Last Friday terrorists entered Itamar (a settlement) and knifed to death a family of 5 whilst they slept. The mother and father and 2 sons aged 11 and 4 had their throats slit and a 3 month old baby girl had her head cut off.
The news of this appalling crime was greeted in Gaza with celebrations (similar to the celebrations on hearing the news of 9/11).
You would not have seen this incident fully reported in much of the mainstream media (and certainly not on the BBC) - most of whom chose to major on the decision to expand the settlement.
That weekend saw the launch of some 63 mortar shells and four rockets from the Gaza Strip into Southern Israel, representing an unprecedented increase in projectile fire from the Gaza Strip since the end of Operation Cast Lead. Today, terrorists in the Gaza Strip continue to fire mortars and rockets at Israel. Whilst fortunately no one was killed, the barrage brought terror to hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens.
Yesterday a terrorist bomb exploded at a crowded bus stop opposite the central bus station, killing a 58 year-old British woman. Clearly intended to harm innocent civilians, this appalling and criminal attack injured more than 40 people, some of whom are in a critical condition.
Earlier today, terrorists in Gaza fired two Grad-type Katyusha rockets at Be'er-Sheva, the largest city in Southern Israel (home to more than 200,000) and a Grad-type Katuysha rocket that landed in close proximity to Ashdod (a city of more than 200,000).They also launched some eight mortars into the areas of Eshkol and Sha'ar Hanegev in Southern Israel.
The BBC coverage of all these incidents has been selective,inaccurate and misleading, prompting Louise Bagshawe MP to protest in the Telegraph today.
We call on the BBC to put aside their obvious anti-Israel bias and to report fully and fairly, as the BBC Charter requires. We also call upon the BBC to issue the Balen Report it commissioned (on its Middle East bias), rather than spend hundreds of thousands of pounds to obstruct its release.
If you wish to interview a ZF spokeman in the UK or in Israel please contact
gary@zfuk.org
urgent@zfuk.org (outside of office hours)
020 8202 0202
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
HAILING FOR A CAB?
If you are in London, and in need of a taxi, look out for this special taxi driving around. The taxi driver, who is a member of Christian Friends of Israel and the ZF, has dedicated her taxi advertising to helping raise awareness of Gilad Shalit at no extra charge at all.
Friday, March 4, 2011
ZF RESPONSE TO THE PROMISE
The Zionist Federation has been contacted by many people – both Jewish and non-Jewish – who were upset and infuriated by “The Promise” on Channel 4. The ZF is horrified by this latest demonisation of Israel on the Channel, in the context of an increasingly hostile and ill-informed discourse about Israel in UK media, and asks OFCOM to bring to account the management of a TV Channel that in 2008 also thought it appropriate for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to give the Christmas message.
Jonathan Hoffman, co-Vice Chair of the ZF, said: “Channel 4’s “The Promise” gave a misleadingly partial and sometimes false impression of both the history of Israel and the country today. Its theme was that the Jews deserved their own State because of the Holocaust but that they then very quickly began to behave like their tormentors. Israeli Jews were depicted either as living in California-style houses with swimming-pools or as heartless soldiers who mistreat Arabs and protect the most extreme settlers. Even though this was a drama and not a documentary, many viewers would have taken it as historic fact – particularly in view of the lavish realism of the production – and Channel 4 therefore has an unquestionable obligation to at least attempt to be balanced and accurate.”
A number of demonising falsehoods were included, for example that all Arab refugees fled in 1948 because of fear of Jews (the truth is that the Mayor of Haifa begged them to stay and that many were told to flee by their leaders, in anticipation that the massing Arab armies would annihilate the Jews and that they could then swiftly return); that the IDF uses children as ‘human shields’; and that Israel was created purely because of Western guilt about the Holocaust.
The bias of the series is clear from Director Peter Kosminsky’s own article in the Guardian. The researchers interviewed members of the International Solidarity Movement - a group whose antithetical views about Israel are well known – as well as Combatants for Peace and Breaking the Silence, both organisations representing the small minority of dissident soldiers. There is no indication that less extreme organisations were consulted in the making of the series.
