Gaza: Israel Facing Criticism in European Parliament

On Tuesday, speaking at a hearing in the European Parliament, a member of the Israeli Parliament (Knesset), Afu Aghbaria of the Hadash Party, declared, "In its 62 years of existence, Israel has attacked its neighbors and its Arab citizens nonstop. Israel prevents the passage of medicines and medical supplies to Gaza. As a result of this, 700 Gazans have died at the border crossings."

Aghbaria called on the international community to judge Israeli leaders at the Hague, "[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, [Minister of Defense Ehud] Barak, [Foreign Minister Avigdor] Lieberman and [opposition leader Tzipi] Livni should be brought to the International Criminal Court in The Hague."

Europe's Inter-Parliamentary Union on Wednesday asked Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin for clarification of the recent recommendation to revoke the privileges of Israeli Arab MK Hanin Zoabi because she was on the Freedom Flotilla.

The European Union's Council of Foreign Ministers, had already issued a statement on Gaza, demanding an impartial inquiry with international representation into the attack on the Flotilla, an end to the Gaza blockade with guarantees of Israel's security, Hamas' release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and an end to the firing of missiles into Israel.

Comments

[Baz]

Ali

Your posts to this website are all similar. Basically, you repost articles by other people attacking Israel . Then, afterwards, you just shrug your shoulders and say that you are simply simply posting the article for consideration. They are also very similar in that very few here ever comment much on your posts - I guess they can see through you too.

Barry

[Catherine]

RE "Ali - Your posts to this website are all similar."

Tsk, Tsk Barry. Don't be throwing the first stone now. Just think how many posts of yours have repeatedly compared the IRI to (pre) Nazi Germany and defended Israel! :-)

[Baz]

Catherine

Your are correct - I believe my support of Israel is quite obvious - it is certainly meant to be. I do not hide it behind anything - the very opposite of my assertion above.

Barry

[Gunniy]

Hi Barry ,
I think it`s incredible – but just at the moment I found an article in a serious newspaper about the australian goverment is going to make plans about filtering the internet.
I can`t believe it – because it is described that they will use nearly the same methods like China or Iran. And its the first democratic country in the world doing this kind of bullshit. Do you think that is true? You allready know that EA is filtred inside Iran -

http://www.zeit.de/digital/internet/2010-06/australien-netzfilter-kriminalitaet-zensur" rel="nofollow">http://www.zeit.de/digital/internet/2010-06/aus...

[Baz]

Gunniy

Yes - that is true and nobody really knows why they are attempting to do this. I believe it is for "political reasons" - in that the Govt does not control the Upper House of Parliament ( the Senate) , so basically cannot get any Legislation form the House of Representatives passed through Parliament - unless they have concurrence with a small number of "Independent ie non-Party) Senators, one of whom is a "Born again Christian" type of person.

Fortunately , there is an election within the next 6 months and the incumbent Govt is losing popularity fast ( for a number of reasons) - so this http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1686531/australia-mothballs-internet-controls" rel="nofollow">http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/168653... is now in the news.

Barry

[aliyenidunya]

@ Barry:

"Your posts to this website are all similar. Basically, you repost articles by other people attacking Israel . Then, afterwards, you just shrug your shoulders and say that you are simply simply posting the article for consideration. They are also very similar in that very few here ever comment much on your posts - I guess they can see through you too."

So, prove your argument please. Show exactly which word or statement makes me attacking Israel behind others...

I am not writing or reporting news to attack Israel. I have no intention of doing so. I do not support governments and I do not support states!

Secondly,

"I believe my support of Israel is quite obvious."

Well, this sentence explains everything... Although I cannot blame you for your nationalism, I want you to know that I do not want to go into polemics with you but want you to justify your argument.

[Baz]

@ALI

It would take me a LONG time indeed to go back through all of your posts over the past year (articles, that is, not comments) and produce a LONG list of articles, written by others, attacking/criticising Israel in one way or another, but published here on EA by your good self. To be fair, everyone here who participates in the comments section, does link to external articles. However on a website such as this, these do not carry the "weight" that published articles carry.

You can clearly see my attitude towards Israel - and the US as well - however yours is disguised (even though you claim to support NO Governments or States). It would be better for you to 'fess up! You may command more respect for it - and appreciation of what you do support, rather than claims of what you don't support.

