If you thought you were listening to ABC radio yesterday, specifically to the item Iranian president's Lebanon visit stirs unease on The World Today with Eleanor Hall, you were wrong. You were actually listening to Radio Israel (my comments in square brackets):
HALL: Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has long talked of wiping Israel off the map (1) - with or without nuclear weapons. And today in a highly provocative move (2) he's preparing to visit Hezbollah strongholds (3) in southern Lebanon. That will bring him barely two kilometres from the Israeli border. But even inside Lebanon the Iranian leader's visit is highly controversial (4) because many accuse Iran of interfering in Lebanese affairs. Middle East correspondent Anne Barker reports.
[(1) No anti-Iranian Zionist propaganda piece would be complete without this canard. (2) So? Even when he rolls over in his sleep it's a highly provocative move. (3) Arabs live in strongholds, Israelis in towns and cities. (4) So? Even when he farts it's highly controversial.]
BARKER: He's a man who inspires the extremes of devotion or hatred wherever he goes. [Whose hatred, Anne?] Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Beirut to huge crowds who welcomed his first official visit to Lebanon. Thousands of Shi'ite Muslims lined the airport road waving Iranian flags and throwing flowers at the presidential motorcade. But most were supporters of Hezbollah [and Amal?]- the Shi'ite militia which relies on Iran for both funding and weapons and which shares Iran's hatred of Israel. [Really? Just because Israel's always threatening to nuke it?] Although at a press conference in Beirut president Ahmadinejad appealed to all Lebanese to resist the Zionist enemy. 'Iran and Lebanon have common points of view', he said. 'Both countries are against the occupation, aggressions and crimes committed by the Zionists'. Nevertheless the Iranian president's visit has instilled fear among Lebanon's majority non-Shi'ite population. Many [How many, Anne?] Christians or Sunni Muslims or the minority Druze believe that Iran through Hezbollah wields far too much influence on Lebanon's internal politics and government. A group of about 250 [Oh, that many!] politicians, lawyers and activists have written an open letter criticising president Ahmadinejad's support of Hezbollah and voicing fears that Iran is trying to drag Lebanon into a new war against Israel. 'Your talk of changing the face of the region and wiping Israel off the map', it says, 'makes your visit seem like that of a commander to his front line', the letter reads. It's that front line that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad plans to visit today in a move that many in both Lebanon [250?] and Israel interpret as a deliberate provocation. The Iranian leader will visit Lebanon's south where Hezbollah militants wield control including villages along the border that were bombed by Israeli forces in the last war in 2006. There were reports president Ahmadinejad might even throw stones across the border in a symbolic show of Iran's defiance. Mark Regev is a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister.
REGEV: The Iranians are showing the whole world that they have succeeded to dominate Lebanese politics through their proxy Hezbollah. They are forcing their agenda on Lebanon and are creating a hub for terrorism and a threat to regional stability. [And who better than Mark Regev to tell us about... Lebanon!]
BARKER: Even members of Lebanon's own government have expressed alarm at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit. [Members? Oh, you mean the Phalangist, Faris Said? Yes, I suppose that is more worthy of mention than reporting his meetings with both the Lebanese president and prime minister.] One politician has said the Iranian leader is seeking to transform Lebanon into an Iranian base on the Mediterranean. [Faris Said?] Others [No names, no pack-drill.] fear his visit will upset the fragile balance between competing religious and ethnic groups and set Lebanon on a new path to sectarian conflict. [Of course, Lebanon's fragile balance had nothing whatever to fear from Israel's 2006 attempt to "turn Lebanon's clock back 20 years" (Dan Halutz) or its current threat to "destroy Lebanon's army in 4 hours." ('IDF can destroy Lebanon army within 4 hours', ynetnews.com, 27/8/10)]
Showing posts with label Anne Barker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anne Barker. Show all posts
Friday, October 15, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
I Confess
"I've got this terrible habit. It's called thinking." George Carlin
My fave rag (its maxi-me The Australian aside), The Australian Jewish News, has just had a go at "self-confessed* anti-Zionist Anthony [sic] Loewenstein," who "admitted he may have overstepped the mark in encouraging comparisons between Israel and Nazism" by posting a "Third Reich-style image of Julia Gillard alongside the Israeli flag and SS soldiers with the Star of David on their helmets." (Nazi comparison a goosestep too far, 16/7/10) [*Self-confessed anti-Zionist! OMG! Antony, are you now or have you ever been a member of the... ?]
