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| − | '''Zionist Denials''' are cases in which Israel itself has deliberately and falsely denied actions which Israel or others have later admitted.
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| − | In some of these cases the state of Israel has first denied but then later admitted liability. In other cases Israel has paid compensation despite denying intent eg the [[USS Liberty Incident]], widely and predominantly reported by "reliable sources" as being a case of the Israelis deliberately attacking a US ship, see [https://wikispooks.com/wiki/USS_Liberty_Incident#Reliable_Sources_all_say_that_Israel_knew_what_it_was_doing this chart].
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| − | Also included in the category of "denials" are cases in which Israel has obstructed access or failed to assist investigators. Wikispooks is treating such obstruction in a fashion broadly similar to incidents such as Tiananmen Square where the state party has acted in a non-transparent fashion and has allowed a presumption of guilt to be widely (though not necessarily generally) held.
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| − | There are also denials of Zionist policy. "Transfer" (what we came to know as "Ethnic Cleansing" after incidents in the Balkans in the 1990s) was once denied while others such as the [[Judaization of Jerusalem]] and the total annexation of the West Bank are still officially denied. In other cases eg expanding the frontiers of Israel to "from the Nile to the Euphrates" is hotly denied even though it is established settler policy.
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| − | Cases of fraudulent denial or mis-reporting of Israeli massacres include cases where death-tolls have been reduced in suspicious circumstances. All denials are commonly linked to fraudulent accusations of "Blood-Libel" and antisemitism.
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| − | ==Incidents post-2000==
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| − | The following incidents are described in greater detail at [[Zionist denials - post 2000]]
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| − | [http://wikispooks.com/wiki/Zionist_denials_-_post_2000#2010_Flotilla 2010 Flotilla] - First use of violence, Violence on other boats, BBC "Death on the Med".
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| − | [http://wikispooks.com/wiki/Zionist_denials_-_post_2000#2008.2F9_Gaza_Massacre.2C_Operation_Cast_Lead 2008/9 Gaza Massacre, Operation Cast Lead] - White Phosphorus use in Gaza, UN Board of Inquiry.
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| − | [http://wikispooks.com/wiki/Zionist_denials_-_post_2000#2006_Lebanon 2006 Lebanon] - Use of White Phosphorus.
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| − | [http://wikispooks.com/wiki/Zionist_denials_-_post_2000#2004_accusations_against_Peter_Hansen 2004 accusations against Peter Hansen]
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| − | [http://wikispooks.com/wiki/Zionist_denials_-_post_2000#2002.2F2003_Death_of_activists 2002/2003 Deaths of internationals] - James Miller, Tom Hurndall and Iain Hook, British. Rachel Corrie American. Others maimed.
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| − | [http://wikispooks.com/wiki/Zionist_denials_-_post_2000#2002_Assault_on_Jenin 2002 Assault on Jenin]
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| − | ==Incidents before 2000==
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| − | ====1996 Qana====
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| − | ====1985 Jonathan Pollard====
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| − | U.S. Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard was sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States in 1985 for passing military secrets to Israel.
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| − | Israel promised this would not happen again, eg "As with Pollard, this (Lavon Affair) was a rogue operation," David Kimche, a former Mossad deputy chief, said in 2005 "We knew never to go down that road again."<ref>[http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3065838,00.html Jonathan Pollard ... "We knew never to go down that road again"] David Kimche, former Mossad deputy chief. YNetNews 3rd March 2005.</ref>
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| − | But in March 2008, another Israeli spy, 84 year old Ben-Ami Kadish was arrested on charges that he had spied for Israel for 20 years (ie recruited not long after Pollard was sentenced to life imprisonment). Former head of Mossad, Labor MK Danny Yatom told Army Radio: "I think what primarily bothers the Americans is the feeling that Israel didn't tell them the whole truth two decades ago, in 1985, when the Pollard affair exploded".<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/977076.html Former head of Mossad "Israel didn't tell them the whole truth two decades ago], in 1985, when the Pollard affair exploded" Haaretz. 22nd Mar 2008.</ref> and added: "The Americans asked if there are additional people that Israel ran or are running in the United States. The answer, to the best of my knowledge, was always no".
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| − | ====1982 Lebanon====
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| − | Some denials (eg responsibility for Sabra and Shatilla, killing of UN soldiers) and a lot of deceit.
