UNESCO is an international U.N. organization where Israel is singled out

"While the themes were within UNESCO's mandate for protection of cultural heritage, the singling out of Israel for criticism is not."

Source: American Thinker (Israel and UNESCO, by Véronique Chemla)

It has become quite a routine. For more than thirty years, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)'s Executive Board has adopted, by consensus during each of its two biannual governing body meetings, biased decisions singling out the State of Israel for criticism.

Several Arab or Muslim countries have regularly presented draft decisions that deal with safeguarding the Old City of Jerusalem and education and cultural institutions in the Arab-occupied territories.

While the themes were within UNESCO's mandate for protection of cultural heritage, the singling out of Israel for criticism is not.

In April 2010, five items were introduced by those states on the agenda at the 184th session of UNESCO's Executive Board.

Two items covered Jerusalem's Ascent to the Mughrabi Gate and the city's cultural heritage. Two others expressed their "concern about the harmful impact of the Separation Wall" on the "activities of [Palestinian] cultural and educational institutions" and of "the blockade of the Gaza Strip" on the reconstruction of Gaza. The fifth draft resolution urged "the Israeli authorities to remove" the "two Palestinian sites of al-Haram al-Ibrahimi/Tomb of the Patriarchs in al-Khalil/Hebron and the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque/Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem" from "its national heritage list." That last draft decision was sponsored by seven Arab countries and was a response to the Israeli government's February 2010 decision to include the Biblical matriarch's tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in its national heritage list. That inscription aimed at justifying the connection of the State of Israel to its land and at renovating both sites, but it was condemned by President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas and Hezb'allah leaders, and many Arab and Muslim countries, as well as the OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference).

Jimmy Carter: Hamas wants an end to the violence, but not Israel

- Jimmy Carter reiterates apartheid accusations against Israel ... and much more

Swiss newspaper Le Temps has more on former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's views on Hamas and Israel.  Translation of an excerpt :

"What do you say to Hamas leaders ? Do you trust Khaled Meshaal [a Hamas leader who is a refugee in Damascus] who is considered as a terrorist in your country?

Let's be reminded that he was not considered a terrorist until he won the elections in 2006. The United States insisted that elections be held, I was there.

When I meet with Hamas officials, they say clearly that they will accept any peace treaty negotiated between Israel and Mahmoud Abbas and which is to be approved by the Palestinian people through a referendum. Such a referendum is both a Hamas and a Fatah requirement. They also told us that they would not be opposed to an agreement based on the Arab Peace Initiative. I have been meeting Hamas leaders for many years. They have always stated that they would accept a truce [Carter confuses truce and peace] in the West Bank and in Gaza if Israel did the same. Israel has rejected this proposal because it does not want a truce in the West Bank. Hamas wants an end to the violence."

- Carter offers Jewish community ‘Al Het’
- Jimmy Carter to U.S. Jews: Forgive me for stigmatizing Israel
- Carter: Grandson’s race not reason enough to apologize ...

Jimmy Carter reiterates apartheid accusations against Israel ... and much more

"I'm not saying that Israel is not a democracy, but it is not a democracy like ours." (Subtle distinction)

"Gaza is like a cage in which 1.5 million Palestinians live, 75% of which are refugees."

"If you look up an English dictionary, apartheid means the domination of one people by another and the formal separation of these two peoples [!]. This is what is already happening in the West Bank. Israel is clearly the dominant power and requires by law the total separation between Jewish settlers and Palestinians. That's why I use the word apartheid."

"When I meet with Hamas leaders, they clearly state that they will accept any peace treaty negotiated between Abbas and Israel that is approved by referendum by the Palestinian people."

Jimmy Carter was in Switzerland where he gave an interview to two newspapers Le Temps (Switzerland) and Le Soir (Belgium).  He reiterated his vicious accusations against Israel - Israel has apartheid policies and is not a democracy - while whitewashing Hamas.  His allegations are in stark contrast with the apologies he offered to the U.S. Jewish community in 2009 : Carter offers Jewish community ‘Al Het’, Jimmy Carter to U.S. Jews: Forgive me for stigmatizing Israel and Carter: Grandson’s race not reason enough to apologize ... 

Unauthorized translation of excerpts of Jimmy Carter's interview:

Jimmy Carter's "strong views on the Israeli occupation have earned him much sympathy in the Arab world and the contempt of the Israeli governement. Jimmy Carter is back from a trip to Israel, the Palestinian territories, Egypt, Syria and Jordan. The 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner delivers his analysis.

