Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Bernard-Henri Lévy and Susan Abulhawa.

On Sunday, December 5, 2010, El País published an opinion article by French intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy under the title ¿Vuelve el antisemitismo? This is in fact a translation into Spanish from his article, published by The Huffington Post under the title The Antisemitism to Come two days before.
Lévy denounces French initiatives to boycott Israel, Susan Abulhawa's novel Mornings in Jenin and Vibeke Løkkeberg's film Tears of Gaza as signs of a resurgent anti-Semitism which seems to affect the world and especially Scandinavia.
On Tuesday, December 21, 2010, El País published an opinion article by Palestinian American author Susan Abulhawa under the title Respuesta a Bernard-Henri Lévy. This is in fact a translation into Spanish from her article, published by The Huffington Post under the title The Antisemitism to Come? Hardly one day before, as a response to Bernard-Henri Lévy's aforementioned article.
Abulhawa's answer seems to consist mainly of denying Lévy's statements without having read the reliable data he provides in order to denounce the aforementioned events. This reliable data provided by the French philosopher consists of:

a) French individuals and organizations want Israel to be boycotted, in spite of the fact that the Jewish State is the only democracy in the Middle East, whose population mainly accepts a two-State solution.
b) Israel's neighbours are not democracies and many of them still reject a two-State solution, but they're not subjected to boycott proposals.
c) Fathi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, stated recently that about 700 members of Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions died during the Operation Cast Lead, which almost match the number of Palestinian combatants provided by Israel (709).
d) Tears of Gaza, whose production team didn't actually go to the Gaza Strip in order to collect evidence, omitted that Hamas is directly responsible for the war itself, committed war crimes during the clash and rules the Gaza Strip in a despotic manner; all of this makes the film to be propagandistic in nature.
e) Mornings in Jenin is a compendium of anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic topics.
f) Israel's Embassy in Oslo had to be protected by installing a security fence.
g) A Swedish fascist party known as Sverigedemokraterna (i.e., Sweden Democrats) has gained access to the Riksdag (i.e., the Parliament) in the past elections.
h) Malmö, which is Sweden's third largest city and suffers from inter-ethnic violence, is ruled by a mayor who equates anti-Semitism and Zionism.

Abulhawa's answer mainly consists of:

a) She ignores the aforementioned eight points.
b) She supports the boycott campaign against Israel, in spite of the fact that the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe sentenced against such a measure as a discriminatory action, and thus, a punishable offense.
c) She states the Palestinians are the only ones who can be considered the native population not only of Palestine, but also of Israel, thus implicitly denying Israel's right to exist as a Jewish State, when the Jews historically are a native population of Israel and Palestine.
d) She states that Lévy considers every single sort of criticism against Israel an act of anti-Semitism, something which is not true. Lévy only states that anti-Semitism is resurging in Europe.
e) Abulhawa accuses Israel of wiping Palestine of the map, expelling people from their homes, stealing their possessions and so on, while she ignores 1.5 million non-Jews living in Israel while enjoying democracy; that the Jewish State is not entirely and exclusively accountable for the Palestinian exodus, being the Arab countries also responsible for it, as well as for the living conditions of the Palestinian refugees living in their territories and the absence of a Palestinian State which they refused to build while occupying the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip; that the Palestinian Arabs themselves started the conflict and rejected a State of their own with the war when they were offered one; that Mahmoud Abbas waited almost until the end of Israel's moratorium on settlement building to resume negotiations, so when the moratorium came to an end almost inmediately, he had the excuse to stop negotiating again; as well as many other historical facts.
f) She accuses Israel of applying apartheid-style policies in spite of the fact that Israel grants equality for its population by law, regardless of ethnicity, religion and race, while the South African laws during apartheid granted the opposite.
g) She accuses Israel of deliberately targeting Palestinian schools, in spite of the fact that Hamas and other armed factions deliberately used schools with military purposes.
h) She accuses Israel of having expelled Palestinian Christians from Bethlehem, when the truth is that those Christians are subjected to threats and violence by Muslims.
i) She states about Lévy as somebody who thinks that he has more rights to the land of her grandparents than herself just because he is a Jew. This comes to be a false allegation after reading Lévy's arguments and demonstrates Abulhawa's predisposition to disqualify Jews, thus demonstrating Lévy's main argument: there is a clear resurgence of anti-Semitic attitudes.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Manuel Tapial suggests to denounce me for threats.

Please watch the image below. Marked as #1 we can read a comment with a link to an article of my own. Manuel Tapial's answer (marked as #2) consisted of suggesting to denounce me because I threatened him due to my coverage of some of his activities.


The truth is that I never threatened the Spanish activist to commit a punishable offense against him or to hurt him in any way. I just monitored part of his publicly proclaimed activism (particularly on Facebook), just as he can do the same to me. But, could he have committed a punishable offense? Oh, yes, he could.
Article 510.1 of the Spanish Penal Code bans incitement to discrimination, hate or violence against groups or associations on the grounds of, among others, the national origins of those groups and associations. Such an action can consist of boycotting goods just because those who provide them are Israeli citizens, according to a sentence by the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe. And such boycotts are constantly being proposed by Manuel Tapial.

So, Manuel Tapial would be more afraid of the Spanish Penal Code than I am.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Manuel Tapial has come back to Facebook.

Manuel Tapial's Facebook account has been reopened, and the Spanish activist is still campaigning against the Jewish State. This time he protested against Españoles en el mundo, a TV programme broadcasted by La 1 (the first national public TV channel). This programme deals with Spaniards leaving abroad, and on Tuesday, December 7, 2010, Jerusalem (i.e., Israel's capital) was the chosen place (among those interviewed, Sal Emergui). Manuel Tapial protested against the public TV channel as follows (text marked as #1, translated as accurate as possible, between quotation marks):
"ashamed of TVE [Televisión Española, the national public television], the public one, because of the programme Españoles en el Mundo... the vision on Jerusalem gave by them is unacceptable. The conclusion of the programme is that everybody can go to Israel except its historical inhabitants, the Palestinians!"


Maybe Manuel Tapial should have been learnt History in order to know that the Jews have been living in the place today known as the State of Israel since several thousands of years, when the Palestinian Arabs weren't already existing. This is also applicable to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but let the activist sleep tonight; after all, he seems to need it if we take into account what he wrote just eleven minutes before the upper image was captured ("physically disconnected").
By the way, I watched the programme, and it wasn't politically biased neither against Israel nor against the Palestinians, just because it wasn't politically biased.

Monday, December 6, 2010

WikiLeaks and Israel.