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| − | =====Deceitful reasoning for invasion=====
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| − | The claimed excuse for this fresh attack on Lebanon was a near fatal attack on the Israeli Ambassador in London on the 3rd June by Abu Nidal, a Palestinian and free-lance terrorist. Israel launched air-strikes against Beirut the next day, the 4th. On the same day, less than 24 hours after the shooting, the attackers had been caught. On 6th Jun 1982, Margaret Thatcher told the House of Commons that a hit-list in the possession of the terrorists included the name of the PLO's London representative, making Arafat's involvement even less likely.
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| − | Nevertheless, Israel had long wished to seize Lebanon and on 5th June Menachem Begin proposed a military operation. An earlier "Big Plan" had been aired and rejected by the Cabinet. Ariel Sharon and Eitan presented the Cabinet with the "Small Plan," which was an operation in south Lebanon only. This included no advance to Beirut and no move against the Syrians. The attack started on 6th June 1982 and turned into the "Big Plan".<ref>[http://www.dnipogo.org/fcs/pdf/whitting_1.pdf WHEN DAVID BECAME GOLIATH] "there was no consensus on the decision to invade Lebanon utilizing the Big Plan objectives, as has been shown by Cabinet’s repeated rebuffs of the Begin-Sharon proposals; and Begin, Sharon, and Eitan deceived the Israeli Cabinet and, in effect, the Israeli population as to their true intent in Lebanon." A thesis presented to the Faculty of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree. 1997.</ref> The "big plan" invasion turned into an occupation but not the ethnic cleansing of the whole of southern Lebanon, as repeatedly proposed by leading Zionists (eg Moshe Dayan and David Ben Gurion in 1954.<ref>[http://chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/essays/rokach.html#CHAPTER%206%20%20Sacred%20Terrorism The intention to partition Lebanon] Sharett reveals that already in February 1954 Ben Gurion proposed a large Israeli operation to dismember the Lebanese state and to establish a Maronite-Christian state in one of its parts. "Israel's Sacred Terrorism." by Livia Rokack, daughter of Israel Rokach, Minister of the Interior in the government of Moshe Sharett. Early 1980s.</ref>
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| − | In the event the occupation lasted until 2000 but was increasingly fought by Hezbollah. Israel announced a planned withdrawal which they carried out prematurely. The militias (eg "The South Lebanon Army" or SLA) which had done Israel's dirtiest work for 18 years collapsed immediately.
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| − | =====Harassment of US Marines=====
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| − | See the Wikispooks article section on [https://wikispooks.com/wiki/1982_Lebanon_War#Israel_forces_clash_with_Marines "Israeli forces clash with Marines"] in the article on the [[1982 Lebanon War]]. The original of the article is by Donald Neff,<ref>[http://www.ifamericaknew.org/us_ints/p-neff.html Israel Charged with Systematic Harassment of U.S. Marines] In 1983 "the commandant of the Marine Corps sent a highly unusual letter to the secretary of defense expressing frustration and anger at Israel. General R.H. Barrow charged that Israeli troops were deliberately threatening the lives of Marines serving as peacekeepers in Lebanon ... resulting in “life-threatening situations, replete with verbal degradation of the officers, their uniform and country.” Donald Neff, Washington Report, March 1995, presented by "If Americans Knew".</ref> published in 1995 by the "Washington Report" and re-published by "If Americans Knew".
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| − | ====1967 War====
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| − | Israel initially claimed that it had come under attack, though all sources later agree it carried out a pre-emptive strike.
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| − | ======USS Liberty Incident======
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| − | While many Israel-firsters continue to insist that this was an accident, the argument has largely turned against them. A turning point in the debate may have been the article in the Chicago Tribune of 2nd Oct 2007<ref>[http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-liberty_tuesoct02,0,66005.story "New revelations in attack on American spy ship"] Chicago Tribune. 2nd Oct 2007.</ref> which, as the Wikipedia says contains ''"numerous previously unreported quotes from former military personnel with first-hand knowledge of the incident. Many of these quotes directly contradict the US National Security Agency's position that it never intercepted the communications of the attacking Israeli pilots, claiming that not only did transcripts of those communications exist, but also that it showed the Israelis knew they were attacking an American naval vessel."''
