Tag Archives: Tel Aviv

Apr 4 2013

Glenn Greenwald’s dishonesty on the rights of women and gays in the Mid-East

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In Glenn Greenwald’s latest column at ‘Comment is Free’ (Sam Harris, the New Atheists and anti-Muslim animus, April 3) he attacks the ”New Atheists” such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens for promoting what he claims is “Islamophobia under the guise of rational atheism”.  

Greenwald lambasts Harris – and, to a lesser extent, Dawkins and Hitchens – for suggesting that the threat posed by Islamic traditions and doctrines to Western political freedom is greater than that of Christianity and Judaism.

Greenwald’s response includes the following passage, which accurately sums up the gist of his narrative.

One can legitimately criticize Islam without being bigoted or racist. That’s self-evident, and nobody is contesting it. And of course there are some Muslim individuals who do heinous things in the name of their religion just like there are extremists in all religions who do awful and violent things in the name of that religion, yet receive far less attention than the bad acts of Muslims Yes, “honor killings” and the suppression of women by some Muslims are heinous, just as the collaboration of US and Ugandan Christians to enact laws to execute homosexuals is heinous, and just as the religious-driven, violent occupation of Palestine, attacks on gays, and suppression of women by some Israeli Jews in the name of Judaism is heinous. That some Muslims commit atrocities in the name of their religion (like some people of every religion do) is also too self-evident to merit debate, but it has nothing to do with the criticisms of Harris.

If you’re wondering how Greenwald backs up his rhetorical inference – that there is moral parity between Muslim countries and Israel regarding the oppression of women and gays – his first link opens to a July 1, 2005 report about a Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade (the previous day) in which one ultra-orthodox man stabbed and lightly wounded three gay participants.

Gay rights in Israel

First, it’s telling that in researching attacks on gays in Israel he had to go back nearly eight years, and chose to focus on one isolated incidence of violence in a country which is – certainly by Mid-East standards and even in comparison to European countries – decidedly gay-friendly. Whilst even in Jerusalem, since the mid 2000′s, the gay pride parade has grown, and has been staged without incident (see CiF Watch’s coverage of last year’s  parade here), in Tel Aviv, as many within the LGBT community knows, they hold one of the most prominent and raucous annual gay pride parades in the world.  In fact, the city was recently voted ‘best gay city’ on a LGBT travel website.  

Additionally, Israeli laws guarantee equal rights for gays.  Israeli gays have represented their country in the Knesset and have been serving openly in the IDF since 1993 (years ahead of the US on such laws). And, in 1994, an Israeli court ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to the same common law benefits as opposite-sex couples.  Israel is also the only country in the Middle East with legal protections for gays from discrimination and hate crimes.

Gay rights in the the Arab and Muslim Middle East

In contrast to Israel, merely engaging in same-sex acts is illegal in most Muslim and Arab countries in the Middle East (including in Gaza), with sentences for such proscribed sexual activity including imprisonment and (in countries like Yemen, Iran and Saudi Arabia) even state execution.  Additionally, gays in some Arab countries are murdered due to their sexuality by extra-judicial “vigilante squads”.  Even in Middle East countries where homosexuality isn’t explicitly outlawed (like in the PA), gays often face harassment, arrests, beatings and even death.

Greenwald’s other link, from the passage cited above, opens to a report on protests by women in Jerusalem over gender based restrictions on davening (praying) at the Kotel (Western Wall).

Women’s rights in Israel: 

Though such issues are of course a legitimate cause for criticism (see our report on the row over praying at the Kotel here), no reasonable person could seriously take issue with the fact that women in Israel enjoy a level of freedom which not only surpasses non-Jewish Middle Eastern countries, but are on par with that of other Western democracies.

Israel codified gender equality within their basic law in 1949 and was the third country in the world to be led by a female prime minister, Golda Meir.  Further, Israeli women continue to be represented in all levels of Israeli society.  They have served as Supreme Court justices, as government ministers, and, in 2013, 23% of the nation’s 120-member Knesset are women.    

As Freedom House reported: ”Women have achieved substantial parity at almost all levels of Israeli society“.