It has been surprising how the 250,000 revealed documents of the United States Department of State have enhanced Israel's official positions; what hasn't been so surprising is the fact that the Spanish mainstream media has severely demoted WikiLeaks revelations benefitting Israel. These ones are at least three:
a) Qatari ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani defends Israel's credibility and demotes its rivals'.
b) Several Arab countries, including ones which don't recognize Israel's inherent right to exist, coincide with Israel regarding the Iranian nuclear threat and even tried to make the United States to bomb Iran's nuclear installations.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Manuel Tapial's Facebook account has been disabled.

1 & 2.- Facebook has decided to close Manuel Tapial's account. Marked as #1 we can read the address of his account, while marked as #2 we can read as follows:
"The requested page couldn't be found."


3, 4, 5 & 6.- An event has been created in Facebook in order to support Manuel Tapial. Its title and one of the explanatory texts (marked as #3 and #4) read as follows:
"In favor of the reactivation of Manuel Tapial's Facebook account."
There are two other texts, marked as #5 and #6, which respectively read as follows:
"It has been 35 years since fascism died along side with Franco or this is what we think. We have overcome repression and censorship. We demand Facebook to adhere to democracy and to reactivate Manuel Tapial’s account."
"This is a virtual event. When you confirm your attendance you are declaring yourself in favor of freedom of ideas and the ability to show solidarity with those who do not have a voice, in this case, Manuel Tapial, activist and defender of Human Rights."
These texts are also available in Spanish and Arabic.


7 & 8.- A Facebook page has been created in order to support the activist, under the title Against censorship of Human Rights. Manuel Tapial Come Back. The text marked as #7 reads as follows:
"Those who pretend to shut up the voices of the defenders of the Palestinian People will must use other methods but they won't succeed because We Are Decided to denounce DAY AFTER DAY the serious violations of Human Rights and International law committed by the Terrorist State of Israel."
The photo marked as #8 shows Spanish activists Manuel Tapial (left) and Laura Arau (right) during a demonstration (presumably against Israel).


Now I'll ask those who are reading this article just a simple question. Could be the decision by Facebook to disable Manuel Tapial's account considered unjust or illegal when the activist has sistematically shown attitudes such as those collected here, here and here? Please notice that these attitudes are forbidden by Facebook.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Manuel Tapial's activities on Facebook (III).

Manuel Tapial, one of the three Spanish activists who were on board the Mavi Marmara, runs his own Facebook account. Surprisingly, he was confronted by one of his friends, Julio Belmonte García (a Honduran citizen), on his Wall. Now I'll provide a first excerpt from the debate between Tapial and Belmonte. Some comments were monitored a few minutes after having been posted. Translations are available, made as accurate as possible and between quotation marks.

1 & 2.- Manuel Tapial suggests in a veiled way to disrupt relations with Israel. Julio Belmonte García answers the activist as follows (text marked as #1):
"I consider it sincerely difficult.
I mean, if we had to cut relations with a country when it had committed violations of human rights, we'd have to turn everything upside down. We could establish relations neither with Israel nor with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Morroco, the United States, China, Cuba, Iran, Russia, Colombia, Malaysia, Indonesia and many others."
This is Manuel Tapial's answer to Belmonte (marked as #2):
"Julio, there are countries which not only commit human rights violations but also promote values which have nothing to do with us. There are also countries whose societies are subjected to inclusion and whose dissidents are contacted by us, and we can enhance our relations with them. And which is completely inadmissible, Julio, is Iran and Cuba being considered demons and also isolated and punished by the E.U. while Israel, Morroco, and Colombia are considered 'our friends' letting them to do what they want with their dissidents with any consequence.
Furthermore, the favoritism which these countries enjoy from our governments when they attack our nationals make these governments to appear as puppets in the hands of their owner."


3, 4 & 5.- Julio Belmonte answers Manuel Tapial as follows (marked as #3):
"And wouldn't be more logical not to isolate Israel, Cuba and Morroco, but to keep them with us, as well as to enhance our relations with Cuba and Iran? That's my point."
Manuel Tapial's answer to Belmonte reads as follows (marked as #4):
"Julio, in my point of view, a dialogue is useful to someone who pretends to be integrated or to try to gain access to what he has not access to... Regarding those cases you bring up now, they gained too much access. Why would they change their policies at this moment if they weren't to see their current privileges revoked? .... It's just my opinion... and as said by Eradna [Delastro Sol, a Manuel Tapial's friend], I think our government is on the devil's side.
Julio Belmonte answers Manuel Tapial as follows (marked as #5):
"However, isolating despotic regimes is equally useless. For example, Cuba and Saddam Hussein's Iraq didn't change their repressive policies in spite of the American blockade and the U.N. sanctions, respectively. Moreover, the subsequent economic weakening suffered by these countries were useful to both dictators in order to implement their policies. I'll explain myself.
When a country is subjected to isolation and it affects the economy, the degree of development and the quality of life, its population tends to divide itself into two opposing groups: the adepts to the system and its opposers. Both conflicting groups have been existing since before, and the new situation distances them much more.
The adepts to the system let themselves to be deceived by it and feel themselves attacked by the foreign entities which proceed to isolate their country. At the same time, the isolation suffered by the country makes difficult the entry of foreigners (N.G.O.'s, diplomatic representatives, journalists, etc.), the exit of nationals and the entry and exit of information, which derives on more repression because it can be performed more inadvertently.
All of this has a consequence: the regime which we pretend to destroy through the isolation of the country becomes stronger.
I'll add that if such an isolation drives to the political instability of the affected country, this one will act more aggressively. Could really be considered that forcing Israel to act more aggressively is the best solution? Due to all of this I propose to try to change a country (e.g., Israel or Morroco) from a friendly perspective."


6 & 7.- This is an excerpt from Manuel Tapial's answer (marked as #6) to Julio Belmonte:
"The isolation of these countries is possible and necessary. There are cases like South Africa, in which Boycott, Sanctions and De-investments made the Apartheid to fall, and it's true that there was much repression, but the outcome was positive for the natives. Sadly there are no leaders able to communicate and to take brave decisions in view of the so hostile contexts in which we evolve, we have representatives of the system and not politicians guided by noble ideals, and that put all of us in danger."
Julio Belmonte answers Manuel Tapial as follows (marked as #7):
"I personally dissent from some of your observations. Saddam Hussein's Iraq wasn't the most advanced country in terms of freedom in the Middle East; this one was Israel (something which doesn't legitimate abusing [the Palestinians], of course). According to all the indicators of freedom it's above all the countries of the zone. Lebanon and Jordan also were above Saddam Hussein's Iraq in terms of freedom. Hussein is usually compared with Hitler, Pol Pot, Mao and Stalin, among others, and that's suggestive of something.
Regarding the end of the apartheid in South Africa, it's difficult to believe seriously that the embargo was what ended it. Firstly, sanctions against South Africa weren't respected; for example, France sold Mirage III and Mirage F1 fighter aircraft [to South Africa] during the 60s, the 70s and the 80s. I think that was the internal opposition what favoured the end of the regime, while the international condemnation and the sanctions were accessory to the success achieved in 1993 [please note that the South African apartheid actually ended in 1994].
Furthermore, regarding a boycott against a country, it's doubtfully legal. The European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe sentenced that boycotting a country is an illegal form of discrimination. I'll bring you the sentence:
As a democratic person, I obey the law and the jurisprudence."