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| − | Typical of the quotes in the Tribune is one from the late Dwight Porter, American ambassador to Lebanon during the Six-Day War, who told friends and family members that he had been shown English-language transcripts of Israeli pilots talking to their controllers. Close friend, William Chandler, former head of the Trans-Arabian Pipe Line Co., said Porter recalled one of the pilots protesting, ''"But sir, it's an American ship - I can see the flag!"'' To which the ground control responded, ''"Never mind; hit it!''".
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| − | A fuller description of this incident is carried by Wikispooks [https://wikispooks.com/wiki/USS_Liberty_Incident here], including a unique section on the "Reliable Sources" at which it is claimed that these sources [https://wikispooks.com/wiki/USS_Liberty_Incident#Reliable_Sources_all_say_that_Israel_knew_what_it_was_doing "all say that Israel knew what it was doing"].
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| − | ======Execution of POWs======
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| − | In 1995 the mass graves of up to 1,000 unarmed Egyptian civilians and prisoners of war were discovered outside El-Arish and the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Jewish Telegraph Agency, and many other respected press organs both in the U.S. and Israel reported that IDF veterans had admitted that there had been mass-murders during the 1967 War.<ref name=BamfordMemo>[http://www.fas.org/sgp/eprint/bamford.html Memo] from James Bamford notes that The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Jewish Telegraph Agency, and many other respected press organs both in the U.S. and Israel had reported a massacre of Egyptians carried out in 1967, excerpts from some.</ref> Deputy Foreign Minister, Eli Dayan even offered compensation to the victims families in 1995, but explained that Israel was unable to pursue those responsible due to the statute of limitations.<ref>Ibrahim, Youssef ''Egypt Says Israelis Killed P.O.W.'s in '67 War,'' New York Times 21 September 1995.</ref>
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| − | In 2001, James Bamford published a book on the National Security Agency called "Body of Secrets" and in one chapter mentioned the USS Liberty Incident, surmising that the motive was to conceal the 1967 massacre reported in 1995.<ref>[http://hnn.us/articles/191.html Excerpt] "covering up this massacre could have been a reason to sink the USS Liberty" from ''Body of Secrets'' by James Bamford.</ref>
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| − | Bamford's book resulted in a new spate of denial, Michael Oren wrote that one of the witnesses (Israeli reporter Gabriel Bron, a former IDF soldier) told him "The one hundred and fifty POWs were not shot, and there were no mass murders" but that the they were helped by the Israeli soldiers who "gave them water, and in most cases just sent them in the direction of the Suez Canal." Oren had more to say about Bamford, and presented a second piece of Zionist Denial "there are a lot of reasons to question Bamford's credibility, starting with his rather curious reading of Middle Eastern history. For example, Bamford says Israel initiated hostilities against Syria and Jordan, when it happened the other way around."<ref>[http://www.powells.com/review/2002_12_26.html Unfriendly Fire] review of "Body of Secrets" by Michael Oren. "There are a lot of reasons to question Bamford's credibility, starting with his rather curious reading of Middle Eastern history. For example, Bamford says Israel initiated hostilities against Syria and Jordan, when it happened the other way around." December 26th, 2002.</ref>
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| − | Steve Aftergood also denied the massacre in the July 17, 2001 issue of Secrecy News.<ref>[http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/2001/07/071701.html BAMFORD "LIBERTY" ACCOUNT REPUDIATED] "there appears to be no verifiable evidence that such a massacre ever took place", Steve Aftergood, Secrecy News. 17th July 2001.</ref>
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| − | A further mass grave of 30 Egyptian soldiers was found in the Sinai peninsula in 2008.<ref>[http://www.alarabiya.net/save_pdf.php?cont_id=44009 Egypt soldiers found in mass grave near Israel] Thought to be victims of 1967 Six Day War. Al-Arabiya 9th Jan 2008.</ref>
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| − | ====1960s Israel's development of nuclear arsenal====
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| − | Israel continues to operate a policy of secrecy, refusing to confirm or deny that it is a nuclear armed power. However, all media sources accept the evidence presented eg testimony of the technician Vanunu who had worked at Dimona and whistle-blew to the Sunday Times. Estimates of the capability range from around 70 to 400 war-heads, with delivery by plane, missile and submarine.
