AntiSemitism > Amnesty's disgracefully racist report; Palestinians delight in its lies; Whoopi confuses race and colour

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Israel, Jewish orgs slam new Amnesty report,

‘originating from hate’

January 31, 2022

 

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (Oliiver Fitoussi/Flash90)

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs published the following announcement regarding an anti-Israel Amnesty UK report due to be published Tuesday.

By MFA Spokesman

The State of Israel absolutely rejects all the false allegations that appear in the report that Amnesty is expected to publish tomorrow.

The report consolidates and recycles lies, inconsistencies, and unfounded assertions that originate from well-known anti-Israeli hate organizations, all with the aim of reselling damaged goods in new packaging. Repeating the same lies of hate organizations over and over does not make the lies reality, but rather makes Amnesty illegitimate.

 

In publishing this false report, Amnesty UK uses double standards and demonization in order to delegitimize Israel. These are the exact components from which modern antisemitism is made.

The report denies the State of Israel’s right to exist as the nation state of the Jewish people. Its extremist language and distortion of historical context were designed to demonize Israel and pour fuel onto the fire of antisemitism.

A few days after International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we once again learn that antisemitism is not just a part of history, but unfortunately, is also part of today’s reality. Just last weekend, Jews were attacked in London simply because they were Jewish. Amnesty’s report effectively serves as a green light for the perpetrators and others to harm not only Israel, but Jews around the world.

The State of Israel is a strong and vibrant democracy that grants all its citizens equal rights, regardless of religion or race. The State of Israel was established as the national home of the Jewish people with broad international support, in light of the lessons of the Holocaust.

 

Amnesty criticizes the very existence of the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, and effectively denies its right to exist at all.

It is not surprising that this report is being published by the British branch of Amnesty International, and under the auspices of the organization’s Secretary General. This branch is notorious for being corrupted by racism and xenophobia, and the organization’s Secretary General has previously accused Israel – with no basis or evidence – of murdering Arafat.

It is not surprising that it took Amnesty eight years to back down from this serious and baseless accusation.

We call on Amnesty to withdraw from the report which is set to be published. This is a report which would be preferable not to publish at all, given that it does not respect those who truly value and are trying to project human rights.

 

The State of Israel will continue to promote the values of democracy and inclusiveness, in whose light it was established and continues to exist.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid: “Amnesty was once an esteemed organization that we all respected. Today, it is the exact opposite. It is not a human rights organization, but just another radical organization that echoes propaganda with no serious examination.

“Instead of seeking facts, Amnesty quotes lies spread by terrorist organizations. Five minutes of serious factchecking were enough to know that the facts that appeared in the report published this week were a delusion divorced from reality.

“Israel is not perfect, but it is a democracy committed to international law and open to scrutiny, with a free press and strong Supreme Court.

 

“Amnesty does not call Syria an ‘apartheid state’ – a country whose government murdered half a million of its own citizens – nor Iran or any other corrupt and murderous regime in Africa or Latin America. I hate to use the argument that if Israel were not a Jewish state, nobody in Amnesty would dare argue against it, but in this case, there is no other possibility.”

WJC, ADL weigh in; ‘nothing constructive to offer’

World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder said that “this report highlights, once again, the repeated bias Israel is targeted with as the only Jewish state.

“By issuing this one-sided and blatantly politicized report which totally ignores both Palestinian acts of terrorism and Israel’s obligation to defend its citizens against such terrorism, Amnesty International UK is consciously participating in the ongoing insidious campaign to demonize the State of Israel.”

“The report does absolutely nothing to offer a constructive way forward and has no real interest in promoting the human rights of Palestinians or advancing peace and a lasting two-state solution. It will only serve, like previous similar prejudiced reports, to fuel the fires of antisemites under the guise of political correctness. The working definition of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance also clearly states that the application of such double standards is antisemitism. I will never stop condemning and fighting against this and all other abusive attempts to delegitimize the State of Israel,” Lauder said.