Well, I too have a confession to make: I too... *sob*... sorry... I too recently found myself entertaining such a comparison. No, I hasten to add, I did not need Antony Loewenstein's encouragement in this. It just... sort of... *sob*... happened.
It's OK, I've composed myself. Allow me to explain:
I was listening to Radio National's PM program on July 12, and specifically to an item by Anne Barker on the appalling treatment of Palestinian child prisoners by the Israeli military as revealed in a new report delivered to the United Nations by the Defence for Children International organisation (Lobby group alleges mistreatment of young Palestinian prisoners in Israel), when I was reminded of an episode in a little book I'd read on the German occupation of Britain's Channel Islands...
You can see how insidious this business is, can't you? No wonder Antony got caught out. I mean, I tried to resist, but the comparison just goosestepped its way into my consciousness and, well, just occupied it.
The book was John Lewis' A Doctor's Occupation (1982), subtitled "The dramatic true story, seen through the eyes of a young doctor, of life in Nazi-occupied Jersey."
In September 1942, the Germans, for reasons Lewis could only speculate about, decided to deport English-born Islanders to Germany. Of the occupying German troops, Lewis wrote: "The German private soldiers themselves were very unhappy about the whole thing, which they felt was quite unnecessary and cruel. Several even said so, although not when officers were in earshot. Within the limits of their orders, they were as kind and considerate as could be, and many of them were uncomfortable and shamefaced when confronting the sorrowing, bitter Islanders." (pp 177-178)
It was the following description, however, that came to my mind while I was listening to Anne Barker's report:
"On September 25 a further 300 [deportees] arrived at the weighbridge... As before, crowds turned up to bid goodbye, but this time the Germans had blocked off not only all the streets leading to the weighbridge, but also all points having a view of the harbour, so that relations and friends were cheated of their last farewells... Deprived of the excitement of a patriotic demonstration, parties of teenagers marched through the streets, singing and giving the V sign. They were chased away by soldiers, but groups reformed at other points, and carried on baiting the enemy. At last the soldiers, not entirely unreasonably, lost their tempers when a boy knocked off a German helmet and the others started kicking it around. A German officer began bully-ragging one of them, a well grown teenager of about 14, who suddenly hauled off and gave the officer a sock on the jaw which laid him out cold. The soldiers then drew their bayonets, which had a very sobering effect; 14 boys were carted off to prison, where they remained for a fortnight. They were then tried by court martial. Those of 16 and under were released, after having had a thorough fright. The older ones received varying, not very severe sentences, but a man alleged to have incited them was sentenced to 3 years in a German prison. After this drama, we settled down to our customary dull existence." (pp 181-182)
Under-16s released; the rest given a not very severe sentence. I couldn't believe it. Germans for Christ's sake! A German officer - decked!
Now here, in part, is what had prompted my heinous thought-crime:
"ANNE BARKER: Every year nearly 700 minors as young as 12 are prosecuted in Israeli military courts. Hundreds are currently in jail. Nearly two-thirds of those charged last year were accused of throwing stones at soldiers or Israeli settlers, a crime that can carry 20 years in jail. Yet the organisation Defence for Children International, or DCI, which represents many of them in court, says very often minors are arrested who've done nothing at all. Its lawyer is Gerard Horton.
GERARD HORTON: Someone will have thrown stones at a bypass road or the wall or some army facility or a settlement. The army will then come into the nearest village to where that incident occurred and start arresting children.
ANNE BARKER: Gerard Horton says arrests are usually made in the dead of night as a form of intimidation or deterrence.
