to do is look at a map ... it shows the route of the wall.

FACT:
United Nations maps and numbers confirm that the barrier adheres to the "green line" the armistice line marking the boundaries of the West Bank along about 140 km (45 percent) of the green lines path. Those areas where the barrier deviates east of the line are, according to 242, disputed areas yet to be negotiated. Moreover, in some places the barrier also veers into Israeli territory. (For example, near Tulkarm and Al Mughayyir Al Mutilla.)

And, contrary to his claim on the Tim Russert Show, the fence separates "Palestinians from Israelis" along the entire route.

CARTER:
Page 190: is projected to be at least three and a half times as long as Israels internationally recognized border ...

FACT:
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs notes that "Because of its meandering path into the West Bank, the is more than twice the length of the "Green Line" 315 km."

CARTER:
Page 51-52: "...important provisions of our <1978/79> agreement have not been honored since I left office. The Israelis have never granted any appreciable autonomy to the Palestinians ..."

FACT:
Obviously, after 1993 the Palestinians gained "appreciable autonomy." The Oslo process created the Palestinian Authority and gave Palestinians control of political, civic, security, medical, educational and media institutions. Israel ceded 40 percent of the West Bank and eventually the entire Gaza Strip. About 98 percent of the Palestinian population lived in the areas of Palestinian self-rule.

Any subsequent Israeli military incursions into these areas have been in response to their use by Palestinians as bases for terrorism.

Moreover, Carter omits that Palestinian autonomy as envisioned in the agreements was bitterly opposed by the very PLO he defends. Yasir Arafat and his lieutenants publicly denounced autonomy efforts and Palestinians who supported them were killed. The New York Times reported on one such story on Dec. 21, 1977, recounting the murder of a Christian Arab who rejected the PLO's extremism in favor of reconciliation with the Israelis.

CARTER:
Page 207: The unwavering official policy of the United States since Israel became a state has been that its borders must coincide with those prevailing from 1949 until 1967 (unless modified by mutually agreeable land swaps) ... . Also as a member of the International Quartet that includes Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union, America supports the Roadmap for Peace, which espouses exactly the same requirements.

FACT:
There was no such "unwavering official policy."

For example, President Johnson said on June 19, 1967:

"The nations of the region have had only fragile and violated truce lines for 20 years. What they now need are recognized boundaries and other arrangements that will give them security against terror, destruction, and war. "

Arthur Goldberg, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 1965-1968, explained in a March 12, 1980 letter to the New York Times:

In a number of speeches at the U.N. in 1967, I repeatedly stated that the armistice lines fixed after 1948 were intended to be temporary. This, of course, was particularly true of Jerusalem. At no time in these many speeches did I refer to East Jerusalem as occupied territory.

And George Shultz, U.S. Secretary of State from 1982-1989, explained the Reagan administrations position in a 1988 address, saying "Israel will never negotiate from or return to the 1967 borders." (For more, see here.)

CARTER:
CNBC, The Tim Russert Show, Dec. 2, 2006:

" was immediately adopted in its totality by the Palestinians, who still have no caveats and no objections to the Road Map terms. "

FACT:
The Palestinian Authoritys Hamas government has refused to accept previously signed agreements, including the Road Map.

Factual errors and distortions downplaying anti-Israel violence and Arab rejectionism

CARTER:
Page 62: When I met with Yasir Arafat in 1990, he stated, "The PLO has never advocated the annihilation of Israel. The Zionists started the 'drive the Jews into the sea' slogan and attributed it to the PLO."

FACT:
The original PLO founding charter speaks almost exclusively of "the liberation of Palestine," and calls on Palestinians to "move forward on the path of jihad until complete and final victory has been attained." (Note that this was written in 1964, before Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip.) It adds: "The partitioning of Palestine, which took place in 1947, and the establishment of Israel are illegal and null and void ..."

Likewise, the 1968 version of the charter describes "Palestine" as the area encompassing the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israel, then states: "Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine. This it is the overall strategy, not merely a tactical phase."

Arafat himself frequently called for destroying that nation, as in: "The goal of our struggle is the end of Israel, and there can be no compromise" (Washington Post, March 29, 1970) and "peace for us means the destruction of Israel. We are preparing for an all-out war, a war which will last for generations" (El Mundo , Feb. 11, 1980).

And Israels enemies have indeed referred to driving Jews into the sea. In a 1948 interview with the New York Times, for example, Muslim Brotherhood head Sheikh Hassan el-Bana said: "If the Jewish state becomes a fact, and this is realized by the Arab peoples, they will drive the Jews who live in their midst into the sea" ("Aim to oust Jews pledged by sheikh," Aug. 2, 1948).