While Kosminsky insists that the series included certain events for ‘balance’ and that he based everything on actual incidents, the overall combination, selection and ordering of the events was deliberately anti-Israel and the series clearly set out to demonise Israel.
The ZF will be writing in the strongest possible terms to Channel 4 and OFCOM.
Jonathan Hoffman, co-Vice Chair of the ZF, said: “Channel 4’s “The Promise” gave a misleadingly partial and sometimes false impression of both the history of Israel and the country today. Its theme was that the Jews deserved their own State because of the Holocaust but that they then very quickly began to behave like their tormentors. Israeli Jews were depicted either as living in California-style houses with swimming-pools or as heartless soldiers who mistreat Arabs and protect the most extreme settlers. Even though this was a drama and not a documentary, many viewers would have taken it as historic fact – particularly in view of the lavish realism of the production – and Channel 4 therefore has an unquestionable obligation to at least attempt to be balanced and accurate.”
A number of demonising falsehoods were included, for example that all Arab refugees fled in 1948 because of fear of Jews (the truth is that the Mayor of Haifa begged them to stay and that many were told to flee by their leaders, in anticipation that the massing Arab armies would annihilate the Jews and that they could then swiftly return); that the IDF uses children as ‘human shields’; and that Israel was created purely because of Western guilt about the Holocaust.
The bias of the series is clear from Director Peter Kosminsky’s own article in the Guardian. The researchers interviewed members of the International Solidarity Movement - a group whose antithetical views about Israel are well known – as well as Combatants for Peace and Breaking the Silence, both organisations representing the small minority of dissident soldiers. There is no indication that less extreme organisations were consulted in the making of the series.
While Kosminsky insists that the series included certain events for ‘balance’ and that he based everything on actual incidents, the overall combination, selection and ordering of the events was deliberately anti-Israel and the series clearly set out to demonise Israel.
The ZF will be writing in the strongest possible terms to Channel 4 and OFCOM.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
ZF BRINGS ISRAELI SCIENCE TO THE UK
Israel Science Days for Students in 4 cities
The ZF annual Israel Science Days 2011, will be taking place on Monday 28th February through to Thursday 3rd March
in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and London attracting nearly two thousand people, mainly students.
Four world-class Israeli scientists will talk about their unique ground-breaking research and resulting implementation in the fields of cancer treatment, stem cells, the heart, etc.
They will bring added colour and completely new information to the subjects, enlightening and surprising not only the students but also their teachers.
All talks will be illustrated by colourful PowerPoint presentations, and students will have the opportunity to ask questions and talk to the speakers.
The Speakers are:
Professor Smadar Cohen Repairing broken hearts by biomaterials
Professor Yechzkiel Barenholz Targeted Nanodrugs in cancer patients
Dr Shoshana Merchav Stem cell therapy
Professor Michel Revel New approaches in treating Multiple Sclerosis
Thursday 3rd March is in London and is a free event designed for years 12 and 13, to enhance interest in, and greater understanding of the A-Level Biology course,
with the latest developments in the field of medicine in Israel. There will be over 1000 students at this one event.
There will be an exhibition (open from 10 am – 5 pm), including films, power points and wall-mounted items, with exhibits from universities
and teaching hospitals throughout Israel, showing the latest developments and treatments which are used all over the world.
Every student will receive a booklet with details of the talks and exhibits and each school participating will receive books on Israel for their libraries.
Apart from the Science days, The four Scientists will be addressing school students in each city,
as well as visiting different campuses around the UK and speaking to many medical students and doctors.
Large community events will be held every evening in each of the regions.
For more information please contact Alan Aziz, Executive Director for the ZF UK: 07768946868 or urgent@zfuk.org
The ZF annual Israel Science Days 2011, will be taking place on Monday 28th February through to Thursday 3rd March
in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and London attracting nearly two thousand people, mainly students.
Four world-class Israeli scientists will talk about their unique ground-breaking research and resulting implementation in the fields of cancer treatment, stem cells, the heart, etc.
They will bring added colour and completely new information to the subjects, enlightening and surprising not only the students but also their teachers.
