Published by The Freeman Center
The Maccabean Online
Political Analysis and Commentary
on Israeli and Jewish Affairs
"For Zion's sake I shall not hold my peace, And for Jerusalem's sake I shall not rest."
THE FREEMAN CENTER URGES CAUTION
ON THE ISRAEL PROJECT
by Bernard J. Shapiro
[Author\'s Note: This article will be seen as very controversial by many. I have avoided giving the personal names of many of the people involved to protect myself and the Freeman Center from legal action (But they know who they are, and they know how accurate this report is.) The extreme anti-democratic left has a history of trying to suppress free speech through lawsuits and judicial prosecution. This has happened to a great degree in Israel and a lessor degree in America. As a Jew, a Texan, an America and a Zionist, I do not fear their money or their lawyers. I will always speak out on issues of Israel\'s national security and survival.
This is a long and complicated article and one must read some of my supporting articles to understand the HARSH REALITIES. There is no shortcut to full understanding of the these important issues. ]
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During the last year a new, seemingly pro-Israel organization, THE ISRAEL PROJECT, has emerged on the American scene. It is well financed and has produced some wonderful brochures and solicitation letters urging American Jews to support its mission of improving Israel\'s image in America and around the world. Of course, none of us disagrees with that mission. In fact, that has been my goal for over 46 years.
The problem with THE ISRAEL PROJECT is not its goal and mission statement, but with its extreme leftist PEACE NOW orientation. Its founders and financial supporters have the best of intentions, and far be it for me to doubt their love of Israel. The HARSH REALITY is that they are sadly mistaken as to the best policies for insuring Israel\'s security and survival. Unfortunately, as someone, who has studied the military, strategic, political and foreign policy aspects of the Arab War of Extermination against Jewish Israel, I must speak the TRUTH to my readers. This war has gone on for more than a 100 years and it is not going to end any time soon.(#3)
What has changed is the remarkable destruction wrought on Zionist ideology and Israeli security by PEACE NOW and its various “front” organizations. From an obscure leftist group, far from the Jewish mainstream, PEACE NOW, now controls the centers of power among American Jewry. It controls ideologically most Jewish Federations, most Jewish newspapers, Jewish news services, the Reform Jewish Movement, and the major Jewish Organizations and their associations.
In Israel it has moved from the leftist fringes of the Israeli political scene. Shalom Akshav (PEACE NOW) has taken control of several political parties, including the LABOR PARTY. Ariel Sharon\'s Likud/Left alliance which heads the Israeli government, the security services, the Israel Foreign, Defense and Justice ministries are all under the control of PEACE NOW IDEOLOGY now. The Israeli Supreme Court and the Judiciary as well as most Israeli newspapers and electronic media operate under PEACE NOW ideology.
One might ask, if this ideology has spread so fast and so far, why is it so bad for Israel. It will require the reader to do some study to understand the full seriousness of this threat to Israel. A quick-study guide is presented by me below in note#1 (PEACE NOW EXPOSED) printed below. Then read note #2 (MAKING PEACE WITH WOLVES).
[The danger to Israel\'s security and survival has been documented in several of my articles: See Notes: 5, 6, 7,10 &11]
THE ISRAEL PROJECT presents itself to the public as a new organization dedicated to improving Israel\'s image through sophisticated hasbara, education and a network of students, Jewish leaders and others with the similar goal of improved public relations for Israel. What they don\'t tell you is that their organization is a “front” for the extreme leftist government of Sharon, Peres, Meretz, PEACE NOW (with the godfather of Israeli appeasement and post-Zionism, Yossi Beilin, in the background).
My personal experience with this group of leftists dates back several years. Circa 2003, I got information that a group was being formed to improve Israel\'s public relations (hasbara). I contacted the players in New York and offered my services free of charge. I never received a response. I sent them several of my articles dealing with Arab propaganda and how to defeat it as well as articles on improving hasbara in general. See Notes #4, 8, 9 & 10 to verify my expertise for over 40 years on this subject. I never received a response. After repeated inquiries, I was finally told that this project was controlled by the Israel Foreign Ministry (under Shimon Peres) and that I didn\'t have a security clearance for this job. The absurdity of refusing my offer of expert help for no fee baffled me for a while.