 

“This new report goes beyond criticizing Israeli policies and actions to painting Israel’s very creation as illegitimate, immoral, and faulted,” the Anti-Defamation League stated.

Amnesty International’s allegations that Israel’s crimes go back to the sin of its creation in 1948, serve to present the Jewish and democratic state as singularly illegitimate at its foundational roots.

“Such a hateful characterization not only delegitimizes the Israeli state enterprise and the Jewish right to self-determination in its historic homeland, but also undermines the vision of a mutually negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that will provide security, dignity, and self-determination to both peoples,” the ADL said.

“In addition, by using extreme language to attack Israel – including calling it an apartheid state, accusing it of ethnic cleansing and of committing war crimes – it feeds into an environment that emboldens those who seek to dismantle Israel, and casts aspersions on those who support a Jewish and democratic state, including the vast majority of Jews around the world and creates fertile ground for a hostile and at times antisemitic discourse.

“In an age of expanding antisemitism, this cost simply cannot be ignored.”

Palestinians, BDS celebrate Amnesty report alleging

Israeli apartheid

February 1, 2022

 

Palestinians, BDS celebrate Amnesty report alleging Israeli apartheidAn anti-Israel ‘apartheid wall’ at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. (Students for Justice in Palestine at UTK Facebook page)

 

Palestinian officials are hoping the anti-Israel report will lead to prosecution of the Jewish state at the International Criminal Court.

By World Israel News Staff

The Palestinian Authority and anti-Israel groups are praising the Amnesty International report released yesterday that accuses Israel of practising apartheid.

“The State of Palestine welcomes the report by Amnesty International on Israel’s apartheid regime and racist policies and practices against the Palestinian people,” the PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, The Jerusalem Post reported.

 

“Amnesty International joins a long list of distinguished Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organizations and experts in exposing Israel’s colonial occupation for what it is: an institutionalized system of oppression and domination over the Palestinian people, designed to legitimize its colonial settlement expansion, deny the Palestinian people their inalienable right to self-determination, and erase Palestinian history, present, and future in their homeland,” the statement reads.

Palestinian officials are hoping the anti-Israel report will lead to prosecution of the Jewish state at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Senior PLO official Ahmed Majdalani praised the report, the Post said, calling it “an international testimony and new documentation that qualifies to prosecute Israel for its crimes.” The report, he said, “gives an accurate description of the racist and fascist occupation practices and war crimes” against the Palestinians.

Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative party, called on the Arabs to stop normalizing their relations with Israel due to the Amnesty report’s allegations.

“It is shameful for some Arab countries to normalize their relations with the apartheid regime,” Barghouti said. “Instead, the Arabs should boycott it and impose sanctions on it.”

Yuval Shany, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute and a member of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law, said it’s “highly unlikely” the ICC would pursue apartheid allegations given the complexities involved, AP reported.

Using the language of apartheid is “a bridge too far,” he said.

“We warmly welcome the publication of Amnesty International’s report, titled, “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel system of domination and crime against humanity,” The BDS Movement said in a press release calling for donations. “Our South Africa moment is nearing. With your support, we can and shall #DismantleApartheid to live in freedom, justice and equality.”

“The State of Israel absolutely rejects all the false allegations that appear in the report,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“The report consolidates and recycles lies, inconsistencies, and unfounded assertions that originate from well-known anti-Israeli hate organizations, all with the aim of reselling damaged goods in new packaging. Repeating the same lies of hate organizations over and over does not make the lies reality, but rather makes Amnesty illegitimate.”

=========================================================================================

The president of ABC News told Goldberg to reflect on her “upsetting and hurtful” comments

Whoopi Goldberg suspended over Holocaust comments

Whoopi Goldberg arrives to "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in Manhattan on January 31, 2022

in New York City © Getty Images / Robert Kamau;  GC Images

‘The View’ co-host Whoopi Goldberg was suspended from the show for two weeks after she sparked outrage by suggesting that the Holocaust was not about race.