GERARD HORTON: We have a number of cases where children have woken up at 2 in the morning with an M16 assault rifle at their head, their hands are tied with plastic ties very tight behind their back, they're blindfolded. Generally they're not told why they've been arrested or where they're being taken.
ANNE BARKER: The Israel Defence Force defends its policies on the arrest and detention of Palestinian minors. In its statement to the ABC it says: Rock throwing is a serious offence, placing others at significant risk and endangering both the public and regional security. The same certainly applies to attempts at stabbing a soldier. Offenders of either violation must bear appropriate consequences. But lawyers say, despite what the IDF claims, Israel's treatment of such minors does violate international conventions. DCI says youngsters in custody are usually denied a lawyer until after they make a confession. Often the confession is made under coercion or even torture. Many, it says, are forced to sign confessions written in Hebrew, a language they can't understand. Recently it says another 15-year-old boy accused of throwing stones reportedly had car jumper leads attached to his genitals under threat of electrification unless he confessed. Lawyer Khaled Quzmar says such abuse is common.
KHALED QUZMAR: From experience I can say that most children arrested are tortured according to the definition of torture. When we talk about torture, it's physical and psychological.
ANNE BARKER: Now, a DCI report to the UN Committee Against Torture has documented a litany of alleged abuse. Of the cases it examined, it says 69% of minors were beaten or kicked during interrogation. Two-thirds were arrested at home between midnight and 4am. 92% were blindfolded and 14% were placed in solitary confinement."
I can't really understand now why this incident from the German occupation of Jersey came to mind when I heard the above - there is, after all, no real comparison between how the Germans treated the children of Jersey and how the Israelis treat Palestinian children. So I herewith apologise for my rogue thought. Can we agree that it's all the ABC's fault?
My fave rag (its maxi-me The Australian aside), The Australian Jewish News, has just had a go at "self-confessed* anti-Zionist Anthony [sic] Loewenstein," who "admitted he may have overstepped the mark in encouraging comparisons between Israel and Nazism" by posting a "Third Reich-style image of Julia Gillard alongside the Israeli flag and SS soldiers with the Star of David on their helmets." (Nazi comparison a goosestep too far, 16/7/10) [*Self-confessed anti-Zionist! OMG! Antony, are you now or have you ever been a member of the... ?]
Well, I too have a confession to make: I too... *sob*... sorry... I too recently found myself entertaining such a comparison. No, I hasten to add, I did not need Antony Loewenstein's encouragement in this. It just... sort of... *sob*... happened.
It's OK, I've composed myself. Allow me to explain:
I was listening to Radio National's PM program on July 12, and specifically to an item by Anne Barker on the appalling treatment of Palestinian child prisoners by the Israeli military as revealed in a new report delivered to the United Nations by the Defence for Children International organisation (Lobby group alleges mistreatment of young Palestinian prisoners in Israel), when I was reminded of an episode in a little book I'd read on the German occupation of Britain's Channel Islands...
You can see how insidious this business is, can't you? No wonder Antony got caught out. I mean, I tried to resist, but the comparison just goosestepped its way into my consciousness and, well, just occupied it.
The book was John Lewis' A Doctor's Occupation (1982), subtitled "The dramatic true story, seen through the eyes of a young doctor, of life in Nazi-occupied Jersey."