More recently, Lieutenant-Colonel Munir Maqdah, who had commanded Arafat's Fatah army in Lebanon before being suspended, said his forces would continue fighting "the Jews and their agents" despite any peace talks, promising that "sooner or later we will throw the Zionists into the sea." (Reuters, Oct. 8, 1993)

CARTER:
Page 179: Hamas was now holding many local posts, and their incumbent officials had been free of any allegations of corruption and, for sixteen months, had meticulously observed a cease-fire commitment, which they called hudna.

page 184: When I questioned him about the necessity for Hamas to renounce violence and recognize Israel, responded that they had not committed an act of violence since a cease-fire was declared in August 2004 ..."

CNN, Larry King Live, Nov. 27, 2006:

... since August of 2004 ... Hamas has not been guilty of an act of terrorism that cost an Israeli life."

PBS, NewsHour, Nov. 28, 2006:

Carter: "... since August of 2004, has not committed a single act of terrorism that cost an Israeli life, not a single one."

Judy Woodruff: "I think many Americans would be surprised to hear that."

Carter: "I know. They would be surprised, but it's an actual fact."

FACT:
On Aug. 31, 2004, Sixteen people were killed and 100 wounded in two nearly simultaneous suicide bombings aboard two city buses in Beer Sheva. Hamas claimed responsibility.

On Sept. 29, 2004, two preschool children were killed by a Qassam rocket fired from Gaza. Hamas claimed responsibility.

On Jan 13, 2005, Palestinians terrorists attacked the Karni crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel, killing 6 civilians. Hamas claimed joint responsibility.

On July 14, 2005, a woman was killed by a Qassam rocket fired from Gaza. Hamas claimed responsibility.

CARTER:
KHOW-AM, The Caplis & Silverman Show (Denver), Dec. 12, 2006:

Carter flatly denied that Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, swore never to recognize Israel.

Silverman: "Didn't the head of Hamas, the elected leader of the Palestinians, go to Tehran last week and say We will never recognize the usurper Zionist government ..."

Carter: "No, he didn't."

Silverman: " ... and we will continue our jihad-like movement ...

Carter: "No, he didnt do that."

Silverman: " until the liberation of Jerusalem?"

Carter: "No, he didn't do that. I saw no report about that."

FACT:
Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, was quoted by the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Detriot Free Press, the Guardian (London), and others saying just that.

CARTER:
Page 59: On June 5, Israel launched preemptive strikes, moving first against Egypt and Syria, then against Jordan."

Page 5: Israel launches preemptive attacks on Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and then Jordan ....

FACT:
Israel did not preemptively strike Jordan. Jordan attacked Israel first, ignoring Israeli pleas that it refrain from joining the war.

CARTER:
Page 214: The prisoners proposal called for a unity government with Hamas joining the PLO, the release of all political prisoners, acceptance of Israel as a neighbor within its legal borders ..."

FACT:
While calling for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the prisoners document says nothing about "acceptance of Israel as a neighbor," leaving open the possibility that Palestinian control over the occupied territories would be seen only as a "phase" toward an eventual Palestinian state encompassing Israel.

Many Palestinian leaders have acknowledged that the document does not call for "acceptance of Israel as a neighbor."

Abdul Rahman Zidan, a Palestinian government minster from Hamass "Change and Reform" list, told the BBC: "You will not find one word in the document clearly stating the recognition of Israel as a state."

Hamas leader Khalil Abu Leila said that "Fatah wants from us more than what is in this document. They want Hamas to recognize Israel and be a copy of Fatah, something that will not happen.... We will never recognize Israel."

Khalid Abu Hilal, a senior Hamas leader, said: "Our principles and statements are clear. We will never recognize Israel. We will recognize Israel only if it is far away."

And Salah Bardaweel, the leader of the Hamas faction in parliament, said: "We accept a state in in 1967, but we did not say we accept two states."
(For more details, see here.)

CARTER:
Page 197: The cycle of violence erupted once more in June 2006, when Palestinians dug a tunnel under the barrier that surrounds Gaza and attacked some Israeli soldiers, capturing one of them. They offered to exchange the soldier for the release of 95 women and 313 children ..."

CSPAN2, Book TV, Dec. 3, 2006:

'... And what the Palestinians asked for is, "Well swap you this one soldier if youll just release some of the hundred women you're holding about a hundred or some of the little children youre holding ...," and the Israeli government refused to swap .... '

FACT:
On June 26, 2006, CNN reported:

Palestinian militants distributed a statement Monday saying they will provide information about a kidnapped Israeli soldier if Israel agrees to release all female prisoners and all children under 18 being held in Israeli jails.

According to the Jan. 3, 2007 Jerusalem Post, "A senior Hamas official said Thursday his group was ready to give Israel a videotape of the soldier if it agreed to release Palestinian women prisoners and other detainees."