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| − | Israel is widely thought to be planning a form of deterrence known as the "Samson Option", whereby it attacks other nations, including the US, all over the world if it is threatened by destruction. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson_Option Wikipedia version] of the article is just a shadow, a much fuller version of an article written correctly to Wikipedia standards is here.<ref>[http://www.carolmoore.net/nuclearwar/israelithreats.html ISRAELI NUCLEAR THREATS AND BLACKMAIL] The Samson Option Still Threatens the World, Carol Moore, December 2009 version.</ref>
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| − | ====1956 Suez====
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| − | The 1995 discovery of a thousand 1967 victims led to further revelations concerning killings of Egyptians in 1956, as had been known but concealed by 40 years of military censorship. At least 49 of the dead were civilians, and their killings directly implicated Ariel Sharon and former Chief of Staff Rafael Eytan.<ref>[http://articles.latimes.com/1995-08-16/news/mn-35764_1_defense-officials Israel to Probe Deaths of Egyptian POWs in '56] ''Paratroopers found two large tents with civilian Egyptian workers and took them captive. Two days later, they ... killed their prisoners'' LA Times. Aug 16, 1995.</ref> In the Hebrew paper Maariv, Eytan denied any knowledge that Israeli soldiers killed the Egyptian workers. In two other cases, hundreds of bullets were fired into a truck full of civilians, and chained prisoners were massacred at Ras Sudar.
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| − | ====1953 Qibya====
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| − | The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qibya_massacre#Israeli_reaction Wikipedia article] on this event accurately describes some of the deceit and denial of Israel but is wrapped up in excusatory tones eg "The international outcry caused by the operation required a formal reply by Israel". The references given are short of URLs and other material adequate to access or expose the dishonesty of the official Israeli response.
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| − | Prime Ministers Moshe Sharett advised that a denial of the involvement of their forces would make Israel appear patently "ridiculous" but on October 19th 1954 his predecessor as PM, David Ben-Gurion, asserted that the raid had been carried out by Israeli civilians.
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| − | <blockquote>None deplores it more than the Government of Israel, if ... innocent blood was spilled ... The Government of Israel rejects with all vigor the absurd and fantastic allegation that 600 men of the IDF took part in the action ... We have carried out a searching investigation and it is clear beyond doubt that not a single army unit was absent from its base on the night of the attack on Qibya. (Statement by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, ISA FM 2435/5)</blockquote>
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| − | On Israeli Radio that same day, Ben-Gurion addressed the nation and said:
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| − | <BLOCKQUOTE>The [Jewish] border settlers in Israel, mostly refugees, people from Arab countries and survivors from the Nazi concentration camps, have, for years, been the target of (...) murderous attacks and had shown a great restraint. Rightfully, they have demanded that their government protect their lives and the Israeli government gave them weapons and trained them to protect themselves.<br>But the armed forces from Transjordan did not stop their criminal acts, until [the people in] some of the border settlements lost their patience and after the murder of a mother and her two children in Yahud, they attacked, last week, the village of Kibya across the border, that was one of the main centers of the murderers' gangs. Every one of us regrets and suffers when blood is shed anywhere and nobody regrets more than the Israeli government the fact that innocent people were killed in the retaliation act in Kibya. But all the responsibility rests with the government of Transjordan that for many years tolerated and thus encouraged attacks of murder and robbery by armed powers in its country against the citizens of Israel.<ref>[http://chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/essays/rokach.html#CHAPTER%202%20Ben%20Gurion%20Goes%20to%20Sdeh%20Boker:%20Spiritual%20Retreat%20as%20a%20Tactic Israel's Sacred Terrorism] "Now the army wants to know how we (the Foreign Ministry) are going to explain the issue". Livia Rokach, "Israel’s Sacred Terrorism: A Study Based on Moshe Sharett’s Personal Diary and Other Documents." Livia was the daughter of Israel Rokach, Minister of the Interior in the government of Moshe Sharett (second PM of Israel after David Ben-Gurion). Despite the Israeli foreign ministry threatening anyone who touched it, the book was published in the United States by the Association of Arab American University Graduates (AAUG). Israel never took legal action fearing that, in the words of Knesset member Uri Avneri, "stopping the dissemination of the booklet would be a mistake of the first order, since this would give it much more publicity". In 1984, Livia Rokach was found dead in a Rome hotel room.</ref></BLOCKQUOTE>
