Monday, January 17, 2011
The Sudden Hysteria of the Israeli Left over Transparency
By Steven Plaut
You will be excused if you have not been following the debate over
proposals to demand that sources of funding for political parties and
activist groups be revealed.
In Ireland.
Curiously, it is the Sinn Fein Party that is demanding that reform.
[See http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/19893# .] Actually, this is not
so unusual. Lots of democracies require disclosure of financial
support from outside the country for political groups operating
therein. Aside from Israel, I doubt any country at all has allowed
funding from abroad for seditious groups supporting the enemies of
their country in time of war.
What a difference between the debate in Ireland and the savage
bloodcurdling hysterical blitz by the Israeli Left (now even being led
by President Shimon Peres) against the proposals to investigate and
expose funding for anti-Israel activist groups operating inside
Israel.
The Israeli Left is putting war paint on and taking to the streets and
to the newspapers. Over the weekend a demonstration by leftists
against the proposal was held in Tel Aviv, complete with PLO flags and
anti-Israel slogans. Haaretz and Yediot say there were thousands who
participated in it, which I guess means that there were hundreds who
participated in it. The demonstration was sponsored in part by the
Israeli communist party, so you can see how devoted the demonstrators
are to freedom and democracy and pluralism. The Israeli leftist media
have gone bonkers and are now self-recruiting to battle the measure en
masse and in near-unison. The left wing of the Likud, led by Meretz
wannabe Dan Meridor, has also come out OPPOSED to the investigation.
And even Netanyahu has been cowed into changing the proposal. Now
instead of investigating the funding of leftist seditious groups
operating in Israel, the government will investigate funding for
groups of both the Left and the Right.
Now there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the demand that groups
from the Right also be subject to a bit of financial transparency and
accountability. But the symmetry conceded by Netanyahu is outrageous
and out of place. The groups of the "Right" operating in Israel are
not actively attempting to achieve Israel's annihilation. They have
their own platforms, with which you are free to disagree or agree.
But the far Leftist groups are seditious groups seeking to harm
Israel. They persecute innocent Israeli army officers, collaborate
with terrorist groups and with the enemies of Israel (like the
flotilla terrorists), support the worldwide boycotts against Israel,
collaborate with anti-Israel figures like Goldstone, endorse forms of
treason like the Palestinian "right of return," promote refusal by
soldiers to serve in the Israeli military. And of course lie through
their latte-stained teeth.
The Left and its amen chorus outside of Israel are trying to
misrepresent the proposal as an assault against nice caring "human
rights" groups in Israel because Israel fears having its "war crimes"
revealed. The reality is that these are anti-Israel and in some cases
anti-Semitic propaganda groups supporting the enemies of Israel in
times of war. They refuse to acknowledge that Jews are entitled to
any human rights at all, certainly not the human right to walk down
the street or sip coffee in a café without being murdered. They have
never ever heard of a Palestinian terrorist atrocity they wish to
denounce.
And to make matters so much worse, many of these same far Leftists are
whining that the proposal to require transparency in their finances is
undemocratic and contrary to freedom of speech. But these are the
very first people to demand that non-Leftists be stripped of THEIR
rights to freedom of expression! These are the far Leftists who
insist that every single denunciation of leftwing sedition is in fact
"McCarthyism." These same whiners about "McCarthyism" led the
massive McCarthyist campaign against freedom of speech for
non-leftists after the Rabin assassination. These are the people who
regard the expression of any opinion with which the Israeli communist
party might disagree to be "racist" and "incitement."
These are the people who demand that Rabbis who suggest that people
not rent property to Arabs in predominantly Jewish neighborhoods be
indicted as racists. And at the same time these are the very same
people marching and signing petitions demanding that no property be
rented or sold to Jews in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood at the
foothills of the Hebrew University or in the "City of David"
neighborhood of Jerusalem. These McCarthyist racists insist that Jews
do not belong in those neighborhoods. Never mind that the "City of
David" was made a Jewish town by King David himself. They also see
nothing bigoted about demanding that Orthodox Jews be prevented from
moving into predominantly secularist neighborhoods where the observant
"do not belong."
Not a single leftwing whiner has spoken out against the Israeli
leftist Prosecutor's harassment and interrogation of Rabbis. Not a
single one has spoken up on behalf of the right of settlers and
"Right-wingers" to express THEIR opinions. Not a single one has
denounced the criminalization of the Kahanists and the suppression of
THEIR right to express their opinions. Not a single one has spoken
out against the selective misuse of Israel's idiotic "anti-racism" law
to harass non-leftists, while there has yet to be a single case in
which that law was used to indict anti-Jewish Arabs or leftists.
Arabs and leftists in Israel may cheer and justify mass terrorist
attacks against Jews. Leftwing professors at Ben Gurion University
may chant (as they recently did) in Arabic: "In spirit and in blood we
will redeem thee, Palestine" and "A Thousand blessings to the shaheed
suicide bombers." But wives of Israeli Rabbis suggesting that Jewish
girls not date Arab men may soon be facing criminal indictment for
"racism."
2. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/141784
Job Offer: Subversive
Shevat 12, 5771, 17 January 11 05:40
by Gil Ronen
(Israelnationalnews.com) "'Human Rights' organizations are searching
for subversives and defamers of soldiers," a new provocative poster by
grassroots Zionist group Im Tirtzu proclaims. (Seen here:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/static/blogs/20110117053036.jpg )
"A global delegitimization campaign requires Israeli employees," says
the poster (at right), which graphically emulates the type of
work-wanted ad that is commonly found on tree trunks in Israeli
cities. "Preference will be given to conscientious objectors,
draft-dodgers and "luminaries" who specialize in hypocrisy,
superciliousness and libel."
The basic salary on offer is no less than $9,000 per month. "The job
includes: promotion of an international boycott of Israel, persecution
of IDF officers and the passing of false information to international
committees."
"For details contact our office in Ramallah or the Al-Aqsa Fund. Dial
*SUBVERSION and secure European citizenship and a company car."
The tongue-in-cheek "job offer" is a reference to the all-too-serious
allegations against Israeli leftist groups like B'Tselem and many
others, which Im Tirtzu alleges receive money from European countries
through a Ramallah-based fund with clear terror connections. The money
funneled through the fund has strings attached, Im Tirtzu says, and
Israeli-based groups that take the money are obliged to use it to
fight Israel.
