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- Khaled Abu Toameh: What Abbas Missed in His UN Speech
- Christine Williams: Palestinian Propaganda Invades the Arts in Canada
What Abbas Missed in His UN Speech
by Khaled Abu
Toameh
October 2, 2013 at 5:00 am
October 2, 2013 at 5:00 am
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Abbas is
more concerned about Jews visiting the Temple Mount than thousands of
Palestinians who are being butchered and expelled from their homes in Arab
countries; he sees evil only in the actions of Israel and Jewish settlers.
As Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was delivering his speech
at the General Assembly of the United Nations last week, one of his officials
in Ramallah revealed that 250,000 out of the approximately 600,000 Palestinians
in Syria have been forced to flee their homes since the beginning of the
conflict there.The official, Mohamed Shtayyeh, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, said that 93,000 of the displaced Palestinians fled to Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey.
He added that those who fled to the neighboring Arab countries were living in harsh conditions.
Yet in his speech, Abbas largely ignored the plight of these Palestinians. Instead, he chose to direct his criticism toward Israel and the settlers.
Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the UN General Assembly, September 26, 2013
(Photo credit: UN video)
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Nor did he utter a word about Lebanon's mistreatment of the Palestinian refugees or the fact that the Egyptians have been mistreating Palestinian refugees.
The only time Abbas referred to the plight of the refugees was toward the end of his speech, when he stated, "In the past few years and this year, Palestinian refugees have paid -- and continue to pay -- a heavy price for the conflicts and unrest in the region despite their neutrality. Tens of thousands of refugees have been forced to search for new places to live in."
Abbas, of course, also ignored the fact that nearly 2,000 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured in Syria in the past two years.
He did not, however, forget to mention in his speech that 27 Palestinians were killed by the Israel Defense Forces since the beginning of the year.
Abbas's speech shows that the Palestinian Authority leadership considers construction of new housing units in settlements and neighborhoods of Jerusalem as being more serious than the displacement of a quarter million Palestinians.
For the Palestinian Authority leadership, the security fence in the West Bank, which has put an end to suicide bombings, is more problematic than the killing and displacement of thousands of Palestinians in Syria.
Not surprisingly, Abbas did not condemn any of the Arab countries for mistreating and humiliating Palestinians, especially in recent years.
So what if the Egyptian authorities are shooting and killing Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria? So what if the Lebanese authorities are imposing severe restrictions on the entry of Palestinian refugees? So what if Palestinians are being killed every day in Syria by the forces of Bashar al-Assad and the "rebels?"
Abbas does not seem to have time to talk about the suffering of his people at the hands of Arab governments and terror groups.
As he was speaking, thousands of Palestinians were stranded on both sides of the Gaza Strip-Egypt border due to the closure of the terminal by the Egyptian authorities. Abbas saw no need to refer in his speech to the Egyptian blockade on the Gaza Strip, which is hurting not only Hamas, but also the entire population.
As his speech has shown, he is more concerned about Jews visiting the Temple Mount than thousands of Palestinians who are being butchered and expelled from their homes in Arab countries. That hundreds of mosques and churches have been destroyed in Syria and Egypt is of no concern to Abbas, who sees evil only in the actions of Israel and Jewish settlers.
Related Topics: Khaled Abu
Toameh
Palestinian Propaganda Invades the Arts in Canada
by Christine
Williams
October 2, 2013 at 3:00 am
October 2, 2013 at 3:00 am
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The Toronto
Palestine Film Festival uses the arts to demonize the State of Israel. The
event is promoted by the Canadian Arab Federation, which has been condemned by
the Canadian government for its support of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Palestinian propaganda has been ramped up a notch, using the prominent
Toronto Film Festivals, in a manipulation of the arts to emotionalize its
message. The Sixth Annual Toronto Palestine Film Festival (TPFF) opened
on Saturday September 28th, on the heels of the renowned Toronto International Film
Festival . Although described as "dedicated to bringing Palestinian
cinema, live musical performances, cuisine and art to audiences," it is
more accurately a propaganda fest that promotes Palestinian victimhood and
paints Israel as a criminal. The event is promoted by the Canadian Arab
Federation, which has been condemned
by the Canadian government for its support of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.The TPFF was founded in 2008 as a tribute to the 60th anniversary of Al-Nakba, or "Day of Catastrophe," as the Palestinians call it, to commemorate May 15th, the day after Israel's Declaration of Independence in 1948.
The festival begins with the Canadian premier of Abdallah Salem Omeish's dramatic and vivid documentary: "The War Around Us," which recounts the experiences of two Al-Jazeera journalists -- Ayman Mohyeldin and Sherine Tadros -- on assignment in Gaza when Israel broke a four-month ceasefire with Hamas to launch a military strike on November 4, 2008, to destroy a tunnel being dug by Palestinians, through which they plan to kidnap Israeli soldiers posted nearby.
Mohyeldin and Tadros, the only reporters covering the violence, captured emotional and horrific footage of dead and injured civilians killed in the shelling, and claim to catch Israel in an alleged lie that only "surgical strikes" were performed. The documentary displays A UN school as one of the targets.
Toronto's NOW Magazine described the documentary effects as "nervy but ultimately unnecessary; if the footage alone doesn't whip up your anger, you're just not paying attention," while declaring the whole Toronto Palestine Film Festival as, "almost by definition, a political event."
Also showcased is one of the most distinctive films from the Arab world in recent years, according to the Toronto Star. "When I Saw You," by Annemarie Jacir, presents the experiences of refugees fleeing the "Arab-Israeli hostilities" that gripped the region in 1967, through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy in a refugee camp in Jordan with his distressed mother. His frustrations soon turn into acts of rebellion as he joins terrorists preparing to head back across the border.
Another film, "Infiltrators," by Khaled Jarrar will be presented; it is about "Palestinians going over, under and through "the Wall." The documentary "This Is My Land... Hebron" displays yet another distressing perspective, painting Israelis as human rights abusers. Directors Guilia Amati and Stephen Natanson take viewers into the city of Hebron, where about 600 Israeli settlers and the soldier guarding them are portrayed as making life virtually impossible "for their 160,000 Palestinian neighbours with random curfews, checkpoints and offensive graffiti."
In advance of this event, a Reel Palestine panel was held on September 9th at the University of Toronto's Innis Town Hall. It featured a conversation with Palestinian filmmakers at the TIFF, and was co-sponsored by the university's Cinema Studies Institute.
The propagandist motive of the festival was alluded to by Jackie Reem Salloum, director of one of the documentaries, who told Al Jazeera, "Hollywood doesn't know anything about the Palestinian issue." Salloum further advises Palestinian parents to encourage their children to tell their stories through artistic expression and the media.
The arts have historically served as a powerful tool in shaping a culture, and the Toronto Palestine Film Festival uses the arts to demonize the State of Israel. One publication referred to the festival as a collection of stories that depict the "occupier" as inhumane, deceitful and brutal, while Palestinians develop "funding and talent," and the courage and determination to fight for survival.
Related Topics: Christine
Williams
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