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| − | Uri Avnery, founder and editor of the magazine HaOlam HaZeh, relates that he had both his hands broken when he was ambushed for criticizing the massacre at Qibya in his newspaper. The chief of the secret service in the 50s, Issar Har'el, later testified that the Ben-Gurion establishment considered Avnery and Haolam Hazeh as "Public Enemy Number 1".<ref>[http://www.avnery-news.co.il/english/uri2.html Uri Avnery Biography] The chief of the secret service in the 50s, Issar Har'el, later testified that the Ben-Gurion establishment considered Avnery and Haolam Hazeh as "Public Enemy Number 1". This may explain why attacks on Haolam Hazeh were often violent. Its editorial offices and printing facilities were bombed several times and some employees wounded; Avnery was ambushed and both his hands broken after he criticized the infamous Kibieh massacre (1953). In 1975, he was the victim of an assassination attempt by a person officially declared nad. Avnery escaped with severe knife wounds. Menachem Begin disclosed in 1977 that the chief of the secret service had asked in the late 50's for his support for putting Avnery in administrative detention (without trial) under emergency regulations (Begin refused). The offices of Haolam Hazeh and its invaluable archives were completely destroyed by arson in 1972. Throughout this time, all branches of the government and army maintained a total economic boycott against the paper. c.2000.</ref>
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| − | ====1954 Lavon Affair====
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| − | For years, Israel "denied involvement"<ref name=ynetLavon>[http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3065838,00.html#n "After half a century of reticence and recrimination], Israel ... honored ... agents-provocateur." YNetNews 30th March 2005.</ref> in attacks on US and UK facilities in Cairo and Alexandria, which they had intended to be ''"blamed on local insurgents [and] discredit Nasser's rule"''<ref>[http://www.jewishreview.org/Archives/Article.php?Article=2004-08-01-717 Israel "recruited nine young Egyptian Jews to stage terrorist attacks] that, they thought, would be blamed on local insurgents and would discredit Nasser's rule" Jewish Review, 1st Aug 2004.</ref>
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| − | The denials finally came to an end 51 years after the attacks (2005) when medals for the surviving perpetrators of the fire-bomb were handed out by Israeli President Moshe Katsav.<ref name=ynetLavon/> More details at [https://wikispooks.com/wiki/False_Flag_Attacks#1954_Lavon_Affair False Flag Attacks].
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| − | ====1950 Baghdad bombings====
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| − | The April 1950 bombings that helped panic most of the 150,000 Jews of Iraq to leave for Israel are still denied by the Zionists. But even the WP article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_in_Iraq#Modern_Iraq_.281918_to_the_present.29 "Jews in Iraq"] lists many credible sources who say the bombings were indeed Zionist. See [https://wikispooks.com/wiki/False_Flag_Attacks#1950_Baghdad_bombings False Flag Attacks].
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| − | ====1948 Tantura====
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| − | While Israel rejects the claims made in the doctoral thesis, no investigation has been carried out on the mass-grave known to be under a carpark and the number of victims (either 70-80 or around 250) buried there being in doubt.
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| − | ==Pre-Israel actions==
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| − | Some pre-Israel actions were condemned by the Yishuv but were later admitted to have been carried out under their control/instigation. There are only a small number which were admitted before May 1948.
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| − | ====1948 Deir Yassin massacre====
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| − | 5 weeks before the Independence of Israel. Condemned by the Yishuv at the time. Shortly thereafter it was discovered that it was the Palmach that had actually overcome the small number of defenders and allowed the massacre of the village. Official denial/re-writing continued in some quarters until at least the 1970s. A ravine where some of the bodies are thought to lie has been filled with refuse.
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| − | ====1946 Bombing of the King David Hotel====
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| − | Denied and condemned at the time. Binyamin Netanyahu attended a two-day 60th anniversary celebration in July 2006, with a tour of the hotel given by one of the surviving perpetrators.