A little more than a year ago, I was contacted by a group of very wealthy Los Angeles Jews, who had at one time been supporters of the Freeman Center. They wanted to know what I would do to improve Israel\'s public relations, should I be given adequate funding. As most know, the Freeman Center, operates on a “hand to mouth” budget with extremely little funding. Of course, the pro-Israel \'bang for the buck\' is quite dramatic. In a given year, we produce and distribute about 100 times more (very serious, not peace fantasy) pro-Israel material than the entire Israel Foreign Ministry on 0.1% of their budget.
Naturally I was very excited about the prospect. Their cover story was that they were allowing several organizations to participate in the funding. I sent them a lot of material including financial statements from the Freeman Center. It was all a hoax. They promised to let me know the results in about six months. I never heard from them. My contact person with that organization was transferred and could not be reached
Being disappointed, I began to analyze the applications I had filled out for them. All of a sudden, I noticed one key question. It was: “Is your organization ideologically closer to PEACE NOW or the ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA. Had there been any chance of me getting funding, this answer of mine seemed to disqualify me.
When their solicitations, brochures and plans began to surface, it was easy for me to see that my ideas had been used. Unfortunately, they had been turned around (reverse engineering) to support the policy of appeasement and PEACE NOW. Israeli PM Sharon and Israeli FM Peres had been quite upset at the emergence of large groups that opposed the surrender of the Land of Israel to its terrorist enemies. While most American Jews remained passive, some 40 million Evangelical Christians refused to accept that Sharon and Peres acted in name of G-d and Zionism. Some Zionist groups such as Americans For a Safe Israel, Zionist Organization of America, and the Freeman Center kept up a ceaseless information campaign on the dangers of expelling Jews from parts of Eretz Yisrael. This was done from both a religious and a security perspective.
The appeasers of terrorism had no legitimate arguments or grounds for their actions, so they were forced to act in a heavy handed and un-democratic manner in order to suppress free discussion on the serious issues of Israeli security and survival. The left, as I mentioned above, had pretty much taken control of American Jewry. Cracks, however, are beginning to appear in this tight control as the mountain of dead Jews grows higher in Israel and Jewish blood becomes cheap again. How long will Americans remain silent as river\'s of blood begin to flow through Jerusalem, Hadera, Tel Aviv, Ashdod, Haifa, Netania. Jews will die on both sides of the security fence and soon the first commercial air liner will be shot down at Ben Gurion Airport.
Will the Israelis fight or die? The choice is as simple as that. The Peace Now activists prefer that Jews die rather than Arabs be inconvenienced. Zionism has been outlawed by the Israeli Left and its Supreme Court. The government of Israel has devoted itself to building a “Palestinian State” instead of building up Israel. Is this what you want?
It is not too late to rescue Israel from the apocalypse coming, should the current government continue the deconstruction of the State of Israel.
A step that American can do easily is to choose carefully the pro-Israel organizations you wish to support and to make sure they reflect your views. The Freeman Center recommends the following organizations (not a complete list): Americans For A Safe Israel, Zionist Organization of America, Freeman Center For Strategic Studies & Women in Green, David Horowitz\'s Center For Popular Culture and Accuracy in Media. The Freeman Center cautions about giving to the following non or anti-Zionist organizations (list not complete): THE ISRAEL PROJECT, American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Congress, New Israel Fund (for Israel\'s enemies), American Jewish Committee, Seeds of Peace & Tikkun.
The article below, US ATTITUDES ON ISRAEL IMPROVES by Nathan Burstein (THE JERUSALEM POST - Oct. 31, 2005) shows how THE ISRAEL PROJECT plans to manipulate public opinion to support appeasement of terrorism. By the way all polls are subject to a political agenda\'s. It is about how the questions are written or asked. For example the \'opinion elites\' in this poll all read the same biased news and listen to the same pro-appeasement propaganda of the Israel Foreign Ministry. Had they read THE MACCABEAN ONLINE or subscribed to the freemanlist, their opinions would be quite different.
If you are in favor of PEACE NOW and prefer the deconstruction of Israel and the creation of a new terrorist State of Palestine, then THE ISRAEL PROJECT is perfect for you. If you are a true Zionist with a strong and passionate feeling for the unalienable right of the Jewish People for the Land of Israel, then please join and support the Freeman Center.
