Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land

U.S. Media and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict I


Part II


Thanks to Yasmin Ahmad for sharing these excellent documentary videos in her blog. She also appeared live on Gala TV on Malaysia's CNN channel, Astro Awani last night where she talked about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict videos (above) posted in her blog and also on the SMS by Dr Jemilah of Mercy Malaysia regarding the current state of affairs in Gaza and the situation in Egypt border where the Mercy Malaysia team are currently stationed.

Palestinian issue aside, I think it's pretty amazing to see how influential blogs can be nowadays. In the early days, bloggers used to pick up news from the media and post up analysis or comments, but now it seems to be the other way round. The media are now contacting bloggers to discuss about their blog posts. So, out of curiosity, I visited Yasmin's blog to watch the videos and I think it is probably the best video on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that I have ever watched, from the perspective of media practitioners and journalists.

Below are my brief summary of the video and maybe for the benefit of some readers, I have also noted down the important points in the documentary as references.

It starts with the beginning of the Israeli occupation after the end of the shameful and disastrous Arab forces defeat in the Six-Day War of 1967..

..In 1967, following a war between Israel and the countries of Syria, Jordan and Egypt, Israel militarily occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem.

..That year, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 242 calling on Israel to withdraw from the Occupied Territories.

..Israel has yet to comply.

..Today, 3 million Palestinians live under military occupation.

Occupation, Military occupation, Illegal occupation, Illegal Jewish settlements, Occupied territories of Gaza and West Bank; These are some of the important words that often being deliberately ignored by the Western media.

The atrocities mentioned in the Amnesty International regular reports on Israel military activities in the occupied territories of West Bank and Gaza.

"unlawful killings"
"torture and ill treatment"
"destruction of homes"
"blocking of ambulances"
"denial of humanitarian assistance"
"civilians as human shield"
And has gone so far to label the acts as WAR CRIME

Here are some of the key points by the interviewees in the documentary;

"..You can't 'defend yourself' when you're militarily occupying somebody else's land (commenting on Israel's self-defense excuse)." -- Noam Chomsky


"The context that often missing from the current reporting (referring to US media) is that the Palestinian uprising is a revolt against the 34 year long (note: it should be 42 years by 2009) occupation and if there's no occupation in the story, then the story doesn't really make sense and the occupation is frequently missing" -- Alisa Solomon, Journalist, The Village Voice USA.


"For most American who doesn't understand the history of the conflict, this (referring to U.S. Middle East news report) is an example of riots that are going on where the authorities are taking measures..

What's not mention was the fact that these confrontation are taking place on an occupied territory. the Iraeli troops were there defending an occupation that doesn't have any international legitimacy, that's illegal," -- Seth Ackerman, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, USA


"The Western media, they are concentratng on the violence and not on the reasons, and not on the basic fact of occupation." -- Major Stav Adivi, reserves, Israel Defense Forces, Israel


"The Israel military sends its troops to the occupied territories to defend what is considered an illegal occupation and when the population resist, the Israel is being under attack (as reported in the U.S. media) e.g. 'Israel is under attack..', 'Israel is responding to an attack..', 'Israel retaliates again..'," -- Seth Ackerman, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, USA


"The settlements are illegitimate by international law but what's worst is that many of the occupants, the founders, people who live there today are very aggresive toward Palestinians. They go around fully armed with sub machine gun, carrying grenades and they frequently threaten the Palestinians," --Prof Karen Pfeifer, The Middle East Research & Information Project, USA


"..When you have a population that is being occupied, when their fundamental human right are being systematically denied, when they're not allowed to move from city to city, or from place to place without huge amount of harassment, when they're being subject to torture, when people are in desperate conditions, it's not a surprise that they're going to be very very angry," -- Rabbi Michael Lerner, Founder & Editor, Tikkun Magazine, USA.

Soon as I finished watching the video, I began to wonder how come our local media couldn't come up with such a report, or at least somewhere close to it. Though our government and media have always been supporting the Palestine cause, I think our media are largely too focused on the humanitarian crisis aspect, the poor conditions of the Palestinians, the killings of women and children, the violence of Israeli soldiers etc. while missing out on the main context of the real event, e.g. the military occupation of West Bank and Gaza - the root cause of the Palestinian resistance or intifada which is the crux of the matter. What is also lacking is the 'explanation part' of the event which I feel that the media has the responsibility to educate our public, besides merely reporting day to day incidents, the number of bombings, deaths and so on.

On the other hand, I seriously think that now is perhaps the time for a second Arab revolt to remove the idle kings and dictators of the Arab world. It is pathetic and such a shame that a population of 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa couldn't even come up with a strong consensus to condemn Israel, which comprises of only 6 million population..

I wonder what happen to Fatah's military wing, The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades? Why aren't they joining hands with Hamas to fight the Israeli aggression?


