4 posts tagged “deception”

Excellent Video: O bama

May 24, 2009
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Promotion of and deception about Islam in Our K -12 grade Schools

Feb 5, 2008
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Promotion of Islam in Our Schools
By Cinnamon Stillwell
FrontPage Magazine
February 5, 2008

http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/4756

http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=51F8227F-2D46-469C-93E7-1DE569EB5BC3

Public school children in grades K-12 are being assigned textbooks that misrepresent and, in some cases, glorify Islamic beliefs and history – often at the expense of other religions and cultures. The apologetics and indoctrination common in university Middle East studies programs is being carried into public schools by contentious, ahistorical, and inaccurate textbooks written by those same Middle East studies professors.

History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond, a textbook published by the Teachers' Curriculum Institute, was removed from the Scottsdale, Arizona school district in 2005 for this very reason. The textbook is now causing controversy in California and at the center of the storm is Cal State University-Sacramento sociology professor Ayad Al-Qazzaz.

An Iraqi native who specializes in Middle East studies, Al-Qazzaz, is both a contributor to History Alive and one of the gatekeepers who approved it for use in California's public middle schools. And, according to an American Textbook Council review cited by World Net Daily (WND):

Al-Qazzaz is a Muslim apologist, a frequent speaker in Northern California school districts promoting Islam and Arab causes…[He] also co-wrote AWAIR's 'Arab World Notebook.' AWAIR stands for Arab World and Islamic Resources, an opaque, proselytizing 'non-profit organization' that conducts teacher workshops and sells supplementary materials to schools.

A parent and former student in one of Al-Qazzaz's Middle East studies courses wrote to WND expressing her own reservations:

That was a big flag for me…after seeing Al-Qazzaz as one of the main contributors I began to put two and two together … about the extra book coming home only in this class and I questioned where this book's money source came from – I still do not know.

Al-Qazzaz's contributions to History Alive on the subject of jihad are flagrantly biased, as he consistently presents jihad as merely a personal struggle rather than a holy war.

Hence, as noted by WND, the text presents jihad as "an effort by Muslims to convince 'others to take up worthy causes, such as funding medical research'" and that "even at its most violent, 'jihad' is simply Muslims fighting 'to protect themselves from those who would do them harm.'"

In a 2003 KXTV, Sacramento, story on "Islamic War Ethics," he elaborated:

Al-Qazzaz says there are two levels of jihad. The greater jihad is every Muslim’s quest to live out their faith in their daily lives, to improve themselves and to become a better Muslim. The lesser jihad means to protect one’s people and fight against enemies, he says. So the greater jihad prompts devout Muslims to remember their religious guidelines while fighting, which would cause them to treat war prisoners well.

One suspects the victims of beheadings and torture would beg to differ. Moreover, that Islamists (otherwise known as jihadists) worldwide repeatedly cite jihad as a motivating factor belies Al-Qazzaz’s contention that war is the "lesser jihad."

In a 2002 interview with Peace Magazine, Al-Qazzaz rejected the association of "jihad" with "fundamentalism" and advocated what's come to be known as the "root causes" approach to combating Islamic terrorism:

You are not going to get rid of suicide bombers by killing them. You have to know the causes. It is like a disease. You can treat the symptoms but if you don't know the causes, the symptoms keep coming up.

Yet, when the interview turned to the study of Islam and its connection to terrorism, Al-Qazzaz skirted the issue by blaming others. After first accusing Islam scholar Bernard Lewis of "becoming progressively anti-Islam and Zionist," he continued:

There are two schools of thought about Islam in the US. One school is headed by Bernard Lewis and Daniel Pipes, who equate Islam to terrorism. The other school, headed by John Esposito, argues that there are bad apples everywhere. You have terrorists in Islam, terrorists in Judaism, terrorists in Hindu-ism. But the majority of the people, though they may be backward, do not have a terrorist attitude.