In a memo to staffers on Tuesday, ABC News President Kimberly Godwin announced that Goldberg had been suspended “effective immediately” for making the “misinformed, upsetting and hurtful” comments.

“These decisions are never easy, but necessary,” Godwin said, claiming that Goldberg’s comments did not align with ABC News’ values.

Though Godwin praised Goldberg for apologizing and inviting Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt on The View on Tuesday to discuss “the importance of educating about the Holocaust,” the ABC News president concluded that “words matter” and that further action would be necessary.

While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments. The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities.

Isn't Goldberg a Jewish name?

Goldberg sparked controversy on Monday after she said that the Holocaust – which led to the murder of millions of Jews, Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Serbs, gypsies, and others – wasn’t “about race” as it involved “two white groups of people” and was instead “about man’s inhumanity to man.”

Meghan McCain says work culture at tv show The View was so ‘TOXIC’ she ‘threw up in a garbage can’ after spat with Joy Behar

In a statement issued shortly afterwards, Goldberg said she had since been “corrected” and apologized to the Jewish community “for the hurt I have caused.”

During Greenblatt’s appearance on The View, Goldberg asked the ADL CEO to “explain why the Holocaust was about race.”

Following the discussion, Greenblatt called Goldberg a “long-time ally of the Jewish community” and said her apology was “very much welcome.”

Has she confused 'race' with 'colour'?

========================================================================================

Libyans Who Once Opposed Gaddafi Now Regret Western-Led Regime Change

Who actually benefits from American-led wars across the globe? The aftermath of American-led conflicts shows it is not the common people, though the military and politicians vow they are liberating and protecting them.

The Sunday Mail, Zimbabwe’s “leading family newspaper,” has published accounts of a number of Libyans who expressed regret over Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow in 2011, despite the fact some of them even took up arms against him. 

As one said:

“‘I joined the revolution in the first days and fought against Gaddafi,’ former revolutionary fighter Mohammed, 31, said from the southern city of Murzuq. ‘Before 2011, I hated Gaddafi more than anyone. But now, life is much, much harder, and I have become his biggest fan.’”

In 2011, we were told Gaddafi was going to commit grave bloodshed against his own people and that as a result, the international community needed to intervene to protect Libyan civilians. This proved to be false, according to an analysis of statistics obtained by Human Rights Watch. Further, an investigation conducted by Amnesty International also found a number of claims against Gaddafi were fabricated, as noted by the Independent:

“Nato leaders, opposition groups and the media have produced a stream of stories since the start of the insurrection on 15 February, claiming the Gaddafi regime has ordered mass rapes, used foreign mercenaries and employed helicopters against civilian protesters.

“An investigation by Amnesty International has failed to find evidence for these human rights violations and in many cases has discredited or cast doubt on them. It also found indications that on several occasions the rebels in Benghazi appeared to have knowingly made false claims or manufactured evidence.”

Is it possible that Hillary didn't properly secure the Benghazi embassy because she thought the rebels there were on her side?

The so-called “no-fly zone” the U.N. Security Council Resolution authorized did not allow for regime change, something NATO representatives further promised their Eastern counterparts would not happen. The resolution only authorized the coalition forces to take all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack in the country, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory. The resolution requested that the coalition immediately inform the Secretary-General of such measures.

What this “no-fly zone” actually entailed was a full-scale assault on Gaddafi’s forces to ensure none of his aircraft could fly within his own country’s airspace. It also meant anything capable of taking out a coalition warplane would also have to be destroyed.

All of these NATO bombs were allegedly intended to protect civilians.

Furthermore, a Libyan rebel commander went on record to admit his fighters included al-Qaeda-linked jihadists who had fought against U.S. troops in Iraq. These fighters, known at the time as al-Qaeda in Iraq, are now referred to as ISIS. It should be no surprise that ISIS now has a stronghold in Libya following the fall of Gaddafi.

