Eyad Kishawi of Al Awda spreads misinformation. Again

Eyad Kishawi, one of the movers and shakers of the northern California extremist group, Al-Awda might be a little too quick on the send button.  Although he's been challenged more than once for sending false and misleading information,  it still seems to happen. regularly.

Presenting this weeks indiscretion from Eyad Kishawi: Spreading a quote  falsely attributed to Nelson Mandela, and widely exposed as a fraud as early as 2007.

From the Augean Stables, written by Prof. Richard Landes:

Joel Pollack of Guide to the Perplexed has a couple of posts on the Sabeel conference at the Old South Church. In the first one he discusses a quotation from Nelson Mandela on the back of the Official Program.

I sat down in a pew near the front and opened the folder of conference materials. The back page of the official program was entitled “Apartheid?” and was filled with quotes and maps aimed at proving the Israel-apartheid analogy. They had a line from Jimmy Carter, a line from Archbishop Desmond Tutu (the conference’s keynote speaker), and a line from—no, wait, really?—Nelson Mandela:

“Apartheid is a crime against humanity. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross racial discrimination and inequality. It has systematically incarcerated and tortured thousands of Palestinians, contrary to the rules of international law. It has, in particular, waged a war against a civilian population, in particular children.”

Sounds rather damning, doesn’t it? And who could disagree with Nelson Mandela? There’s only one problem: Nelson Mandela never said, wrote or endorsed those words. They are the creation of an Arab journalist named Arjan El Fassed. When I exposed El Fassed’s fraud earlier this year, he claimed: “There is no possible basis for Pollak to say I intended people to believe the memo was written by anyone other than myself.”
In spite of El Fassed’s admission, the Israel-haters continue to use his Mandela quote to promote their views.

Years after this quote was exposed and relegated to the midden heap of agitprop, its still  polished off and paraded as fact. According to the media watchdog CAMERA  this fake quote, written by Arjan El Fassed, an activist affiliated with Al Awda (You knew that Eyad. I know you did)  made it though eight PC(USA) voting bodies (five presbyteries and three committees) before it appeared on the agenda of the denomination's General Assembly in 2012. And  now, 6 years after it was first exposed as a fraud, Eyad Kishawi is still spreading it.

Prof. Landes writes "The ability to distinguish empirical information that reflects what happened, and information that comes from dishonest sources, constitutes one of the fundamental skills of any civil society."

Admit the fraud, Eyad. Apologize for your role in perpetuating it. We'll happily post your disclaimer.

Alarming Resurgence of anti-Semitism

A survey on  anti-Semitism  conducted on behalf of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in nine European countries found that 26% of Jews have suffered from anti-Semitic harassment at least once in the past year, 34% experienced such harassment in the past five years, 5% reported that their property was intentionally vandalized because they are Jewish, about 7% were physically hurt or threatened in the past five years.

40% to 50% of Jews in France, Belgium and Hungary said they were considering emigrating as they no longer felt safe.

Its not just in Europe.

During a study on anti-Semitism on college campuses, the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise discovered , that “78% of Jewish students report witnessing or personally experiencing anti-Semitism"
According to an article by Andrew Loeb,  Top Ten Surprises About Campus Anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitic incidents take on many shapes and forms, ranging from direct physical confrontation to verbal abuse to property vandalism. At UC Irvine since the early 2000s, Jews have been verbally ridiculed with neo-Nazi slurs, confronted with threats to physical violence if they did not remove their Star of David necklaces, and a Holocaust Memorial was defaced with a swastika. At UC Berkeley, one of the top universities in the nation, Jessica Felber was taking part in a counter-protest to an anti-Israel demonstration when she was rammed with a shopping cart by one of the anti-Israel protestors. These incidents represent the seeming extremes of what occurs on college campuses, but other forms of anti-Semitism occur as well, such as academic biases from professors in classes dealing with Middle Eastern topics. 

 In Canada, comfort seems to be found in denial, as both police and Jewish community  members insist that the firebombing of two kosher restaurants in 48 hours, and an attack on a home in a Jewish neighborhood, were not anti-Semitic acts.

Never Again.  Its up to all of us to ensure that these are more than just words.  Kol Yisra'el arevim zeh ba-zeh

Australia and Israel Issue stamps to commemorate the 1917 Battle of Beersheba. BDS Fail

The Battle of Beersheba is a significant event in the history of both Israel and Australia and remains one of Australia's greatest military triumphs.