In September 1942, the Germans, for reasons Lewis could only speculate about, decided to deport English-born Islanders to Germany. Of the occupying German troops, Lewis wrote: "The German private soldiers themselves were very unhappy about the whole thing, which they felt was quite unnecessary and cruel. Several even said so, although not when officers were in earshot. Within the limits of their orders, they were as kind and considerate as could be, and many of them were uncomfortable and shamefaced when confronting the sorrowing, bitter Islanders." (pp 177-178)
It was the following description, however, that came to my mind while I was listening to Anne Barker's report:
"On September 25 a further 300 [deportees] arrived at the weighbridge... As before, crowds turned up to bid goodbye, but this time the Germans had blocked off not only all the streets leading to the weighbridge, but also all points having a view of the harbour, so that relations and friends were cheated of their last farewells... Deprived of the excitement of a patriotic demonstration, parties of teenagers marched through the streets, singing and giving the V sign. They were chased away by soldiers, but groups reformed at other points, and carried on baiting the enemy. At last the soldiers, not entirely unreasonably, lost their tempers when a boy knocked off a German helmet and the others started kicking it around. A German officer began bully-ragging one of them, a well grown teenager of about 14, who suddenly hauled off and gave the officer a sock on the jaw which laid him out cold. The soldiers then drew their bayonets, which had a very sobering effect; 14 boys were carted off to prison, where they remained for a fortnight. They were then tried by court martial. Those of 16 and under were released, after having had a thorough fright. The older ones received varying, not very severe sentences, but a man alleged to have incited them was sentenced to 3 years in a German prison. After this drama, we settled down to our customary dull existence." (pp 181-182)
Under-16s released; the rest given a not very severe sentence. I couldn't believe it. Germans for Christ's sake! A German officer - decked!
Now here, in part, is what had prompted my heinous thought-crime:
"ANNE BARKER: Every year nearly 700 minors as young as 12 are prosecuted in Israeli military courts. Hundreds are currently in jail. Nearly two-thirds of those charged last year were accused of throwing stones at soldiers or Israeli settlers, a crime that can carry 20 years in jail. Yet the organisation Defence for Children International, or DCI, which represents many of them in court, says very often minors are arrested who've done nothing at all. Its lawyer is Gerard Horton.
GERARD HORTON: Someone will have thrown stones at a bypass road or the wall or some army facility or a settlement. The army will then come into the nearest village to where that incident occurred and start arresting children.
ANNE BARKER: Gerard Horton says arrests are usually made in the dead of night as a form of intimidation or deterrence.
GERARD HORTON: We have a number of cases where children have woken up at 2 in the morning with an M16 assault rifle at their head, their hands are tied with plastic ties very tight behind their back, they're blindfolded. Generally they're not told why they've been arrested or where they're being taken.
ANNE BARKER: The Israel Defence Force defends its policies on the arrest and detention of Palestinian minors. In its statement to the ABC it says: Rock throwing is a serious offence, placing others at significant risk and endangering both the public and regional security. The same certainly applies to attempts at stabbing a soldier. Offenders of either violation must bear appropriate consequences. But lawyers say, despite what the IDF claims, Israel's treatment of such minors does violate international conventions. DCI says youngsters in custody are usually denied a lawyer until after they make a confession. Often the confession is made under coercion or even torture. Many, it says, are forced to sign confessions written in Hebrew, a language they can't understand. Recently it says another 15-year-old boy accused of throwing stones reportedly had car jumper leads attached to his genitals under threat of electrification unless he confessed. Lawyer Khaled Quzmar says such abuse is common.
KHALED QUZMAR: From experience I can say that most children arrested are tortured according to the definition of torture. When we talk about torture, it's physical and psychological.
ANNE BARKER: Now, a DCI report to the UN Committee Against Torture has documented a litany of alleged abuse. Of the cases it examined, it says 69% of minors were beaten or kicked during interrogation. Two-thirds were arrested at home between midnight and 4am. 92% were blindfolded and 14% were placed in solitary confinement."
I can't really understand now why this incident from the German occupation of Jersey came to mind when I heard the above - there is, after all, no real comparison between how the Germans treated the children of Jersey and how the Israelis treat Palestinian children. So I herewith apologise for my rogue thought. Can we agree that it's all the ABC's fault?
Monday, September 28, 2009
Who Did What?