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| − | ====1944 assassination of Lord Moynes====
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| − | Denied and condemned at the time, the bodies of the perpetrators were brought back to Israel and buried in honour on Mount Herzel in 1975, provoking outrage in the British Parliament. James Callaghan, then Foreign Secretary and later Prime Minister, ordered a formal protest "to make it clear to the Israeli government that the British government very much regretted that an act of terrorism should be honoured in this way."
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| − | ====1940 sinking of the Patria====
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| − | Death of over 200 Jews. Denied and condemned (?) at the time, in 195? one of the perpetrators went public and explained the previously unknown actions of the Haganah.
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| − | ==Denial of Zionist Policies==
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| − | ====Denial of Transfer====
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| − | Supporters of Israel (including many of the most prominent such as Alan Dershowitz, Melanie Phillips, Daniel Piper) in the West deny that "transfer" (ie "ethnic cleansing") was always intended by the founders of Israel. They claim that "peace" between the parties, living in the same places as they are now, is a realistic option and the aim of Israel.
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| − | Rabbi Chaim Simons lived in Kiryat Arba, the notorious Hebron settlement which may have displaced 30,000 Palestinians. He believed in ethnic cleansing and full annexation of the West Bank to Israel. In 1990 he listed many of the pre-1948 claims<ref>[http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/7854/transferlecture.html Rabbi Chaim Simons of the Kiryat Arba settlement in Hebron] lists many of the pre-1948 claims that transfer was necesary "As we shall see, this phenomenon of restricting transfer plans to diaries, private correspondence and closed meetings, was not the prerogative of Herzl, but has been emulated by many other Zionist leaders."</ref> that transfer was necesary and continues: "As we shall see, this phenomenon of restricting transfer plans to diaries, private correspondence and closed meetings, was not the prerogative of Herzl, "but has been emulated by many other Zionist leaders."
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| − | ====Denial of "from the Nile to the Euphrates"====
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| − | A common thread of Zionist denial is the presenting of a list of the allegations and then their "debunking". In 1994, Daniel Pipes did this in some detail for the "from the Nile to the Euphrates" aspiration, which he calls a "calumny"<ref>[http://www.meforum.org/article/215 Imperial Israel: The Nile-to-Euphrates Calumny] ''The whole idea of a Greater Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates has to be dismissed as groundless fantasy''. Daniel Pipes March 1994.</ref> and a "groundless fantasy".
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| − | However, it is well known that this was indeed the secret ambition of the founder of Zionism, Theodore Herzl, as he expressed it in his diaries<ref name=global>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/israel/greater-israel-1.htm Herzl ... the area of the Jewish State] stretches: "From the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates." (The "Brook of Egypt" may be another lesser waterway about 100 miles East of the Nile). Theodor Herzl, Complete Diaries, Vol. II. p. 711, cited GlobalSecurity. c.2005.</ref> and negotiated for it with the Sultan in Constantinople.
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| − | Similarly, this aspiration was being openly expressed at the time of the formation of Israel, and was presented to the UN Special Committee of Enquiry on 9 July 1947 by Rabbi Fischmann, member of the Jewish Agency for Palestine: "The Promised Land extends from the River of Egypt up to the Euphrates, it includes parts of Syria and Lebanon."<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/israel/greater-israel.htm Rabbi Fischmann, member of the Jewish Agency for Palestine] declared in his testimony to the UN Special Committee of Enquiry on 9 July 1947: ''"The Promised Land extends from the River of Egypt up to the Euphrates, it includes parts of Syria and Lebanon"'', cited GlobalSecurity. c.2005.</ref>
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| − | By 2005 public sentiment in Israel may have modified somewhat. Former chief rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau said that he was resigned to the possibility that realizing Eretz Yisrael Hashlema might not be immediately attainable. "It is unreasonable to expect too much of one generation," he said. "The curses mentioned in Leviticus and Deuteronomy came true during the Holocaust. That same generation experienced the ingathering of the exiles, fought seven wars and built the Jewish state. Perhaps Eretz Yisrael Hashleima will have to wait."<ref name=global/>
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| | ====Denial of the Zionist flag==== | | ====Denial of the Zionist flag==== |
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| − | There is no proof that the two lines on the Zionist flag are intended to symbolise "from the Nile to the Euphrates", even though the policy itself is widely documented. | + | There seems to be no evidence for the claim that the two blue lines on the Zionist flag represent the two rivers, the Nile and the Euphrates, between which lies the land of Israel. The flag was first adopted in 1891. |
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| − | ==Blood-libel allegations==
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| − | In many cases, when allegations have been made against Zionists, the critics have been accused of making blood-libels or of general anti-semitism. In some cases, the allegations against the Zionists have either been proved true or found to be very well evidenced.
