Weekend long read

Our weekly round-up of Middle East related background reading.

1) The ITIC has published its initial findings concerning the “Identities of the Palestinians killed in the most recent round of escalation”.

“Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the ministry of health in the Gaza Strip, reported that during the escalation of May 4-6, 2019, 27 Palestinians were killed. As usual, he did not give details about their identities and the list he issued contains terrorist operatives as well as civilians, with no distinction between them. An initial examination carried out by the ITIC revealed that during the IDF attacks, 23 Palestinians were killed whose names were included in the list issued by the ministry of health. Of the 23 fatalities, at least 17 (about 74%) were terrorist operatives or members of the terrorist organizations. The terrorist operatives killed belonged to the military wings of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) (eight) and Hamas (two). Some were members of Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Six were apparently civilians who were near the targets and operatives when they were attacked.”

2) At the Fathom Journal Izabella Tabarovsky discusses “Soviet Anti-Zionism and Contemporary Left Antisemitism”.

“One of the lessons that the late Soviet anti-Zionist campaign teaches is that anti-Zionism and antisemitism have historically been deeply and, possibly, inextricably intertwined. True to their ideological tenets, the Soviets never attacked the Jews in purely racist terms. Accused of antisemitism, they indignantly claimed that they were simply anti-Zionist. But wherever and whenever they employed anti-Zionism for their political purposes, antisemitism blossomed. […]

Today, as some of the leading opinion-makers on the left are seeking to build consensus around the idea that anti-Zionism and antisemitism are not the same, understanding this history is vitally important.”

3) CAMERA’s Sean Durns has written a backgrounder on the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade.

“In the realm of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, certain claims are often taken at face value. Chief among them is that Fatah, the movement that dominates the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA), is “secular” and “moderate.” Yet, this is overstated. For proof, one only need look at Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (AAMB), a terror group that has been particularly active in carrying out attacks against Israel from Gaza.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades emerged from the Tanzim faction during the Second Intifada (2000-05). A profile by the European Council on Foreign Relations noted that the Brigades formed from “a loose network of military groups associated with Fatah” many of them “activists from the Balata refugee camp.””

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign – frequently quoted, promoted and mainstreamed by the BBC – has been the topic of an investigation by the Evening Standard.

“PSC says it fights racism and is the largest  organisation in the UK dedicated to securing Palestinian human rights.

However, close inspection of local PSC branches across the country reveals activists are sharing anti-Semitic cartoons of Jews and conspiracy theories about Israel controlling the world.

A Standard investigation found such images as a cartoon comparing Israeli Jews with white power neo-Nazis, an ugly caricature of a Jew sowing hand grenades in a field, and an image of Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu bathing in Palestinian blood posing with Adolf Hitler.”

 

 

 

 

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