I Stand with Truth

It came to my attention that I have been attacked on a website that I used to be a contributor to, namely Palestine Think tank.

Since I wrote the article “Through the Fog of Deception” in which I responded to a query about the disappearance of my articles on PTT, Mary Rizzo continues to publicly accuse me of lying, harassment, spamming and smearing PTT, Mary Rizzo on July 30th, 2010 at 7:59:

http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/07/21/jeff-blankfort-chomsky-and-palestine-asset-or-liability/#comment-17742
and mailto:USQuagmire%40yahoogroups.com

I am left with no choice at this juncture but to respond to her accusation in order to remove all ambiguities and inform people with the truth about the whole fiasco.

Obviously my article has nothing to do with Mary’s repeated allegation of smear and slander, it is not as she continues to claim a “smear article about PTT full of unsubstantiated crap”, neither is it a “smear like a Zionist does, based not on fact, but on prejudice and lies”.

“Through the Fog of Deception” is not a smear campaign against PTT. It was written in response to a question, as to why I left PTT. My article is a public statement of political disagreement, authenticated and corroborated with solid REASONS that lead me to be concerned and hence withdraw.

Contrary to Mary's assertion, I am not a person who would indulge in defamation, harassment, or smearing; as a human being who values truth, as a Muslim who respects the dignity of others and sees a grave sin in the violation of other’s honour, and as a Palestinian who appreciate every gesture of support by our friends and allies.

To voice criticism and disagreement to a political line is by no means slander or smearing, when I decided to withdraw from PTT, I asked Mary politely and when I wrote about the reasons, I did so in the spirit of love of truth, genuineness and desire to explain my worries about certain inconsistencies and worrisome signs that I could no longer ignore.

I must mention also that I have been censored on PTT and am not able to comment and defend myself and my views, other readers who attempt to defend me or voice a different perspective are also attacked and repressed, while the attacks and accusations against me continue unchallenged.

In her attacks Mary keeps lumping me with my husband as if we were one entity; I am responsible only for my own writing and articles, and I stand by every word I wrote.

Political disagreement cannot be simply labelled as smear, lies and slander. Political disagreement is a healthy and normal human activity, especially when done with sincerity, honesty and commitment to truth. I have recently written an article disagreeing with the much respected friend and supporter, Alan Hart, and I am certain that through dialogue and open discussion, ambiguities and misunderstanding can be clarified and removed.

Our much valued author Jeffrey Blankfort also has written a wonderful well documented, well researched account in criticism and disagreement with Chomsky, published on PTT, can that be labelled as slander, smear or lies?

My arguments and disagreement with PTT’s political line was never a defamation, never an ad-hominem attack, but rather a political disagreement with what I perceive as a new political orientation that is detrimental to the Palestinian cause, which also does not correspond to what I consider in the best interest of Palestine liberation movement:

*Attacking the stronghold of Palestinian resistance Hamas

*Smearing the Palestinian society at large

*Demoralizing and attacking of friends and allies

This comes at a time when Palestine needs every endeavour to highlight and draw attention to its true positive image to counteract all the negative deceptive images portrayed by MSM.
The systematic and documented observations of few alarming publications by Kawther Salam, a co-editor whose own biography as documented in my article seems to indicate very troubling position and approach; the contrast between her presentation of her wonderful “israeli” friends, soldiers and society in contrast with her vicious cold-hearted and malicious attack on her people rings alarm bells in my head. Throughout her diary, not once did she mention a Palestinian friend!

There is so much to worry about in the substance, use of words and ideas of Kawther’s writings, moreover, and of course in the sudden morphing of her articles.