All talks will be illustrated by colourful PowerPoint presentations, and students will have the opportunity to ask questions and talk to the speakers.
The Speakers are:
Professor Smadar Cohen Repairing broken hearts by biomaterials
Professor Yechzkiel Barenholz Targeted Nanodrugs in cancer patients
Dr Shoshana Merchav Stem cell therapy
Professor Michel Revel New approaches in treating Multiple Sclerosis
Thursday 3rd March is in London and is a free event designed for years 12 and 13, to enhance interest in, and greater understanding of the A-Level Biology course,
with the latest developments in the field of medicine in Israel. There will be over 1000 students at this one event.
There will be an exhibition (open from 10 am – 5 pm), including films, power points and wall-mounted items, with exhibits from universities
and teaching hospitals throughout Israel, showing the latest developments and treatments which are used all over the world.
Every student will receive a booklet with details of the talks and exhibits and each school participating will receive books on Israel for their libraries.
Apart from the Science days, The four Scientists will be addressing school students in each city,
as well as visiting different campuses around the UK and speaking to many medical students and doctors.
Large community events will be held every evening in each of the regions.
For more information please contact Alan Aziz, Executive Director for the ZF UK: 07768946868 or urgent@zfuk.org
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
CHANNEL 4'S LANDMARK TV SERIES 'THE PROMISE' IS BUILT ON A SERIOUS HISTORICAL FALSEHOOD ABOUT ISRAEL
Many thanks to Beyond Images (www.beyondimages.info) who have issued a briefing to counter many of the statements and claims made in this inaccurate and misinformed documentary.
British TV channel Channel 4 has been broadcasting 'The Promise'. And it is a landmark piece of television. 'The Promise' is a four-part, six-hour dramatisation of the founding of Israel, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today.
We have been watching it. And it is gripping. We are not surprised that it has been receiving very good reviews, and is a likely candidate for future broadcasting awards. Over 1.5 million viewers in the UK have been watching its two episodes to date, including - we assume - most people with an active interest in the conflict: politicians, academics, students, members of human rights groups, writers and intellectuals, diplomats and civil servants.
The production is superb. The acting is excellent. It is meticulously observed and staged..And it is also built on a major historical falsehood. A falsehood so severe that it undermines the credibility of its messages. Its director Peter Kosminsky claims that he "told both sides of the story". But episode 1 reveals that he does not even know what the Israeli side of the story is......
'The Promise' describes the events of 1945-8 through the eyes of Len, a British sergeant who had witnessed the liberation of the Jews at Bergen-Belsen, and is later posted with British forces to Palestine. At a crucial moment in that first episode Len, together with other British army officers, receives a briefing from their British army commander on the purpose of their mission in Palestine, and the history behind it. This takes place shortly after the second world war.
The commander's words are not intended as a partisan speech. It is the moment at which the British soldiers (and by extension 1.5 million viewers) are provided with the background to the conflict, and indeed the subsequent episodes of 'The Promise'. Indeed it is the only piece of the script which endeavours to tell the story of how the Jews, the Arabs and the British found themselves in three-way conflict.
Here is what the British commanding officer in The Promise says:
"The Jews and Arabs have been living here in relative harmony for thousands of years. But our victory over the Germans has turned the trickle of Jews coming to this land into a flood. You must understand, the Jews see it as their holy land. But the Arabs, who have been here for over a thousand years, see them as stealing their land. Our job is to keep the two sides apart....."
There you have it. The historical narrative of Israel. And it is a narrative which does not operate to resolve the conflict, but to perpetuate it. Ever since World War Two, the Arabs have seen the Jewish national enterprise as the consequence of Nazism. Without indigenous roots. And without historical legitimacy.
They build their sense of victimhood on the argument that they are "paying the price" for European fascism. Far from challenging this mindset, Kosminsky's so-called 'balanced' narrative has reinforced it. Kosminsky makes no mention of the steady return to Palestine of Jews which had been carrying on since the 1880s. Kosminsky does not hint at the Balfour Declaration or other international commitments to support a Jewish national home.
