PLO Official Hanan Ashrawi’s NGO Publishes Passover Blood Libel

[shira]

MIFTAH, an NGO whose founder PLO Official Hanan Ashrawi is a well known media personality in the West, and which receives funding from the UN and the Ford Foundation, published an article to its website Wednesday that claimed Jews use the blood of Christians for Passover rituals.

Anonymous pro-Israel blogger Elder of Ziyon spotted this passage in an article by Nawaf al-Zaru on MIFTAH’s Arabic-language site (bold courtesy of EoZ):

“Does Obama in fact know the relationship, for example, between “Passover” and “Christian blood” ..?!Or “Passover” and “Jewish blood rituals..?!Much of the chatter and gossip about historical Jewish blood rituals in Europe are real and not fake as they claim; the Jews used the blood of Christians in the Jewish Passover …”

more...
http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/03/28/plo-official-hanan-ashrawis-ngo-publishes-passover-blood-libel/

[azurnoir]

1. Elder of Ziyon was forbidden on DU2

The algemeiner has been used as a source by publications forbidden on both yet here you are again with it

[shira]

2. You have nothing to say about Hanan Ashrawi? You think this is bogus? n/t

[azurnoir]

3. Because I have no proof as to the veracity of the claim

algemeiner claims that the article was removed before their publication after algemeiner made a phone call to MIFTAH seems algemeiner has a habit of publishing outrage after it was supposedly removed

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

4. I've got to say that most everything that I see posted here by OPs poster

runs contrary to her statement.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1134&pid=37543

According to him, Israelis are bad, they lie, and so do their supporters.
Palestinians are victims, so they and their supporters always tell the truth.

It seems that when said poster shares with us what the push is that all Palestinians and their supporters, IMHO, are bad: as if that is enough to deny them territory through a land grab.

[azurnoir]

5. that subthread is interesting

on a number of levels

[Scootaloo]

6. And it's been removed.

It's apparently the one and only thing ever put on that site by Nawaf al-Zaru since 2006 (both of those are Arabic version, found here and here.)

Amazingly, sites tend to remove things put up by contributors which do not meet with the goals and agenda of the site. Several of your own hidden posts attest to this, Shira (As do mine ). While EoZ of course characterizes this as nefarious (Palestinains can be nothing but nefarious evildoers, of course!) the fact is much more likely that the article was posted, then someone higher up on the chain said "no" and zapped it. EoZ, naturally, wishes to use this extinct article to characterize the NGO (all of which are also nothing but nefarious evildoers!) rather than its removal - and the hundreds of articles that share no similarities.

[shaayecanaan]

7. It was only a blog/forum post to begin with...

trying to imply that somehow this particular poster spoke on behalf of Hanan Ashrawi is about as desperate and dishonest as claiming that any one of us, by posting on a Democratic website, somehow speak on behalf of Barack Obama.

To recap: someone made a post that was apparently inappropriate, and the mods deleted it. The same thing that happens here on an ad nauseam basis.

Amazing that the hasbaristas have to delve into something so petty and utterly pointless as blog posts in order to justify holding some sort of grievance against the Palestinians.

[azurnoir]

8. ya know something has it ever occurred to you

that most of the OP posts are about what so and so said, tweeted, or wrote, rather than what is actually happening ?

[delrem]

9. yes, I've noticed it, and all intended to incite intense negative emotion. nt

[azurnoir]

10. true that but maybe I'm jaded here but it seems

like posts about what is said come from one side vs what is done from the other

just an observation

[shira]

11. Ashrawi lost much of the Israeli Left way back during the time....

...of the Ramallah Lynching, when she was unable to condemn it or show any revulsion to it. Instead she blamed it on the occupation.

Pretty much what you and your homies do here daily.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/05/camp-david-ten-year-anniversary?showallcomments=true&commentpage=2

One of the most decisive incidents was the lynching of 2 reservists who had lost their way and strayed into Ramallah, where they were detained by PA security forces, but then lynched by a cheering mob. This is an event every Israeli will remember, because while you could blame terrorist attacks on extremists, the lynching -- which was in part filmed -- showed a crowd of regular folks working themselves into a frenzy of enthusiasm by beating two helpless detainees into pulp.

One of the things that stayed with me from this event was the reaction of Hanan Ashrawi. The peace camp, me and many of my friends included, used to adore her, and whenever she came on TV, we would listen nodding along in admiration. Shortly after the lynching, she was interviewed by CNN, and all she could come up with is "it's the occupation".

Until this moment, Hanan Ashrawi personified the idea that the Palestinians really feel no different than the average Israeli. But her unwillingness to express any condemnation or revulsion about this utterly appaling act put an end to this, and ever since, I've switched channels whenever Hanan Ashrawi shows up on TV, and I know a lot of people for whom she also lost all credibility on this day.

[azurnoir]

14. your really in luv with that one huh to bad it's a decade old

another loosely related post, I'm starting to wonder how many other OP's you can work that into

[jessie04]

19. Unfortunately I read about the Ramallah lynching.

Apparently she was reasonable back then.