Women’s rights in the Arab and Muslim Middle East:

In contrast to Israel, in the Arab and Muslim Middle East discriminatory laws and misogynistic customs are pervasive.  Here are some examples:

In Egypt, spousal rape is not illegal, the penal code allows for leniency in so-called honor killings, and female genital mutilation is still widely practiced.

In Iran, women cannot obtain a passport without the permission of her husband or a male relative, do not enjoy equal rights under Sharia-based statutes governing divorce, inheritance, and child custody, and “a women’s testimony in court is given only half the weight of a man’s”.  

In Saudi Arabia, women are almost completely excluded from the political process, are not allowed to drive a car, and cannot travel within or outside of the country without a male relative. The religious police “enforce a strict policy of gender segregation” and often use physical punishment to ensure that they dress “modestly” in public. 

In the Palestinian territories, due to laws and societal norms derived (or inspired) in part from Sharia, women are also at a disadvantage in matters of marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Rape and domestic abuse are pervasive, and even “honor killings” are not uncommon and are rarely prosecuted. Under Hamas, “women’s dress and movements in public have been increasingly restricted by the so-called morality police”, who are tasked with enforcing orthodox Islamic customs.

A 2010 Freedom House report on systemic gender discrimination in the Middle East noted that the overall conditions for women have actually worsened (since their previous report in 2005) in three places: Iraq, Yemen, and the West Bank and Gaza.

Finally, though most essays published by Greenwald contain serious distortions, the suggestion in his recent post that there is anything resembling moral equivalence between Israel and its Muslim and Arab neighbors in the rights afforded to women and gays is an out-and-out lie – and effectively illustrates the propagandistic style constantly employed by such Guardian Left activists. 

israel_freedom

Map of political freedom in the Mid-East, per the human rights group ‘Freedom House’. (courtesy of CAMERA)

UPDATE: Read a great post on Greenwald’s egregious misrepresentation of Sam Harris’s views here.

Related articles
Feb 25 2013

The Guardian’s Phoebe Greenwood ignores Arafat Jaradat’s terror affiliation

Israeli pathologists involved in the autopsy of a Palestinian prisoner named Arafat Jaradat, who died in Megiddo Prison on Saturday, are awaiting the results of toxicology tests (that might take weeks to receive) which may definitively determine the cause of death.

The death of Jaradat, who was arrested on Feb. 18 after residents in his West Bank village reported that he “was involved in a rock-throwing attack” that injured an Israeli, sparked rioting in Hebron and other cities in the West Bank – a characteristic rush to judgement by Palestinian radicals which mirrors the journalistic rush to judgement by Phoebe Greenwood.

Greenwood led her Feb. 24 Guardian report with unsubstantiated claims by the Palestinian Authority that Jaradat died as the result of torture.

greenwoodHere’s how the story is presented on the Guardian’s home page, employing inverted quotes around the words “tortured in prison” and deleting the qualifier, “says Palestinian Authority”.

Hebron

Greenwood’s piece begins thusly:

A Palestinian prisoner whose death in Israeli custody fanned violent clashes across the West Bank over the weekend was tortured before he died, the Palestinian Authority has said.

The results of an autopsy conducted in Tel Aviv were revealed at a press conference in Ramallah on Sunday evening after a day of angry protests across the West Bank and Gaza in which dozens were injured.

The findings contradict the Israeli prison service’s claim that Arafat Jaradat died on Saturday from a cardiac arrest.

A Palestinian doctor’s investigations found that while Jaradat’s arteries were clear, the state of his body suggested he had been beaten in the days before his death.

It isn’t until the fifth paragraph that the Israeli version is emphasized.

That contrasts with an Israeli health ministry statement that said that the autopsy found “no signs of external trauma … apart from those pertaining to resuscitation [attempts] and a small graze on the right side of his chest”.

It said: “No evidence of disease was found during the autopsy. Two internal hemorrhages were detected, one on the shoulder and one on the right side of the chest. Two ribs were broken, which may indicate resuscitation attempts. The initial findings cannot determine the cause of death. At this stage, until microscopic and toxicology reports are in, the cause of death cannot be tied to the autopsy findings.”