"There were no Holy Places in Palestine to which the Jews laid actual physical claims - except perhaps Rachel's tomb, which was at no time a matter of controversy. The Wailing Wall we did not own, and never had owned since the destruction of the Temple." (Chaim Weizmann, Autobiography, 1949, p 355)
"On the third day of the [1967] war, Israeli paratroopers freed the Old City of Jerusalem. Among the paratroopers fighting for the Old City were students of Rabbi Kook... In charge of one of the groups of soldiers who freed the Kotel was Yoram Zamoosh... He immediately sent an army vehicle to the homes of Rav Kook and Rabbi David HaCohen to bring them to the Kotel. Rav Yisrael Ariel, one of Rav Kook's close students and a paratrooper, was assigned by his commander to guard over the Mosque of Omar. He has recounted that he waited by the Mosque, thinking mistakenly that the Army was going to bring explosives to blow up the Mosque. The Redemption is coming, he thought. The redemption is indeed coming, but as the Talmud states, little by little. Rabbi Kook was able to cry and dance at the Kotel, but the Temple Mount wasn't to really come back to our hands. Even though Judea and Samaria were recaptured, they were not psychologically freed. People all over the world, including Jews and Arabs, were waiting for us to destroy the Mosque of Omar on top of the Mount." (Era Rapaport, Letters from Tel Mond Prison: An Israeli Settler Defends His Act of Terror, 1996, pp 63-64)
Here's how your ABC News reported the latest Israeli provocation at Jerusalem's Haram ash-Sharif on Radio National this morning:
"At least a dozen Israeli police have been injured in violent clashes with Palestinians inside Jerusalem's Old City. The riot began as Palestinians began throwing stones at Jewish worshippers. The clashes coincided with the holiest day on the Jewish calendar - Yom Kippur - when crowds of worshippers were at the Temple Mount, the holiest site for Jews, which also houses the Al-Aqsa mosque. Police used stun grenades to disperse a crowd of about 150 Palestinians. At least 12 police were injured, and 11 of the rioters arrested." (Palestinians, police clash at Jerusalem holy site, By Middle East Correspondent Anne Barker, 28/9/09)
And here, presumably, is what the listener picks up:
Palestinians always initiate violent clashes with Israelis. They're always throwing stones (or firing rockets or running amok or exploding themselves) for no apparent reason. That's just what they do. Apparently, listeners do not need to know that they are doing this in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem and so Middle East Correspondent Barker doesn't bother telling them. Moreover, the 'victims' of these stone throwers are one and all innocent Jewish worshippers, quietly doing their religious duty on the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. And, what's more, they're doing it at a holy site known as the Temple Mount, which just so happens is also the site of something called the Al-Aqsa Mosque. That the so-called Temple Mount has, since the 7th century AD, been known by its Arabic name of Haram ash-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) is apparently neither here nor there for Ms Barker. But that was then. This is now. It seems that the Haram ash-Sharif compound (site of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock), Islam's third holiest site, must now be rebadged, in classic Ziobabble, as the Temple Mount. And notice that, although Israeli police use high-tech stun grenades*, it's Palestinian stones (thrown not by defenders of Islam's third holiest shrine, but by rioters) that are singled out and render the 'clash' violent.
It goes without saying that the Palestinian Ma'an News Agency's reference to a "group of settlers [who] reportedly entered the Old City compound under the watch of Israeli forces," could not be allowed to sully Barker's script. [*Designed to facilitate "hostage rescue and capture of criminals, terrorists and other adversaries." (fas.org)]
Israeli settlers, eh? Could the Palestinians be right? Could it really be that they are merely defending the Haram ash-Sharif from the Israeli Taliban, hell-bent on cleansing 'their' Temple Mount of its Islamic 'excrescences'? Well, if past performance is anything to go by, yes it could. Here is a timeline of Israeli provocations and outrages concerning the Haram ash-Sharif from The Jerusalem Question, ed Ali Kazak, 2003. Judge for yourself:
11/4/82: Israeli soldier and American Jew, Alan Goodman, accompanied by other Israelis, charges unprovoked into the Dome of the Rock, murdering the elderly caretaker then spraying worshippers with automatic fire. Two Palestinians are killed and over 60 wounded. While in the 1300-year-old mosque, they set fire to old and rare carpets and smash windows inscribed with fine Islamic artwork. Bullets are shot from 3 directions but only Goodman is charged with the crime.
