[Peace-discuss] Letter to the Editor: Forum Submission

[David Green]

	The DI recently published columns by David Johnson
and Elie Dvorin repeating Israel’s fabricated claim
that a U.N. ambulance was filmed loading a Hamas
rocket. This charge was disproved by the U.N.
representative, and abandoned by Israel. No retraction
has been forthcoming from either columnist. On the day
that Israel’s retraction was reported in the
mainstream media (10/13), it was not included in the
DI’s AP story.

	These events highlight the systematic and insidious
use of hasbara, or Zionist propaganda. The charge is
an attempt to distract attention from Israel’s current
rampage in Gaza, in which the deaths of two Israeli
children have been used to justify murdering over 100
Palestinians, including at least 40 civilians.

	The website of the World Union of Jewish Students
advises the use of propaganda to “engage the emotions
and downplay rationality” in order to “effectively
present Israel to the public.” The article proceeds to
list seven basic techniques, including name calling,
glittering generality, fear, and bandwagon. In
relation to Israel-Palestine, hasbara distorts
history, equates criticism of Israel with
anti-semitism, and promotes racist stereotypes of Arab
and Muslim perfidy.

	Locally, hasbara is disseminated by Jewish
Federation, Illinipac (Johnson et al.), and the Center
for Jewish Culture. This past Spring, Federation
reprinted an article from the Committee for Accuracy
in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), titled
“Anti-Israel Venom at University of Illinois paper.”
This article vilified DI columnist Mariam Sobh for
unknowingly repeating a fabricated quote, refusing to
accept her apology. It charged the DI with “repeatedly
running anti-Semitic commentaries,” equating criticism
of Israel with anti-Semitism. 

	A prominent board member of Federation is Peter
Siegel, a university administrator. Privately, he
chooses to endorse the demonizing of UI student
journalists by a propaganda website. If he feels that
there is anti-Semitism at the DI, why doesn’t he
encourage Federation to make these charges openly, and
promote a discussion in the broader community? My
phone call asking for a meeting was not returned.

	Federation appropriates funds to the Middle East
Media Research Institute (MEMRI). Ibrahim Hooper of
the Council on American-Islamic Relations told the
Washington Times: "Memri's intent is to find the worst
possible quotes from the Muslim world and disseminate
them as widely as possible." Federation regularly
reprints “news items” from the Jewish Community
Relations Council which present Palestinians, Arabs,
and Muslims, as dishonest, fanatical, and murderous.
There is no attempt to present Palestinians in
objective and compassionate terms. Instead, hasbara
determines the promotion of a racist stereotype.

	Last month, the Center for Jewish Culture invited
Israeli holocaust historian Omer Bartov to the U of I.
He did not give a major lecture about his specialty.
Instead, he was invited to the Illinois Program for
Research in the Humanities to promote the canard of a
“new anti-semitism.” His comments were directed
exclusively at Arabs and Muslims, who were of course
excluded from the discussion. In practical terms,
these two programs serve to define the allowable
limits of academic debate regarding Israel. Their
practices arguably amount to institutionalized racism.

	At a less sophisticated level, Illinipac invites
anti-Muslim speakers like Daniel Pipes and Yaron Brook
of the Ayn Rand Institute. They more honestly express
the bigotry that informs both hasbara and what passes
for intellectual discourse about Israel’s occupying
and apartheid regime on this campus.
	

David Green
University Employee
2709 Lakeview Drive
Champaign, IL 61822
356-2034 (home)
265-5222 (work)


		
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish.
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail