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An e-newsletter delivering updates and analysis on current issues about Israel and the Middle East conflict

March 6, 2012

The farce that is Israel Apartheid Week appears on campuses once again

Dear Friend of FLAME:

This week is the 8th annual edition of one of the most hypocritical and absurd concepts created by the haters of anything related to the Jewish state: Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) crawls out of its hole to reappear on campuses all over the U.S. and Canada.

But at least the movement seems to be losing some credibility. When a notorious anti-Zionist calls IAW a "cult" movement, it's fair to say that it has lost the last vestiges of credibility. Indeed, as Jonathan Kay, Toronto's National Post Managing Editor for "Comment," informs us in this week's FLAME Hotline, Holocaust-denier Norman Finkelstein himself is disgusted both with IAW, as well as the movement for boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. After all, if you can't count on support from the arch anti-Zionists, there aren't too many other places to look.

Both IAW and BDS try to convince students that Israel represents the world's gravest purveyor of human rights atrocities and that no other international issue should take precedence over blind focus on Israel's alleged wrongdoings.

Yet the double standard against Israel continues unashamedly, which is all the more absurd given Israel's stature as the Middle East's only democracy. This year, the cruel hypocrisy of IAW burns even brighter in light of the dimming hope of tens of millions struggling for freedom in other Middle East countries. Recent developments since the so-called Arab Spring highlight this contradiction:

  • Egypt continues to allow the persecution of its minority Christian population
  • Syria has already killed more of its own citizens than Israel killed in both Intifadas, the 2006 Lebanon War, and the 2008 Gaza War combined
  • Iran executed four times as many people in the past year than in 2010 (according to Amnesty International)
  • The new regime in Libya continues to torture Gaddafi loyalists

So, how can it be possible that the world's attention is still focused on Israel at Apartheid Weeks on campuses all over the Western world?

Year after year, we at FLAME have pointed out the hypocrisy of IAW and BDS and have asked that same question. It just doesn't make any sense. Now there can be no doubt that the IAW protest has absolutely nothing to do with human rights, and everything to do with anti-Zionism and outright hatred of Israel.

I hope you agree that Mr. Kay's brief, but illuminating article below delivers an insightful message and that you'll pass it along to friends, colleagues, and fellow congregants using the "send to a friend" button at the bottom of this email, or using the buttons above to share it via social media.

Thanks for your continued support of FLAME, and thank you for your support of Israel.

Best regards,

Dave Nogradi
FLAME Hotline Contributor

P.S.

Despite all the turmoil in the Middle East, despite President Obama's cool attitude toward Israel, despite three major wars against the Jewish state in the last 65 years and despite ongoing rocket attacks and threats from its neighbors, tiny Israel has risen to become one of the world's most successful countries---politically, culturally and economically. While we at FLAME are determined to expose the lies and injustice leveled against Israel in the press, the U.N. and the Arab-Muslim world, we also believe it's critical to publicize the truth about Israel's amazing, inspiring accomplishments. That's why I invite you to review our most recent position paper, which is appearing in national media reaching more than 10 million readers, including college newspapers. It's called "Good News from the Middle East: Israel's Prospects Have Never Been Brighter." Please take an advance look, and if you agree that these kinds of outspoken public relations efforts for Israel are essential, I urge you to support us. Remember: FLAME's ability to influence public opinion comes from individuals like you, one by one. I hope you'll consider giving a donation now, as you're able---with $500, $250, $100, or even $18. (Remember, your donation to FLAME is tax deductible.) To donate online, just go to http://www.factsandlogic.org/make_a_donation.html. Now more than ever we need your support to ensure that Israel gets the support it needs---from the U.S. Congress, from President Obama, and from the American people.
P.P.S.

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America's Alibis for Not Helping Syria
by Jonathan Kay, National Post, February 25, 2012

In Syria, the Assad regime continues to rain artillery on rebel positions in the city of Homs, killing journalists and innocent civilians alike. Iran's mullahs are set to execute a Canadian citizen for the crime of operating a web site they don't like. The new Libyan regime is torturing Gaddafi loyalists. And Egypt's rulers are prosecuting NGO leaders on trumped-up charges. And so next week, Canadian left-wing activists will congregate in Toronto to express their hatred of … you guessed it: Israel.

The events of March 5-9 will take place as part of the 8th annual Israel Apartheid Week (IAW), and will feature presentations such as "Cutting the Ties to Israeli Apartheid: Cultural and Academic Boycott," and "Rhymes Of Resistance And The Sounds Of Existence — with poets Remi Kanazi, Red Slam and Chand-nee." The IAW website is full of the usual rhetoric about Israel's "criminal" actions. There is not a word of acknowledgement about how utterly ridiculous it is to run a week-long event vilifying Israel when right next door in Syria, the government has just exterminated more Arabs than were killed in both Intifidas, the 2008 Gaza conflict, and the 2006 Lebanon war combined.

The timing of IAW this year truly does represent something of a farce. The eyes of the entire world are focused on Syria and the Strait of Hormuz. Even West Bank Palestinians themselves now seem more concerned with building up their economy than with grand international gestures aimed at the Jewish state. And in the "occupied" Golan Heights, Druze Muslims have been stirring — not against Israel, but against the Assad regime that many once looked to for "liberation." In the streets of Cairo, Sana'a and Tunis, no one is talking about Israel — only about when they will get the democracy they were promised. Only among cultish, single-minded anti-Israel activists has the news of the Arab Spring failed to circulate.

The word "cultish" is used here advisedly — because even some veteran anti-Israel activists are getting tired of the false mantras that circulate at IAW events. This includes no less an anti-Zionist than Norman Finkelstein (who has called Israel a "vandal state" that "relentlessly and brutally and inhumanly keeps these vicious, murderous wars"). Speaking to an interviewer earlier this month, he attacked the animating philosophy behind IAW — the movement for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel (BDS) — as a "cult," and an unsuccessful one at that.

National Post editorial writers have attended BDS events here in Toronto, and they all contain the same rousing assurances that the BDS movement will bring Israel to its knees. The self-consciously enforced spirit of viva la revolución solidarity that permeates these rallies reminds one of communist rallies in the days before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Year after year, we hear the same clichés about how the BDS movement is on the cusp of victory. Yet the Israeli economy continues to prosper, and the only groups that have fallen into line with the boycott call are scattered NGOs and low-tier universities. "All [the BDS] claims about 'victories' [against Israel]: These 10 fingers more than suffice to count their victories," Mr. Finkelstein said this month. "It's a cult. The guru says: 'We have all these victories,' and everyone nods their head."

Of greater concern to Mr. Finkelstein, a former university professor and the author of many controversial books, is the sheer dishonesty that permeates the BDS movement.

"We have to be honest: They [BDS activists] don't want Israel. They think they're being clever. They call it their three tiers. 'We want to end of the occupation,' 'We want the right of return [for Palestinian refugees],' 'And we want equal rights for Arab citizens.' But they know the result of implementing all three is — what? You and I both know: There's no Israel. [If you ask them about it, they say] 'Oh we're agnostic about Israel.' No. You're not agnostic. You don't want it [to exist]."

In fairness to the IAW activists who will be assembling on campuses in coming days, not all of them seek the outright destruction of Israel — though many certainly do. Some are merely naive undergraduates who truly do believe in two secure, peaceful states living side by side. Others are bored veterans of other activist movements, such as anti-racism and gay rights, looking to the Middle East to recapture the sense of moral purpose once provided by the (successful) fight against discrimination here in Canada.

But all of them should understand that IAW and BDS are not what they seem: As some of Israel's own fiercest critics themselves now admit, these are dishonest cults meant to enlist ill-informed activists in a campaign to destroy the Jewish state.

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