Tuesday, July 10, 2007
I was going to "have at" this silly reprint of AP/Hamas propaganda by Diaa Hadid which made it into the Boston Globe and many other outlets, but Meryl's done that and more, here: Lies, damned lies, and blaming Israel.
The terrorists are mortaring the crossings and there's no coordination on the Arab side of the border, but AP sends out this nonsense about Israeli closures causing all this misery? Someone's not keeping up with current events...or the author has an agenda. Who's Diaa Hadid anyway?
Here's an article on Hadid (I think it's a pretty safe bet it's the same person) from when she was a wee tike just a few short years ago: My Israel, my Palestine. Here are some of the operative bits:
Well, Kramer (the Jew, who, the article reminds us repeatedly, ended up living in an ULTRA-Orthodox neighborhood) re-evaluated. Hadid, well...
...During their time away they experienced two very different Israels. Hadid, the Palestinian Israel; Kramer, the Jewish. Hadid assisting a non-government organisation (NGO) called Ittijah; Kramer, studying Judaism in an Ultra-orthodox sector of Jerusalem...
...In her role as Ittijah's public relations officer, Hadid spent much or her time helping member organisations with fundraising, liasing with foreign embassies and assisting on jobs that required English language skills. The tension of the conflict invaded every aspect of her life...
...Thanks to Ittijah's expanded duties Hadid found herself working long hours, often until three in the morning. She was no longer fundraising but instead spent her time writing daily press releases, giving interviews, fielding emergency calls and helping to organise the delivery of aid...
...The intensity of Hadid's involvement over the last nine months has had a strong impact on her views. When she first arrived in the Middle East, Hadid expressed a desire to make more Israeli friends. Now she has trouble separating the personal from the political.
"I can't look at Israelis anymore. I can't separate your average Israeli citizen from the occupation, I don't want to be friends with them, I don't want to talk to them," says Hadid...
..."To this day I'd never say that I am anti-anybody. But did my objectivity get thrown out the window? Yes. Because I had an Israeli gun pointing at me, not a Palestinian one," says Hadid...
NGO-Monitor describes Ittijah as:
* Played a prominent role at Durban. According to its website, "Ittijah's international profile was brought under the spotlight at the Durban World Conference against Racism in 2001, where Ittijah gathered, facilitated and directed the vision and position of the Palestinian NGOs inside Israel on racism, particularly Israeli-state racism towards Palestinian citizens, and the apartheid the State practices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip."
* Has joined a number of Palestinian NGOs in rejecting anti-terror clauses in funding agreements, specifically USAID and the Ford Foundation.
The "Durban Strategy" is based around boycotts, divestment, sanctions and a concerted effort to demonize and delegitimize Israel. Discover the Networks has more on the group.
From Palestinian Arab propagandist straight into the arms of the AP. What else would you expect?
She is brilliant I like her. I love compassionate people , who feel sorry for people under occupation , and who notice the plight of others. Im sure she is pro israel and wanted to support israel in her writing but what she saw in the terroritories must have shocked her and made her write what she wrote . bravo
you dumm bitch hamass or what ever them assholes are call started this shit. you dumb ass press report the way you want it to sound and you wounder why your readership is down. the press wants a bail out next cuz you can't sell your crap
she seems to have changed significantly since becoming a journalist (an interesting and unexpected turn). read her recent stuff and she's up with abu toameh in producing negative stuff on Hamas.
Thanks for the tip about her recent work as a journalist. I think she's quite good. She covers a comprehensive range of topics (for example, Palestinians' difficulty in acknowledging the Holocaust, controversy over feigned religious exemptions from IDF service) and is not shy about highlighting Hamas' abuses of its own people. The latter is especially hard to find, and represents an invaluable service to the cause of press freedom and basic human decency. She has a blog at http://diaahadid.blogspot.com/
Diaa's articles are extremely informative, particularly for a person like me in the USA where our coverage tends to be one sided. I think Diaa has shown an excellence in journalism, particularly in the middle-east. She has a very balanced view of the area and a great depth of knowledge.
Keep up the good work.
Robert,
California, USA