Israel is confronting a number of well-organized campaigns, including an
academic boycott by a British teachers union, and continuing attempts by the
Presbyterian and other churches to
promote divestment.
Within the media, nowhere has been more virulently supportive of the campaign to
demonize and delegitimize Israel than the Guardian. Adding to its long history
of anti-Israel diatribes, the paper published a lengthy two-part feature in
February 2006 comparing Israel to apartheid South Africa - a charge refuted by
HonestReporting on a number of occasions.Despite claiming to publish the
viewpoints of both sides, the Guardian used the Palestinian commemoration of
"al-Nakba" (the "catastrophe") that represents the creation of the State of
Israel, to publish one negative opinion piece on 12 May, swiftly followed on 15
May by another op-ed, highlighted by
HonestReporting UK, that distorts the history of 1947-48 as well as present
day events.
Following this trend, the Guardian has, only days later, on 19 May, published
another
anti-Israel piece by South African Intelligence Minister and anti-Israel
campaigner Ronnie Kasrils
and Victoria Brittain claiming: "Never in the long struggle for freedom in
apartheid South Africa was there a situation as dramatic as in Palestine today."
As documented by South African blog "It's
Almost Supernatural", Kasrils has previously penned numerous anti-Israel
articles. Falsely employing the apartheid comparison, Kasrils' latest one-sided diatribe
exonerates the Palestinians from any responsibility for their current plight,
failing to mention the effects of terrorism or the corruption that has seen
international aid disappear down a black hole. For Kasrils, "The root problem
is the intensifying Israeli occupation of Palestinian land." This, despite
the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and the stated plans of new
Israeli PM Ehud Olmert to undertake further withdrawals from the West Bank.
Kasrils also rails against Israel's security barrier while failing to
acknowledge the Palestinian terrorism that necessitated its construction in the
first place.
Kasrils continues:
Meanwhile, Israel is withholding $50m a month in customs duties and
tax owed to the Palestinians, and energy supplies have been cut off.
Palestinian civil servants, teachers, doctors and security forces have not
been paid for over two months. The potential for civil war between factions
of armed, increasingly desperate men is so obvious that Palestinians are not
alone in thinking that the US actually wants such self-destruction.
In fact, while Kasrils fails to differentiate between the Hamas terror
organization and the Palestinian people, Israel, along with other donor nations,
has made such a distinction, preventing Hamas from getting hold of such funds
and currently working
to establish alternative channels to provide the Palestinian people with the
necessary aid. Indeed, Kasrils does not even mention Hamas once in his article
let alone acknowledge the organization's refusal to recognize Israel, renounce
violence and adhere to previously signed agreements. In addition, energy
supplies have not been cut off as Kasrils claims - Israel continues to provide
electricity to the Palestinian areas and a gasoline shortage was averted after
Palestinian President Abu Mazen came up with the money to pay arrears to the
Israeli energy supplier.
The security forces that Kasrils bemoans having not been paid actually
include a new 3000 member Hamas militia set up to compete with Abu Mazen's own
security force - something that has contributed to an atmosphere of civil war.
Yet, while Palestinian factions
fight amongst themselves as a result of rising tensions since the
Palestinian elections, Kasrils still manages to blame Israel for the
increasingly violent and chaotic situation.
Kasrils goes on to call for UN sanctions against Israel and calls on
"those who care for freedom, peace and justice must build a global Palestine
solidarity movement to match the anti-apartheid movement of the 1980s."
Comments to the Guardian:
letters@guardian.co.uk to refute this one-sided opinion piece and to
question the Guardian's zealous publication of such articles over the past week.
HonestReporting. com
Thank you for your involvement in responding
to media bias.