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Former Spanish President of the Government on the policy of targeted killings.

Felipe González Márquez was Spain's President of the Government between 1982 and 1996 with the P.S.O.E. (Partido Socialista Obrero Español or Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). His mandate thus coincided with one of the most turbulent periods of E.T.A.'s terrorism. And also during his mandate, a counter-terrorism group appeared and began to act: the G.A.L. (Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación or Antiterrorist Liberation Groups).

This squad was created by officials of the Spanish Government and among its members there were Spanish police officers and foreign mercenaries. The G.A.L. worked between 1983 and 1987, kidnapping and killing several dozens of individuals, many of them unconnected with E.T.A. G.A.L.'s existence and actions were discovered by the Spanish press and several police officers and Government officials were arrested and imprisoned due to their role in the so-called guerra sucia (dirty war) against the Basque terrorist group.

This guerra sucia was one of the major scandals of the P.S.O.E.-led Spanish Government along with many others, including that of the embezzlement of public funds by individuals related to the G.A.L.

It has been always reported about a mysterious Sr. X (Mr. X), who would be the main figure behind G.A.L.'s network; and it has been always suspected that Sr. X was González himself, although nothing was proved against him.

On Sunday, November 7, 2010, an interview with Felipe González by Juan José Millás was published in El País. Among González's statements, we can find this excerpt from an answer to the question "And what about the embezzlement of public funds?" (translated as accurate as possible, between quotation marks):

"The other discussion, an absurd one which drives oneself to the melancholy, is how the reserved funds are handled, those which I was responsible for, which by definition are reserved and which started a ridiculous debate because it was said that they had to have receipts of those provided funds. That is, the informers or the infiltrators who were working for the police after having been paid for their fight against terrorism had to sign the receipts of the money they were being given. We got to this ridiculous [point] in our country! By definition they can't do it, and by definition it's impossible to know whether the guy who has to provide those funds to the informer to give the information to you, or to bring you a [terrorist] commando, is actually providing those funds. Or [whether] he is providing a half while he is taking the other [half]. Here and everywhere. Those are the State's guts. It's been a long time since I'm not in the Government but I'll tell you something that maybe will surprise you.
Even now I still don't know if I did right or wrong, I'm not bringing a moral problem up to you, because I'm still not sure. In my life I had just an opportunity to give an order to liquidate the whole E.T.A.'s leadership. Before [Philippe] Bidart's [leader and founder of Iparretarrak, a Basque nationalist terrorist organization operating in the French Basque Country] fall, in 1992, they wanted to spoil the Olympic Games, to have a universal influence... I don't know how much time before, maybe in 1990 or 1989, some information was given to me, it had to be given to me due to its importance. It wasn't about ordinary operations regarding the fight against terrorism: our people had detected -I don't tell who [were those people]- the place and the day of a meeting of E.T.A.'s leadership in southern France. The whole leadership. An operation which they had been waiting for much time. We had the place and the day, but our chance to arrest them was inexistent, they weren't in our territory. And the possibility that the operation was to be done by France was very low. Now it would have been easier. Although if it had been detected by our services, if the whole E.T.A.'s leadership had met in a French location, France['s authorities] would have fallen on them. [But] not at that moment. At that moment we only had the possibility to blow them up altogether in the house they were to meet. I will not even explain you the consequences of acting in French territory, I'll not explain you the whole issue, but the fact was: a possibility to blow them up and to leave E.T.A. without its leaders did exist. The decision was between 'Yes' and 'No'. I'll simplify it, I said: 'No'. And I'll add this: I don't already know if I did right. I'm not telling you that I'd never do it for moral reasons. No, it's not true. One of the things that tortured me during the following 24 hours was how many murders of innocent people could I have avoided within the following four or five years. That's the matter. But I said 'No'."

This is the way in which former Spain's President of the Government Felipe González justified the policy of targeted killings. Please notice that he had to decide whether to blow E.T.A.'s leadership up, due to the fact that at that time Spanish authorities were unable to apprehend the terrorists, who were hiding in the territory of a country which was doing absolutely nothing to arrest them; please notice also that González decided not to do it for diplomatic reasons, not for moral ones.
The case is that former Spain's President of the Government Felipe González at least considered whether to commit a targeted killing in order to fight a terrorist organization. Some people have argued that these statements prove that González really was Sr. X, the main figure behind the G.A.L.'s network.
Were G.A.L.'s activities illegal? Yes, they were. Although Spain had to deal with a terrorist organization at the time, this problem didn't happen in the context of a war, so in that case the policy of targeted killings and kidnappings was illegal. And even if this was not the case in strict legal terms (many would justify such a policy in this case arguing that France neither was fighting against E.T.A. in its own soil nor allowed Spain to apprehend the terrorists in French territory), the fact is that in practice, G.A.L.'s activities were performed foolishly and took many innocent lives.
But what about a sovereign State which suffers terrorism in the context of a war? Does constitute a punishable offense to kill your enemies when you're at war with them? No, it doesn't, especially if the members of those terrorist organizations hide and operate in the territory of a country which neither apprehends them nor allows the affected sovereign State to act appropriately. And is not the policy of targeted killings even more justifiable when in the context of a war the country where the terrorists hide and operate actively support them? In such a case, is not actually the country which supports the terrorists participating in the hostilities against the affected sovereign State? And is not the affected sovereign State entitled to defend itself through a policy of targeted killings if necessary?

Monday, November 8, 2010

What about Malmö's Jews?

Malmö is Sweden's third largest city, and it has been suffering a continuous increasing of hate crimes for the last years. These hate crimes have been suffered both by Jews and inmigrants from African and Asian countries.
Jew-hatred in Malmö increased to the extent that approximately a half of the city's Jewish population decided to leave their place of origin, having emigrated to other Swedish locations or to the State of Israel. As reported early this year, they're less than 700, and for the last years they suffered not only vandalism, harassment and threats, but also at least two bomb attacks: one at a burial site and other at the city's only synagogue.
These attacks are being committed mostly by extremist muslims and radical left-wingers, and to a lesser extent, by radical right-wingers. And Malmö's mayor Ilmar Reepalu's response to this problem was inappropriate and shameful.
At the same time, a series of shootings against people with dark skin and non-Swedish appearance have been happening in Malmö at least since 2009, but the authorities consider now that the case could date back as far as 2003. The multiple shootings have resulted in at least one person killed and many more people injured. A man has been arrested recently but the case is still far from being solved and closed. This case coincides with the Sverigedemokraterna's (Sweden Democrats) entry into the Riksdag (Sweden's legislature).
This political party proposes strict regulations concerning inmigration, especially from muslim countries. It is supported especially in southern Sweden, where Malmö is located. This city comprises a large inmigrant population frequently associated not only with the aforementioned Jew-hatred, but also with violence in general, especially in the district of Rosengård, so the Sweden Democrats' political rise is considered to be partly responsible for the shootings.