Kosminsky does not recognise that Jewish national life had existed thousands of years ago in the land of Israel, and that the connection is a national connection.
Kosminsky does not pay any attention to the Jews' state-building efforts in the period before the Second World War. And Kosminsky perpetuates a complete falsehood that the Jews and Arabs had been living in "relative harmony". Kosminsky reportedly researched The Promise for over a decade. But has he heard of the Arab riots against the Jews of the Yishuv in the 1920s or 1930s?
Has he heard of the incessant violent assaults upon Jews building up Palestine? Has he heard of the Hebron massacre of 1929?
The idea that there was "relative harmony" in Palestine till World War Two is a fiction. It's a fiction which Hamas and other rejectionists and ideologues readily embrace.
Meanwhile, the claim that the Arabs had been living there for a thousand years is also a massive over-simplification. Even the most partisan historians have to admit that Palestine under the Ottomans and then the British was not exactly a hub of Arab nationalism, or a focal point of Arab pride and economic endeavour.
While 'The Promise' is brilliant drama - and we will be highlighting its strengths as well its weaknesses in the future - there are plenty of other major flaws in its so called 'balanced' narrative and in its framing of the conflict. In subsequent weeks we will be explaining them. For now, here is a link to the programme website. We have quoted just one short extract from episode one. See for yourself: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-promise/4od (Not available outside the UK)
And by the way, here are two other examples of the damage which is caused when the narrative of Israel is artificially started at World War II:
Barack Obama made this error in his major speech to the Arab world in June 2009: click here:
'How President Obama got it wrong on Israel's history... and why it matters for future peace' (Beyond Images Briefing 242)
And The Economist made this error in an obituary of Yasser Arafat published in 2004: see
The Economist Magazine's obituaries: misleading accounts of Israel's history' (Beyond Images Briefing 124)
Key messages:
Delegitimisation of Israel is not just a matter of outrageous, flagrant denial of Jewish national rights.
It is happening in drip-drip style, as ideas which call the history of Israel into question are steadily absorbed into liberal discourse, into respectable mainstream thinking. Click here for The Beyond Images Report on Delegitimisation which provides many examples of this.
Elements of Channel 4's 'The Promise' are a classic instance of this phenomenon. The Promise is doubtless being viewed by almost everyone in the UK who passionately believes in the Palestinian cause.
In building its drama on the basis of an explicit historical fiction, it is not contributing to peace and understanding. It is fuelling the falsehoods on which the delegitimisation of Israel thrives. There are many many other falsehoods: we will be highlighting some in future emails.
No amount of great acting and brilliant direction can obscure that fact.
By the way, we have not seen a single syllable uttered about The Promise in public by any of the central Jewish organisations which claim to be fighting delegitimisation in the UK, in the two weeks since its broadcasts began..... Are we on Beyond Images missing something.... or - just possibly - are they?
British TV channel Channel 4 has been broadcasting 'The Promise'. And it is a landmark piece of television. 'The Promise' is a four-part, six-hour dramatisation of the founding of Israel, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today.
We have been watching it. And it is gripping. We are not surprised that it has been receiving very good reviews, and is a likely candidate for future broadcasting awards. Over 1.5 million viewers in the UK have been watching its two episodes to date, including - we assume - most people with an active interest in the conflict: politicians, academics, students, members of human rights groups, writers and intellectuals, diplomats and civil servants.
The production is superb. The acting is excellent. It is meticulously observed and staged..And it is also built on a major historical falsehood. A falsehood so severe that it undermines the credibility of its messages. Its director Peter Kosminsky claims that he "told both sides of the story". But episode 1 reveals that he does not even know what the Israeli side of the story is......
'The Promise' describes the events of 1945-8 through the eyes of Len, a British sergeant who had witnessed the liberation of the Jews at Bergen-Belsen, and is later posted with British forces to Palestine. At a crucial moment in that first episode Len, together with other British army officers, receives a briefing from their British army commander on the purpose of their mission in Palestine, and the history behind it. This takes place shortly after the second world war.