Then, we’re treated to Greenwood’s selective bio of Jaradat.

The 30-year-old, a petrol station worker and father of two, was arrested on 18 February in relation to a stone-throwing incident in November during which an Israeli was slightly injured. [emphasis added]

However, unbeknownst to those who depend on the Guardian as their source for information on events in the Palestinian territories, when Jaradat wasn’t working in a petrol station and providing for his two children, he was evidently involved in other, far less noble pursuits.

According to multiple sources, including even the BBC and Arab sites such as Ahram Online, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, Jaradat was a member of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade – the terror group affiliated with Fatah.

Here’s the relevant passage from Ahram:

“Al Aqsa brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah national liberation movement, mourns with all pride its hero, the martyr of freedom, the prisoner Arafat Jaradat,” the statement said, in reference to Jaradat’s membership of the group.

Here’s Al Jazeera:

Palestinians said Jaradat was a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement.

Remarkably, even Wafa, the official Palestinian Authority news agency, reported on Jaradat’s ‘suspected’ affiliation:

Violent clashes with Israeli soldiers broke out after the death of prisoner Arafat Jaradat, a father of three and charged of affiliation with al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, in Megiddo Israeli prison Saturday as a result to possible torture during interrogation.

Whilst the PA’s motivation for propagandizing about Jaradat’s death is clear – and thoroughly consistent with what many believe has been their tacit encouragement for the increasing number of violent Palestinian confrontations with the IDF in recent weeks – Greenwood’s putative role as a professional journalist requires that she avoid ideologically inspired, selective reporting.  

Though we likely won’t learn the cause of Jaradat’s death for weeks, until that time we can be assured that subsequent Guardian reports on the incident will continue to ignore information which interferes with desired narratives invariably showing the deceased Palestinian prisoner in the most favorable light.

Related articles
Dec 29 2012

Guardian’s capital lie included in CAMERA’s Top 10 MidEast Media Mangles

Our friends at CAMERA published a 2012 end-of-year top-ten list of the most egregious false accusations about Israel in the media.  Coming in at number 5 was the Guardian’s ‘ever-changing Israeli capital.

Style Guide

CAMERA wrote the following:

Originally, The Guardian correctly stated in the caption of a photograph that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Days later, they issued a “correction” saying they had “wrongly referred to the city as the Israeli capital. The Guardian style guide states: ‘Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel; Tel Aviv is.’”

Nearly four months after that, following many complaints, The Guardian re-corrected, sort of, writing:

text

Got it?

 

Dec 18 2012

Guardian fails to take home top prize at 2012 Dishonest Reporting Awards

It just wasn’t their year.

Oh, how they tried to repeat the performance which earned them the 2011 HonestReporting ‘Dishonest Reporting Award‘, but it simply wasn’t to be.

Though the Guardian failed to take home the top prize this year, they did receive less high-profile awards for their denial of reality itself (Biggest Train Wreck Over Principle: The Guardian, and UK Press Complaints Commission) by telling readers that Tel Aviv was Israel’s capital, as well one for most antisemitic cartoon (Most Anti-Semitic-Themed Cartoon: Steve Bell, The Guardian) for a depiction of feckless, slavish British leaders being controlled like a puppet by Israel’s Prime Minister.

While this year’s winner, Haaretz’s Gideon Levy, indeed deserves credit for a very compelling polemical performance in attempting to convince readers that Israelis support apartheid, the Guardian’s body of deceit for the year was, at least in the eyes of this blogger,  impressive nonetheless.

The Guardian’s editor, Alan Rusbridger, interviewed after being informed by HonestReporting’s judges that their media group lost the coveted award, said the following:

“Though it’s rare for a media institution to take home two Dishonest Reporting prizes in a row, we really thought our overall anti-Israel bias was the most effective in a very crowded anti-Zionist field, and should have won.  In addition to elevating Tel Aviv to the status of Israel’s capital, and publishing a cartoon indistinguishable from what’s found in the most Judeophobic Arab media, I’m also quite proud of the work done by Chris McGreal, whose characterization of the US relationship with Israel as ‘slave-like’ earned him a coveted spot in CST’s 2011 Report on Antisemitic Discourse. 