15/1/88: Israeli police fire tear gas into Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, wounding over 40 worshippers.
8/10/90: Israeli border police kill 18 Palestinians and injure 150 more as Palestinians protest the intention of the extremist Gershon Solomon's 'Temple Mount Faithful' to enter the compound and place a cornerstone for the building of a 'third Jewish temple'.
29/3/94: Demonstrations break out in the Old City as a group of Israeli extremists led by Gershon Solomon stage a march through the Old City and rumours spread that they are going to enter the Haram ash-Sharif compound. Clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli police leave at least 5 Palestinians injured.
29/11/94: A group of religious settlers from the 'Alive & Well' group attempts to break into Haram ash-Sharif compound in order to make a provocation. The leader of the group, Yehuda Etzion, has in the past been involved with the terrorist Jewish underground and participated in the plan to blow up the Dome of the Rock for which he was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. The mob seeks to re-establish the Kingdom of Israel and recapture the 'Temple Mount'. Ten members of the group are arrested.
4/5/95: Islamic Higher Council decides to close the Haram ash-Sharif compound to tourists until further notice after Jewish extremists try to enter the compound in order to conduct prayers.
6/8/95: Israeli settlers try to break into Al-Aqsa compound through Bab al-Qattaneen but are prevented by guards.
16/9/95: Muslim High Court releases a statement expressing fear that Israel, in connivance with radical settlers. is trying to take over the Haram ash-Sharif compound.
20/9/95: Despite tremendous local protest Israeli police chief Rubin allows 20 extremist settlers to enter Haram ash-Sharif compound protected by strong police force; the settlers announce that soon they will enter Al-Aqsa Mosque itself.
24/7/96: Israeli High Court passes a resolution allowing small groups of 'Temple Mount Faithful' to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on 25 July to perform 'Jewish religious rights for fast day'. PNA, Jordan and Syria protest. Tens of Jews immediately try to storm the mosque but are blocked by police.
25/7/96: Israeli police escort hundreds of 'Temple Mount Faithful' in pairs to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for prayers; they arrest 12 members of 'Hay Veqayam' who try to enter the site.
24/9/96: Under heavy police guard, Israel undertakes a surprise predawn excavation to complete a long archaeological tunnel that runs under Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. The 12-year-old project was completed only on the personal orders of PM Netanyahu, who intended it as a message to Palestinians that Israel is the 'sole sovereign' in Jerusalem. PNA denounces the tunnel work and calls for a general strike the next day. During the day, Palestinians at the mosque clash with police.
27/9/96: PM Netanyahu deploys 6000 police throughout Israel, 4000 in East Jerusalem. After morning prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, several youths throw stones at Israeli troops and police surrounding the site. Israeli army storms the compound firing on Palestinians, killing 3 and wounding 50. Fighting erupts in Rafah, Tulkarem, Balata, Erez, Jenin and Ramallah. Israeli Arabs observe a general strike in support of their compatriots. A total of 52 Palestinians and 14 Israelis have been killed in clashes over the past 3 days since the tunnel was opened.
28/9/96: UN Security Council passes a resolution regarding the situation in the occupied territories and calls for the 'reversal of all acts which have resulted in the aggravation of the situation' ie the opening of the tunnel.
28/9/00: Likud party leader Ariel Sharon makes his provocative intrusion onto the Haram ash-Sharif compound accompanied by a large police contingent. Hundreds of Palestinians gathered from the early hours of the morning at the compound which houses the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque to protest Sharon's intrusion. After the provocation, Palestinians clash with police who were still present in their hundreds. This marks the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada.
29/9/00: During Friday prayers, the Israeli military enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in force. Israel claims the Palestinians were throwing stones from the courtyard that overlooks the Western Wall. Palestinians affirm that the prayers were not yet finished when the Israeli police entered the compound. Israeli troops open fire killing 7 Palestinian worshippers and injuring more than 200.
Or maybe our Palestinian rioters just couldn't help themselves?