Al-Qazzaz's characterization of both Bernard Lewis and Daniel Pipes is demonstrably false. Neither equates Islam with terrorism, but, rather, seeks to examine the undeniable connection between the two. John Esposito, who heads the Saudi-funded Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown, is a leading Wahhabi apologist who consistently seeks to muddle what is in fact an Islam-specific issue.

Considering Al-Qazzaz's troubling viewpoints on these matters, his involvement with History Alive and other Middle East studies textbooks is cause for alarm. Not only do California education officials need to undertake a rigorous and unbiased reexamination of such textbooks, but also the gatekeepers approving their use. Otherwise, it's simply a case of the fox guarding the hen house.

Cinnamon Stillwell is the Northern California Representative for Campus Watch. She can be reached at stillwell@meforum.org.

Solomonia: Darkness at Noon - MSM Plays Along with Hamas Photo Staging To Deceive Us

Jan 30, 2008
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Thursday, January 24, 2008

Darkness at Noon -- MSM Plays Along with Hamas Photo Staging (Updated)

The Hamas leader of the Gaza Strip , Ismail Haniyeh , left, and Gaza's Hamas strongman, Mahmoud Zahar, are seen during a cabinet meeting held in candle light in solidarity with the residents of Gaza, in Gaza City, Tuesday Jan. 22, 2008. The latest round of Israel-Gaza fighting erupted last week, amid a spike in rocket fire on Israeli border communities, and prompted Israel to seal the territory and cut off fuel supplies. Gaza's power plant shut down, cutting off electricity to about one-third of Gaza's residents, and international aid groups warned they may have to suspend food distribution to hundreds of thousands of people by the end of the week for lack of truck fuel. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Khaled Abu Toameh: 'Hamas staged some of the blackouts'

On at least two occasions this week, Hamas staged scenes of darkness as part of its campaign to end the political and economic sanctions against the Gaza Strip, Palestinian journalists said Wednesday.

In the first case, journalists who were invited to cover the Hamas government meeting were surprised to see Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his ministers sitting around a table with burning candles.

In the second case on Tuesday, journalists noticed that Hamas legislators who were meeting in Gaza City also sat in front of burning candles.

But some of the journalists noticed that there was actually no need for the candles because both meetings were being held in daylight.

"They had closed the curtains in the rooms to create the impression that Hamas leaders were also suffering as a result of the power stoppage," one journalist told The Jerusalem Post. "It was obvious that the whole thing was staged."

Another journalist said he and his colleagues were told to wait for a few minutes before entering the chamber of the Palestinian Legislative Council so that each legislator would have time to light his candle. He said that when he saw that the curtains had been closed to prevent the light from entering, he realized that Hamas was trying to manipulate the media for political gain.

Update: Jerusalem Posts emails some more photos [Note the sunlight behind the curtains.]:

Palestinian lawmakers attend a parliament session in candlelight during a power cut in Gaza January 22, 2008. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Palestinian lawmakers attend a parliament session in candlelight during a power cut in Gaza January 22, 2008. Israel agreed to allow some fuel, medicine and food into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Tuesday, at least temporarily easing a blockade that has plunged much of the territory into darkness and sparked international protests. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA)

Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Darkness at Noon -- MSM Plays Along with Hamas Photo Staging (Updated).

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.solomonia.com/cgi-bin/mt4/mt-tb.cgi/14040.1387412339

» Fautography, Lest We Forget at the blog Plumb Bob Blog

Solomonia reminds us how Palestinian activists love to manipulate the complicit American press, with evidence of staged photographic events surrounding the latest outbreak of violence in Gaza. Photographers and reporters entered sessions of parliament ... Read More

» Reuters Fauxtography Alert: Spreading Hamas Propaganda With Fake Power Outage Photos at the blog Warner Todd Huston

-By Warner Todd HustonThe Jerusalem Post caught another fauxtography scam out of the mideast this week. It appears that Hamas legislators have staged fake power outages to illustrate how oppressed they are for the benefit of journalists. The... Read More

Prime Example of Media Misinformation

Jan 29, 2008

Special Report: The Hamas Propaganda War

Dear HonestReporting Subscriber,

Images of Gaza plunged in darkness alongside pictures of Palestinians streaming across the border to Egypt provided Hamas with a significant public relations victory last week. It wouldn't have been possible without the complicity of major media, all too happy to invoke the usual narrative of Israel as the "bad guy" and the Palestinians as "the victims."