Before the NATO onslaught, Libya had the highest standard of living of any country in Africa. This meant the people enjoyed state-sponsored healthcare, high literacy rates, and other benefits that come with living in a relatively prosperous society. 

In 2015 alone, the country fell 27 places on the U.N. Human Development Index ratings. According to UNICEF, there are now two million Libyan children out of school.

Consumers of corporate media might also be surprised to learn Libya had an inclusive and progressive democracy where decision-making was conducted at the local level. It was not the dictatorship Sacha Baron Cohen incorrectly portrayed in his film, The Dictator.

Regardless of one’s views of Gaddafi, the former Libyan leader was able to provide stability and good governance to the people of Libya. It may be the case that he was responsible for torturing scores of dissidents, but one should bear in mind that the United Kingdom would actually send those dissidents to Gaddafi, knowing full well they would be tortured.

Making this corruption even juicier, former French leader Nicolas Sarkozy, the man who essentially had Gaddafi assassinated, was actually under investigation for having accepted 50 million euros from Gaddafi for his election campaign.

Are we supposed to trust these corrupt politicians to protect the interests of civilians?

To the warmongers within the American political establishment, the destruction of the Libyan way of life was nothing but a game.

As stated by Libyan medical student, Salem:

“We thought things would be better after the revolution, but they just keep getting worse and worse.

“Far more people have been killed since 2011 than during the revolution or under 42 years of Gaddafi’s rule combined.

“We never had these problems under Gaddafi.

“There was always money and electricity and, although people did not have large salaries, everything was cheap, so life was simple.

“Some of my friends have even taken the boat to Europe with the migrants because they feel there is no future for them here.

“I would like to escape this mess and study abroad but I have been waiting a year for a new passport and, even when I do get one, it will be hard to get a visa because all the embassies left in 2014.

“So now I feel like a prisoner in my own country. And I have started to hate my own country.”

This article (Libyans Who Once Opposed Gaddafi Now Regret US-Led Regime Change) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Darius Shahtahmasebi and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article to edits@theantimedia.org.

It should also be pointed out that there were few, if any, migrants passing through Libya on their way to Europe while Gadaffi was in power. Now, they are endless and many end up being held prisoner for months as they are ransomed by lawless gangs. Female migrants frequently suffer from rape, ransom and slavery. There is very little law and order as there are several groups of criminal and/or terrorist gangs vying for control of the country.

Are the tactics used in Libya similar to those being used in Syria? It seems obvious that western interference in both Libya and Syria have managed to accomplish only despair for the people and have literally manufactured the migrant crisis in Europe. Actions in both countries are both illegal and immoral and we will probably learn absolutely nothing from it.

Haunting Image of Al Assad 'Crematorium'

As I have stated before, I don't trust American intelligence; it is far too susceptible to political control. Nevertheless, here is the latest offering for what it's worth.

US accuses Syrian regime of converting prison into makeshift facility for burning thousands of bodies

A satellite view of part of the Sednaya prison complex near Damascus, Syria is seen in a still image from a video briefing provided by the U.S. State Department on May 15, 2017. Image Credit: Reuters

AFP

Washington: The United States on Monday accused the Syrian regime of installing a prison crematorium to destroy the remains of thousands of murdered detainees, piling pressure on Russia to rein in its ally.

Warning Moscow it should not turn a blind eye to Bashar Al Assad’s crimes, the State Department released satellite images that it said backed up reports of mass killings at a Syrian jail.

“The United States is on record, has stated many times, that we are appalled by the atrocities that have been carried out by the Syrian regime,” said Stuart Jones, the top US diplomat for the Middle East.

“And these atrocities have been carried out seemingly with the unconditional support from Russia and Iran.”

And he added a warning to President Vladimir Putin’s government: “Russia must now, with great urgency, exercise its influence over the Syrian regime to guarantee that horrific violations stop now.”