And, naturally, we thought that the buzz over Deborah Orr’s pejorative reference to Jews as ‘The Chosen People’ would also get the judges attention. 

Overall we had a great year of obsessively dishonest reporting about Jews and Israel and, while we congratulate Gideon Levy for his simply sublime smear of the Jewish state, we respectfully believe that the award academy overlooked our overall body of work. After all, we literally wrote the book on how to avoid reporting fairly about Israel and making antisemitism respectable among the liberal elite.”

academy

Rusbridger and Levy react to Dishonest Reporting Award announcement

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Nov 29 2012

65 years ago today: Guardian misses one key element of 1947 UN partition

Today is the 65th anniversary of the passage of UN General Assembly Resolution 181 on the future status of British ruled Palestine. 

The Guardian’s Picture of the Day, Nov. 29, in recognition of this event in history, includes the following iconic image of Israelis celebrating in the streets of Tel Aviv shortly after the UN vote codifying their right to statehood.

Here’s the Guardian headline and strap line for the pictorial post.

Do you notice any information missing from the strap line?

Well, it seems that they failed to mention one quite significant element of the UN resolution (which passed with 33 votes in favor, 13 against, 10 abstentions and one absent). Res. 181 not only called for the creation of a Jewish state, but the creation of an Arab one as well.

The Jews accepted partition.  

The Arabs didn’t accept partition, refused to compromise on any outcome other than a single unitary Arab state and launched a war when Israel declared independence in May, 1948.

While the UN debates Palestinian statehood tonight in NYC, it’s important to remember that on this day, 65 years ago, a Palestinian state was offered by the international community, accepted by the Jews, but rejected by the Arabs.

Proposed borders per UN Resolution 181 in 1947.

Nov 21 2012

Minutes after Tel Aviv terror attack, Glenn Greenwald praises Seumas Milne’s defense of ‘armed resistance’

At a little past noon today a terrorist attacked Israeli civilians on a bus traveling through Central Tel Aviv, injuring 21.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. 

Here are a few highlights from Glenn Greenwald’s latest post, ‘The “both-sides-are-awful” dismissal of Gaza ignores the key role of the US government‘, Nov. 21, published roughly 20 minutes after the attack.

“Israel has turned Gaza “into an open-air prison that is designed to collectively punish hundreds of thousands of human beings.“

the US government is doing nothing of the sort. It is fueling, funding and feeding the Israeli war machine, and, with its own militaristic conduct, is legitimizing the premises of Israeli aggression.”

Greenwald also praises the recent essay by Seumas Milne:

“As my Guardian colleague Seumas Milne superbly detailed in his column Tuesday night, the overarching fact of this conflict is that the Palestinians, for decades now, have been brutally occupied, blockaded, humiliated, deprived of the most basic human rights of statehood and autonomy though the continuous application of brute, lawless force (for that reason, those who like to righteously condemn Hamas’ rockets (Pierce, defending Obama; “he happened to be correct the other day. No country can tolerate the bombing of its citizens”) have the obligation to state what form of legitimate resistance Palestinians have to all of this). [emphasis added]

…

That one should vehemently condemn rocket attacks on civilians and bombs on Tel Aviv buses outside of an Israeli military facility does not mean sanctioning the years-long fueling of the Israeli side of this conflict by the US government.” [emphasis added]

First, what significance does Greenwald place in the fact that the civilian bus happened to be near an Israeli military facility?

The military facility wasn’t targeted – innocent men, women and children were.

More importantly, however, here’s the key passage from the piece by Milne ‘It’s Palestinians who have the right to defend themselves” - an essay which Greenwald praised as superb.

“So Gazans are an occupied people and have the right to resist, including by armed force (though not to target civilians), while Israel is an occupying power that has an obligation to withdraw – not a right to defend territories it controls or is colonising by dint of military power.”

Milne is, in effect, defending Palestinian terrorism while arguing that Israel has no right to defend itself.

