More followup on the great "60 Minutes" piece on Christians living under occupation that so disturbed Israeli ambassador Michael Oren.
In a post highlighting the CBS report, Robert Wright at the Atlantic has linked the excellent Kairos report of 2009 on the occupation, and used the word "apartheid" in the MSM. It is great to see that report shown to a wide audience.
Oren clearly doesn't want this document, mentioned by Simon, to get attention. In it an interdominational group of Middle Eastern Christian clergy--Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant--refer to the occupation as "clear apartheid." (Oren hints that they're anti-Semitic.)
Natasha Mozgovaya in Haaretz believes that others also sought to intercede with CBS:
Michael Oren probably should have tried to work with the reporter instead of driving him mad by going over his head to complain to his bosses. I am not convinced Oren was the first one to attempt to influence the 60 Minutes report before it was broadcasted - my experience tells me otherwise – for people do tend to try to influence unflattering reports before they are published or broadcasted quite often.
There's some support for Mozgovaya's view in an email that Jewish Federations CEO Jerry Silverman sent out yesterday, before "60 Minutes" aired its Palestinian Christians report. The Federations anticipated a report that would "demonize" Israel, and urged its supporters to call and twitter CBS. (Adam Kredo reported this).
Note that the Federations says that CBS manipulated the Christians by interviewing them on camera!
This evening CBS' "60 Minutes" will be broadcasting a segment on Palestinian Christians that is expected to be highly critical of Israel. Below is a facts sheet, along with links to materials that will assist in responding with the facts....
...The discourse [i.e., your letters and calls] should focus primarily on the biased portrayal of Israel in the program. "60 Minutes" will likely attempt to demonize Israel and blame it for the very real problems that the Christian community faces within the territories.
... Further, the program is being incredibly manipulative in interviewing Christians on camera. The Palestinian Christian community is insecure in the region (see sources below) and unlikely to state anything that can negatively influence their status within the Palestinian Authority or jeopardize the status of the Christian brethren in Gaza...
These examples will attempt to manipulate the viewer to believe that Israel pressures the Palestinian community to flee the region. Once we have seen the program we will be able to provide you with more relevant examples to counteract the allegations made on Sunday...
We hope that CBS will be flooded with responses through their inboxes, facebook, twitter and mail after the program to express discontent if it is as biased as we anticipate.
link to digicoll.library.wisc.edu
Page 628
The minister in Iraq (Henderson) to the Secretary of State
Baghdad November 1 1944
“They (Iraqi representatives) find it difficult to reconcile themselves to the belief that the the US merely for the sake of internal political experiency is favoring a course in Palestine which in their opinion not only would be unjust but would undoubtedly lead to bloodshed and misery for all concerned. They can perceive no reason for the recent pronouncements and promises of American government and political leaders who should have a complete understanding of the Palestine situation other than a desire to obtain the support of the american Zionists. They are asking whether it is possible that American foreign policy in the future is to be shaped in such a manner as to meet the demands of private pressure groups possessed of ample funds and exercising control over American channels of information. “
If only zionists spent their time on active peace instead of active mass deception.
The Kairos report will become a household name by next christmas. Kudos to the Atlantic for linking it to it’s vast readership. Chapeau to Mondoweiss and other publications that cite it too.
There’s now a visible ozone hole in the giant hasbara muzzle.
I’d hope CBS will report, next, on the various “floods” of messages, and comment on how many of them are rational, factually correct, etc. You may add a drop to the flood here
thanks, pabelmont, just sent a congratulatory email to cbs. we need a tide of such messages to counter the zionist lies.
Thank you for the link to the Kairos report.
The Israel lobby is its own worst enemy.
The methods it uses to crush free speech and punish political opponents are often heavy-handed, tyrannical, bullying, sinister, coercive, smothering, overbearing, dictatorial, oppressive, suffocating and autocratic.
Why is it that most pro-Israel activists and Jewish nationalists fail to understand that their behavior is intensely alienating and that they are turning most of the world against Israel? Where is that fabled Jewish faculty for appreciating irony?