One newly released image, a commercial satellite photograph dating back to January 2015, shows snow melting on the roof of a building attached to the Sednaya military complex north of Damascus.

This, along with an earlier picture allegedly showing heavy-duty ventilation systems on the structure, appear to support earlier claims by rights groups that Sednaya is an execution centre.

‘Cover up’

“Beginning in 2013, the Syrian regime modified a building within the Sednaya complex to support what we believe is a crematorium,” said Jones, currently an acting assistant secretary of state.

“Although the regime’s many atrocities are well documented, we believe that the building of a crematorium is an effort to cover up the extent of the mass murders taking place in Sednaya.”

Jones said Washington’s information came from credible humanitarian agencies and from the US “intelligence community” — implying that classified evidence beyond the commercial pictures exists.

“The regime holds as many as 70 prisoners in Saydnaya in cells that have a five-person capacity,” Jones alleged.

“And according to multiple sources, the regime is responsible for killing as many as 50 detainees per day at Sednaya.”

He did not give an official estimate for the total number killed, but cited an Amnesty International report that between 5,000 and 11,000 had died between 2011 and 2015 in the prison.

Al Assad’s regime, he alleged, has detained between 65,000 and 117,000 people over the same period — the first five years of a civil war that has left hundreds of thousands dead.

One satellite photograph presented by Jones dated to January 2015, more than two years ago, and it was not immediately clear why the United States waited to present its evidence.

Jones told reporters Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had raised concerns about Al Assad’s brutality with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his visit to Washington last week.

Sarin attack

Moscow, along with Iran, is the Al Assad regime’s main foreign backer and Washington believes Russian pressure is the only thing that will compel its ally to negotiate a peace deal.

“I would say that this information has been developing,” Jones said on the timing of the crematorium allegation.

Jones said Washington is not specifically accusing Moscow or Tehran of complicity in the alleged Saydnaya killings, but said Russia is aware of and has supported other abuses.

And he said last week’s visit by Lavrov to the White House was “an opportune time to remind people about the atrocities that are being carried out inside of Syria all the time.”

US President Donald Trump came to office vowing to focus US efforts in Syria on defeating Daesh in the east of the country.

And he said he hoped to work with Putin, whose forces are in Syria to protect Al Assad’s regime, in this goal.

But relations with Moscow, already dire under Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, have not improved and Al Assad has continued to bombard civilian areas in his battle with opposition rebels.

Then last month, when Al Assad was again accused of using the banned nerve agent sarin in a strike on his own people, Trump ordered a retaliatory US cruise missile strike on a Syrian air base.

Failed Turkish Coup Attempt Sympathizers Suffer Torture & Rape – Amnesty

If you feared for the health and well-being of the thousands

of people arrested by Turkey, your fears were justified

A policeman checks a soldier beaten by the mob after troops involved in the coup attempt surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. © Murad Sezer / Reuters

Amnesty International has gathered “credible evidence” that people arrested in relation to the past week’s failed coup attempt have been often arbitrary detained, deprived of contacts with family and lawyers as well as go through “severe” tortures.

The detainees arrested over alleged links to the foiled coup attempt are being arbitrarily held, sometimes in informal detention places such as sports centers and stables. They are also not properly informed about the charges against them, Amnesty International said in a statement, published on its official website.

Some detainees, including at least three judges, were held in the corridors of courthouses.

Amnesty also obtained “extremely alarming accounts of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees” from their lawyers, doctors and a person on duty in a detention facility.

According to these reports, police held detainees in stress positions for up to 48 hours, denied them food, water and medical treatment, verbally abused and threatened them and subjected them to beatings and torture, including rape and sexual assault.

Based on the information given by a person on duty at Ankara Police Headquarters’ sports hall to Amnesty, a detainee suffered severe wounds after apparently being beaten by police. He could not stand up or focus his eyes and he eventually lost consciousness. Police refused to allow this detainee to receive basic medical treatment and a police doctor reportedly said: “Let him die. We will say he came to us dead.”