The Battle of Beersheba took place on October 31 1917 as part of a wider British offensive known as the Third Battle of Gaza. The heavily outnumbered Australians pushed back the Turkish troops and opened the way for the capture of Jerusalem. In commemoration of the battle, and as  part of the Australia 2013 World Stamp Expo a two stamp set has been issued jointly by Australia and Israel 

The two stamp set  features a  sepia-toned image of a statue of an Australian Light Horseman from the  Park of the Australian Soldier at Beersheba (Be’er Sheva). The second stamp features contemporary images of Australian Light Horsemen.  

From the Australian Postal Society :

Australia Post Managing Director and CEO Ahmed Fahour, said the joint stamp issue is a great addition to the World Stamp Expo and a tangible way for Australia Post to acknowledge its relationship with Israel Post.

"It's been a real pleasure working with Israel Post on this stamp issue. The Battle of Beersheba is something close to the hearts of both Israelis and Australians and was a clear choice to feature on the stamp issue," said Mr Fahour.

"We are honoured to have representatives of Israel Post here as our guests and look forward to their presence at the exhibition".

CEO of Israel Postal Company Mr Haim Elmoznino, said The Israel Postal Company is proud to issue two joint stamps with Australia. The subject chosen for the stamps, the 1917 Battle of Beersheba, is directly related to the beginning of the relationship between our two nations.

"Australia and the State of Israel have a strong friendship and diplomatic relations between the two countries result in cooperation in many different fields. I welcome the fact the Israel Postal Company and Australia Post also have an excellent working relationship. I would like to thank Australia Post for this joint project and I'm sure that the cooperation will continue and increase," said Mr Elmoznino.


The Battle of Beersheba featured the charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade, widely considered to be the last great mounted charge in military history.  The capture of Beersheba eventually enabled  the British, Australian and New Zealand forces to outflank Gaza.(which incidentally was controlled by the Ottoman and not by the Palestinians. You knew that, right?)

From the Australian War memorial:

Beersheba was a heavily fortified town 43 kilometres from the Turkish bastion of Gaza. It anchored the right end of a defensive line that stretched from Gaza on the Mediterranean coast.

The first two frontal attackes on Gaza, in March and April 1917, failed. The British Army re-organised before trying again. The capture of Beersheba would break the Gaza—Beersheba line and enable the British, Australian and New Zealand forces to outflank Gaza.

The British 20 Corps launched an attack on Beersheba at dawn on 31 October 1917.
By late afternoon the corps had made little headway toward the town and its vital wells. Lieutenant General Sir Harry Chauvel, commanding the Desert Mounted Corps, ordered the 4th Light Horse Brigade forward to attempt to secure the position.

The light horsemen took less than an hour to overrun the Turkish trenches and enter Beersheba.
Thirty-eight Turkish and German officers and about 700 other ranks were taken prisoner, and a supply of water was secured. The Australians suffered 67 casualties. Two officers and 29 other ranks were killed, and 8 officers and 28 other ranks wounded.


The fall of Beersheba opened the way to outflank the Gaza—Beersheba Line. On 6 November, after severe fighting, Turkish forces began to withdraw from Gaza further into Palestine

59% of BET readers say " Alicia Keys Welcome to Israel"

Alicia Keys will be playing in Israel on July 4 2013. The BDS bullies are determined to make her regret the decision.

The onslaught directed towards Ms Keys began shortly after her  tour was announced, and will continue after it is over, or until the next celebrity signs up to perform in Israel and distracts the BDS holes (Pssst. Yanni.  Psy. Barbra Streisand) The pattern is predictable  - petitions first, then  hijacking the star's  facebook pages and twitter accounts, emails, and faxes to agents, and press releases urging the star to "stand on the side of justice".

Most performers have the strength of character to stand up to the bullies. Others buckle under the pressure.  Looks like Alicia Keys is one of the strong ones. In a statement to The New York Times, she declared  “I look forward to my first visit to Israel. Music is a universal language that is meant to unify audiences in peace and love, and that is the spirit of our show.”

In spite of her decision, the onslaught continues. BET ( Black Entertainment Television) posted an online poll asking if Alicia Keys should play in Israel. Immediately the BDS cru went into overdrive to manipulate the poll results.  JVP, forgetting for a moment they only support boycotts of companies that "support the occupation",  also jumped on the bandwagon.   (How does an artist performing in Tel Aviv "support the occupation", JVP?)