Israels Haaretz described the groups further demands: "For its part, Hamas is demanding that 400 prisoners be freed in the first part of the deal, and 500 each in the two subsequent parts of the exchange. Israel would like to limit that figure."

According to Haaretz, one of the prisoners Hamas expects Israel to release is "Abbas Sayed, the mastermind of the massacre at the Park Hotel in Netanya over Passover in 2002, in which 29 civilians were killed."

It is also noteworthy that Carter fails to mention two Israelis were killed during the Palestinian attack that resulted in the kidnap of Gilad Shalit.

CARTER:
Page 145: Of 1,696 voting places outside Jerusalem , there were problems in only two. Three Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli police at a checkpoint at Jenin ...

FACT:
Here Carter makes a gross error of omission. The Associated Press, New York Times, Agence France Press and others reported at the time that the Palestinians were killed after opening fire on Israeli security forces. An Israeli soldier was wounded when the three all Hamas members "tried to shoot their way past an Israeli roadblock." (Boston Globe, Jan. 21, 1996)

CARTER:
Page 147: Unfortunately for the peace process, Palestinian terrorists carried out two lethal suicide bombings in March 1996, a few weeks after the Palestinian election. Thirty-two Israeli citizens were killed, an act that probably gave the Likuds hawkish candidate, Binyamin Netanyahu, a victory over Prime Minister Shimon Peres.

FACT:
This, too, is an error of omission, as Carter fails to mention significant Palestinian attacks that immediately preceded the March attacks. On February 25, 1996, a Hamas bomber killed 26 at the central bus station in Jerusalem, and a separate bombing claimed the life of another Israeli.

Factual errors about Israel, settlements and negotiations

CARTER:

Page 148: Maps on this page are labeled: "Palestinian Interpretation of Clintons Proposal 2000" and "Israeli Interpretation of Clintons Proposal 2000."

FACT:
The maps are mislabeled. Dennis Ross, the U.S. peace negotiator who drew up the original version of Carters maps, explained:

The problem is that the ''Palestinian interpretation'' is actually taken from an Israeli map presented during the Camp David summit meeting in July 2000, while the "Israeli interpretation'' is an approximation of what President Clinton subsequently proposed in December of that year.

Without knowing this, the reader is left to conclude that the Clinton proposals must have been so ambiguous and unfair that Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, was justified in rejecting them. But that is simply untrue. (New York Times, Jan. 9, 2007)

Rick Richman gives further details about how the maps are mislabeled, and explains that "the point was trying to make with the borrowed and altered maps is central to his entire book." See that analysis here.

CARTER:

Page 150-51: Later, during his last months in Washington, President Clinton made what he called his final proposal. ... Israel could maintain its control of the Jordan River valley ... .

There was no clear response from Prime Minister Barak, but he later stated that Israel had twenty pages of reservations. President Arafat rejected the proposal. ...

The best offer to the Palestiniansby Clinton, not Barakhad been to withdraw 20 percent of the settlers, leaving more than 180,000 in 209 settlements, covering about 10 percent of the occupied land, including land to be "leased" and portions of the Jordan River valley and East Jerusalem.

CNBC, The Tim Russert Show, Dec. 2, 2006:

The fact is that the proposals made were never accepted by either Barak on behalf of the Israelis or by the Palestinians, Arafat.

CNN, The Situation Room, Nov. 28, 2006

You could check with all the records. Barak never did accept .

FACT:
According to Clintons parameters, "a small Israeli presence" under the authority of an international force could remain in "fixed locations" in the Jordan Valley, but it would withdraw after a maximum of 36 months. Israel would withdraw from "between 94 and 96 percent of West Bank territory" and there would be a land swap of 1 to 3 percent. Baraks response was clearhe accepted the parameters. (Dennis Ross, The Missing Peace)

CARTER:

Page 130: ... when I visited Damascus in 1990, President Assad informed me that he was willing to negotiate with Israel on the status of the Golan Heights. His proposal was that both sides withdraw from the international border ... Syria might move its troops farther from the border because of the terrain.

FACT:

Former executive director of the Carter Center Kenneth Stein, who was at the meeting, explained that his own notes of the Damascus meeting show that Assad, in response to a question from Carter, replied that Syria could not accept a demilitarized Golan without "sacrificing our sovereignty."

Stein also disputed Carter's statement in the book that Assad expressed willingness to move Syria's troops farther from the border than Israel should be required to do. (Los Angeles Times, Jan. 17, 2006)

CARTER:
Page 168: Living among 1.3 million Palestinians, the 8,000 Israeli settlers were controlling 40 percent of the arable land and more than one-half the water resources ..."