According to the evidence obtained by Amnesty, 650-800 male soldiers were being held in the Ankara police headquarters sports hall. At least 300 of them had signs proving that they were beaten, with some of them even having broken bones. About 40 were unable to walk because of serious injuries sustained in custody.

Amnesty also collected accounts of police officers saying that the detainees are being beaten so that “they would talk.” Many detainees are also handcuffed behind their backs with plastic zip-ties and forced to kneel for hours or are blindfolded.

At the same time, Amnesty stressed that the worst treatment in detention was reserved for higher-ranking military officers. Two lawyers in Ankara told the NGO they saw senior military officers in detention being raped with a truncheon or finger by police officers.

Amnesty International interviewed more than 10 lawyers in both Ankara and Istanbul who gave information about the conditions of their clients’ confinement. The lawyers represented up to 18 detainees each.

Most of their clients are soldiers but there are also judges, prosecutors, police, and other civil servants among them.

The interviewees also told the human rights organization that based on what detainees told them police deprived them of food for up to three days and water for up to two days. Some detainees are also reportedly in extreme emotional distress and even attempt suicide.

“Reports of abuse including beatings and rape in detention are extremely alarming, especially given the scale of detentions that we have seen in the past week. The grim details that we have documented are just a snapshot of the abuses that might be happening in places of detention,” said Amnesty International’s Europe director John Dalhuisen.

"It is absolutely imperative that the Turkish authorities halt these abhorrent practices and allow international monitors to visit all these detainees in the places they are being held,” he added, stressing that “failing to condemn ill-treatment or torture in these circumstances is tantamount to condoning it.”

Amnesty also stressed that depriving detainees of access to lawyers and family and holding them in unofficial detention facilities as well as arbitrary detentions amount to “enforced disappearance which in itself is a crime under international law.”

This practice places detainees outside the protection of the law and cuts them off from the outside world, putting them at very high risk of torture or even extrajudicial execution, the NGO stressed.

Amnesty also emphasized that independent monitors must be allowed to access detainees amid torture allegations and called on the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) to conduct an emergency visit to Turkey to monitor conditions of detention.

As a member of the Council of Europe, the Turkish government has an obligation to cooperate with the CPT, it said.

“Amnesty International urges the Turkish authorities to adhere to their obligations under international human rights law and not to abuse the state of emergency by trampling on the rights of detainees,” said John Dalhuisen.

Following a failed coup attempt on July 15, Turkey launched a massive crackdown on the alleged coup supporters. It also introduced a state of emergency on Wednesday, which, according to the deputy prime minister, means a means temporary suspension of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In total, 13,165 people have been detained for alleged involvement in the foiled coup attempt in Turkey that occurred on Friday July 15, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

“Some 8,838 among the detained are soldiers, 2,101 are judges and prosecutors, 1,485 are police officers, 52 are local authorities and 689 are civilians,” he said as quoted by Turkish Hurriyet daily.

In the meantime, 934 schools, 109 dormitories, 15 universities, 104 foundations, 35 health institutions, 1,125 associations and 19 unions were closed over alleged links to what Erdogan described as “the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization.” Their assets were seized by the state.

On Saturday, Turkish authorities arrested a man, whom a presidency official described as the "right hand" of US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused of masterminding the failed coup attempt.

Earlier Saturday, Muhammet Sait Gulen, Fettulah Gulen’s nephew, was arrested on the orders of the chief prosecutor of Ankara.

Meanwhile, Erdogan told France 24 on Saturday that the arrested coup plotters “are starting to confess.” He also justified the imposition of the state of emergency by saying that it is actually aimed at supporting and strengthening democracy. He also said that it could easily be prolonged if necessary.

"Starting to confess" - out of a guilty conscience, I'm sure....