Shimon Peres once said that one need not study history since it is the future that counts. I am sorry to tell you, Shimon, that “those who do not learn form history are forced to repeat it” (George Santayana circa 1870). Jewish history has been filled with too much tragedy - I DON\'T WANT TO REPEAT IT!
Need I say more?
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Bernard J. Shapiro is Executive Director of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies and editor of its publications, including THE MACCABEAN ONLINE, the Freemanlist, the Freeman Center Blog and the Freeman Center Web Site.
Ignorance is Weakness
Self Inflicted Ignorance is Suicide
The Freeman Center is a Cure for Ignorance
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US ATTITUDES ON ISRAEL IMPROVES
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by Nathan Burstein THE JERUSALEM POST - Oct. 31, 2005 |
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In the public relations battle between Israel and the Palestinians, August\'s disengagement from the Gaza Strip was a decisive victory for the Israelis.
According to the first comprehensive poll conducted since withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria, more than three-quarters of those surveyed said they supported the Israeli move. The poll also revealed growing approval of Israel\'s security barrier and a more favorable overall impression of Israel among the American public.
The results were published Sunday in a presentation by The Israel Project, a nonpartisan organization started three years ago to improve Israel\'s image in the international media. Two American polling firms were hired to execute the bipartisan study, one aligned with the Democratic Party and the other with the Republicans.
The survey was conducted last week among 500 members of "opinion elites" - likely voters who regularly follow the news, have a college degree and earn more than $75,000 annually. The group was selected because of its "chain of impact" on electoral outcomes and foreign policy, poll advisers said.
While Israel typically draws less support from opinion elites than from the American public at large, disengagement received "an almost uniformly positive response," said Dr. Stanley Greenberg, the project\'s senior consultant and a pollster whose past clients include former prime minister Ehud Barak and former US president Bill Clinton.
Seventy-seven percent of those surveyed supported withdrawal and said they were more optimistic about the chances for peace than a year ago, when the fate of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon\'s disengagement plan was still unclear. Nearly five respondents sided with Israel for each one who sided with the Palestinians, while 40% said they did not favor either side.
Support for disengagement had a spillover effect on views of other Israeli policies, Greenberg said, noting that nearly 15% more Americans now approve of the security barrier than in July 2004, when 49% said its construction was "justified." That number rose to 63% in last week\'s poll, while the percentage of those supporting the structure\'s removal fell from 37% in February 2005 to 25%.
Greenberg said disengagement improved perceptions of the security barrier "because it gave more support to the idea of separation" and the two-state solution.
While the poll showed that Palestinians have also enjoyed a slight image boost in recent months, Greenberg said disengagement was a "much more impactful event for Israelis," with Israel winning significantly more of the newfound goodwill directed at the region.
The post-disengagement boost resulted from the heavy news coverage the program received in American newspapers, with the dismantling of Gush Katif settlements garnering 159 front-page articles on August 15, the day before disengagement began. Nearly 90% of poll respondents said they had heard "some" or "a lot" about disengagement, as compared to the 73% who were aware of the construction of the security barrier and 53% who knew about the possibility of Hamas running in Palestinian Legislative Council elections next year.
While Israel benefited from disengagement, Greenberg said a seemingly unrelated news event - the start of hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico - blunted the potential public relations impact from another disengagement-related development: the fiery destruction by Palestinians of the synagogues left in Gaza after disengagement.
News stories about the synagogues\' burning were pushed to the back of most newspapers, which devoted the bulk of that week\'s front-page coverage to Hurricane Katrina and may inadvertently have prevented damage to American attitudes about the Palestinians.
Not all the data collected in the poll could be reduced to a zero-sum analysis, however. Israel\'s improving public image didn\'t lead to an equivalent drop in American views about the Palestinians, which dipped slightly after taking a significant leap in the months following Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat\'s death in November 2004.
The improvement in Israel\'s numbers also didn\'t prevent PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas from nearly doubling the number of Americans who said they had "warm" feelings for him, though the new number, 18%, was still half of the 35% with "warm" feelings for Sharon. Despite positive feelings about his disengagement plan, Americans\' attitudes about Sharon remained unchanged between January and October.
Greenberg attributed the boost in Israel\'s public image, in part, to the decision "not to do disengagement in closed quarters, to put it in the spotlight."
"Americans saw Israel saying, \'We\'re going to take initiative on how to make progress,\' and it produced significant positive shifts in sentiment," he said.