While Israel's image undoubtedly took a mauling, the bigger picture is starting to emerge - one that shows how Hamas was able to pull off a sophisticated operation before the eyes of the mainstream media (MSM).

A 'cycle of violence'?

Most media presented the Gaza crisis in a manner similar to the AP:

It started last week with what Israel says was the inadvertent killing of a son of Gaza strongman Mahmoud Zahar in an Israeli arrest raid. Hamas retaliated with rocket barrages on Israel, and Israel struck back by sealing Gaza hermetically and cutting off fuel shipments. Several days later, Gaza militants blew down the border wall with Egypt, effectively ending the Israeli blockade, which had been tacitly backed by Egypt.

Why did the media fail to add the vital context? Since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in mid-June 2007 until the end of December 2007, 475 missiles and 631 mortars were fired at Sderot and the surrounding region. Since January 16, 2008, well over 200 Qassams and mortars have been fired by Palestinian terrorists from Gaza.

Despite this, most media chose to attribute Israeli security measures as the cause of the Gaza situation rather than the continuous Palestinian terror that necessitated an Israeli response.

Who turned off the lights?

Were the power cuts and Palestinian demonstrations staged by Hamas in coordination with the Arab media? Calev Ben David of the Jerusalem Post wonders:

Indeed, so ready was Al-Jazeera with live coverage of candle-bearing Palestinian children and immediate reaction from across the Arab world, that Israeli officials said Tuesday they strongly suspect the Arab news network had coordinated its coverage in advance with the Hamas leadership.

"They were so prepared, it's hard to believe they didn't know this was going to happen," said the official. "Although it's already dark in Gaza by 6 p.m., they waited two hours to shut their generator down so that the lights going out in Gaza could be carried live on Al-Jazeeera during prime-time viewing."

Writing in the same paper, Amir Mizroch notes:

The footage was powerful and unforgettable: thousands of people gathered to light candles in a Gaza City plunged into darkness. The possibility that Hamas itself had switched off the lights in the densely populated city to create the impression of an urgent humanitarian crisis was likely not considered by many watching the broadcast.

Naturally, he continued, many viewers associated the darkness with Israel's decision to reduce fuel shipments. But the media downplayed the fact that Israel's Ruttenberg power station in Ashkelon was still streaming electricity into Gaza and that there had been no Israeli action that shut the city's lights off.

Hamas continued to manipulate a compliant media for its own ends. As the Jerusalem Post reported:

On at least two occasions this week, Hamas staged scenes of darkness as part of its campaign to end the political and economic sanctions against the Gaza Strip, Palestinian journalists said Wednesday.

In the first case, journalists who were invited to cover the Hamas government meeting were surprised to see Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his ministers sitting around a table with burning candles.

In the second case on Tuesday, journalists noticed that Hamas legislators who were meeting in Gaza City also sat in front of burning candles.

But some of the journalists noticed that there was actually no need for the candles because both meetings were being held in daylight.

Clearly visible in the background are drawn curtains blocking the sunlight. This, however, didn't stop Reuters spinning a different story with photo captions such as the one below:

If some journalists saw that they were being manipulated, why was it only the Jerusalem Post that reported this? Were these journalists really so lacking in integrity that they preferred to play along with the deception?

A 'spontaneous breakout'?