Once a man has been arrested in connection with the racist shootings in Malmö, laSexta Noticias has broadcasted a report on them on Sunday, November 7, 2010. The report can be watched here, from the minute 19:39 to the minute 20:08. Meanwhile, the Jew-hatred which affects Sweden's third largest city is still ignored by laSexta Noticias.
Ironically, the aforementioned report is followed by another about racism, while for laSexta Noticias, Malmö's Jews are not important enough to be mentioned.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Manuel Tapial's activities on Facebook (II).

As explained before, Manuel Tapial was one of the three Spanish activists who were on board the Mavi Marmara, and he runs his own Facebook account. There we can find multiple examples of his political ideology, and now I'll provide eight of them. Click on the images below to watch them in high resolution. Translations are available, made as accurate as possible and between quotation marks.

1.- Manuel Tapial writes about an Israeli politician, Avi Dichter, who refused to travel to Spain due to his concerns about the possibility of being arrested or interrogated. Manuel Tapial's friend Pedro Luis Ruiz Sanchez comments below, among other things (comment marked as #1):
"... if he is guilty of serious crimes he should be hanged as Sad[d]am [Hussein] before and his vice-president Tarek Aziz now were, or can't the Jews be hanged? because if they kill and they're not tried it's normal that terrorism does exist in that occupied zone, and well, it was told in the past and it still prevails, even God doesn't want the Jews."
This anti-Semitic remarks, liked by Manuel Tapial's friend Farid Hach, haven't been erased by the activist.


2 & 3.- Manuel Tapial links from the wall of his own Facebook account to a Facebook page titled Demand Egypt let the Road to Hope convoy through (the link is marked as #2). If we follow the link and read the information of this Facebook page we will be able to read (the text is marked as #3):
"The Road to Hope convoy has been sitting on the Libyan/Egyptian border for over one week now.
We demand the inmediate and safe passage so the Road to Hope convoy can deliver humanitarian cargo to the people of Gaza."
This demand seems to be supported by Manuel Tapial since he has joined this Facebook page. I'd like to ask him why would be right to send humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip by land through Egypt, while sending humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip by land through Israel is not. After all, when the Gaza flotilla was en route to the Gaza Strip, Israeli authorities gave the activists a chance to do it, which was rejected by them.



4 & 5.- The map marked as #4 was found by the Tzahal during the Operation Cast Lead. It was made by Hamas and shows Hamas' tactics during the aforementioned clash, which included the use of civilian population and infrastructures as shields. Much more complete and detailed information on Hamas' tactics during the Operation Cast Lead is available here.
Regarding to the map, it was uploaded by Jorge Casas Bermúdez (not a Manuel Tapial's friend) to a Facebook page titled Rumbo a Gaza (On the road to Gaza), the name given to an initiative which pretends to send another flotilla to the Gaza Strip. This Facebook page was created by Manuel Tapial.
Jorge Casas Bermúdez claims to have received the map through an anonymous e-mail by which he was also told that it's important to the aforementioned initiative, so the map, which is in Arabic, should be translated (presumably into Spanish or English). Manuel Tapial, unable to translate the map, asks Jorge Casas Bermúdez who has been received the map from. Amar Hachemi (not a Manuel Tapial's friend) writes in Arabic, but later makes the translation into Spanish (marked as #5) as follows:
"it's palastine's flag and the girl [who made it also] made a drawing begging peace and love".
Well, the truth is that, as explained before, it's a map (not a Palestinian flag with a drawing) made by Hamas (not by a girl) which shows its criminal tactics, so this evidence against Hamas and in favour of Israel is available on the wall of this pro-Palestinian Facebook page.
It's curious, isn't it? Let's see how much time will the map still be available there without them having realized it!



6.- As reported before as a rare example of an unbiased report on Israel, an Israeli rabbi has allowed female Mossad agents to engage in sexual intercourse when necessary to achieve a mission. According to this ruling, such activity wouldn't constitute a sin according to the Jewish religious laws.
On the wall of his own Facebook account, Manuel Tapial warns (statement marked as #6) his friends against being lured by female Mossad agents. This warning is followed by some blue jokes and a comment by Manuel Tapial himself (not shown here but still available there) defending Mordechai Vanunu, who was lured by a female Mossad agent, apprehended and smuggled into Israel. Vanunu revealed nuclear secrets to the British press.
Does Manuel Tapial really think he is important enough to attract Mossad's attention upon him? Well, he probably does think so. After all, he claimed his last cell phone was probably hacked by Israel, warning his friends to erase his cell phone number from their datebooks (read here, at point #1).


7.- Pilar Rahola, a Spanish journalist and former politician from Catalonia, was awarded the Daniel Pearl Award for her defense of Israel. Here, Manuel Tapial writes his disagreement with the Award being given to Pilar Rahola. Manuel Tapial's friends Amparo Amparito and Wadi Nasrallah-Daghestani also disagree (marked as #7). The first one demands Pilar Rahola to be censored while the second one describes the Catalonian journalist as human scum.
Other comment (not captured here but still available there) by Pedro Luis Ruiz Sanchez (already mentioned in this same article at point #1) calls her to search for psychological and psychiatric treatment and to hit the Western Wall with her head in order to hurt herself.
Other insults against Rahola are still available on his wall and haven't been erased by Manuel Tapial.


8.- Manuel Tapial claims here (marked as #8) that the police took a Palestinian acquaintance of his own during two hours in the city of Almería. He also claims that this Palestinian individual was interrogated about the reasons of his trip to the city and whether he had the intention to attend a conference by Manuel Tapial there.
Manuel Tapial is thus accusing the Spanish authorities of intimidating those related to his cause.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

The Jerusalem Post on Casa Sefarad-Israel's study about anti-Semitism in Spain.

The Pew Research Center published a report about anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in Spain, Poland, Russia, Germany, France, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The report dates from 2008 and showed that 46% of the Spaniards had unfavourable views towards the Jews; concerned about this fact, the Spanish Government made Casa Sefarad-Israel to study the problem, releasing the data contained here.
The Jerusalem Post's response to the report can be read here (in English).