Has there ever been a messianic ethnic nationalist who wasn’t a dim thug? Strident and xenophobic ethnic nationalism brings out the very worst in human beings.
Come on Phil…stop showing examples of Israel and the I lobby trying to influence the US MSM. We all know that this is not the first time
Interviewing people on camera is ‘incredibly manipulative’ – LOL! No doubt the Israeli bullies and propagandists have unattributable conversations with Palestinian Christians who are ardent zionists. However the Christians I have met in Jerusalem will tell you of their disgust at Israeli prejudice, racism and apartheid. If they were on camera they might temper it a bit, in order to save the aggravation they would suffer from the thought police in Israel, but in private they are scathing over the discrimination they feel over their religion and its historical infrastructure.
Re Natasha Mozgovaya in Haaretz 23Apr12 link to haaretz.com
….. I am not convinced (Ambassador Michael) Oren was the first one to attempt to influence the 60 Minutes report before it was broadcasted - my experience tells me otherwise – for people do tend to try to influence unflattering reports before they are published or broadcasted quite often…
Indeed.
My experience also tells me otherwise!
Actually such direct intervention is obvious and usual practice of Israeli diplomats in their respective countries of assignment!
They phone up directly the high-up echelons of broadcasting stations and d e m a n d to be immediately given air-time even in life-broadcasting discussions to tell their tales of propaganda-”truths”.
So, e.g. Deputy Amb. Emmanuel Nahshon in Berlin who bulldozed himself into an ongoing panel discussion with selected panel experts and radio listener participation. Obviously Mr. Nahshon – ill-famed here in Germany for his hawkish and uncivilized language (as again lately proven by his unacceptable commentary re the Grass-Iran-Israel “poem”) – was of the opinion that the very Israel-apologetic representative on the expert panel had been on the “loosing end by poor hasbara-argumentation” and therefore needed some “strengthening support” from his side.
Needless to say, that as a matter of course such gross undiplomatic demand of His Excellency has been immediately granted… thereby hopping the queue of other listeners who had been waiting on the telephone line for their chance to contribute their comments to the subject of discussion.
if Simon wanted to to a ‘hatchet job’, he need merely have inserted video of Jews spitting on Christians (a daily occurence) – it would be straight reporting, and is true – but would have created a visceral emotional reaction in the audience viewing the 60 Min piece … he did not – Simon, a Jew, is an old-school reporter who actually reports facts and lets them speak for themselves … Simon scrupulously avoided visceral components to his story and did by-the-numbers fact-conveyance … it is facts that modern zionist israel fears the most
Bob Simon graduated in the Class of 1962 from Brandeis University.
radii, speaking of Jews in Israel spitting on Christians–did you see this documentation I forgot who gave us yesterday on the subject: http://www.dotandcalm.com/calm-archive/Israel-Archive-JewishState-Part02-Christian-BiblicalTeachingPerspective-October13-2004–November04-2011.html
ALSO SEE: Being spat at remains part of life for Christians in Jerusalem — the story 60 Minutes left out, by Paul Woodward, War in Context, 4/23/12
LINK – link to warincontext.org
“Release the Kraken!”
(aka the ‘flood’ of misperception and misrepresentation)
Seems very 1st amendment to me. The remedy for bad speech is more speech. 60 minutes had its say, so why shouldn’t people tell them what they think of the report?
As for manipulating them. They live in a place where you can be killed for supporting Israel in any way (collaborating, as they call it). So surprise, surprise, they support the Muslims.
they support getting back their homeland. besides, any palestinian, christian, muslim, atheist, whether in palestine or elsewhere, doesn’t matter, you’ll hear the same thing or a version thereof.
Ambassador Oren appeared a bit crazy the other day overplaying his hand with false charges against Iran.
On Holocaust Remembrance Day, at the Capitol he remarked that Iran “denies the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis while pledging to murder another six million — in Israel.”
Even Ron Kampeas at JTA said that was not true!