Lastly, here's another insighful article by Seth Ackerman -
Nixed Signal: When Hamas hinted at peace, U.S. media wouldn't take the message

The Gaza massacre in perspective

Prof. Dr. Chandra Muzaffar has yet again written an excellent piece of article in his NST Saturday column with regard to the Gaza air strikes by the Israeli regime.
To understand the issues behind the Israeli onslaught better, Dr. Chandra has outlined at least five key points of the conflict, which according to him, the mainstream media has not highlighted.

One, even after the so-called Israeli "withdrawal" from Gaza in August 2005, the Israeli army has conducted numerous raids and air strikes in Gaza in the name of fighting "terrorism" which have killed hundreds of civilians including women and children. These assaults intensified after Hamas captured the Palestinian Legislative Council in a free and fair election in January 2006. When Hamas ousted its rival Fatah from Gaza in June 2007, Israel went all out to destroy Hamas through military and non-military means.

Two, in spite of Israeli attacks, Hamas, a few violations notwithstanding, observed its June 2008 truce with Israel. Not a single Israeli was killed by Hamas rocket fire during the six-month period of the truce.

The Hamas leadership even proposed a 10-year truce to Israel in April 2008. There was no response from Israel. It was because of continuous Israeli military strikes, the closure of border crossings and a suffocating blockade of Gaza, imposed by Israel, that Hamas was forced to end the truce on Dec 19.

Three, in juxtaposing Hamas rockets with the Israeli arsenal, the media seldom mentions the tremendous asymmetry in military power between the two sides. What are Hamas's homemade rockets compared with the wide range of sophisticated lethal weaponry at the command of the world's fourth most powerful army? The death toll from the present assault tells the whole story: 375 Palestinians to five Israelis as of Dec 30 after four days of air bombardment.

Four, to grasp the significance of this asymmetry one has to place it in the context of the Israeli blockade of Gaza that began soon after Hamas won the 2006 election. By punishing the people of Gaza for voting for Hamas through the imposition of a blockade that has increased poverty and destitution and denies life-saving drugs to the critically ill, Israel has made the victims of its cruel and callous siege even angrier and more desperate. The media has made no attempt to link Hamas's rocket attacks to the siege.

Five, neither has the media explained to the people that at the root of this longstanding conflict that goes back to the beginning of the 20th century is the occupation and annexation of Palestine and the oppression of the Palestinians. [Full article]

Let's hope President-elect Barack Hussein Obama will fulfill at least parts of the global expectation placed on him for achieving peace in the Middle East. Although I am less inclined to be optimistic at this stage, I'd certainly say the Arab-Israeli never ending conflict would be a litmus test for his seriousness in bringing about 'change' and giving 'hope' for the people of the world who put faith in him in the recent presidential election.

Gaza holocaust pictures

A compilation of Israeli flags burned all over the world; from Malaysia, India, to the Middle East and Africa and from England to Peru. And in many other parts, the peace loving people of the world, including the Anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews gathered and protested against the Israeli air strikes in Gaza.

Burn, burn down the Zionist flag!


Johor Bharu, Malaysia (The Star)


London, England (Times Online)


Lima, Peru (Times Online)


Mombasa, Kenya (Daily Nation)


Cairo, Egypt (AlArabiya.net)


Amman, Jordan (UK Reuters)


Baghdad, Iraq (AFP)


Kuwait City, Kuwait (AFP)


Kabul, Afghanistan (AFP)


New Delhi, India (Times Online)

Last but not least, picture of protest by the Neturei Karta or the Jews Against Zionism group based in New York.


New York, USA

Some interesting facts about the Anti Zionist Jews organization taken from their website;

1. Neturei Karta oppose the so-called "State of Israel" not because it operates secularly, but because the entire concept of a sovereign Jewish state is contrary to Jewish Law.
2. The true Jews remain faithful to Jewish belief and are not contaminated with Zionism.
3. The true Jews are against dispossessing the Arabs of their land and homes. According to the Torah, the land should be returned to them.
4. And lastly, the Zionists have illegitimately seized the name Israel and have no right to speak in the name of the Jewish people!

Back in Malaysia, former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in his capacity as the Chairman of the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalise War has issued a strong press statement against the barbaric massacre of the Palestinians in Gaza and called upon the United Nations General Assembly to "condemn Israel the same way that the Security Council condemns Darfur, Rwanda and Burundi and to set up a Tribunal to try Israeli war criminals." Read in full below.
Israel Must be Stopped from Committing Further War Crimes

Azidi & Shalin's wedding

I kick-started the new year by attending Azidi Ameran and Shalin Zulkifli's wedding reception at Shah Alam today. Azidi's mother is mom's former colleague in a local uni, so that's how we got the invitation. Here are some pictures. :)


wedding reception at Azidi's house in Shah Alam



silat performance before the bride and groom


Ayam masywi or "ayam golek". Our local version of Kenny Rogers Roasters

Related news - The Star: Shalin seals 14-year relationship with Azidi

Books of 2008

As usual, by end of the year I will post the list of books read throughout the year. Textbooks and academic journals were excluded. I'll probably share the huge list of journals in another blog. Anyway, here it is.