"Israel often gets knocked for its hasbara [public diplomacy] efforts," said Calev Ben-David, Israel office director of The Israel Project and a former managing editor of The Jerusalem Post. "But the government has learned lessons and gotten more sophisticated in terms of using research and other tools to reach the public."
He credited the Foreign Ministry and the Government Press Office, in particular, for their work during disengagement, and said results of The Israel Project\'s poll would be made available to the relevant government offices.
Pleased with the "cascade of information" provided by the American poll, Greenberg said he was now preparing for a similar survey to be conducted in Europe in November. He said focus groups convened earlier this year suggested that "important changes" have taken place in European attitudes about Israel, and he expected surveys to show Israel\'s image to have undergone an "even bigger improvement" now that disengagement has been completed.
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SUPPORTING ARTICLES, NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
by Bernard J. Shapiro
1.
PEACE NOW EXPOSED
HOW AMERICANS FOR PEACE NOW (APN)
SUPPORTS THE ARABS
by Bernard J. Shapiro (1991)
The following chart demonstrates clearly how closely the positions of APN parallel those of Arab/PLO positions.
PEACE ARAB FREEMAN CENTER
POSITION OR POLICY NOW PLO SHAPIRO/AFSI
1. Israel should return.........................YES YES NO
to 1967 borders
2. Status of Jerusalem ........................YES YES NO
should be negotiated
with Palestinians
3. Jews have the right .........................NO NO YES
to settle in Judea,
Samaria, and Gaza
4. Jewish settlements ..........................YES YES NO
in Judea, Samaria, &
Gaza are illegal
5. Supported linking the ....................... YES YES NO
loan guarantees to
a freeze in settlement
6. Favors American pressure .............. YES YES NO
to force an Israeli
withdrawal to \'67 borders
7. When an Arab mob attacks .... Human Human Self-
Israeli soldiers and some Rights Rights Defense
Arabs are killed, this violation violation
situation is described as:
8. Israeli control of Judea, ..................YES YES NO
Samaria, and Gaza is the
cause of the Arab-Israeli
Conflict.
9. Slander Israel in the ........................YES YES NO
Media and International
Conferences
10.Wish to strip Israel of the ...............YES YES NO
strategic mountain ranges
in Judea, Samaria, & Golan
making it vulnerable to attack
IF IT LOOKS LIKE A DUCK, WALKS LIKE A DUCK,
QUACKS LIKE A DUCK, AND BEHAVES LIKE A DUCK,
THEN ONE CAN ASSUME THAT IT IS A DUCK
OR AT LEAST PRO-DUCK.
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2. I modified this folk tale around 1994 and broadcast it during the early days of the Oslo appeasement process. It is now 2005 and we have Ariel Sharon as our Prime Minister. He is a man who historically knows how to do battle with the enemies of Israel. Has he lowered his guard, trying to be friends with everyone. Including the world that abandoned us many times to slaughter for over the last 2000 years?.......Bernard J. Shapiro
MAKING PEACE WITH WOLVES
A Folk Tale For Israelis
How do you make peace with wolves? This question has faced man since he settled the land and domesticated animals for livestock. "G-d created the wolves too," man thought "they too must have some kind of purpose, but why do they destroy my stock?" "I\'ll make peace with them" the man thought. "Surely they will understand what that means, for they are part of G-d\'s creatures."
So the man met with the wolves and promised them food and shelter if they would leave his stock alone. The wolves, seeing desperation and weakness, agreed. They lived amongst the stock, the man fed them and sheltered them and they grew strong and multiplied. One day as the man went out to feed his stock and the wolves, he only found wolves, standing amongst the slain carcasses of his stock. "Why? Why have you killed my stock?" the man screamed "Haven\'t I fed you? Haven\'t I sheltered you?....WHY? The wolves looked at the man and smiled,
"Why, you ask have we slain your stock? Because YOU LET US, after all we ARE still wolves!"
A government is like a shepherd, its DUTY is too the stock, NOT the wolves. This is a lesson Peres and his Labor government [and now Sharon] need to learn quickly. Peace is wonderful! Peace is what we all want for Israel (the world for that matter) but do we want the peace of a cemetery or the peace of a strong, secure nation? One of two things need to happen, either Peres needs to take off the rose colored glasses and see the wolves for what they are OR the stock needs to get a new shepherd!