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| − | ====2009 - Israel T-shirt affair====
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| − | ====2009 - Organ harvesting affair====
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| − | When a Swedish newspaper broke the organ-harvesting story, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister demanded that Sweden condemn the piece, compared it to the Dreyfus Affair and compared Sweden's response to its "silence" during the Holocaust.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/a-bewildering-response-1.282498 A bewildering response] The government should, of course, have condemned every bit of the Swedish organ harvesting story. Haaretz, 23rd Aug 2009.</ref> Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "echoed colleagues in comparing the article to medieval "blood libels," which alleged Jews used the blood of Christian babies in religious rites" and curbs were placed on Swedish journalists.<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/08/23/us-israel-sweden-sb-idUSTRE57M1DA20090823 Israel curbs Swedish media over "blood libel"] Israel placed curbs on Swedish journalists on Sunday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Sweden's government to condemn a newspaper article that Israeli officials say recalled historic hatred of Jews in Europe. Reuters, Aug 23, 2009.</ref><ref>[http://www.freedomscost.net/?p=2586 Updating an Old Blood Libel] "Sweden’s Aftonbladet started it. The fact that both the article’s author and the paper’s editor admitted they had no corroborating evidence meant little to Jew haters “antiZionists”. Now it’s spreading like wildfire throughout Islamic lands". Sept 16, 2009.</ref>
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| − | In fact, it was an old story - Dr Yehuda Hiss, Israeli chief pathologist at Abu Kabir, had been exposed for selling body parts in 2000 (by Israeli newspaper, Yediot Aharonot), was on tape talking about freely taking organs at the time, was in possession of numerous organs when searched in 2002 and had been reprimanded in 2005.<ref>[http://www.counterpunch.org/2010/10/25/body-parts-and-bio-piracy/ Body Parts and Bio-Piracy] Tissue, Skin, Bone and Organ Harvesting at Israel's National Forensic Institute, 25th Oct 2010.</ref>
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| − | In October 2011, a Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics press release claimed that Israel holds tens of bodies of male and female Palestinians killed during the second Intifada as well as hundreds of corpses of others killed in previous years.<ref>[http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17669 Israel holds tens of bodies of male and female Palestinians killed during the second Intifada] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics quoted by wafa.ps, 6th Oct 2011.</ref>
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| − | ====2000 - Muhammed al-Durrah====
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| − | [[File:AlDurrah1.jpg|thumb|200px|Mohammed al-Durrah]]
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| − | Great effort and expenditure have been expended on this case by defenders of Israel trying to prove that Mohammed al-Durrah was shot by Palestinians (or is not dead) and that the famous picture is a blood-libel.<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=38813 "Our World: Prime-time blood libels"] The silence about Muhammad al-Dura's death shows Israel still does not understand the war of images. The Jerusalem Post, October 23, 2006.</ref> Over ten years later, the cameraman and the head of the television channel, France24, are still being pursued through the courts in an attempt to destroy their careers.
