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Silence is betrayal on this subject.
BroHanif
01/25/02 at 19:11:21
THE BIG QUESTIONS. THINGS TO HARP ON.... ON NEWS COVERAGE ON EDITORIAL COVERAGE UNFAIR INTERVIEW PRACTICES BY THE US MEDIA REVEALING DID YOU KNOW QUESTIONS? THE BIG QUESTIONS 1. Israel has been "cracking down" against terrorism for three decades now, and yet to this day suicide bombings continue to take place -- why does Israel continue following a policy that is patently a failure? 2. If Israel were serious about a long-lasting peace with the Palestinians, then why did it double the size of its settlements in the occupied territories between 1993 and 2000? 3. For the whole of 1999, not one single Israel was killed in a terrorist attack.  If Palestinians were only intent on destroying Israel, then why did attacks against Israelis taper off to nothing when Barak seemed to be making progress towards peace? 4. If Israel really wants Arafat to reign in militants, as it says it does, then why does it make it both politically and physically impossible for him to do so by humiliating him, denouncing him as a criminal, and physically dismantling his security apparatus and the infrastructure of his authority? 5. If Israel were really interested in ensuring the security of its citizens, then why does it carry out assassinations, knowing full well that such assassinations will only trigger another wave of suicide bombings and escalate the cycle of violence?

Re: Silence is betrayal on this subject., THINGS TO HARP ON
BroHanif
01/25/02 at 19:12:50
THINGS TO HARP ON 1. Israel allots 85% of the water resources in the occupied territories for Jews and the remaining 15% is divided among all Palestinians in the territories. For example in Hebron, 85% of the water is given to about 500 settlers, while 15% must be divided among Hebron's 120,000 Palestinians? 2. More than 80% of Palestinians killed are civilians who had nothing to do with terrorism 3. There are no more than 6,000 Israeli settlers in Gaza, surrounded by 1,000,000 Palestinians, and yet, 25% of Gazan land is set aside for the settlers – one milliong Palestinians are choking to death just  so that 6,000 settlers may illegally live deep inside Palestinian territory 4. Hebron is kept under constant "curfew" -- i.e., Palestinians are physically confined to their homes 23 out of 24 hours -- simply so that Israel can guarantee the security of 450 settlers living among 120,000 Palestinians 5. At his most "generous", Ehud Barak offered a Palestinian state composed of 4 disconnected territories, with the proviso that the Palestinian state retain in its midst hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens, and that the settlements where those citizens were to live would be guarded by the Israeli army, with the territory of the army bases being Israeli sovereign territory 6. Only two nations in the world oppose the International Treaty on Terrorism: The United States and Israel 7. Israel allows anyone who is Jewish to "return" to Israel, even if they, and all of their ancestors going back hundreds or thousand sof years, had never been in Israel, and yet denies Palestinians with valid land deeds to return to their their home towns, their villages, their houses 8. Israel has a stated policy of ensuring that its population must retain a Jewish majority: how can Israel be a democracy and yet pursue a race-based policy? 9. Israel has been "cracking down" against terrorism for three decades now, and yet to this day suicide bombings continue to take place -- why does Israel continue following a policy that is patently a failure? 10. If Israel were serious about a long-lasting peace with the Palestinians, then why did it double the size of its settlments in the occupied territories between 1993 and 2000? 11. If Palestinians were only intent on destroying Israel, then why did attacks against Israelis taper off to nothing when Barak seemed to be making progress towards peace? 12. If Israel really wants Arafat to reign in militants, as it says it does, then why does it make it both politically and physically impossible for him to do so by humiliating him, dennouncing him as a criminal, and physically dismantling his security aparatus and the infrastructure of his authority? 13. If Israel were really interested in ensuring the security of its citizens, then why does it carry out assassinations, knowing full well that such assassinations will only trigger another wave of suicide bombings and escalate the cycle of violence?