"On the third day of the [1967] war, Israeli paratroopers freed the Old City of Jerusalem. Among the paratroopers fighting for the Old City were students of Rabbi Kook... In charge of one of the groups of soldiers who freed the Kotel was Yoram Zamoosh... He immediately sent an army vehicle to the homes of Rav Kook and Rabbi David HaCohen to bring them to the Kotel. Rav Yisrael Ariel, one of Rav Kook's close students and a paratrooper, was assigned by his commander to guard over the Mosque of Omar. He has recounted that he waited by the Mosque, thinking mistakenly that the Army was going to bring explosives to blow up the Mosque. The Redemption is coming, he thought. The redemption is indeed coming, but as the Talmud states, little by little. Rabbi Kook was able to cry and dance at the Kotel, but the Temple Mount wasn't to really come back to our hands. Even though Judea and Samaria were recaptured, they were not psychologically freed. People all over the world, including Jews and Arabs, were waiting for us to destroy the Mosque of Omar on top of the Mount." (Era Rapaport, Letters from Tel Mond Prison: An Israeli Settler Defends His Act of Terror, 1996, pp 63-64)
Here's how your ABC News reported the latest Israeli provocation at Jerusalem's Haram ash-Sharif on Radio National this morning:
"At least a dozen Israeli police have been injured in violent clashes with Palestinians inside Jerusalem's Old City. The riot began as Palestinians began throwing stones at Jewish worshippers. The clashes coincided with the holiest day on the Jewish calendar - Yom Kippur - when crowds of worshippers were at the Temple Mount, the holiest site for Jews, which also houses the Al-Aqsa mosque. Police used stun grenades to disperse a crowd of about 150 Palestinians. At least 12 police were injured, and 11 of the rioters arrested." (Palestinians, police clash at Jerusalem holy site, By Middle East Correspondent Anne Barker, 28/9/09)
And here, presumably, is what the listener picks up:
Palestinians always initiate violent clashes with Israelis. They're always throwing stones (or firing rockets or running amok or exploding themselves) for no apparent reason. That's just what they do. Apparently, listeners do not need to know that they are doing this in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem and so Middle East Correspondent Barker doesn't bother telling them. Moreover, the 'victims' of these stone throwers are one and all innocent Jewish worshippers, quietly doing their religious duty on the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. And, what's more, they're doing it at a holy site known as the Temple Mount, which just so happens is also the site of something called the Al-Aqsa Mosque. That the so-called Temple Mount has, since the 7th century AD, been known by its Arabic name of Haram ash-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) is apparently neither here nor there for Ms Barker. But that was then. This is now. It seems that the Haram ash-Sharif compound (site of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock), Islam's third holiest site, must now be rebadged, in classic Ziobabble, as the Temple Mount. And notice that, although Israeli police use high-tech stun grenades*, it's Palestinian stones (thrown not by defenders of Islam's third holiest shrine, but by rioters) that are singled out and render the 'clash' violent.
It goes without saying that the Palestinian Ma'an News Agency's reference to a "group of settlers [who] reportedly entered the Old City compound under the watch of Israeli forces," could not be allowed to sully Barker's script. [*Designed to facilitate "hostage rescue and capture of criminals, terrorists and other adversaries." (fas.org)]
Israeli settlers, eh? Could the Palestinians be right? Could it really be that they are merely defending the Haram ash-Sharif from the Israeli Taliban, hell-bent on cleansing 'their' Temple Mount of its Islamic 'excrescences'? Well, if past performance is anything to go by, yes it could. Here is a timeline of Israeli provocations and outrages concerning the Haram ash-Sharif from The Jerusalem Question, ed Ali Kazak, 2003. Judge for yourself:
11/4/82: Israeli soldier and American Jew, Alan Goodman, accompanied by other Israelis, charges unprovoked into the Dome of the Rock, murdering the elderly caretaker then spraying worshippers with automatic fire. Two Palestinians are killed and over 60 wounded. While in the 1300-year-old mosque, they set fire to old and rare carpets and smash windows inscribed with fine Islamic artwork. Bullets are shot from 3 directions but only Goodman is charged with the crime.