Typical of many media's explanation of events was The Daily Telegraph's:

The wall fell after a nearly week-long Israeli blockade of fuel and humanitarian aid into Gaza, a response to a week of heavy Qassam rocket attacks on Israeli towns after Israeli air strikes killed the son of a senior Hamas leader and 18 other people.

In fact, as McClatchy News discovered:

They had apparently been planning the attack for weeks. With the knowledge of locals, militants had spent weeks methodically using blow torches to cut along the bottom of the 30-foot-tall corrugated iron wall along the Egyptian border.

A Palestinian guard also told The Times of London that he saw people surreptitiously working to undermine the wall "for months."

'Starving' Palestinians and a humanitarian crisis?

Hamas and the media conveyed the distinct impression of a humanitarian crisis as Gaza's Palestinians 'starved'. Many media reported the closure of bakeries due to shortages of power and supplies. However, a Palestinian Authority official interviewed by the Jerusalem Post:

accused Hamas of ordering owners of bakeries to keep their businesses closed for the second day running to create a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. "Hamas is preventing people from buying bread," he said. "They want to deepen the crisis so as to serve their own interests."

The official said that contrary to Hamas's claims, there is enough fuel and flour to keep the bakeries in the Gaza Strip operating for another two months. "Hamas members have stolen most of the fuel in the Gaza Strip to fill their vehicles," he said.

In addition, hospitals were said to be dangerously low on fuel, putting patients' lives at risk. Was this also a result of Hamas actions? CAMERA quotes the independent Palestinian news agency Maan report of Dec 6, 2007:

The Palestinian health ministry of the Ramallah-based caretaker government said on Thursday that "Hamas militias" have looted the fuel stores destined for hospital vehicles in the Gaza Strip.

A statement released by the health ministry said that fuel from the European hospital in the Gaza Strip had been stolen by the director of the hospital drivers to supply the Hamas-affiliated Executive Force.

The statement explained that the fuel reserve had been supplied by the ministry to enable the hospital to continue working for as long as possible.

McClatchy News Jerusalem bureau chief Dion Nissenbaum even states:

Israel is pumping in some fuel for Gaza's only power plant and offering some diesel, but Palestinians are actually refusing to accept the small shipments of diesel to protest Israel's policies.

The Christian Science Monitor comments on Gazan 'hunger':

While starvation has not been a problem there – most of the strip's residents receive food aid from the UN – it's proved a powerful idea in the propaganda war over Gaza's fate.

Will the media relent?

Some media will not admit that they have been manipulated by Hamas. Others prefer to stick to their rigid analysis where Israel bears sole responsibility for the plight of the Palestinians and any related crises.

Are the cracks starting to appear however? The Washington Post, for example, recognizes the new reality:

In fact, as Mr. Mubarak well knows, no one is starving in Gaza -- though food, fuel and cigarettes are much cheaper across the border.... Hamas took advantage of the blockade first by arranging for sympathetic Arab media to document the "humanitarian crisis," then by daring Egypt to use force against Palestinian civilians portrayed as Israel's victims.

Its ultimate goal, stated publicly yesterday by Damascus-based leader Khaled Meshal, is to force Egypt to permanently reopen the border in cooperation with Hamas; that would greatly diminish Israel's ability to respond to rocket attacks with economic sanctions, and it would undermine the rival Palestinian leadership of Mahmoud Abbas.

Sadly, as is so often the case, the damage to Israel has already been done as a result of the media's willingness to buy into the Hamas propaganda. As Amir Mizroch says:

What is obvious is that Hamas was thinking on its feet, being proactive, initiating campaigns tailor-made for powerful media images and taking full advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves.

Please start the fightback to restore some credibility to the reporting of the situation in Gaza. Write to your local media - point out how Hamas has propagandized for its own ends at the expense of its own people and remind the media of the continued suffering of Sderot.

Full contact details of many media outlets can be found on HonestReporting's website.

HonestReporting. com