Re: Silence is betrayal on this subject. ON NEWS COVERAGE
BroHanif
01/25/02 at 19:13:36
ON NEWS COVERAGE 1. Lack of quote space in stories from Palestinian civilians 2. Use of “retaliation”/“response” when describing Israeli actions 3. Never using “retaliation”/“response” when describing Palestinian actions 4. NEVER reporting on exactly what Barak or Clinton offered the Palestinians, instead repeating the figure “%95” 5. NEVER showing maps depicting the Israeli offers 6. Rarely using the word “occupied” when describing WB/Gaza/Jerusalem 7. Not describing Gilo as a settlement but as a suburb/neighborhood 8. Using the word “terrorist” for Palestinians but not for Israelis 9. Humanizing Israeli deaths but not Palestinian deaths 10. More photographs of Israeli civilian suffering and not as many for Palestinians 11. Using the word “crossfire” to explain cause of death of Palestinians --- but never using it to describe Israeli deaths 12. Minimizing Palestinian cooperation, and maximizing Israeli cooperation 13. Rarely quoting the Palestinian Authority but always quoting the Israeli government and army 14. Not mentioning Ariel Sharon’s war crimes

Re: Silence is betrayal on this subject.ON EDITORIAL COVERAGE
BroHanif
01/25/02 at 19:14:09
ON EDITORIAL COVERAGE 1. The great discrepancy between the amount of space give to pro-Israeli columns vs pro-Palestinian rights columns: usually, and 8-1 ratio: the NYTimes gives 80% of its column space to pro-Israeli voices, and less than 10% to pro-Palestinian voices 2. Absence from mention of human rights findings in editorials 3. Absence from mention of UN findings in editorials 4. The myths about the wars are repeated in editorials 5. The myth about Israel being an underdog is repeated in editorials

Re: Silence is betrayal on this subject.
BroHanif
01/25/02 at 19:14:56
UNFAIR INTERVIEW PRACTICES BY THE US MEDIA 1.  Being rude, condescending, disrespectful to pro-Palestinian interviewees, but always remaining respectful when speaking to the pro-Israelis: often, Palestinians are cut off in mid-sentence, lectured, often voices are raised against them in anger or irritation -- even if the speaker is a respected Palestinian official (e.g., Paula Zahn of CNN cutting off Hanan Ashrawi or raising her voice in anger against Edward Said) 2. Always asking pro-Palestinians challenging questions, but rarely doing the same for the pro-Israelis: a pro-Palestinian may be asked: why did the Palestinians spurn the Barak offer?, but a pro-Israeli is never asked: why should the Palestinians accept a state that is made up of four disconnected areas, or: if Israel is truly interested in peace, why did it double the size of settlements while negotiating peace? 3. Never asking the Israelis some very basic questions: why did Israel double the size of settlements in the Occupied territories between 1993 and 200?, why won't Israel accept an international observation force?, how can Sharon call on Arafat to stop terrorism and yet at the same time destroy the very instruments that he needs to fight it? 4. Often bringing in many more pro-Israeli voices than pro-Palestinian voices , and Often starting interviews with pro-Palestinians and giving the pro-Israelis the last word 5. Rarely interviewing a non-Palestinian/non-Arab supporter of the Palestinian cause, while often interviewing non-Israeli pro-Israel speakers, even though very qualified scholars and activists do exist 6. Rarely bringing pro-Palestinian Israelis (while giving ample time to Arab/Muslim establishment apologists such as Ajami, Zakariya, Ijazi) 7. Bringing in notorious pro-Israelis and presenting them as objective analysts -- e.g., Daniel Pipes, Steve Emerson 8. Blatantly loading questions: as in, why is Arafat letting Hamas engage in terror? or, will Sharon abandon his policy of restraint? 9. Rarely seeking a Palestinian-American living in the Occupied Territories for interviews and reactions, while often seeking out Israeli-Americans living in Israel 10. Rarely, if ever, having the interview be focused on Palestinian suffering and what the Israelis need to do to stop it, but often having the interview be about the terror Israelis are suffering and what the Palestinians need to do about it

Re: Silence is betrayal on this subject.