“I don’t know of any Iranian leader “pledging” to kill six million Jews.”
Thanks Ron. A bit of light from an unexpected source.
link to blogs.jta.org
on the rare occasions when someone appears on msm with anything other than the official israeli take on the i/p conflict, invariably a zionist is there to “set the record straight.” and it’s not always zionists contacting msm and demanding “balance”, msm, fearing a zionist backlash, sometimes contacts them in an effort to minimize their “losses” (ie sponsors cancelling?). i learned this when i was invited to appear on tv stations after returning from witnessing the 1982 u.s.-backed israeli invasion of lebanon. on one station the newscaster who invited me said that in order to provide balance there’d be a spokesperson for the other side, and sure enough there was. i was ready for him, though, because when he came up with the one about israel being the only democracy in the mideast, i countered with israel is like a mad dog running amok that needs to be put on a leash. it felt good, too, like i’d delivered a knock-out punch.
Woohoo yourstruly!
I apologize if this was already posted on one of the 60 Minutes threads. This is from today’s The Forward:
“Israelis, however, are pleased with the bottom line. “It could have been much worse,” said an Israeli official who noted that Oren’s intervention succeeded in getting Israel’s point of view into the story and in postponing it from sensitive broadcast dates during Christmas and Easter.”
Ha ha ~ don’t worry Israelis, the worst is yet to come.
In due course, what any person who has looked into Israel/Palestine now knows, will become mainstream knowledge.
In Polish there is a proverb “jaki pan taki kram”, “what [kind of] master that [kind of] shop”. The master of this shop is Avigdor Lieberman. Do not expect Oren to be subtle.
Historically, the Christians in Palestine have made their case. It has never gained much traction. Here is a statement from May 31, 1948:
“STATEMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN UNION OF PALESTINE
The war which started in the Holy City of Jerusalem was for all of us a real surprise and beyond our expectations. The Security Council, the United Nations Organization and the Consular Committee of Armistice had given us hope that the Holy City and its sanctuaries would be spared the horrors of war and its consequences of destruction and ruin, both belligerent parties having signed before the Consular Committee of Armistice and the representative of the International Red Cross an undertaking to cease fire for a duration of eight days starting from 9 p.m. on May 14,1948.
In compliance with this signed promise the Arab Command issued formal orders through loudspeakers to all its posts to cease fire, and complete peace prevailed on all Arab sectors.
But the Jews took advantage of this opportunity and immediately occupied the main strategical points from where they tried to attack the Arabs and to launch their attack on the Holy City. We immediately informed the Consular Committee of Armistice and the representative of the International Red Cross of this infringement of agreement by the Jews. The reply received was that the Jewish Agency declared that the Stern gang, which is working separately, broke the cease fire agreement and that the Jewish Agency had no control over this group. We then realized that the terrorists are controlling the Jewish movement. In consequence of which the International Red Cross and the Committee of Armistice declared that it was beyond their power to enforce the respect of the undertaking. In this way the Holy City was turned into a battlefield where severe fighting is taking place, accompanied by destruction on a large scale. In consequence, churches, convents, religious and charitable institutions have become the targets of mortar shells and bullets. Some of these buildings were destroyed and set on fire and many of the innocent civilians comprising of women, children, priests and nuns were injured by the explosion of bombs which were fired from all sides and in all directions.
Because of this dreadful situation, We, the representatives of the Christian Communities, deem it our solemn duty to raise our voice in protest against the violation of the sanctity of our churches, convents and institutions.
We herewith enumerate some of the damages sustained by our institutions and injuries inflicted on their administrators and refugees sheltered therein…. ”
What follows is a list of “CHURCHES, CONVENTS AND INSTITUTIONS DAMAGED BY ZIONISTS” and personnel killed.
Here is the link:
link to palestine-encyclopedia.com
It is to Issah Nakleh’s “Encyclopaedia of the Palestine Problem”, a very good resource although it is a bit old and clunky. The home page is here:
link to palestine-encyclopedia.com