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Público on others' double standard, but not on its own double standard.

Público has published an article by Daniel Basteiro, correspondent in Brussels, on Wednesday, October 27, 2010, under the title El doble rasero de Bruselas (Brussels' double standard). The article deals with what Público perceives as a double standard by the European Union regarding its human rights policies, which are not as harsh with China, Myanmar, Honduras, Morroco, the United States, Russia and Mexico as with Cuba. The article relies on statements made by left-wing Members of the European Parliament and an Amnesty International official, who attribute E.U.'s attitudes to the economic ties with countries like Morroco and China and the fact that the right-wing parties hold a majority in the European Parliament.
Maybe this Público's denounce is correct, but the reality is that it fails to denounce its own double standard when it comes to one country: the State of Israel. Just read here, here, here, here and here to understand what I'm referring to.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Eugenio García Gascón on Israel's nuclear capabilities.

Público has published an article by Eugenio García Gascón on Friday, October 15, 2010, under the title Israel y la bomba (Israel and the bomb). Excerpt from the article below (translated as accurate as possible, between quotation marks):

"Of course, to allow Iran to build the bomb must be avoided (although to obtain nuclear energy for commercial purposes should be allowed). And the same should be told about Israel. There are trigger-happy politicians in the Israeli cabinet, like the Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman. Lieberman has expressed himself recently in an aggresive and bellicose manner, even regarding those Arab countries which signed peace with Israel. It would be right to take the bomb away from him and the West shoud be working to achieve it."

What I think is that there are trigger-happy Arabs and muslims who prompted Israel to arm itself. Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated publicly that Israel must be destroyed, and Arab countries attacked Israel in the past with the purpose of achieving such a mission. Iran and Syria also supply Hezbollah and Hamas with rockets. Egypt tried to achieve nuclear capabilities during Nasser's regime, employing nuclear scientists who had worked for the nazi regime before.
The question here is: would Israel have armed itself with nuclear weapons if its enemies hadn't attacked and threatened Israel before?

Sunday, October 10, 2010

An example of an unbiased report on Israel.

Incredibly, it has happened. It's the first time since weeks or even months that I have watched a Spanish TV report on Israel which can't be considered biased. And the most extraordinary fact is that the report was broadcasted by laSexta Noticias and that it was made by Sal Emergui. In spite of this fact, Israel is neither criticized nor denounced in the report.
The report focuses on a rabbinical ruling regarding female Mossad agents engaging in sexual intercourse when necessary to achieve a mission. According to the ruling, such activity doesn't constitute a sin according to the Jewish religious laws.
More information in English about the issue, here.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Was Spanish activist Manuel Tapial shot?

According to an article published in ideal.es: El cooperante tiroteado Manuel Tapia[l] presentará la película 'Vals con Bashir' (The shot activist Manuel Tapia[l] will present the film 'Waltz with Bashir'). The truth is that Manuel Tapial was not shot when the Mavi Marmara was raided by the Tzahal.
Again, the Gaza flotilla has been defined as a "humanitarian aid flotilla for the Palestinians", in spite of the proofs against the activists and the lack of evidence against the Israeli soldiers who assaulted the vessels.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Casa Sefarad-Israel on anti-Semitism in Spain.

The Pew Research Center published a report about anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in Spain, Poland, Russia, Germany, France, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The report dates from 2008 and showed that 46% of the Spaniards had unfavourable views towards the Jews.
Worried about the results of the report, the Spanish Government made the Casa Sefarad-Israel (an institution centred on the study of Jews and dedicated to foment Spanish-Israeli relations) to take on the issue. Finally, a new report was published, which found the following results:
1.- 58.4% of the Spaniards think that the "Jews have much power because they control the economy and the media". Among university students this attitude encompasses the 62.2%, and among people "interested in politics" this attitude encompasses the 70.5%. All of this means that anti-Semitism in Spain is highly worrying and intolerable, due to its level and to the fact that it's higher among educated and informed people.
2.- 34.6% of the Spaniards have unfavourable or totally unfavourable opinions about the Jews. This attitude encompasses 34% of the far-rightists (who rate the Jews with 4.9 points in a scale from 1 to 10) and 37.7% of centre-left-wingers (who rate the Jews with 4.6 points in a scale from 1 to 10). This case is unique in Europe because far-rightists show less unpleasantness towards the Jews than centre-left-wingers.
3.- Among those who admit to be "unpleasant towards the Jews", 17% of them attribute this attitude to the "Middle East conflict"; 29.6% of them attribute this attitude to "their religion", "their customs", "the way they are", etc.; others among them attribute this attitude to "general unpleasantness", "the power" and "the money"; 17% of them attribute this attitude to reasons they don't know. This means that only a small percentage of the Spaniards show unpleasantness towards the Jews due to "the State of Israel and its policies".

Friday, September 10, 2010

Jewish religious traditions and history left out by laSexta Noticias.

On Thursday, September 9, 2010, laSexta Noticias broadcasted twice a news report on one of the most important Jerusalem's Holy Places: the one known as Har haBayit or Temple Mount by the Jews, and as al-Haram ash-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary by the muslims.
The report was first broadcasted at lunchtime. Helena Resano, the anchorwoman, made an explanatory introduction before the actual report by Sal Emergui was broadcasted. During the introduction, Helena Resano commented on the fact that this Holy Place is the Noble Sanctuary, sacred to muslims, but ommitted the fact that it also is the Temple Mount, sacred to Jews. She also reported on Ariel Sharon's visit to the site on September 28, 2000, as the main cause of the Second Intifada.
The actual report by Sal Emergui was then broadcasted. Only at the end was mentioned the fact that the site is also a Jewish Holy Place. But once this was explained, an interview with Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, current Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, was shown, in which he clearly denied the Jewish historical and religious ties with the site. Any single spokesperson of the rabbinical authorities has been interviewed by Sal Emergui.
The report was broadcasted again at dinnertime. Again, an explanatory introduction was made, in this case by Mamen Mendizábal, the anchorwoman. Again it was told that the site is the Noble Sanctuary, excluding the fact that it also is the Temple Mount.
Then was broadcasted the actual report by Sal Emergui. This time other words were used and the Jewish historical and religious ties with the site were excluded, while the aforementioned interview with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was shown again. And again, any single spokesperson of the rabbinical authorities was interviewed.
This is the way laSexta Noticias has left Jewish religious traditions and history out.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Manuel Tapial's activities on Facebook (I).

Manuel Tapial, one of the three Spanish activists who were on board the Mavi Marmara, runs his own Facebook account. There we can find multiple examples about his political ideology. Now I'll provide nine of those examples through images collected during the past days. Click on the images below to watch them in high resolution. Translations are available, made as accurate as possible and between quotation marks.