And yes, Alicia's fans began fighting back, and as of right now, 59% of  those responding to the BET poll welcome Alicia Keys performance in Israel

Those beacons of democracy at the  Free Gaza Movement also sent out an email to their minions, accusing Israel of paying people to manipulate the polls.  Because, after all, thousands of Alicia's fans in Israel who hold tickets to her show are irrelevant. Its got to be a Zionist conspiracy.Its all a Zionist conspiracy.

From: FPM Newsletter
Date: Friday, June 14, 2013, 9:39 AM

Dear Friends of Palestine,

We would not ordinarily bother you for an online poll, but in this case there is more to the story.World wide appeals from Alice Walker, Roger Waters and more than 500 organizations have not yet dissuaded entertainer Alicia Keys from performing in Israel, but the voice of her public might do the trick.
Please go to 

http://www.bet.com/news/global/2013/06/12/poll-should-alicia-keys-perform-in-isreal

and vote NO in the poll in the lower right section of the screen.  In the early stages, the poll was reading more than 80% NO, but Israel pays teams of web surfers to mobilize other Zionists to give false readings on such polls.  It is even possible that multiple voting is allowed.  We should at least try to show that the Israeli propaganda machine can be defeated.Will Ms. Keys cancel her performance?  It depends upon her sense of social justice but also upon how she thinks it will affect her career.  There is no doubt that the poll will be a factor.

Thank you for trying.

The FPM Team

So you know what to do. Go to the BET website. The poll is on the right hand side. Vote yes.   And I'll assume my check is in the mail

And in other BDS fail news....

Hot off the presses- another BDS fail out of Los Angeles:

The Los Angeles City Coucil must be bloody sick of having their meetings hijacked by the BDS holes pushing their narrow bigoted political agenda.  On June 12, the Council unanimously approved a resolution to continue awarding city contracts “based on the best interests of the City, its residents, businesses and taxpayers,” and not taking into account “issues related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.”, delivering, in effect a great big "F**k You" to the BDSM.

Council members Paul Koretz and Mitchell Englander sponsored the resolution

The full text of the resolution via the LA Jewish Journal

    WHEREAS, individuals affiliated with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
    (BDS) Movement attempt to isolate and delegitimize the State of Israel through targeted campaigns across the United States; and

    WHEREAS, the BDS movement seeks to block American cities from doing business with or awarding contracts to companies doing business with Israel; and

    WHEREAS representatives of this movement have recently targeted the City of
    Los Angeles in an attempt to influence City policy decisions in support of their BDS efforts; and

    WHEREAS, the Federal government and the State of California have adopted measures prohibiting discrimination in commerce on the basis of contacts in or with Israel; and

    WHEREAS, the Federal Government has repeatedly emphasized that efforts to isolate and delegitimize Israel will not promote Middle East peace, which can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties; and

    WHEREAS, linking the City’s public contracting process to the Arab-Israeli conflict would be contrary to state and Federal policy and is not in the best interest of the City; and

    WHEREAS, attempting to isolate Israel in this way will only cause needless division within our community.

    NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of Los Angeles will continue to make contracting decisions based on the best interests of the City, its residents, businesses and taxpayers and in accordance with the City Charter and applicable State and Federal law and hereby affirms that issues related to the Arab-Israeli conflict will not be considered and will have no impact on the awarding of contracts with the City of Los Angeles.

Yasher Koach to our friends in Los Angeles for launching this effective pre-emptive strike.  May many other municipalities learn from this, and follow  their example.

Please look After this Syrian: Syrian wounded treated in Israel

This is astonishing.

Even committed enemies of Israel know where to turn when they need help  A wounded Syrian civilian,  with an Arabic note pinned to his clothing describing his medical condition was transferred to the IDF and subsequently treated at Ziv Hospital in Safed, Israel.

From an article in the JPost

The note said: “To the honorable doctor, hello. The patient ––––, 28 years old, was hit by a bullet that went into his chest and caused a fracture in his ribs and damage by shrapnel to the diaphragm and liver. We opened his chest and abdomen and stopped the hemorrhaging of the liver. It was impossible to sew up the liver, so we put a pressure bandage on the stomach and sewed him up.

He remained for observation. From Saturday, we watched his hemoglobin level and vital signs. The doctors say his abdomen has to be reopened to examine the liver and remove the pressure bandage. Please do what you think needs to be done. Thanks in advance.”

Dr. Amram Hadari, head of the Ziv trauma unit who was involved in treating the patient in Safed, said that the man underwent a “damage control operation” in Syria.