FACT:
Settlers lived on roughly 15-20 percent of Gaza land, and controlled little of its water. In fact, Israel has supplied, and continues to supply, large amounts of water to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The American Journalism Review in August/September 2004 published the following correction after similarly misstating Gaza statistics:

In "Caught in the Crossfire" (June/July), Barbara Matusow wrote that Israeli settlers occupy 25 percent of the land in the Gaza Strip and control most of the water resources. According to the Institute of Applied Research in Jerusalem, the Palestinians control 95 percent of the water resources in Gaza. Estimates vary widely when it comes to control of the land, however. A June 2004 report on Gaza by the World Bank states that 15 to 20 percent of the land is occupied by settlements.

CARTER:
Page 121: Each Israeli settler uses five times as much water as a Palestinian neighbor, who must pay four times as much per gallon.

FACT:
According to Sharif Elmusa, who was a water negotiator for the Palestinian side in talks with Israel, Palestinians in the West Bank pay approximately $1 per CM for domestic water, "virtually identical with the price in Israel ..." (Elmusa, Water Conflict, 144)

Similarly, with regard to agricultural water, Elmusa writes: " ... in absolute terms, the price of irrigation water in Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan converged, and water prices could not have affected competitiveness in any significant way." (Elmusa, 173)

In fact, some Palestiniansthose in Jericho, Tulkarm and Gazahave paid substantially less for water than the typical Israeli household.

CARTER:
Page 197: Confessions extracted through torture are admissible in Israeli courts.

FACT:
Under Israeli criminal procedures when a person claims that his confession was extracted via torture, a "trial-within-a-trial" is immediately held (in Hebrew mishpat zuta) in which the prosecution must disprove that torture or other illegitimate means were used. If the prosecution is unable to disprove claims of torture the confession is thrown out. In addition, if it appears that other illegal means short of torture were used, the confession can be admitted, but only if the court finds that the interrogation did not prejudice the defendants free will. (See for example, The Right to a Fair Trial, D. Weissbrodt and R. Wolfrum, eds., Springer, 1997.) See more details here.

CARTER:
Page 200: Finally, on August 11, the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 1701, which provided that combat would cease and that 15,000 Lebanese troops and an equal number from the international community would be deployed in Southern Lebanon as both Israeli and Hezbollah military forces withdrew. The key issues of prisoner exchange ... and the disarming of Hezbollah were postponed ... "

FACT:
An operative paragraph of the resolution calls for "full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of 27 July 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese State."

A preabulatory paragraph emphasizes the need for an "unconditional release of the abducted Israeli soldiers" while also "encouraging the efforts aimed at urgently settling the issue of the Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel."

CARTER:
Page 151: There is a zone with a radius of about four hundred meters around each settlement within which Palestinians cannot enter.

FACT:
Palestinians often enter within four hundred meters of Israeli settlements. The Israeli settlement of Psagot, for example, is well under 400 meters away from Ramallah, which under Oslo was turned over to full Palestinian control (Area A).

Palestinians sometimes enter the settlements. Palestinians from villages near the Israeli settlement of Ariel work alongside Israelis at a textile factory in the settlement.

CARTER:
NPR, Fresh Air, Nov. 26, 2006:

So far neither Olmert nor his predecessor Sharon has been willing to negotiate at all with the Palestinians even though their choice and the choice of the United States, that is Mahmoud Abbas, was the prime minister under of Arafat and later elected to be president. ...

Even when he was ordained as the one o represent the Palestinians, still not a single day of negotiations has been committed by Israel or the United States.

FACT:
News reports prove Carter wrong. For example, the New York Times Steven Erlanger wrote on Feb. 9, 2005:

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and Ariel Sharon, prime minister of Israel, held summit talks at this Egyptian resort on Tuesday -- the highest-level meeting between the sides in four years -- and
declared a truce in hostilities.

Mr. Abbas said he and Mr. Sharon "have jointly agreed to cease all acts of violence against Israelis and Palestinians everywhere," while Mr. Sharon said they "agreed that all Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis everywhere, and in parallel, Israel will cease all its military activity against all Palestinians everywhere."

Officials said Israel would also pull back its troops from five West
Bank cities -- Jericho, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Tulkarm and Qalqilya -- in the next three weeks and stop the arrests and assassinations of top militants if they agree to put down their weapons. ("Urging New Path, Sharon and Abbas Declare Truce,")

The two met to negotiate on several other occasions. Abbas also has been responsible for cancelling planned meetings. (See details here.)
more here - a good reference page w/ links:
http://camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&amp;amp;amp;x_outlet=118&x_article=1273

Terrorism Awareness Project: The Islamic Mein Kampf

from David Horowtiz Freedom Foundation

Terrorism Awareness Project: The Islamic Mein Kampf