1.- Manuel Tapial suspects his cell phone has been hacked by Israel, which he calls "Israhell". The text marked as #1 reads as follows:
"Erase my cell phone number from your datebooks, they've hacked it (Israhell?), and it doesn't work. I ask myself whether Movistar [a Spanish mobile phone operator] hasn't passed my [personal] data unlawfully."
Comments concerning such a suspicion support Manuel Tapial's hypothesis.


2.- Manuel Tapial's friend Ali Ebubekir Tockan tagged Manuel Tapial in a photo uploaded to Tapial's account. The photo consists of a meal. The text in English marked as #2 reads:
"As of February 2010 became the world's population 6.805.000.000. But, only 560 people made the journey aboard the Mavi marmara and able to eat at Gaza Cafe's famous meatball :)".
This is curious, isn't it? I mean, the so-called Gaza flotilla was officially intended to provide Gazans with food (among other help), but were in fact the activists providing themselves with tasty banquets instead of keeping as much food as possible in order to deliver it throughout the Gaza Strip?


3.- Manuel Tapial has been showing concern publicly regarding the humanitaran situation in the Gaza Strip, but a friend of his own who signs as Fdlp Palestina (a clear reference to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine) uploaded a photo which shows Cuban dictator Fidel Castro meeting D.F.L.P.'s founder and leader Nayef Hawatmeh. Manuel Tapial himself was tagged in the photo, and his name (marked as #3) appears when you put the cursor above the photo. What about Tapial's concerns regarding the Cuban people, which is ruled by Fidel Castro? What about Tapial's concerns regarding the 22 Israeli high school students murdered by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine during the 1974 Ma'alot massacre? Oh, wait a minute; Manuel Tapial supports Palestinian terrorism against innocent Israelis, as he himself declared once.


4.- Manuel Tapial relies on Gara's official website to spread his political ideology (the link is marked as #4). Please note that Gara is a Basque newspaper which has been showing support for the terrorist organization E.T.A. since it was first published in 1999 succeeding Egin, another Basque newspaper supportive to E.T.A. which was banned in 1998.


5.- In a photomontage marked as #5 and uploaded to Manuel Tapial's account by Osama Qashoo, one of Tapial's friends, Paul the Octopus can be seen predicting Hezbollah's victory over Israel. It's a clear message of support towards Hezbollah. What about Tapial's concerns regarding the suffering the Lebanese people had to endure during the 2006 Lebanon War, which was unnecesarily prompted by Hezbollah through the Zar'it-Shtula incident?


6.- A Manuel Tapial's friend who signs as Palestina Libre (which means Free Palestine) uploaded an image (marked as #6) to Tapial's account which explicitly minimizes the adverse effects derived from the rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas and other terrorist organizations. What about Tapial's humanitarian concerns about Sderot's 45% of children under the age of six, 41% of mothers and 33% of fathers who were diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? Does Manuel Tapial remember the drawings by African children about war? Please notice, Manuel, that according to a 2007 account by a seven-year old girl from Sderot, Someone has been wounded.


7.- A boycott against Israeli products is demanded by showing this image (marked as #7), in which a bar code corresponding to an Israeli product (denoted by indicating the number 729) is combined with a revolver. It's of course a manner of associating every single Israeli product to the alleged Israeli oppression of the Palestinians.
Now let's see: Manuel Tapial was recently worried about his cell phone, as indicated before. Well, Manuel Tapial's cell phone, like every single cell phone on Earth, has been built using many materials, including one known as coltan. Maybe Manuel Tapial should read a report which shows that there is much more blood on his cell phone than on any Israeli product.


8.- Manuel Tapial's friend John Erik Hanson uploaded this drawing (marked as #8) to Tapial's account. It shows the way in which happened the boarding of the Mavi Marmara by the Tzahal from the activists' perspective, in spite of the proofs against the activists and the lack of evidence against Israeli soldiers.


9.- Manuel Tapial linked a videoconference by David Duke. Duke's videoconference is intended to criticize Israel, Zionism and the Jews as a whole heavily. Please note that David Duke, an American citizen, is a white supremacist, a fomer Ku Klux Klan's member and an anti-Semite. And to have linked the video can't be considered the result of Tapial's ignorance, because he himself indicates this fact. The first comment under the link, written by Tapial, reads as follows:
"Be careful because this guy is a nazi, although what he says makes sense, it's necessary to know who he is."
Here is Amin Shiranai's answer to Manuel Tapial, being Amin one of Tapial's friend (it's the second comment under the link):
"I don't care about him being a nazi, this guy tells the truth, the fucking truth, the Zionists have trippled nazis' crimes, so I really don't care about what he thinks.."
Please notice Aupa Towanda's and Mukkader Bauer's answers to Tapial and Shiranai, rejecting David Duke in Spanish and English, respectively (third and fifth comments under the link, respectively). Both Aupa and Mukkader are Tapial's friends.
Tapial's explanation of the linked videoconference, which is marked as #9, reads as follows:
"Recommendable the visualization and spreading of this video ..."

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Manuel Tapial and terrorism (I).

Manuel Tapial is one of the three Spanish activists who were on board the Mavi Marmara. On Monday, July 5, 2010, Spanish daily AHORA Leganés published an interview with him about the P.P.'s (People's Party, a right-wing, conservative party) branch for the municipality of Leganés (a city near Madrid, Spain's capital), which refused to condemn the raid conducted by the Tzahal against the so-called Gaza flotilla. During the voting process, Leganés' councillor Dolores Montoro (a member of the People's Party) wore two Stars of David. This is the interview (translated as accurate as possible, between quotation marks):


"Q. Leganés' P.P. has refused to condemn the Israeli assault on the Flotilla during the Voting Process.

A. I think that to affirm we attacked the Israelis comes from a supine ignorance. These statements discredit the P.P. by themselves. P.P.'s spokesman puts himself out of the Law through his words. It sounds like if defense of State terrorism had been made, defending a State which has committed a violation of the Human Rights and which has committed murders.

Q. What do you think about the P.P.'s councillor wearing two Stars of David during this Voting Process?

A. Leganés' citizens must know these facts. We could compare it with a member of E.T.A. showing the photographs of those killed by him during a Voting Process. That's the same indignation our families have been able to feel while seeing it. It's outrageous that somebody can defend a State which has committed a terrorist act, which has put our lives in danger and which has provoked nine deaths. It's outrageous.