Greenwald’s own vitriol evokes a crude caricature of a villainous Israel, suggests there is no moral difference between Islamic extremists and a Jewish democracy, and he also evidently sympathizes with the moral logic of those who champion the “right” of Palestinians to murder Israelis.

Hamas simply couldn’t ask for more effective hasbara.

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Nov 21 2012

Terrorist attack in Tel Aviv injures 21

Per the Jerusalem Post.

“A terrorist blew up [the #142] bus on Shaul Hamelech Street in Tel Aviv around noon Wednesday.

Police confirmed that the explosion was a terrorist attack, although Channel 2 reported that it was not a suicide bombing and thus police were searching the area for additional explosive devises.

Channel 2 reported that police arrested a suspect near the Ramat Gan diamond exchange, who they believe may be carrying an explosive device. Police believe a female terrorist may still be at large in the area, armed with explosives.”

Haaretz is reporting 21 injuries.

Celebratory gunfire was heard in Gaza in reaction to the attack, which was praised by Hamas.

Aug 13 2012

Righting the Guardian’s capital offense, and standing up for Israel

This essay was written by Simon Plosker (managing editor of HonestReporting) and published in the Jerusalem Post on August 12.

When HonestReporting filed a complaint with the UK’s Press Complaints Commission in response to The Guardian’s labeling of Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital, we did so expecting accuracy and common sense to prevail.

Outrageously, the PCC not only ruled in favor of The Guardian but actually went as far as to unilaterally declare that Tel Aviv was Israel’s legitimate capital, based mainly on the fact that many foreign embassies are located there.

Institutions not located in Tel Aviv include the Knesset, the Supreme Court, Bank of Israel and most government ministries.

The ruling even ignored Israel’s own declaration of Jerusalem as its eternal capital.

While the Guardian’s original “capital offense” could be viewed as yet another example of the newspaper’s animosity towards Israel, the PCC ruling demonstrated just how far beyond rational discourse any discussion on Israel appears to have gone in the UK.

The PCC offered no recourse for appeal.

On principle, however, we couldn’t let the PCC’s bizarre ruling stand. Risking potentially high legal costs but motivated by our desire to see truth prevail, HonestReporting initiated legal proceedings using some of the best legal professionals with the aim of taking the PCC all the way to a judicial review.

The Guardian has become the world’s third most read newspaper website, with 30.4 million readers in June 2012, according to industry analyst ComScore. The newspaper’s print edition may not be particularly large by UK media standards, but its readers are typically influential liberal and left-leaning elites in politics, academia and other media such as the BBC.

Put simply, the Guardian’s anti-Israel bias has a hugely significant reach and influence that cannot be ignored.

Read the rest of the essay, here.

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Aug 9 2012

Continuing CiF Watch coverage of the Guardian’s ‘Capital’ humiliation: Headlines

As we reported yesterday (here and here), the Guardian, in a rare nod to reality, surrendered and acknowledged that Tel Aviv is NOT Israel’s capital. (See HonestReporting’s account here.)

Here’s their correction:

“A correction to a picture caption said we should not have described Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. It went on to relay the advice in our style guide that the capital was Tel Aviv. In 1980 the Israeli Knesset enacted a law designating the city of Jerusalem, including East Jerusalem, as the country’s capital. In response, the UN security council issued resolution 478, censuring the “change in character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem” and calling on all member states with diplomatic missions in the city to withdraw. The UN has reaffirmed this position on several occasions, and almost every country now has its embassy in Tel Aviv. While it was therefore right to issue a correction to make clear Israel’s designation of Jerusalem as its capital is not recognised by the international community, we accept that it is wrong to state that Tel Aviv – the country’s financial and diplomatic centre – is the capital. The style guide has been amended accordingly (Corrections and Clarifications, 23 April, page 27).”

Here’s the Guardian Style Guide on Jerusalem before the change:

And, now:

So, in a blatant attempt to enjoy the Guardian’s humiliation (I must find a synonym for the word ‘Schadenfreude’) here’s a quick run down of a few of the stories (and accompanying headlines) about the Guardian’s submission.

