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NewsMine — war-on-terror — israel — hostilities — 2002 — 02-4-siege-apr — Viewing Item |
Nativity lies { April 3 2002 } Fwd: Israel's lies about the Nativity Church (fwd)
>Israel's latest lie about the Church of the Nativity
>April 3, 2002
>By Ray Hanania
>
> In addition to its policy of murdering anyone it does not like, Israel's
>Nazi-like government is also engaged in a policy of murdering the truth, too.
>
> And, they are very good at it.
>
> You can't get away with a lie unless you have two things in place:
>First, you have to impose controls on the media in the area of the conflict,
>which Israel has done by banning reporters from covering areas where its
>soldiers are on a blitzkrieg like rampage, shooting civilians.
>
> Second, you need to have a news media that doesn't care about the truth,
>which is the dominant attitude of the mainstream American news media. People
>like MSNBC's Alan Keyes, for example, who asserts that "there is no
>occupation" in Palestine, and a list of commentators who enjoy the gratuity
>of the Israeli lobby like NPR's Linda Gradstein. (Both Gradstein and Keyes
>are making more "cents" than sense these days.)
>
> With these two factors in place, the Government of Israel can say
>whatever it wishes, and it is reported like fact. And, each lie adds to the
>impact of the subsequent lie.
>
> For example, the Israeli Government is asserting that "Palestinian
>gunmen" have "occupied" the Church of the Nativity.
>
> The truth is that Palestinians who are resisting Israel's assault have
>taken refuge in the Church of the Nativity and nearly every other building in
>the region. But the Israeli point is to touch a nerve with Christian
>Americans, who are so naïve about the reality of the Middle East they will
>swallow anything they are fed.
>
> These naïve Americans -- who are contributing to the violence by
>providing financial, political and military support of Sharon's crimes --
>imagine Muslims taking over this great Christian icon.
>
> Of course, most of these Americans have amnesia and have forgotten that
>the Church of the Nativity has been under siege for the past 18 months,
>damaged, assaulted and attacked by the non-Christian Israeli army. (If one
>refers to the Israeli soldiers as Jewish, they are automatically denounced as
>anti-Semitic, another strategy in Sharon's arsenal of tricks.)
>
> The Palestinians seeking refuge in the Church of the Nativity are also
>Christians who are fleeing Israel's attacks. These Palestinians, described by
>the Israelis as "armed militants" -- a canard accepted as fact by the
>spoon-fed American media -- are actually Palestinians who are doing
>everything they can to defend themselves.
>
> They have a right to defend themselves against Israel's vicious
>aggression. Israel is rampaging through the occupied territories that Alan
>Keyes says do not exist, murdering anyone it feels like killing.
>
> All Israel has to do is say these Palestinians are "terrorists," --
>exploiting the tragedy of September 11th to their self-serving benefit -- and
>then they shoot them.
>
> Journalists in America who are merely reciting and reading what they are
>handed by the Israelis, accept this as fact.
>
> In fact, every Palestinian killed by Israel is a terrorist, while every
>Israeli killed by a Palestinian is an innocent civilian who is killed by a
>"terrorist suicide bomber."
>
> The majority of Palestinians do not support the suicide bombers, but they
>do support their right to defend themselves and to resist Israel's human
>rights violations. Resistance is not terrorism. American journalists who
>accept the lie that resistance is terrorism are doing an injustice to their
>profession.
>
> They are also contributing to Israel's ability to hide its criminal
>behavior behind the lie. Israel's government's assault on the Palestinians is
>as much a war against Christianity as it is against the Muslim World.
>
> Yes, the Church of the Nativity is under siege, the marvelous ancient
>icon of the Christian World.
>
> But it has been under siege for months, as Israel has battered the church
>with bullets, killed its parishioners -- Christian Palestinians who live
>around the church and who are as deeply engaged in resisting Israel's
>aggression as anyone else.
>
>And Israel's goal is both short term and long term. Short term, the Israel's
>want to kill as many Palestinians as possible and beat down the Palestinian
>right to independent statehood. But their long term goal is more sinister.
>Since 1967, Israel has coveted the Christian-owned lands around the Church of
>the Nativity and has confiscated and evicted Christian inhabitants.
>
>Nearby Shepherd's Field is prime real estate to build a racist settlement for
>Jewish people, settlements that prohibit residency to Christians.
>
>Americans should be concerned about the fate of the Church of the Nativity.
>And they should be asking why Israel is doing what it is doing, instead of
>accepting Israel's Nazi-like government's spoon-fed lies.
>
>(Ray Hanania is the executive director of the National Arab American
>Journalists Association. He can be reached by email at Rayhanania@aol.com.
>His columns are archived on the web at www.hanania.com.)
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