[wdavit]

Barry(and for Ali's reference),

I appreciate your support for Israel. I certaintly support Israel simply becausee they are held to a higher standard than any of the OIC states continually attacking them. One only has to look to the UN to find over 60% of the resolutions have targeted Israel since the 90's courtesy of the OIC. During this same period only 15 made it through on Darfur and that was after the OIC blocked many others including attempts on all of those 15. The selective outrage is breath taking. Ironically the OIC off course had nothing to say about the 90 Ahmadis killed in Pakistan--probably because the Sunni world has declared them apostates. However, I believe your being a bit unfair to Ali and in a sense "throwing him under the bus."

From my stanpoint I find Ali's article informative and mostly without a bias. Yes at times he exhibits a bias or an opinion but for pete's sake he's human after all. We have to recongnize while journalists are supposed to be objective we cannot expect them to stop being human. If you disagree with a point or a reference to someone elses point let him know. Don't attack the messenger just debate his message if you disagree. Sorry if I am being bit harsh just airing my view and appreciate your feedback.

Thx
Bill

[Baz]

Bill

Like you, I am also aware of what you term "selective outrage" - and it is alive here as well as elsewhere.

Unfortunately, I do not see a lack of bias at all - but rather a definite anti-Israel bias by Ali. I have to say that he is the only contributor to EA that I have these thoughts about. As you say, we are all human and have our biases - however some who claim to be unbiased perhaps cannot see themselves from the outside.. but thank you anyway for your thoughts on the matter.

Barry

[Dave]

Most blogs are left-of-center. That's just the way it is. EA is an excellent blog. I read it because I get the kind of analysis (professional analysis) that I'd have to pay for elsewhere. And in the academic world itself, Scott Lucas, the blog's founder, has proved that an emphasis on teaching need not require the denigration of research. The finest teachers can often be the best researchers. Unfortunately, the vast majority of academics in higher education do not agree and the quality of their teaching shows it. Dr. Lucas is a beacon in the academic world.

With that said, most of the articles posted and referenced on EA are left-of-center -- Huffington Post, New York Times, Guardian, Washington Post, Haaretz, Daily Show, and so on. The rantings of Sharmine Narwani, Isabel Kershner, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and so on... You won't find any link to http://hotair.com" rel="nofollow">hotair.com or American Thinker on here. The Washington Times comes up from time to time, but only to poke fun at.

[aliyenidunya]

@ Dave: Thank you for your feedback and information about the website.

@ Barry: As I already stated, if you claim that I am "anti-Israili", then prove it! I honestly do not care how a big burden it is for you to go through all pieces and to show your "unbiased" discourse analysis skills!

Let me make it clearer for you. I do not show an unconditional support for any state, including Turkey of which I am a citizen. You might call me a leftist or at the left-off-centre. If you had read all of my pieces, you would have seen critical pieces about Palestinian factions, Egypt, etc...

I am open to any criticism. You don't have to love my pieces or articles but if you claim that I am "anti-Israeli" then show me your proof! If not, the conversation is over for me.

[Dave]

"Let me make it clearer for you. I do not show an unconditional support for any state, including Turkey of which I am a citizen. You might call me a leftist or at the left-off-centre. If you had read all of my pieces, you would have seen critical pieces about Palestinian factions, Egypt, etc... "

**********

Fair enough, but the blog itself is a left-leaning blog. Juan Cole is one of those cookie cutter academics whose writings also appear on EA. I forgot to mention him in my previous post. Academics like him come up with poorly substantiated and politically motivated theories. At the university level, Cole and Narwani are just the type to use indoctrination as a tool for instruction - rather than inquiry. Would you take a class with either of them? I wouldn't.

As a newcomer to the West, I am sure you see the problems we are having in the Western world. Academia (universities), the news media, and government have all moved to the left. As a consequence, society is bereft of intellectual checks and balances. Nearly all mind-molders are leftists. The churches have also moved in that direction, with the Protestant Mainline's castigation of Israel, acceptance of pansexuality, cultural relativism, and theological revisionism. I think it's something we should worry about. I am well aware of Fox News and right-wing talk radio in the US. They have but a tiny mindshare of the public, especially among the intelligentsia--the people most likely to vote and to create policy.

[Dave]

Past UCC Leader Makes Episcopal Church Look Moderate at Middle East Peace Conference

"What is our nation's stake in this little strip of land that many call 'holy'?" Thomas asked. "There are far too many Christians for whom this is spiritually adjacent land, land to be possessed, taken, and used in our own self-serving apocalyptic visions, which ultimately neither Arab Muslim nor Arab or Jewish Israeli, in which none of them have a future and where all become Naboths. If it is not Christ who will come to take and possess the land then there are certainly American Christians even ready to claim it as their birthright."

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=12766" rel="nofollow">http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news...