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3. WILL THERE EVER BE TRUE PEACE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE ARAB STATES (original version written in 1993)
http://www.freeman.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/178-WILL-THERE-EVER-BE-TRUE-PEACE-BETWEEN-ISRAEL-AND-THE-ARAB-STATES.html
4. ARAB PSYCHOLOGICAL PROPAGANDA/WARFARE AGAINST ISRAEL
(original version entitled ARAB PROPAGANDIST JOIN FORCES WITH ANTI-SEMITES was written in 1963 and first published in the Fall of of 1965 in THE MACCABEAN) http://www.freeman.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/60-ARAB-PSYCHOLOGICALPROPAGANDA-WARFARE-AGAINST-ISRAEL.html
5. ISRAEL\'S DEMOGRAPHIC AND SECURITY CHALLENGE - Is Transfer The Only Rational Answer? (Originally written in 1995 -THE MACCABEAN) http://www.freeman.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/23-Bernard-J.-Shapiro-ISRAELS-DEMOGRAPHIC-AND-SECURITY-CHALLENGE.html
6. APOCALYPSE NOW - The Planned Destruction Of The State Of Israel
(written for THE MACCABEAN ONLINE, April 2005)
http://www.freeman.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/20-Bernard-J.-Shapiro-APOCALYPSE-NOW-The-Planned-Destruction-Of-The-State-Of-Israel.html
7. OH L-RD, HOW SHALL I MAKE THE BLIND SEE (some sections originally written in September 1993 under the title, THE ISRAEL/PLO AGREEMENT A Dispassionate Analysis, published by the JH-V September 9, 1993). (http://www.freeman.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/180-OH-L-RD,-HOW-SHALL-I-MAKE-THE-BLIND-SEE.html#extended
8. HOW ISRAEL CAN IMPROVE IT HASBARA (PUBLIC RELATIONS) And Why It Needs To (written for the Israel Foreign Ministry and published in THE MACCABEAN ONLINE, March 2005)
http://www.freeman.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/175-HOW-ISRAEL-CAN-IMPROVE-ITS-HASBARA-PUBLIC-RELATIONS.html
9. ORWELL MEETS ALICE - Through the Mid-East Looking Glass
(Originally published JH-V in 1994)
http://www.freeman.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/176-ORWELL-MEETS-ALICE-LINGUISTIC-DISTORTIONS.html#extended
10. COMMUNICATION AND PUBLIC POLICY Implications Of Israel\'s Public Relations Problem
http://www.freeman.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/181-Communication-and-Public-Policy.html
11. THE TALE OF THE MYSTIC BUFFALO A Jewish Parable
(originally written and first published by the Jewish Press in 1994)
http://www.freeman.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/177-THE-TALE-OF-THE-MYSTIC-BUFFALO-iA-Jewish-Parablei.html#extended
BIBLIOGRAPHY
IMPORTANT BOOKS ON ISRAELI HISTORY,
PEACE NOW AND POST-ZIONISM
****BATTLEGROUND - FACT AND FANTASY IN PALESTINE
......by Shmuel Katz (1973- re-issued by AFSI IN 2002)
****THE NEW ISRAEL FUND: A NEW FUND FOR ISRAEL\'S ENEMIES
......by Joseph Puder, Americans For a Safe Israel (1990)
****PEACE NOW: BLUEPRINT FOR NATIONAL SUICIDE by Dan Nimrod,
......Dawn Books ( 1984)
****If I Am Not For Myself....THE LIBERAL BETRAYAL OF THE JEWS ......by ......Ruth R. Wisse, FREE PRESS (1992)
****The Jewish Idea - And Its Enemies _ Personalities, Issues, Events
......by Edward Alexander, Transaction Publishers (1988)
****With Friends Like These: The Jewish Critics of Israel
.......by Edward Alexander, Shapolsky Publishers (1993)
****THE JEWSIH STATE: The Struggle for Israel\'s Soul
......by Yoram Hazony, Basic Books (2000)
****JEWS, G-D & ISRAEL The Battle For Eretz Yisrael by Bernard J. Shapiro
......Freeman Center For Strategic Studies, 1996
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Bernard J. Shapiro is the Executive Director of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies <www.freeman.org> and editor its monthly Internet magazine, The Maccabean Online http://www.freeman.org/MOL
