Opinion Editorials, November 2003, www.aljazeerah.info
Human Price of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine
Israeli daily aggression on the Palestinian people
Mission and meaning of Al-Jazeerah
Cities, localities, and tourist attractions
Breaking the silence surrounding the Zionist movement
Tamara Mattar
The Daily Star, 11/11/03
Every time the imposed silence on the topic of Zionism is broken, a lot of
noise is made. Little wonder then, that an Arab TV series which touches upon
the most taboo of all political issues is subjected to the usual barrage of
accusations from Israel and its defenders.
However, the TV series Al-Shattat, or The Diaspora, is perceived by many in
the Arab world as a bold step in the right direction: that of digging deep
into Zionist history to better understand the tragic situation the region
now finds itself in, and to bring to the attention of sleeping minds the
thoughts and plots of Zionism.
The film highlights important stages of the Zionist movement, from 1812 to
1948, when major Jewish personalities such as Theodore Hertzl, Amshel
Rothschild and Alfred Dreyfus contributed to the birth to Israel. The
30-part Syrian production series aired on Al-Manar satellite channel has
been acclaimed as the biggest Arab-produced historical drama to reveal the
true face of Zionism, devoid of any fabrications.
The series is based on over 250 authentic historic sources and well-known
Zionist documents, and has nothing to do with the Protocols of the Elders of
Zion. Sources include: the Torah, the Talmud, the memoirs of Hertzl and his
book, The Jewish State, the books The First Israelis, as well as The New
Israelis and A Letter to the Pagans.
The Syrian scriptwriter, Fathallah Omar, said: “What viewers will see on TV
is purely Jewish history. We did not intervene in the cause of events.”
Nevertheless, this did not prevent the TV production from being targeted by
an intensive US-Israeli campaign accusing it of anti-Semitism. Washington
went as far as to warn Arab countries not to air the program, with US
Ambassador to Lebanon Vincent Battle calling on the Lebanese government
several times to stop the airing of the series, only to be told that Al-Manar
is a private TV station which enjoys press freedom.
“What would they say if we tried to interfere with the way Fox News portrays
Arabs, Muslims, or Palestinians?” a Lebanese official asked. US intervention
again portrays political hypocrisy, one easily turned into intellectual
terrorism by a state that boasts freedom of speech and democracy.
Why is former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad not allowed to speak
aloud of Jewish influence on world politics? Why is a German deputy (Martin
Hohman) not allowed to remind his fellows of the role Jews played in the
Bolshevik revolution of 1917? And why is a top German general (Reinhard
Gunzel) sacked from the army for praising Hohman’s statements? Why is French
philosopher Roger Garroudi not permitted to question details of the
Holocaust? Why is it that every time a Western politician or journalist
dares to denounce Israeli terrorism he/she is accused of anti-Semitism? Why
should an EU poll showing that the majority of Europeans perceive Israel as
the No. 1 threat to world peace be denounced as baseless and unbalanced? And
why are the Arab and Islamic worlds pressured to ban any work that unveils
the true face of Zionism?
The image of Israel and the movement that brought it to life should remain
as pristine and untarnished as possible, contrary to the reality that has
led Europeans to change their mind. And Jewish-Zionists have proven to be
masters in putting world leaders, intellectuals and film-makers on the
defensive by accusing them of anti-Semitism. They have cunningly used the
Holocaust as a tool to increase their power and influence.
The rebellious Jew Norman Finkelstein best describes this state of affairs
in his book The Holocaust Industry, in which he writes that “the Holocaust
has proven to be an indispensable ideological weapon. Through its
deployment, one of the world’s most formidable military powers with a
horrendous human rights record has cast itself as a ‘victim’ state, and the
most successful ethnic group in the US has likewise acquired victim status.
Considerable dividends accrue from this specious victimhood in particular,
immunity to criticism, however justified.”
Zionism has also bombarded the world with lies such as Israel being
established on a land without people for a people without land. This
propaganda was brought to shame by the heroic struggle of the Palestinian
people.
It is now rather Israel, the US, and their massive media machines that are
on the defensive, fighting against freedom of speech while claiming to
defend it, and waging wars while claiming to champion peace.
American peace activists recently complained of being subjected to
harassment by the FBI, which blacklisted many of them for protesting the war
on Iraq. A group of anti-war demonstrators filed lawsuits against the US
police for having a shot at and wounding them during a peaceful protest. The
United States is on the defensive for becoming increasingly intolerant of
different views and works that reveal Zionism.
Al-Shattat is not anti-Semitic. It is not anti-Jewish. The film
differentiates between Judaism as a religion and Zionism as a political
movement, and it boldly tells how dangerous Zionism is and has been to the
region and the world. By breaking the silence and surviving the US-Israeli
campaign waged against it, this TV production has paved the way for
remedying the serious imbalance in the media reporting on the conflict, not
by exaggeration but by shedding light on its many facets and issues.
Tamara Mattar, co-chief editor of the English news bulletin at Al-Manar TV, wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03). |
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