BroHanif
01/25/02 at 19:18:53
REVEALING DID YOU KNOW QUESTIONS? 1 - THAT, when the Palestine Problem was created by Britain in 1917, more than 90% of the population of Palestine were Arabs, and that there were at that time no more than 56,000 Jews in Palestine? 2 - THAT, more than half of the Jews living in Palestine at that time were recent immigrants, who had come to Palestine in the preceding decades in order to escape persecution in Europe?... And that less than 5% of the population of Palestine were native Palestinian Jews? 3 - THAT, the Arabs of Palestine at that time owned 97.5% of the land, while Jews (native Palestinians and recent immigrants together) owned only 2.5% of the land? 4 - THAT, during the thirty years of British occupation and rule, the Zionists were able to purchase only 3.5% of the land of Palestine, in spite of the encouragement of the British Government?... And that much of this land was transferred to Zionist bodies by the British Government directly, and was not sold by Arab owners? 5 - THAT, therefore, when British passed the Palestine Problem to the United Nations in 1947, Zionists owned no more than 6% of the total land area of Palestine? 6 - THAT, notwithstanding these facts, the General Assembly of the United Nations recommended that a "Jewish State" be established in Palestine?... And that the Assembly granted that proposed "State" about 54% of the total area of the country? 7 - THAT, Israel immediately occupied (and still occupies) 80.48% of the total land area of Palestine? 8 - THAT, this territorial expansion took place, for the most part, before 15 May 1948: i.e., before the formal end of the British forces from Palestine, before the entry of Arab armies to protect Palestinian Arabs, and before the Arab-Israeli war? 9 - THAT, the 1947 recommendation of the General Assembly in favor of the creation of a "Jewish State" was outside the competence of the Assembly under the Charter of the United Nations? 10 - THAT, all attempts by the Arab States and other Asian countries to have the Assembly submit “the question of constitutionality" of its recommendation to the International Court of Justice for an "advisory opinion" by the Court were rejected or ignored by the Assembly? 11 - THAT, when the Assembly began to experience "second thoughts" over the matter and convened for its second special session in 1948, it failed to reaffirm the 1947 recommendation for the partition of Palestine-thus destroying whatever dubious legality that recommendation for the establishment of a "Jewish State" had had? 12 - THAT, that original 1947 recommendation to create a "Jewish State" in Palestine was approved, at the first vote, only by European, American and Australian States...for every Asian State, and every African State (with the exception of the Union of South Africa) voted against it?...And that, when the vote was cast in plenary session on 29 November 1947, urgent American pressures (which a member of the Truman cabinet described as "bordering onto scandal") had succeeded in prevailing only upon one African country (Liberia), both of which had special vulnerability to American pressures, to abandon their declared opposition?...And that, in other words, the "Jewish State" was planted at the point-of-intersection of Asia and Africa without the free approval of any Middle Eastern, Asian or African country except that Union of South Africa, itself ruled by an alien minority? 13 - THAT, Israel remained, ever since its inception, a total stranger in the emerging world of Afro-Asia; and that Israel has been refused admission to any inter-state conference of Asian, African, Afro-Asian, or Non-Aligned States ever held? 14 - THAT, since the General Armistice Agreements were signed in 1949, Israel has maintained an aggressive policy of waging military attacks across the Armistice Demarcation Lines, repeatedly invading the territories of the neighboring Arab States...And that Israel has been duly rebuked, censured, or condemned for these military attacks by the Security Council of the General Assembly of the United Nations on eleven occasions-five times by the Security Council and six times by the General Assembly? 15 - THAT, no other country in the world, whether member of the United Nations or non-member, has been so frequently condemned by the United Nations? 16 - THAT, no Arab State has ever been condemned by any organ of the United Nations for military attacks upon Israel? 17 - THAT, besides expelling the bulk of the Arab inhabitants of Palestine, and besides constantly attacking the neighboring Arab States, Israel has also consistently harassed the United Nations observers and other personnel stationed along the Armistice Demarcation Lines: It has assassinated the first United Nations Mediator and his military aide; it has detained some truce observers; it has militarily occupied and illegally searched the Headquarters of United Nations personnel; and it has boycotted meetings of the Mixed Armistice Commissions?... 