“It was elementary. I don’t know what means of treatment the Syrian doctors had, but they saved his life. Here, he underwent another operation to treat the wound in the liver, sew up the diaphragm and drain fluid from the chest area. After the surgery, he was sent to our general intensive care unit,” Hadari said.

Just another example of Israel's remarkable commitment to saving lives- all lives.

Gaza: Summer Time and the Living is Easy

Thousands of children between the ages of 6 and 16 are enrolled in Islamic Jihad summer camps in Gaza. These children won’t be making s’mores, or tying lanyards, however. They are being drilled in military maneuvers and are being trained to use AK-47's. An AFP correspondent listed some of the activities the Islamic Jihad summer camp offers its campers: Weapons use, jumping over fire and crawling under barbed wire, all performed to the tune of exploding charges. Yet its not all fun and games for the children of Gaza- camp organizers also promise religious lessons.

Photos from AFP, originally published at YNET

The Palestinians use of child soldiers is nothing new. Life Magazine documented this phenomenon back in 1970. 

Young Jewish and Proud

JVP's attempt at creating the veneer of a youth movement, 'Young Jewish and Proud' was meet with well deserved skepticism.  With Intactivist activist Mathew Taylor, (just this side of  40)  and Rachel Roberts, now an attorney for the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) among their  spokespeople, the movement was ripe for ridicule, and ridicule came in torrents.

From Divest This: Young Jewish and Proud -Oy  The Young Jewish and Proud declaration:

"We shout, we yell, we interrupt when other people are speaking. Publically. We wear necklaces made of olives and have slightly creepy smiles. One of our grandparents was Jewish. Or not. You must take us seriously... 

We refuse. We refuse to stop speaking. We refuse to let other speak. You must give us a platform and never criticize what we say. We send out fifty press releases a day. We run a dozen Web sites. We show up at every event shouting at the top of our lungs. We are muzzled. We all say in unison: we are individuals...

We demand you listen to us. We demand the right to not listen to you, to speak (or yell loudly) when you are speaking, to accuse you of censorship for criticizing us in any way. We are your children. And we will not stop acting like them until you give us everything we want."


 For all JVP's self congratulatory rhetoric, Young Jewish and Proud went nowhere, beyond a few self-publicized disruptions of speakers within the Jewish community. In spite of their grandiose proclamation to the contrary, theirs was NOT the future of Jewish youth.

Perhaps this is.



Made by high schoolers in the  San Francisco Bay Area,  this is a proud unapologetic declaration of Jewish and  Zionist values.

Watch it, and know that the Zionist ideal is safe in the hands of the next generation.

The kids are alright.

UPDATE:

There is a  post at Mondoweiss regarding this brief clip. Apparently Annie and Phillip find photos of kids lighting Hanukkah candles  "concerning"

Can't help but wonder how they'd feel about this. 

To JVP: This is what Palestinian "resistance " looks like

Adele Biton spent her third birthday in the hospital, yet another victim of  JVP-sanctioned "Palestinian resistance".  Her mother, Adva Biton, 40, and her two sisters, Avigail and Naama - ages four and five - sustained moderate injuries in this horrific crash, brought on by Palestinians throwing stones.

Palestinian "resistance" looks like this

Leave it to Jewish Voice for Peace to co-sponsor a talk by someone proud of this act of terror that left a toddler in the ICU fighting for her life  On Sunday, June 16, JVP and the American Friends Service Committee are co-sponsoring  Abir Kopty, who infamously tweeted  "We are all proud terrorists " following the  terror attack that left Adele hospitalized for nearly 3 months.

JVP Bay Area co-sponsored event:

“Overcoming Challenges to Resistance in Palestine” 

with Abir Kopty, activist on the front lines of popular protest movement in Occupied Palestine

Sunday, June 16th, 5 -7 pm

Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts

2868 Mission St San Francisco, C A 94110

Event is Free, Donations Welcomed

Abir Kopty is a feminist and political activist, born in Nazareth and  currently based in Ramallah. She is a former Nazareth City Councilwoman and today works as a media analyst and consultant, holding a Master's in Political Communication from the City University of London.

Abir Kopty is well known for being a key organizer of the Bab al-Shams protest village that garnered significant international attention earlier this year, a culminating moment of the weekly protests across the West Bank and East Jerusalem

JVP likes to pretend its all about the " Occupation", while they work side by side with those who deny Israel's right to exist within any borders.  

JVP is comfortably at home in their niche, aiding and abetting those who seek the elimination of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people and Jew-washing terror sympathizers.