[shira]

16. It was more than that. The author of that libelous piece is quite popular....

It would be like putting that very same article up at the Huffington Post or the Guardian's Comment is Free.

Such posts don't just appear by any Joe Shmoe.

[bemildred]

12. I can post a Passover Blood Libel right here right now.

It might take a jury minutes or hours to remove it, depending. Should I blame DU or the jury for that? Or the specific person who posted it? This seems to be a similar sort of case.

[shaayecanaan]

13. Nah, you need to blame Barack Obama...

obviously, a matter as serious as this demands his personal attention. I am sure if he picked up the phone to the owners of this site then your post would be removed. Alternatively, he should be taken as having approved your blood libel post.

Hasbarado tactics 101: always aim high. The more histrionic and hysterical, the better.

[bemildred]

15. True. After all, I support Obama, so it must be his fault.

It would call every thing he ever did into question, now I think about it, cast a great shadow over his Presidency. I can see that I need to be extremely careful about what I do from now on, it is a great responsibility.

[shira]

17. Not the same. The author of the piece in question is well known.....

....and not just some average Joe Shmoe w/ a few posting privileges which can be easily revoked at MIFTAH. The problem is that this blood libel, antisemitic swill is mainstream & not the exception to the rule in the OPT.

[bemildred]

18. I didn't say it was the same. I said it is meaningless, there is nothing you can infer.

We already know the Palestinians are just awash in anti-semitism of the worst sort, and we already know how insecure everything is on the web, so this sort of debased idea is just bound to get expressed from time to time on Palestinian sites. But it doesn't mean anything in particular.

Although, of course, you can infer anything you like, as long as you don't limit yourself to the evidence, a very popular procedure here.

[shira]

20. Their reaction speaks volumes. They disappeared the post. No explanation....

....no apologies, no excuses. Just a cover-up. No other NGO's have said a word. Their apologists just run cover for them. This is of the most vile, gutter antisemitism and has zero to do with Israel.

There's a lot that can be inferred by that.

[bemildred]

21. Yes, I know you will infer things anyway.

Just pointing out that such inferences have nothing to do with logic or reason.

[shira]

23. See #22 about logic and reason. Lemme know what you think now. n/t

[bemildred]

24. I think they say about what I would expect them to say, and you the same.

It's amusing but not interesting, and most unlikely to do anybody anywhere any good any time.

[shira]

25. You were wrong in post #12. It's as bad as what the OP claims. n/t

[bemildred]

26. Yawn. nt

[shira]

27. Good talk! n/t

[bemildred]

28. Well, I was wondering who is ignoring me, there are only a couple.

Now I know it's still not you. Probably somebody I met in Meta.

[shira]

22. MIFTAH denounces smear campaign against it

The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, MIFTAH strongly denounces the smear campaign being carried out against it and, by association, its founder Dr. Hanan Ashrawi. The obscure pro-Israeli website “The Elder of Ziyon” has wrongly accused MIFTAH and Dr. Ashrawi of promoting Jewish blood libel during Passover through its publication of an Arabic-language article that briefly addressed the subject.

The disclaimer at the opening of the “News and Analysis” section clearly states that, “The views represented in [News and Analysis] are solely those of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of MIFTAH, [font color = "red"]but rather fulfill its mandate for open dialogue.” For the record, to avoid further misunderstanding, Al Zaru’s article has been taken down from MIFTAH’s website.[/font]

MIFTAH has and always will promote the principles of democracy and a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Articles published in its name on both its Arabic and English websites are proof of this philosophy. Neither MIFTAH nor Dr. Ashrawi has ever been associated with anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic campaigns due to their philosophy of promoting [font color = "red"]accurate and credible information[/font]. MIFTAH has always been focused on the promotion of the Palestinian narrative in the service of achieving a free, democratic Palestine, part of which is honoring freedom of speech.

It is in this spirit that MIFTAH is deeply disturbed by this recent slander campaign against it. Not only is the premise of their argument erroneous in characterizing MIFTAH and Dr. Ashrawi, but the underlying purpose of sabotaging MIFTAH’s reputation with its international partners is nothing short of abhorrent.

MIFTAH has been in existence for well over decade and has published countless articles on Palestine, which show its true colors. It is fair to say that its work speaks for itself.

http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=25950&CategoryID=2

No apologies - just an attack vs. Elder of Ziyon for calling them out on their gutter antisemitism. This "peace" organization believes publishing filth like that is "open dialogue". They took it down to avoid "further misunderstanding", not because it was a vile article written by a nasty anti-semite, who of course they don't denounce. They will not condemn the article nor change their policies....

Love their promotion of "accurate and credible" information too. That's how they still see the article, else they'd condemn it & call it offensive....

This is worse than the article.

[idwiyo]

29. WTF? I mean, seriously, WTF!

[kestrel91316]

30. Arabs refuse to get along with Israelis. Israelis refuse to get along with Arabs.

A pox on all of them.