Niets nieuws zou je zeggen, als je de titel leest, immers eerder dit jaar werd bekend dat Israël een ‘snelle reactiemacht’* in het leven heeft geroepen om kritiek die er toe doet (dus sociale nieuws/actualiteiten media met een groot aantal gebruikers) onmiddellijk aan te vallen na kritiek op Israël……
Hetzelfde Israël dat zich voordoet als het slachtoffer, terwijl het werkelijke slachtoffer, het Palestijnse volk is, dat door Israël met behulp van de westerse media en politici als de grote agressor wordt neergezet….. Dit terwijl Israël NB al meer dan 70 jaar jaar terreur zaait onder de Palestijnen, met intussen een gigantisch aantal bloedbaden, dit over het algemeen zonder enige kritiek van die westerse politici en reguliere westerse (massa-) media…..
Onbegrijpelijk ook dat het Joodse volk in feite hetzelfde doet als de nazi’s in WOII tegen de Joden deden: hen verjagen van haard en huis, hen demoniseren als moordenaars, gebieden zuiveren van Palestijnen, hen het leven onmogelijk maken en als het even kan massamoorden aanrichten onder Palestijnen…..
Sterker nog: een aantal Israëlische legerofficieren heeft begin jaren 90 van de vorige eeuw, de klok geluid met de mededeling dat zij les kregen uit een SS handboek……. Zo leerden ze hoe je getto’s kan beheersen en hoe wraak te nemen na een daad van verzet, zoals Israël doet als een Palestijn een misdaad tegen een Jood begaat, prompt wordt het huis waar deze Palestijn woonde met de grond gelijk gemaakt, zelfs al zouden daar 2 gezinnen van dezelfde familie wonen…….. Ja ik weet ‘t, de nazi’s gingen nog verder, maar dat neemt niet weg dat Israël veel overeenkomsten heeft met nazi-Duitsland….
Verder heeft Israël enige tijd geleden een natiestaat wet aangenomen, waarmee de regering van de uiterst corrupte Palestijnenslachter Netanyahu heeft toegegeven dat Israël een fascistische apartheidsstaat is…….
Intussen staat er dus een leger pro-Israël trollen klaar om bij de eerste waarschuwing onmiddellijk tot de digitale aanval over te gaan, of het nu alternatieve media of bedrijven zijn, die de enorme terreur tegen de Palestijnen meer dan zat zijn……
Lees en verbaas je over de inhoud van het hieronder opgenomen artikel, overgenomen van Middle East Eye (MEE) en geschreven door Kamel Hawwash:
Criticise Israel and you immediately trigger its army of outraged partisans
Wednesday 12 December 2018 14:14 UTC
Wednesday 12 December 2018 17:01 UTC
Topics:HumanRights
Tags: Israel, Palestine, human rights, Occupation, gaza, West Bank, international law, Internet
An army of social media trolls are at the ready to denounce legitimate criticism of Israel’s occupation and settlement enterprise
Israel was created through violence and terror, which it continues to heap on Palestinians to this day, as it works to fulfill the dream of Zionism – a Jewish state from the river to the sea.
How, then, does it continue to portray itself as the victim, while painting the actual victims – Palestinians – as the aggressors?
It has become a tired and broken record, one that Israel and its ardent supporters play, regardless of the rationality of their arguments. Any criticism of Israel, or any peaceful act to put pressure on the state, draws the same outrage, expressed through carefully thought out, yet irrational, talking points.
Total impunity
Anyone, or any organisation, who dares to criticise the self-proclaimed “only democracy in the Middle East” is accused of being motivated by anti-semitism. Any critical act or protest aimed at pressing Israel to uphold international law, no matter how peaceful, is denounced.
Israel’s treatment with kid gloves is not new; what is new, however, is its launching of the bullying trigger button within seconds of an attack.
While access to the nuclear button is normally reserved for the head of state, any pro-Israel civilian can launch the bullying trigger button, and they are encouraged to do so by Israel. An army of social media trolls linked to Israeli missions abroad have their fingers hovering over this button, ready to defend as soon as they perceive an attack. It’s a button they have pressed repeatedly in recent days.