Q. What would you tell this councillor?

A. [I'd tell her] to go to live in Israel."


E.T.A. (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, which in Basque means Basque Homeland and Freedom) is a far-left, armed organization which aims to achieve the independence for Euskadi or Basque Country (which would include two Spanish Autonomous Communities, Euskadi or Basque Country and Navarre, as well as the western part of the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques) through the use of force and intimidation; id est, it's a terrorist organization, delegitimized by most of the Basques, which has demonstrated many times it's able to kill, harm and kidnap members of the security forces, politicians, businesspeople, journalists and innocent civilians as a whole, through both selective and indiscriminate actions committed by the use of firearms and explosives.
Since E.T.A. was founded in 1959, it killed more than 800 people.
Before being expelled from the Basque Parliament and municipal councils by law, the members of those political parties supporting E.T.A. were able to defend the organization inside those institutions, showing photographs of E.T.A.'s members, refusing to condemn E.T.A.'s criminal activities and so on.
And for Manuel Tapial, refusing to condemn the Israeli raid on the Gaza flotilla is comparable to show support for terrorism, in spite of all the proofs against many of the activists who were on board the Mavi Marmara and the lack of evidence against Israeli soldiers.
But what really shocks me is that, in his point of view, a Spanish politician wearing a Magen David during a council meeting is comparable to a member of E.T.A. supporting E.T.A.'s terrorism during a council meeting. And he made this statement in a country which has been suffering E.T.A.'s terrorism for decades, as well as anti-Semitism for centuries.
Well, maybe Manuel Tapial should be informed that his own ideas are much more comparable with E.T.A.'s than a person wearing a Star of David, not only because the organization behind the Gaza flotilla, the I.H.H., has been linked with terrorist organizations by the Danish Institute for International Studies and the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, but also because E.T.A. and Manuel Tapial share a common ideology regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Manuel Tapial is a member of the Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe (Solidarity with the Arab Cause Committee). In its website we can find this article, written by Manuel Tapial himself. He states the following (translated as accurate as possible, between quotation marks):


"As an activist, I refuse to assume the official positions and to justify the massacre of civilians, and I refuse to condemn the legitimate resistance of a people under so brutal attacks. The tools of every people are those which are considered the most useful to defend themselves, and in this case I recognize Hamas' moral authority to defend the Gaza Strip, a zone where through free elections most of the people chose it to represent them in the Palestinian parliament. Poor Palestinians who chose the erroneous option. Don't we the Western countries agree on that kind of electoral system of one person, one vote?"

In the next paragraph he proposes to recognize the legitimacy of the armed operations carried out in Lebanon and Palestine, which he dares to compare with the armed resistance against Francisco Franco during the 1936 to 1939 Spanish Civil War and that against the nazis during the Second World War, and ends suggesting the disruption of Spanish-Israeli relations.
He ends his article with the following words: "Viva the Resistance, Viva the struggle of the Palestinian people!"

This comes from a pro-E.T.A. website. It's an article under the title País Vasco, una cultura de resistencia (Basque Country, a culture of resistance) which uses a language similar to Manuel Tapial's:


"E.T.A. continued with its activities after Franco's death.

During these days E.T.A. has attracted the attention of the media due to its car bombs and its actions against the Spanish government, which continuously derive on the escalation of the repression against the Basques, against revolutionary groups of resistance and even anarchists.

In spite of the fact that nationalism is usually implemented by the State to maintain its people in a situation of ignorance, the Basque nation, like others, is still absorbed by the powers of the capitalist western world (Spain and France).

The struggle for the freedom of the Basque people is important, being one of many battles against the fascist opression."


While Manuel Tapial recognized Hamas as a legitimate organization entitled to represent the Palestinians, sympathizers of E.T.A. (and E.T.A. itself) have been denouncing the banning of political parties (such as Batasuna) which support E.T.A. and try to appear before the public opinion as the legitimate representatives of the Basque people. One example is Segi, a pro-E.T.A. youth organization which protested against the aforementioned banning, as can be read in the same pro-E.T.A. website, in an article under the title Segi denuncia la ilegalización de Batasuna y la estrategia aniquiladora contra Euskal Herria (Segi denounces the banning of Batasuna and the destructive strategy against Euskal Herria, being Euskal Herria the country of the euskera, or Basque language).
Furthermore, E.T.A. and its sympathizers, and Manuel Tapial himself, support Hamas in a similar manner. The same pro-E.T.A. website published an article under this title: Solidaridad con la resistencia del pueblo palestino frente a las atrocidades del ejército israelí (Solidarity with the resistance of the Palestinian people against the atrocities of the Israeli army).

So, who are acting like supporters of terrorism, those who refuse to condemn the Israeli raid on the Gaza flotilla due to the proofs against many of the activists who were on board the Mavi Marmara and the lack of evidence against any single Israeli, or those who ally themselves with organizations linked to terrorist groups, while supporting terrorist activities and criticizing a State like members and supporters of E.T.A. usually do?

To portray the Magen David as a terrorist symbol... And then he pretends not to appear as an anti-Semite before the public opinion.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Do Público's journalists know how the world where they live is?

I mean, Público published an article by Eugenio García Gacón on Friday, July 2, 2010, which offered the following information (excerpt from the article below, translated as accurate as possible, between quotation marks):

"Israel rejects outright Turkey's demands. In the first hand, Gaza's blockade which theoretically was lifted last week, according to the Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu actually is going on almost at the same level than prior to the announcement. The Israelis justify their attitude saying that they're avoiding the smuggling of weapons and dual-use materials, though actually they're avoiding the entrance of food, medicines, gas for private use and civil construction materials."

Well, the truth is that food, medicines, gas, civil construction materials and many more items are actually being sent to the Gaza Strip, as shown here, here and here.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

A lawsuit is brought against eight Israelis in Spain.

A Spanish N.G.O., known as Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe (Solidarity with the Arab Cause Committe) has brought a lawsuit against eight Israelis due to the boarding of the so-called Gaza flotilla, under the auspices of Laura Aral, Manuel Espinar Tapial and David Segarra, the three Spaniards who were on board the Mavi Marmara during the Israeli assault. The lawsuit consists of accusing those eight Israelis of having committed crimes of less humanity and crimes against people and goods protected in the case of armed conflict, it was sent to the National Court (which is in charge of alleged crimes against humanity, among others) on Friday, July 23, 2010, and it can be read here (in Spanish).
The eight Israeli citizens accused by the Committe are: Binyamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister; Ehud Barak, Minister of Defense; Avigdor Lieberman, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Dan Meridor, Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy; Moshe Ya'alon, Minister of Strategic Affairs; Eli Yishai, Minister of Internal Affairs; Ze'ev Binyamin Begin, Minister without portfolio; and Eliezer Marom, commander of the Tzahal's naval branch.
This is the second time a lawsuit accusing Israel of having committed crimes against humanity is brought against the Jewish State before the Spanish National Court, being the first one about the Tzahal operation which killed Palestinian terrorist leader Salah Shehadeh (at the time member of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades) and fourteen civilians in 2002. This lawsuit is also available here (in Spanish), and it was unsuccessful.