18 - THAT, Israel has additionally imposed a system of apartheid upon the Arabs who stayed in their homeland? More than 90% of these Arabs live in "security zones;" they alone live under martial law, restricting their freedom to travel from village to village or from town to town; their children are denied equal opportunities for education; and they are denied decent opportunities for work, and the right to receive "equal pay for equal work?" 19 - THAT, notwithstanding the foregoing facts, Israel has always been, and still is, widely portrayed in the Western press as the "bastion of democracy" and the "champion of peace" in the Middle East? 20 - THAT, the Western Powers have persisted in declaring their determination to ensure a so-called "arms balance" in the area, as between Israel, on the one hand, and the one-hundred million inhabitants of the thirteen Arab States, on the other hand?... And this unilateral Western doctrine of so-called "arms balance" is no more reasonable than the suggestion that, in the Cuba-U.S.A conflict, there should be "arms balance" as between Cuba and the United States... or that the whole Continent of Africa should not be allowed to acquire   more arms than South Africa... or that Mainland China should not be permitted to have more arms than Taiwan... or that the military allowed to acquire more arms than South Africa... and that only thus can peace be safeguarded in the Western Hemisphere, in Africa, in Asia, or in Europe?... 21 – THAT, Israel allots 85% of the water resources in the occupied territories for Jews and the remaining 15% is divided among all Palestinians in the territories? For example in Hebron, 85% of the water is given to about 500 settlers, while 15% must be divided among Hebron's 120,000 Palestinians? 22 – THAT, The United States awards Israel $3 billion in aid each year, more than to any other country in the world: US aid to Israel exceeds the aid the US grants to the whole sub-Sahara Africa? 23 – THAT, GDP, per capita, and consumption per capita in the Occupied Territories have dropped about 15 percent in the West Bank and Gaza since 1993 - that's even with large foreign assistance pouring in, from Europe, mostly? 24 – THAT, Up until 1993, the U.S. and Israel permitted humanitarian aid to come into the territories. UN humanitarian aid was permitted into the West Bank and Gaza. In 1993, that was restricted? 25 – THAT, Israel is the only country in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons? 26 – THAT, Israel is the only country in the Middle East that refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and bars international inspections from its sites? 27 – THAT, Israel currently occupies territories of two sovereign nations (Lebanon and Syria) in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions? 28 – THAT, High-ranking military officers in the Israeli Defense Forces have admitted publicly that unarmed prisoners of war were executed by the IDF? 29 – THAT, Israel refuses to prosecute its soldiers who have acknowledged executing prisoners of war? 30 – THAT, Israel routinely confiscates bank accounts, businesses, and land from Palestinians and refuses to pay compensation to those who suffer the confiscation? 31 – THAT, Israel stands in defiance of 69 United Nations Security Council Resolutions? 32 – THAT, Israel's current prime minister, Ariel Sharon, was found by an Israeli court to be "personally responsible" for the Sabra and Shatilla massacres in Lebanon in which thousands of unarmed Palestinian refugees were slaughtered in 1982? 33 – THAT, Today's Israel sits on the former sites of more than 400 destroyed Palestinian villages, and that the Israelis renamed almost every physical site in the country to cover up the traces? 34 – THAT, Ariel Sharon's coalition government includes a party -- Molodet -- which advocates expelling all [of the over two million] Palestinians from [their homes in] the occupied territories? 35 – THAT, Israel's illegal settlement-building in the Occupied Palestinian territories more than doubled doubled in the eight years since the Oslo agreements? 36 – THAT, Illegal settlement building under Prime Minister Barak doubled compared to settlement building under Prime Minister Netanyahu? 37 – THAT, More illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories were built under Prime Minister Barak than at any other time in the history of Israel's occupation of Palestinian land? 38 – THAT, Despite a ban on torture by Israel's High Court of Justice, torture has continued by Shin Bet interrogators on Palestinian prisoners? 39 – THAT, Palestinian refugees make up the largest refugee population in the world? 40 – THAT, Israeli military checkpoints surround every Palestinian population center in violation of the Oslo Accords? 41 – THAT, The right of self-determination is guaranteed to every human being under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (December, 1948), yet Palestinians were/are expected to negotiate for this right under the Oslo Accords? 42 – THAT, Palestinians have the highest ratio of PhDs per capita in the world?

Re: Silence is betrayal on this subject.
Kashif
01/25/02 at 19:54:49
assalaamu alaikum Jazakallahu khair akhee. But there is an issue which i wanted to bring to Muslims' attention here. I received an e-mail a couple of days ago which very simply put down something i've felt for a long time. The brother who wrote it was speaking about the American government, but it extends to the UK govt., the Israeli govt. or any disbelieving govt. which is waging war on the ummah: -------------------------- "We shouldn't fall into the trap of putting America on the moral pedestal. I don't expect anything but this (and worse) from them. Personally, I don't think we should protest their treatment. Their counter argument is always. "We are Americans and people expect more from us"..."We are the most moral people on Earth" etc, etc All we can do in this situation is make du'a, because we don't want to put them on a moral pedestal. Our argument should only be...We don't expect anything better from you people." ------------------------- Remember this is aimed at the govt. and not the people. Yet at the same time, it is still useful to mention such facts (as posted by the brother above) to enlighten the general public as to the history of the region. Kashif Wa Salaam
NS
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