Local/Asian interest:
1. Strategic Communications (PsyOps, Information Operations and Public Diplomacy): The Relationship Between Governmental 'Information' in the Post 9/11 World - Mohd Rajb Ghani & Philip Taylor
2. Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Hancur Berantakan Dihantam Gelombang Tsunami - Razali Abdullah
3. Dr. Mahathir's Selected Letters to World Leaders : Introduction and Selected Commentaries by Abdullah Ahmad
4. Social Roots of the Malay Left - Rustam A. Sani
5. Achieving True Globalisation - Mahathir Mohamad (Interview by Dr. Kohei Hashimoto)
6. Mencari Jalan Pulang: Daripada Sosialisme Kepada Islam - Kassim Ahmad
7. Hegemony: Justice; Peace - Dr Chandra Muzaffar
8. Lagi Cerpen-Cerpen Underground - Saharil Hasrin Sanin & Faisal Tehrani
9. Jejak-Jejak di Pantai Zaman - Ungku A. Aziz (dan Pendeta Za'ba)
10. Muhammad Abduh: Riwayat Hidup dan Pemikiran - susunan oleh Khairul Anam Che Mentri & 'Ammar Gazali
11. Saasatul Ibaad - Faisal Tehrani
12. Laksamana Cheng Ho dan Asia Tenggara - Leo Suryadinata et al.
13. The Malays of Patani: The Search for Security and Independence - Nik Anuar Nik Mahmud
14. Hikayat Abdullah - Hamzah Hamdani
15. Blogging and Democratization in Malaysia: A New Civil Society in the Making - Jun-E Tan and Zawawi Ibrahim
16. Islam Melayu Komunis: Wawancara Dengan Abdullah C.D., Rashid Maidin, Abu Samah

English/International:
1. People Like Us: How Arrogance is Dividing Islam and the West - Waleed Aly
2. The Unromantic Orient - Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss)
3. In The Time of the Mishmish - Alijah Gordon
4. Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid - Jimmy Carter
5. Chile, The Other September 11: An Anthology of Reflections on the 1973 Coup - Ariel Dorfman et al.
6. Who Needs An Islamic State (Second Edition) - Abdelwahab El-Affendi
7. War of Deception: the facts and fallacies about the war in Iraq - Daim Zainuddin
8. Freud and the Non-European - Edward Said

Happy New Year all!

Gaza Holocaust

[source: peoplesgeography.com]

Malaysia Condemns Israel's Air Strikes In Gaza

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 (Bernama) -- Malaysia strongly condemns the series of Israeli air strikes against the Palestinian neighbourhood of Khan Younis in Southern Gaza yesterday (Dec 27), which left at least 225 Palestinias dead and more than 400 wounded.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement here today said Malaysia stands firm that there is no excuse for the disproportionate, indiscriminate and excessive use of force in Gaza and totally rejects the collective punishment imposed by Israel on the Palestinian people.

"The Israeli attack on Gaza completely disregards international law and is in violation of the United Nations Charter.

"Malaysia considers this act as a war crime and crime against humanity," the statement said.

It came as no surprise to hear the silence and not even a single condemnation from the world powers or even the UN, but it baffles me to see the deep silence and apathy from the Arab leaders. What the hell are they doing when hundreds of their fellow Arab brethren were killed in a series of airstrikes by the Zionist regime of Israel in Gaza.

I wonder when will this come to an end. The world is made to look as if Israel were attacking on the pretext of self defense while claiming the poor and hapless Palestinians as terrorist, where in fact they're the one who are the real terrorist, occupying Gaza and West Bank, denying Palestinians the most basic human rights and other sorts of atrocities against the Palestinians.


Palestinian and Jewish (Israel, from 1948 onwards) land from 1946 - 2000

People of the world should be aware that part of the problem in the Middle East lies to the continuing illegal occupation of Palestinian land since the embarrassing defeat of Arab forces (Jordan, Egypt and Syria) to Israel in the Six Day War in 1967, which caused the annexation of Palestinian lands into Israel. To revert back to the 1948 map would be totally impossible in the present state of international politics, but many moderate Arab leaders have agreed in the past that what they're asking is only a fraction of the original Palestinian land; that is the Palestinian map pre-1967 war. And that too was denied by the Zionist regime. Together with its strongest ally, the US, they had on numerous account ignored all UN resolutions and veto-ed any strong action proposed against Israel.

As long as the Arab leaders are more concern on their own interests and as long as there is no real unity in the Muslim ummah, the prospect of having an independent Palestinian state comprising of Gaza and the West Bank with East Jerusalem as the capital and better future for the Palestinians, looks bleak.

Related article: Israel's Shock and Awe Planned Six Months

Salam Ma'al Hijrah 1430.

Support Wikipedia

Support Wikipedia!

I've just donated 1 US Dollar (or RM3.58) to the Wikimedia Foundation. I know it's a small amount, but imagine if hundreds or thousands of people donating one dollar each. Hehe. Anyways, this is just a simple show of support and gratitude from me to Wikipedia, which I feel is probably one of the best invention since Internet was born.

Al-Fatihah to the Almarhum Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Jaafar ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman who passed away on December 27, 2008.