15/1/88: Israeli police fire tear gas into Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, wounding over 40 worshippers.
8/10/90: Israeli border police kill 18 Palestinians and injure 150 more as Palestinians protest the intention of the extremist Gershon Solomon's 'Temple Mount Faithful' to enter the compound and place a cornerstone for the building of a 'third Jewish temple'.
29/3/94: Demonstrations break out in the Old City as a group of Israeli extremists led by Gershon Solomon stage a march through the Old City and rumours spread that they are going to enter the Haram ash-Sharif compound. Clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli police leave at least 5 Palestinians injured.
29/11/94: A group of religious settlers from the 'Alive & Well' group attempts to break into Haram ash-Sharif compound in order to make a provocation. The leader of the group, Yehuda Etzion, has in the past been involved with the terrorist Jewish underground and participated in the plan to blow up the Dome of the Rock for which he was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. The mob seeks to re-establish the Kingdom of Israel and recapture the 'Temple Mount'. Ten members of the group are arrested.
4/5/95: Islamic Higher Council decides to close the Haram ash-Sharif compound to tourists until further notice after Jewish extremists try to enter the compound in order to conduct prayers.
6/8/95: Israeli settlers try to break into Al-Aqsa compound through Bab al-Qattaneen but are prevented by guards.
16/9/95: Muslim High Court releases a statement expressing fear that Israel, in connivance with radical settlers. is trying to take over the Haram ash-Sharif compound.
20/9/95: Despite tremendous local protest Israeli police chief Rubin allows 20 extremist settlers to enter Haram ash-Sharif compound protected by strong police force; the settlers announce that soon they will enter Al-Aqsa Mosque itself.
24/7/96: Israeli High Court passes a resolution allowing small groups of 'Temple Mount Faithful' to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on 25 July to perform 'Jewish religious rights for fast day'. PNA, Jordan and Syria protest. Tens of Jews immediately try to storm the mosque but are blocked by police.
25/7/96: Israeli police escort hundreds of 'Temple Mount Faithful' in pairs to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for prayers; they arrest 12 members of 'Hay Veqayam' who try to enter the site.
24/9/96: Under heavy police guard, Israel undertakes a surprise predawn excavation to complete a long archaeological tunnel that runs under Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. The 12-year-old project was completed only on the personal orders of PM Netanyahu, who intended it as a message to Palestinians that Israel is the 'sole sovereign' in Jerusalem. PNA denounces the tunnel work and calls for a general strike the next day. During the day, Palestinians at the mosque clash with police.
27/9/96: PM Netanyahu deploys 6000 police throughout Israel, 4000 in East Jerusalem. After morning prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, several youths throw stones at Israeli troops and police surrounding the site. Israeli army storms the compound firing on Palestinians, killing 3 and wounding 50. Fighting erupts in Rafah, Tulkarem, Balata, Erez, Jenin and Ramallah. Israeli Arabs observe a general strike in support of their compatriots. A total of 52 Palestinians and 14 Israelis have been killed in clashes over the past 3 days since the tunnel was opened.
28/9/96: UN Security Council passes a resolution regarding the situation in the occupied territories and calls for the 'reversal of all acts which have resulted in the aggravation of the situation' ie the opening of the tunnel.
28/9/00: Likud party leader Ariel Sharon makes his provocative intrusion onto the Haram ash-Sharif compound accompanied by a large police contingent. Hundreds of Palestinians gathered from the early hours of the morning at the compound which houses the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque to protest Sharon's intrusion. After the provocation, Palestinians clash with police who were still present in their hundreds. This marks the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada.
29/9/00: During Friday prayers, the Israeli military enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in force. Israel claims the Palestinians were throwing stones from the courtyard that overlooks the Western Wall. Palestinians affirm that the prayers were not yet finished when the Israeli police entered the compound. Israeli troops open fire killing 7 Palestinian worshippers and injuring more than 200.
Or maybe our Palestinian rioters just couldn't help themselves?
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