And for those who are interested in truth:take this for example:

"The suspicion is that the second stage of this conspiracy will be that Hamas shoots some rockets at Israel so as to give them an “excuse” to bomb Gaza flat – “Palestinians” from Lebanon have already done so - while the upper Hamas hierarchy escapes to Egypt leaving poorly armed fighters there to be liquidated together with many other civilians. Israel’s new-old minister of “defense”, Barak, has already announced that they are contemplating a full-scale invasion of Gaza with 20.000 troops, air force, hundreds of tanks … At the same time, the Hamas death squads, under protection from the IDF, will kill everybody on the Israeli hit lists in the West Bank." Kawther Salam, June 18, 2007

from "The Daily Life of Kawther Salam"

http://www.kawther.info/K20070618A.html

Such poison has no other function but to destroy the resistance's credibility, plant seeds of hatred, division and suspicion against the last stronghold of Palestinian resistance.

Such poison is mere LIES, for it's not validated by any proof or evidence!

Is that a voice of a sincere Palestinian?
No, sure NOT!

Such poison can only come from dark hasbaric minds, NEVER from an authentic Palestinian!


Furthermore, the use of the expression, "The Hamas"-as in "The Hamas is not weak in the West Bank"- is NEVER used by an authentic Arabic speaking person.

In Arabic, it's plain and simple; Hamas is used as a definite noun with no need to define it again by attaching a "the" in front

But the handlers who write for her/ under her name fail to notice such intricate subtleties of language, therefore, their disgraceful exposure is inevitable, for TRUTH always shines, no matter how much lies and deception are used to cover.

Furthermore, another co-editor of PTT (Haitham) whose repeated defence of enemies of Palestine, like the regime of Egypt, and repeated attacks on friends of Palestine, like Iran, can only trigger more red lights.

• http://palestinethinktank.com/2008/11/10/kawther-salam-we-are-sick-of-the-american-israeli-interference/
• http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/05/18/the-justice-of-executions/
• http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/03/26/no-results-12-billion-dollars-disappeared-in-palestine/
• http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/12/29/egypt-approves-gaza-freedom-march-passage-viva-palestina-blunders-paperwork-and-blames-egypt/#comment-14148
• http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/06/07/thanks-iran-but-no-thanks/

Another contributor, Sami Jamil Jadallah, has systematically attacked the resistance movement and his people, and called for a US&NATO intervention in Gaza!

http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/07/25/sami-jamil-jadallah-what-is-wrong-with-the-palestinians-a-whole-lot/

http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/01/03/haitham-sabbah-surround-me-with-songs-of-deliverance-crossing-the-borders-of-solidarity/#comment-14266

I kindly invite people to read my article, scrutinize it, verify the quotes and links, study Kawther Salam’s diary and publications and see for themselves why I felt uncomfortable to continue contributing to PTT.

http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/06/through-fog-of-deception.html

I would like to challenge Mary to publish my article and let her readers come to their own conclusions.

I would also like to invite her either to produce the evidence of her accusations against me (of my “lies” and “harassment”), or be silent.

Finally, despite all this, I harbour nothing but good feeling and respect towards Mary Rizzo, and I am still open to discussions, but not before she opens her eyes and see who is running the show on PTT, I know that if she digs a little deeper and uses her critical brain that we were used to, she might be shocked how things came to be were they are now..

Nahida Izzat is a Jerusalem-born Palestinian refugee who has lived in exile for over forty two years, after being forced to leave her homeland at the tender age of seven in 1967, during the six-day war. She has a degree in mathematics, but art is one of her favorite pastimes. She loves hand-made things and so makes dolls, cards, and most of her own clothes. She also writes poetry, participates in written dialogues and believes in building bridges, not walls.

She started writing when her friends insisted she should write about her memories, experiences and feelings as a Palestinian.When she did it all came out sounding—she was told—like poetry! So she self-published two books: I Believe in Miracles and Palestine, The True Story.

Her dream is to return back home to a free and liberated Palestine.

If you like poetry and are intrigued by the notion of helping the Palestinian people and learning more, you can purchase Nahida's books, I Believe in Miracles and Palestine, The True Story by visiting:
I Believe in Miracles: a Collection of Palestinian Poems
ISBN 13: 9780954839109 | ISBN 10: 0954839102
£12.99 paperback Nahida Izzat (2004)
You can write to Nahida : nahidaexiledpalestinian@gmail.com