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| − | Project Censored claim (using figures from the well-regarded Israeli NGO, Btselem) that ''"In the first three-and-a-half months ... Israeli forces killed 84 Palestinian children ... During this period, not one Israeli child was killed. Not one suicide bombing against Israelis occurred".''<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=-og-GZfAuWcC&pg=PA291&lpg=PA291&dq=%22months+of+the+current+Palestinian+uprising+against%22&source=bl&ots=wMF5ujW765&sig=Aa7704gqU4HVd7QxSF9JCzIwjY0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result Media Studies] ''"In the first three-and-a-half months ... Israeli forces killed 84 Palestinian children ... During this period, not one Israeli child was killed. Not one suicide bombing against Israelis occurred''" Project Censored "Censored 2005: The Top 25 Censored Stories".</ref><ref>[http://www.rememberthesechildren.org/remember2000.html 84 Palestine children die] before the first deaths of Israeli children occur on 28th March 2002. Remember the Children, updated.</ref><ref>[http://www.btselem.org/english/statistics/Casualties_Data.asp?Category=6®ion=ISRAEL&sD=29&sM=09&sY=2000&eD=26&eM=12&eY=2008&filterby=event&oferet_stat=before Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians in Israel] 29.9.2000 - 26.12.2008. Figures of child deaths in Second Intifada. Btselem, updated.</ref> It is known that some Israelis<ref name=Haaretz>[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/909972.html Mohammed al-Dura lives on] Our heart is impervious to the fate of other children who have been killed ... maybe he is even alive, as some eccentrics claim ... tasteless questions designed to divert attention ... Israel is responsible for killing more than 850 Palestinian children and teenagers since al-Dura was killed. Haaretz 10th July 2007.</ref> and some French Jews<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20080531174606/http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1212041429387 French Jews demand al-Dura probe] ''a petition signed by more than 300 French journalists and intellectuals denouncing the Paris court’s decision for allowing "anyone" to "smear with impunity the honor and reputation of news professionals"'' suggests support for the two journalists. But note, the Israeli paper actually concerns ''"new legitimacy"'' lent to ''"concerns that the broadcast was staged"''. Archive of ''The Jerusalem Post'', May 29, 2008.</ref> are unhappy with the denial. Other Israeli newspaper comment has suggested that the whole discussion is "tasteless questions designed to divert attention from the truly important issues ... Israel is responsible for killing more than 850 Palestinian children and teenagers since al-Dura was killed" and that some investigators have an "eccentric obsession" with their denial.<ref name=Haaretz/>
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| − | =====Wikipedia treatment=====
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| − | The Wikipedia article is largely taken up with a discussion (often positive) of the two denialist Zionist narratives.<ref>[http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/06/who-shot-mohammed-al-dura/2735/ Who Shot Mohammed al-Dura?] ''a number of Israeli researchers are presenting persuasive evidence that the fatal shots could not have come from the Israeli soldiers known to have been involved in the confrontation'' ATLANTIC MAGAZINE, June 2003.</ref> After years of debate an apparent change of heart at the Wikipedia decided that there should be mention of the widely commented linkage between the photo and the October 2000 lynching of two Israeli army reservists in Ramallah and the beheading of Daniel Pearl in Feb 2002.<ref>[http://www.commentarymagazine.com/printarticle.cfm/myth--fact--and-the-al-dura-affair-9935 Myth, Fact, and the al-Dura Affair] ''provoking a wave of violence from the lynching of two Israeli reservists in Ramallah to synagogue burnings in France'' and ''death scene has been replicated on murals, posters, and postage stamps, even making an iconic appearance in the video of Daniel Pearl's beheading'' Commentary Magazine, September 2005 </ref>
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| − | ====1948 - Deir Yassin====
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| − | There have been numerous attempts to deny there was a massacre at Deir Yassin, including some by Israel itself. In other cases, critics are smeared with accusations of blood-libel. The Wikipedia recommends a book entitled "Blood Libel at Deir Yassin" by Uri Milstein.
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| − | ==Interference with the historical record==
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| − | In some cases, Israel has claimed to be quoting Palestinian sources for the death-tolls of massacres, and these totals are both much smaller than believed at the time and impossible to confirm.
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| − | ==Flag of Israel==
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| − | The two blue lines of the Zionist flag have been alleged to be the two rivers, the Nile and Euphrates, while Zionists claim they are the design of a prayer-shawl. The truth of this claim seems to be either currently unknown or impossible to prove.
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| − | ==Notes==
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| − | {{Reflist|2}}
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| − | [[Category:Israel]] | + | Daniel Pipes calls this idea a ''yet more imaginative argument'' from Yasser Arafat ''who discerned a hidden symbolism of expansionist intent in the Israeli flag: its two horizontal blue lines represent the Nile and Euphrates rivers''. Pipes and others claim that that the blue lines come from the Jewish prayer shawl, the tallit.<ref>[http://www.meforum.org/article/215 Imperial Israel: The Nile-to-Euphrates Calumny] ''In another, yet more imaginative argument, Arafat discerned a hidden symbolism of expansionist intent in the Israeli flag: its two horizontal blue lines represent the Nile and Euphrates rivers''. Daniel Pipes March 1994.</ref> |
| − | [[Category:Zionism]]
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