The commander's words are not intended as a partisan speech. It is the moment at which the British soldiers (and by extension 1.5 million viewers) are provided with the background to the conflict, and indeed the subsequent episodes of 'The Promise'. Indeed it is the only piece of the script which endeavours to tell the story of how the Jews, the Arabs and the British found themselves in three-way conflict.
Here is what the British commanding officer in The Promise says:
"The Jews and Arabs have been living here in relative harmony for thousands of years. But our victory over the Germans has turned the trickle of Jews coming to this land into a flood. You must understand, the Jews see it as their holy land. But the Arabs, who have been here for over a thousand years, see them as stealing their land. Our job is to keep the two sides apart....."
There you have it. The historical narrative of Israel. And it is a narrative which does not operate to resolve the conflict, but to perpetuate it. Ever since World War Two, the Arabs have seen the Jewish national enterprise as the consequence of Nazism. Without indigenous roots. And without historical legitimacy.
They build their sense of victimhood on the argument that they are "paying the price" for European fascism. Far from challenging this mindset, Kosminsky's so-called 'balanced' narrative has reinforced it. Kosminsky makes no mention of the steady return to Palestine of Jews which had been carrying on since the 1880s. Kosminsky does not hint at the Balfour Declaration or other international commitments to support a Jewish national home.
Kosminsky does not recognise that Jewish national life had existed thousands of years ago in the land of Israel, and that the connection is a national connection.
Kosminsky does not pay any attention to the Jews' state-building efforts in the period before the Second World War. And Kosminsky perpetuates a complete falsehood that the Jews and Arabs had been living in "relative harmony". Kosminsky reportedly researched The Promise for over a decade. But has he heard of the Arab riots against the Jews of the Yishuv in the 1920s or 1930s?
Has he heard of the incessant violent assaults upon Jews building up Palestine? Has he heard of the Hebron massacre of 1929?
The idea that there was "relative harmony" in Palestine till World War Two is a fiction. It's a fiction which Hamas and other rejectionists and ideologues readily embrace.
Meanwhile, the claim that the Arabs had been living there for a thousand years is also a massive over-simplification. Even the most partisan historians have to admit that Palestine under the Ottomans and then the British was not exactly a hub of Arab nationalism, or a focal point of Arab pride and economic endeavour.
While 'The Promise' is brilliant drama - and we will be highlighting its strengths as well its weaknesses in the future - there are plenty of other major flaws in its so called 'balanced' narrative and in its framing of the conflict. In subsequent weeks we will be explaining them. For now, here is a link to the programme website. We have quoted just one short extract from episode one. See for yourself: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-promise/4od (Not available outside the UK)
And by the way, here are two other examples of the damage which is caused when the narrative of Israel is artificially started at World War II:
Barack Obama made this error in his major speech to the Arab world in June 2009: click here:
'How President Obama got it wrong on Israel's history... and why it matters for future peace' (Beyond Images Briefing 242)
And The Economist made this error in an obituary of Yasser Arafat published in 2004: see
The Economist Magazine's obituaries: misleading accounts of Israel's history' (Beyond Images Briefing 124)
Key messages:
Delegitimisation of Israel is not just a matter of outrageous, flagrant denial of Jewish national rights.
It is happening in drip-drip style, as ideas which call the history of Israel into question are steadily absorbed into liberal discourse, into respectable mainstream thinking. Click here for The Beyond Images Report on Delegitimisation which provides many examples of this.
Elements of Channel 4's 'The Promise' are a classic instance of this phenomenon. The Promise is doubtless being viewed by almost everyone in the UK who passionately believes in the Palestinian cause.
In building its drama on the basis of an explicit historical fiction, it is not contributing to peace and understanding. It is fuelling the falsehoods on which the delegitimisation of Israel thrives. There are many many other falsehoods: we will be highlighting some in future emails.
No amount of great acting and brilliant direction can obscure that fact.
By the way, we have not seen a single syllable uttered about The Promise in public by any of the central Jewish organisations which claim to be fighting delegitimisation in the UK, in the two weeks since its broadcasts began..... Are we on Beyond Images missing something.... or - just possibly - are they?
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