During this summer I was and I'll be busy, but sooner or later I'll write about this new lawsuit against Israel. I already made a response to the lawsuit on the attack against Shehadeh, which is available here (in Spanish), and which I'll translate into English in this blog.
Once finished the current summer, I'll recover my usual rythm here.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Gaza flotilla still defined as Freedom Flotilla by Público.

On Sunday, July 18, 2010, Público published an article written by Eugenio García Gascón under the title La UE insta a Israel a abrir las fronteras de Gaza (EU urges Israel to open Gaza's borders). Excerpt from the article below:

"Israel announced the change of its policy towards Gaza due to the Freedom Flotilla incident, which was boarded by the Israeli Navy on May 31 in front of Gaza's coast. Israeli soldiers caused the death to nine Turkish activists and later announced the partial opening of the borders mainly for food."

Taking into account the evidencies showing the pre-planned violence exercised by the activists, including this video, to write that the Gaza flotilla was a Freedom Flotilla seems to be inaccurate.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Historical inaccuracies by El País.

On Monday, July 11, 2010, an article written by Ana Carbajosa, correspondent for El País in Tel Aviv-Yafo, was published under the title El hilo del que pende Ariel Sharon (The thread Ariel Sharon hangs by). The article deals with Ariel Sharon, former Israeli Prime Minister, who is in a coma since January 2006. Facts about him as a political leader are summarized in the article, and some historical inaccuracies are present. Excerpts from the article below (translated as accurate as possible, between quotation marks):


"[Former Sharon's advisor Raanan] Gissin maintains that, as a friend, he doesn't desire Sharon's death. Involved in his role as an advisor, this fervent admirer of the man who led Israel to the war with Lebanon and in which the Sabra and Shatila massacres were produced thinks that Sharon's political legacy would have enjoyed a major recognition if he had died the day he suffered the cerebral haemorrhage.

In Israel, beyond the aggresiveness deployed by the former prime minister in the battlefield, his role as the one who triggered the second Intifada or the brutality of the Operation Defensive Shield that he ordered, he will be remembered as the father of the colonialist movement, who just before going into a coma surprised [everybody] by ordering the evacuation of Gaza's settlements in 2005."


In her article, Ana Carbajosa makes Sharon the one responsible for the 1982 Lebanon War, when it would be more accurate to explain that the Jewish State went to war there as a response to terrorist actions committed by the P.L.O., consisting of rocket attacks on northern Israel from Lebanon.
Carbajosa also blames Sharon for the al-Aqsa Intifada, a usual accusation which consists of stating that Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount, a Holy Place to muslims as well as Jews, offended the Palestinians to the point that the aforementioned uprising erupted. It's true that Sharon visited the Temple Mount on Thursday, September 28, 2000, but other facts which led to the al-Aqsa Intifada or that extended it should also be mentioned, such as David Biri's death on the same day after being attacked the day before, the shock among Israelis due to the Ramallah lynching in October 2000, Arafat's refusal to a peace plan proposed by Ehud Barak early that same year (which would include some East Jerusalem's areas for a future Palestinian State), or the Palestinian suicide bombings, which began during the 90s; moreover, to begin an uprising just because a Jew has visited a Holy Place to him is not understandable, after all.
Operation Defensive Shield happened in 2002 due to the Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israel during the al-Aqsa Intifada. The aforementioned "brutality" during the Operation consisted of a supposed massacre of Palestinian civilians occurred during the Battle of Jenin. It was initially reported that hundreds of civilians (and even 1,500 ones) had been killed. The truth behind this story is that there were isolated cases of human rights abuses, but any massacre had happened.
Lorenzo Cremonesi, correspondent for Il Corriere della Sera in Jerusalem, while denouncing Israel's military censorship in combat zones, affirmed that he was able to enter Jenin and that any massacre had occurred. Here are his own words:


"The first took place in the Jenin refugee camp in April 2002. Do you remember? The camp was surrounded, and the media was not allowed in. From a distance, one could see pillars of smoke and hear occasional shooting. The Palestinians spoke about 1,500 dead - a toll that later dropped to 500. There were rumors of mass graves, of entire families that had been shot in the streets by Zionist soldiers.

On April 13, I succeeded in crossing through the army barricades on foot and reached the hospital bordering on the refugee camp. I was prepared to see scenes of a bloodbath. Anyone who follows what takes place in the arena of war knows that generally speaking, the ratio of dead to wounded is one to three. That is to say, if there are 500 dead, there will be at least 1,500 wounded. What did I find? Absolutely nothing. The hospital was almost deserted, doctors were playing cards in the emergency room, there were two women in labor and one old man who had had an appendectomy.

In one of the wards I finally saw wounded - 25 people who had been lightly wounded. And the stories they told were indeed heart-rending. 'I saw a woman and three children who were shot close by here', one of them told me. Nonetheless, when they were asked for the names of the dead and to show where the bodies were, the responses became evasive. In short, it was all talk and nothing could be verified, nothing was concrete. At the end of that day, I wrote that the death toll was not more than 50 and that most of them were combatants. And indeed, a few weeks later, following a UN investigation, it was reported that there had been 53 dead."


Time reported the following:


"A Time investigation concludes that there was no wanton massacre in Jenin, no deliberate slaughter of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers. But the 12 days of fighting took a severe toll on the camp. According to the U.N., 54 Palestinians are confirmed dead. An additional 49 are missing; it is unclear how many of them perished in the fighting and how many either fled or were captured by Israeli troops. In the final count, there may well be fewer dead in Jenin than the 78 killed in Nablus Casbah in a battle that took place at the same time. But it is Jenin that has attracted worldwide attention because of the widespread destruction of property and because some of those who died during the fighting were mere spectators.

Human Rights Watch, which in a published report last week also concluded that no massacre took place, nonetheless documented 22 civilian deaths and said the Israelis used excessive and indiscriminate force during the operation. Time found that as Israeli soldiers moved from house to house, they sometimes compelled Palestinian civilians to take the dangerous job of leading the approach to the buildings. On the other hand, a senior Palestinian military officer has admitted to Time that some of those who died were killed by rubble from the exploding booby traps with which Palestinian fighters had honeycombed the camp."


Please compare these death tolls with those attributed to the alleged massacre. Moreover, please watch this video in order to understand how the Palestinians act when they want to blame Israel, or read again about the Palestinian booby traps which killed Palestinian civilians.

Why not all of this is remembered by Carbajosa in her article when writing about the 1982 Lebanon War, the al-Aqsa Intifada and the 2002 Battle of Jenin?