Monday, November 26th, 2012
In light of my last article, examining the claims that a cartoon by Carlos Latuff was “almost worse that anti-Semitic”, I was interested to note how little reaction there has been, so far, to Zapiro’s recent cartoon in the South African Mail & Guardian.
Perhaps the algemeiner, which proudly boasts that it is “Labeled the fastest growing Jewish newspaper in America” and which was quick to jump on Latuff and Steve Bell for his cartoon (below), haven’t yet registered that South Africa exists ………
They’re also complaining that the “BBC’s Jon Donnison Displays a Professional and Ethical Conflict of Interests”, which roughly translates as he didn’t blame Hamas for the conflict, in line with the obvious hasbara drive that accompanied the war.
Their complaint about the BBC would probably be met with a snort of derision by Craig Murray who was so enraged by the BBC coverage that he renamed them “Beyond Belief Cunts”.
… I have just seen forty minutes of intense and non-stop Israeli propaganda. A live press conference by Netanyahu and Ehud Barak followed by a long, long interview with Mark Regev in which the most searching BBC question could fairly be paraphrased as “How can you be certain that those dastardly Palestinians will not break the ceasefire and start firing rockets again?”
No attempt whatsoever to give a Palestinian a chance to put over their viewpoint. Now fifty minutes of solid coverage around the ceasefire without a single Palestinian view or pro-Palestinian or pro-peace view. And in that entire fifty minutes not one mention of Palestinian dead.
One can only wondered if a light went off in his head as he wrote that, as in his previous post he wondered:
Why the world puts up with this blatant ethnic cleansing and prolonged, agonizing genocide of the Palestinain people, I have no idea.
The ‘Veto House’ that Zapiro draws attention to, is part of the explanation. But I reckon the attempts by the algemeiner to smear Latuff, Steve Bell and Jon Donnison , and the emergence of the social media unit of the IDF, point at another Israeli Occupied Territory – and that is the discourse about the whole issue.
And we were reminded during the conflict that retaliation against those who diverge from the hasbara path can include physical attacks.
But it seems that along with losing the conflict in Gaza, the Israelis are also taking hits in the media war. In the video below, RT journalist, Abby Martin, makes a clear response to the attacks on her and RT:
Quelle suprise that her critics were also based at “the fastest growing Jewish newspaper in America”. But it isn’t just Jewish organs that throw the accusation around – sometimes they are even on the receiving end of it.
An Ali Abunimah acolyte, Asa Winstanley accused the Jewish Chronicle of anti-Semitism, after they published an article under the headline (later changed) “Unanimous UK Jewish community support for Israel”. Fellow blogger, AZZ* Mark Elf echoed the claim. Yet it seems that in this case only AZZ’s and their friends could detect the anti-Semitism, which further suggests that the claim is often motivated by ideological bias, rather than on the basis that it a reaction to racism against all Jews. Surely most readers of the JC would recognise true Jew hatred when they saw it?
There can be no doubt that the relentless accusations do cause some people to shut-up, and there are other ways in which the discourse remains Zionist dominated. A recent Ikhras article noted:
To our knowledge, during the entire eight days of Israeli air, sea, and land bombardment of Gaza not a single authentic Palestinian-American voice or any neutral, objective expert on the Arab world was invited to appear or write in mainstream television or print media. Instead what we watched was a parade of pseudo-analysts, Arab Zionists, anti-Palestinian ideologues, self-appointed spokespersons of all stripes, and even a couple of comedians. All of them, without exception, were invited to parrot the Israel narrative, or at best, offer polite criticism of Israel in the name of Palestinians and Arab or Muslim Americans.
It is frustrating and soul-destroying to see the Palestinians come under attack again and again, whilst Israel and a myriad of Jewish groups and publications around the world attack the critics in an attempt to retain control of the discourse. And yet Israel is taking hits, the hasbara is being rejected by an increasing of number of ordinary people, and many websites, of which deLiberation is proud to be one, are dedicating time and energy to liberating the discourse.
It’s a move that hasn’t gone well with many activists. Witness expulsions from the Palestine ‘Solidarity’ campaign, and the Call for disavowal from Gilad Atzmon.
Whilst those ‘solidarity’ activists who are obsessed with anti-semitism withdraw into their activist shtetl’s, allowing the Zionists and AZZ’s to dictate who is kosher, and who is not, others of us have not forgotten that the primary focus needs to remain on Palestine and the injustice being perpetrated on the Palestinians. We will not be deterred from examining the way the discourse is being controlled, nor who is doing the controlling.
It is Zionists who are part of a genocidal, RACIST programme, and the claims that the anti-racists who oppose them are the actual racists rings increasingly hollow.
The name-calling will not stop us, any more than the bombing of buildings where journalists are based will stop journalists with integrity from presenting the truths that the Zionists and their mates work so hard to obscure. Any more than the barbarous Israeli attacks will stop resistance from Palestinians and others in the Middle East.
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* AZZ: Anti-Zionist Zionist, Jewish activist who prioritizes Jewish tribal loyalties over all else, ref: Wandering Who by Gilad Atzmon
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian 
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!
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