Guido Fawkes:

Times of Israel

Jerusalem Post

 

JTA

The Jewish Chronicle

The Jewish Daily Forward

Jewish News 1

Jewish News One’s video on the Guardian correction:

Click image to go to video

Jspace

HonestReporting’s graphic accompanying their victory over the Guardian:

However, here’s a Guardian ‘correction’ from April, which AKUS commented on:

It looks like the Guardian’s ‘Corrections and clarifications column editor’ has some work to do.

I’d suggest contacting the Guardian’s Readers’ Editor and request that the April ‘clarification’ be corrected.

reader@guardian.co.uk

Also, Leslie Palmer is the Guardian’s ‘Corrections and Clarifications’ Editor.

leslie.palmer@guardian.co.uk

Finally, it looks like the following book will have to be revised for 2012.

Related articles
Aug 8 2012

Guardian’s grudging mea (not quite) culpa highlights the need for media regulation reform in the UK.

As reported earlier in the day, our friends at Honest Reporting today issued a press release announcing a major achievement on the subject of the Guardian’s bizarre ‘style guide’ assertion that Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel. As a direct result of Honest Reporting’s persistence, the Guardian today printed a correction. 

However, whilst the Guardian will, according to its own clarification, no longer refer to Tel Aviv as the capital city of Israel, it apparently still believes itself justified in denying that Jerusalem holds that title. The Guardian’s ‘reasoning’ is based upon UN SC resolution 478 (1980), which in turn rests upon resolution 476 (1980) – initiated by 39 Islamic States of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.  

Obviously the absurdity of the OIC being able to promote resolutions at the UN which seek to keep Jerusalem divided, especially when those resolutions open with the words “acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible” only 32 years after an Arab nation conquered and divided the city by force in a belligerent war, is as lost on Guardian editors as it is on the United Nations itself. 

The significance of Honest Reporting’s achievement is not limited to the Guardian – it also pertains to the increasingly redundant Press Complaints Commission which (once again) made a mockery of itself by initially upholding the Guardian’s case. 

Despite its impressive-sounding name, the Press Complaints Commission is actually just an arm of the self-regulating British newspaper industry which consists of representatives of the major publishers who join on a voluntary basis and pay an annual fee to fund the commission’s activities. It has no legal powers whatsoever and time after time its performance suggests more than a smattering of an ‘old school tie’ type mentality.  

The leaders of all three major political parties in the UK severely criticized the PCC a year ago in the wake of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, with David Cameron stating that it is “ineffective and lacking in rigour” and calling for “a new system entirely” and the Labour leader calling it a “toothless poodle”. 

This particular case – in which the Guardian was cleared of charges of inaccuracy by the PCC even after having decided of its own accord to designate a new capital to a foreign country – illustrates just how urgent the need is for a new regulatory body in the UK. The PCC’s impotency is highlighted even further by the fact that only after Honest Reporting launched legal proceedings was change brought about.

The need for a new regulatory system in the UK is, however, not limited to the printed press. The BBC is also self-regulatory to a very considerable extent, which is especially troubling in light of that organisation’s legal obligations to accuracy and impartiality. 

At present, British media consumers have no one effective and truly independent body not inhabited by interchanging past and present members of the media industry to which they can turn for answers to their concerns and complaints. OFCOM, the PCC and the BBC Trust are all compromised by the fact that – despite a semblance of independence – they actually represent the media overseeing the media. 

Although one only has to look at the state of too much of the British media through the prism of the Israel canary in the mine to understand that this system is not working, it is perhaps more realistic to hope that it will be domestic issues such as the phone-hacking scandal which will eventually render the British government unable to ignore the pressing need for a comprehensive reform which will benefit both consumers and the increasingly tattered reputation of the UK media itself.  

Aug 8 2012

The Guardian retracts lie that Tel Aviv is Israel’s capital!

The following is a press release from HonestReporting:

The Guardian has retracted its claim that Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel, writing unequivocally on Wednesday, ”we accept that it is wrong to state that Tel Aviv – the country’s financial and diplomatic centre – is the capital.”

The Guardian’s concession follows a threat of judicial review against the UK’s Press Complaints Commission by HonestReporting (advised by UK solicitors Asserson Law Offices).