Take the case of Airbnb. The holiday property listings company enraged the bullying army by withdrawing listings for properties built in illegal Israeli settlements from its website. Pro-Israel critics claimed that Airbnb was singling out Jewish Israeli properties, and therefore, this was anti-semitic.
Breaking international law
The reality is that the settlement enterprise itself is racist, because homes are only built for Jewish Israelis. Imagine the outcry if Britain built homes only for white Christians, banning other inhabitants of Britain from acquiring them. Settlements are also illegal under international law.
Airbnb said it took action because settlements were at the “core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians”.
A statement from the company noted: “US law permits companies like Airbnb to engage in business in these territories. At the same time, many in the global community have stated that companies should not do business here because they believe companies should not profit on lands where people have been displaced.”
A reasonable person would see clear logic in that stance. However, the bullying trigger button was pressed, and an illegal settler is now bringing a lawsuit against Airbnb. Consider that for a moment: an illegal settler is suing a company for a moral and legal act.
It was then the turn of British Quakers to enrage the pro-Israel lobby. Their crime? Divesting from companies that profit from Israel’s illegal occupation. Paul Parker, recording clerk for Quakers in Britain, said in a statement: “With the occupation now in its 51st year, and with no end in near sight, we believe we have a moral duty to state publicly that we will not invest in any company profiting from the occupation.”
More pressure needed
This time, it was the Board of Deputies of British Jews that pressed the bullying trigger button. In a statement, the board’s president, Marie van der Zyl, condemned the decision: “The appalling decision of the Friends House hierarchy to divest from just one country in the world – the only Jewish state – despite everything else going on around the globe, shows the dangers of the obsessive and tunnel-visioned approach that a narrow clique of church officials have taken in recent years.”
Any reasonable person who knows the Quakers would realise that they would have reflected seriously before making such a decision, and that it was based on their deep knowledge of the situation over decades. Divesting from companies that profit from an illegal occupation is moral and legal.
Israel does not recognise that the West Bank and East Jerusalem are occupied. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has deemed it absurd to talk of an occupation, and the long-advertised US “deal of the century” will likely reflect this by avoiding a call to end the occupation.
This will certainly not lead to peace. What is needed is more pressure on Israel to comply with international law and to finally end the occupation of Palestinian land. Airbnb was correct to identify the settlements as a core issue, and it is time that others follow suit.
Whither free speech?
The bullying trigger button will now be pressed regularly, judging by the number of moves to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements.
Chile’s congress overwhelmingly passed a resolution demanding that the government “forbid the entry of products manufactured and coming from Israeli colonies in the occupied Palestinian territory”. This follows hot on the heels of Ireland’s senate passing a bill banning the import of products from illegal Israeli settlements.
The vicious attack on CNN contributor Marc Lamont Hill, fired for standing with Palestinians, shows that Israel is being singled out not for criticism, but rather for protection from accountability.
Free speech, it seems, is a value that most claim to uphold – except those who blindly support Israel. Speak if you want to, they say, but the price will be high. The bullying trigger button can be pressed by anyone in defence of Israeli apartheid.
– Kamel Hawwash is a British-Palestinian engineering professor based at the University of Birmingham and a longstanding campaigner for justice, especially for the Palestinian people. He is a regular columnist and appears regularly in the media as a commentator on Middle East issues. He runs a blog at www.kamelhawwash.com and tweets at @kamelhawwash. He writes here in a personal capacity.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Photo: A handout photo of Israeli troops (AFP)
======================================
* Zie: ‘Israël zet snelle reactiemacht op poten tegen anti-Israëlische kritiek‘
Zie ook:
‘Google Maps veegt Palestijns gebied van de kaart‘
‘De film over de pro-Israëlische lobby in de VS, die Israël verboden wil zien………‘
‘Jeremy Corbyn wordt gedemoniseerd als antisemiet…….‘
‘Britse justitie gaat ‘hate crimes’ van Labour onderzoeken‘
‘Israël en VS werken samen in tegenwerken van critici op beleid t.a.v. Palestijnen‘
![UN peacekeepers on 26 September 2011 [Chatham House/Flickr]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2011_9-26-UN-Peacekeepers6211721466_4709734097_o.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&quality=75&strip=all&ssl=1)