The PCC, a regulatory body that ensures accuracy in the UK media initially ruled that The Guardian’s claim was correct. HonestReporting, along with noted UK lawyer Trevor Asserson, then took initial steps to file for a judicial review of the decision, forcing the PCC to withdraw its ruling and demand that The Guardian defend its position.

In response to HonestReporting’s pressure on the PCC, The Guardian backed down from its claim, issuing a correction. It also changed its style guide, which had stated that Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel, to reflect the correction.

Although The Guardian has been forced to withdraw its absurd suggestion regarding the status of Tel Aviv, the wording of The Guardian’s correction has not been agreed after the newspaper unilaterally terminated its negotiations with HonestReporting and the PCC.

HonestReporting still awaits a new ruling from the PCC to replace the faulty decision it issued in May and agreed to reconsider in July.

Here’s the Guardian’s correction:

Here’s a more detailed account by HonestReporting.

CiF Watch will provide more commentary on the Guardian’s stunning mea culpa later in the day.

Aug 5 2012

Postcard from Israel: Jaffa and the Ottoman Train Station

 A guest post by AKUS

After spending a morning at Shuk HaCarmel, it was time to head to the mother of all shuks in Israel – the flea market in Jaffa. As usual, it was a beautiful day, with Jaffa beckoning in the distance over Tel Aviv’s golden beaches.

 

Old Jaffa still has not been completely taken over by various development efforts and retains a typically Mediterranean flavor:

 

 

The flea market has something for everyone, and a great deal that seems to have been collected at random and often whose purpose or use can only be guessed at:

 

 

Tucked away in the tiny store of a Persian Jew, I spotted the magnificent tray shown below. After some serious haggling, much talk about how hard times are and how bad business is to gain my sympathy, we shook hands on a deal for half the initial asking price, and it now occupies pride of place at home:

 

 

Exhausted by our shopping and the constant negotiations, it was time to repair to the restaurant owned by the well-known Abulafia family, tucked into one of the old buildings near Jaffa’s clock tower, for a wonderful lunch of fish caught that morning before heading back to the hotel for a siesta:

 

 

In the evening, what better place for a meal than the restored Ottoman Railway Station near Jaffa:

 

There are a variety of restaurants at this location – this one was being used for a bridal party: 

 

 

After a meal, there is a bar serving drinks out doors in the cooling evening air:

 

 

We ended the evening looking for souvenirs in the gift shop, ending another active day in one of the best cities in the world to visit – Tel Aviv-Jaffa.

 

 

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Aug 1 2012

AKUS’s postcard from Tel Aviv (Bonus: blurred photo of CiF Watchers at secret meeting)

A guest post by AKUS

Tel Aviv has been voted one of the world’s best places to visit. Here are some examples of why. The contrasts are stunning and action in  the city never stops.

Time to get up and begin the stroll to Shuk Ha’Carmel along the empty tiyelet with Jaffa in the background before it gets too hot and before those who went to bed at 3:00 am clog the tiyelet when they return for another  spell on the beach:

Past the memorial plaque to Abie Nathan – you can press a button and hear the famous sign off message from his boat, the Voice of Peace.

Perhaps stop for a fresh glass of orange juice:

Spare a thought for those killed by British terrorists at Mike’s place:

Go past a demonstration by Sudanese opposite the American Embassy …

 

View a new building that seems to have been influenced by Feng Shui while nearby a plaque shows the architects’’ pride in one of Tel Aviv’s first buildings, built in long ago 1922!

Then wander through Shuk Ha Carmel. You can buy just about anything that you might like there.

Did you forget your sunglasses?

Perhaps you need to add a little spice to your life?

Or home-made Druze pickles are more to your taste?

Then it’s round the corner to the Kerem Ha’Taimani – the Yemenite Quarter:

There’s a small synagogue on a nearby street:

 

An interesting mailbox and a freshly painted house:

But it’s time to head back for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the beach:

After a siesta, head to the Tel Aviv Harbor along the sea front at sunset for a meal, watching kids playing and climbing the statues:

Perhaps your preference is to get in a spot of Yoga or sun worship along the way:

Then meet up with a few members of the global CiFWatch conspiracy  at the harbor for a meal of fresh fish caught that day:

 

And if you are not too tired – take in a movie at the beach:

That’s enough for one day – tomorrow it’s your chance to visit the flea market in Jaffa and other attractions.

Laila tov!

(A commenter asked what these “Postcards from Israel”  have to do with CiF Watch’s mission. CiF Watch exists to expose the distortions, errors and outright lies told by the Guardian in its obsessive coverage of Israel. These snapshots attempt to show some of the real Israel – not the dark, mythical, and imaginary place continually conjured by Guardian reporters and commentators. – AKUS)

Wait, this just in: Tomorrow’s Guardian leader!

Related articles
Jul 24 2012

We interrupt this blog for a brief message to the BBC (& Guardian) from the mayor of Tel Aviv


 

For background (if you need it), please see related articles.

Related articles
Jun 14 2012

Harriet Sherwood’s latest anti-Israel lie by omission: LGBT Edition

Harriet Sherwood must surely wake up in the morning and check her unique (Guardian designed) Google Alert – one set with an ideological algorithm which only highlight stories in the media and on the wires capable of showing Israel in a negative light.

Indeed, Sherwood’s Schadenfreude in the face of even the most minor Israeli embarrassment is palpable and literally seeps off the pages.

A case in point: her latest schoolyard taunt of the Jewish state in “Israel military accused of staging gay pride photo“, June 13th, which begins with a sentence that I couldn’t help but find humorous.

“The Israeli military has been accused of staging a photograph published to celebrate its progressive attitude to homosexuality.”

At question is a photo of two presumably gay IDF soldiers holding hands which went viral on Facebook, though it later was revealed that the soldiers are not in a relationship.

But what I find amusing is the final part of Sherwood’s sentence, which charges Israel of “celebrat[ing] its progressive attitude to homosexuality“.

Is there any other country in the world which would stand accused of celebrating a clear and undebatable progressive advantage?

But a broader point needs to be made about the Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent. She did not attend the media tour for reporters and bloggers on the subject of Gay rights in Israel in which I participated during Tel Aviv’s Gay Pride Week.

The session included informative talks by, among others, Shai Doitsh – Chairperson of the Board for The Aguda, ”Israel’s pioneer lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organization” and Adir Steiner – Deputy Service Manager and Coordinator of City Pride Events (for Tel Aviv – Yafo).

Also, quite interestingly, neither Sherwood nor any other reporter at the Guardian deemed it newsworthy (in the context of their obsessive coverage of Israel) to report on the city’s internationally famous Gay Pride Parade - a hugely popular event which drew an estimated 30,000 attendees. 

But it is in the penultimate paragraph that Sherwood pivots from mere characteristic agenda-driven journalism to downright dishonesty through lies by omission:

“The US repealed its ban on openly gay and lesbian service personnel last September. Its previous policy, known as “don’t ask, don’t tell”, had forced gay and lesbian soldiers to “lie about who they are”, said the president, Barack Obama. There are an estimated 65,000 gay and lesbian service personnel in the US military.

The ban on gay and lesbian people serving in the British military was lifted in 1999.” [emphasis added]

Yet somehow during the the course of writing these last passages Sherwood evidently made the editorial decision not to inform her readers of one rather vital and yet supremely inconvenient fact in the context of U.S. and UK policies regarding gays and lesbians noted above.

Israel has allowed gays and lesbians to serve openly in the IDF since 1993 – that is, 6 years prior to similar rights being granted in the UK and 19 years prior to such LGBT rights being codified in the U.S.!

Finally, note that the Guardian’s Live Blog from Gaza on June 8 didn’t once so much as mention the repression of gays and lesbians by Hamas.

The hypocrisy is stunning.

I’ll leave you with a photo of a mural – completed last month and appearing in New York City’s West Village – contrasting gay rights in Israel and Arab states. As Times of Israel reported:

“Adem Carroll, a member of the steering committee of the Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition for Truth and Justice, called the mural “blatantly divisive, opposing Israel against its neighbors in the region,”

Yeah, THAT’s what divides Israel from its neighbors!

Click to Enlarge

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