How was your last trip?
The Palestinians' situation is as follows: in Israel, they are subject to 35 laws which discriminate specifically non-Jewish citizens, who were denied the right to own land, to marriage, to travel, to have access to medical care and the media. In East Jerusalem - occupied by Israel - the Palestinians are not treated as citizens. The Silwan community, where there are 55,000 Arabs, has no playground and there is no school building. Jerusalem Mayor apologized while explaining that he was planning a tourist and archaeological site there. The Arabs who have lived there for sixty-five years will be forced to leave. In the West Bank, more than 300,000 Israeli settlers have confiscated land and properties off the Palestinians to build their own houses. Finally and even worse, Gaza is like a cage in which 1.5 million Palestinians live, 75% of which are refugees.

A new common European platform for the academic and cultural boycott of Israel (EPACBI)

In Europe pro-Israel and anti-Israel groups operate differently.  Pro-Israel groups operate on a national basis: if a nasty anti-Israel boycott campaign is run in Belgium or in France, pro-Israel groups in other European countries will not be interested.  Whereas anti-Israel groups operate at (1) national level, (2) intra-European level and/or at (3) international level.  A good example of this is the Russell Tribunal on Palestine which was initiated by a well respected Belgian, Pierre Galand, and has attracted people from all over the world.  The "Tribunal" was launched in Belgium without a single Jewish Belgian voice denouncing it (the reason being that they want exposure and it is better to keep a low profile - don't mention the problem and it will go away).  The Kangaroo court then went to Barcelona and there were a few local protests.  It is now having a session in London - a few UK blogs have objected (Harry's Place and Jewish Chronicle HERE, HERE and HERE), but nobody in France or Germany let alone in Belgium will be interested enough relay these protests. The Tribunal is scheduled to have session in South Africa and the U.S. (it will not end there) giving it a distinctively international imprint. Although this initiative may not amount to much, the cumulative effect of countless such Europe-wide initiatives should not be ignored. Many of these campaigns are funded by European governments and the European Union and there never seems to be any lack of funds to carry them out.

Paris Declaration of a European Platform for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (EPACBI)

French Mediapart gives the name of the organisers :

AKULBI : Akademisk og Kulturell Boikott av staten Israel (Norway)
AURDIP : Association des Universitaires pour le Respect du Droit International en Palestine (France)
BAB : Berlin Academic Boycott (Germany)
BRICUP : British Committee for Universities for Palestine (England)
CUNCAP : Comissió Universitària Catalana per Palestina (Catalonia)
ICACBI : Italian Campaign for the academic and cultural boycott of Israel (Italy)
PACBI : Palestinian campaign for the academic and cultural boycott of Israel (Palestine)
PSABI : Action Group at KTH for Boycott of Israel (Sweden)
Belgian and Dutch delegations were present at the launch of EPACBI (their website in 11 European languages ...).

"This declaration announces the establishment of a common European platform for the academic and cultural boycott of Israel. The national, regional and local organisations and movements adhering to this platform:

• Accept and promote the boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions and divestment from companies that contribute to Israel’s grave violations of international law and human rights;

The unbearable "ordinary" anti-Semitism in France

"The Jewish mafia is the most powerful mafia in the world, and the most dangerous too.  A mind-blowing book by Hervé Ryssen."

Photo of a poster taken by a JForum reader on 11/11/2010 at 3.30 p.m. at 123, Bd Murat, 16th arrondissement, Paris. The reader states that the poster was still there today. It is indeed shocking that nobody has taken the poster down.

Inscription : The Jewish Mafia. The greatest international predators. A book by Hervé Ryssen.

The books covers the following topics:
- Racketeering
- Arms traficking
- Contract killings
- Drug traficking
- Money laundering
- Pimping
- Casinos and nightclubs
- Pornography
- White slave trade
- Diamond trafficking
- Third world resources plundering
- Trafficking in artworks
- Swindling

Hervé Ryssen is linked to the Far Right (otherwise he would have referred to Zionists and not explicitly to Jews) and has written a book about the The Psychopathology of Judaism (details are available on the Net, but we will not provide the link).

"Dear pro-Israel bloggers: Are you guys getting any beer from the Mossad ?"

"Look, I just want to know if you guys are receiving any booze. Like the newspapers tell us the Swedish cops do. Does, like, the Mossad do a milkman route and drop by every morning and leave a bottle of Gin on your doorstep or something. I don’t know. Maybe they fly the booze to your bedroom window by carrier pigeon or perhaps they call you up in the dead of night and go, “ok, meet me by the old oak behind the cemetery, I’ve got some beer for you“. I don’t know."

Received this from Christian Tau of Norway, Israel and the Jews (NIJ).  In turn, we put the question to other bloggers.  Are you getting any booze from the Mossad ?  If not, should we go on strike ?

After learning about how Israel is bribing Swedish policemen with “hundreds of bottles” of alcohol, some of us here at NIJ are a bit upset. Here is a letter we have written to our colleagues in Sweden and Spain and Belgium.

Dear Spain-Israel-and the Jews, Sweden-Israel-and the Jews and La Belgique francophone, Israël et les Juifs

Are you guys getting any alcohol?

The reasons I am asking is that Swedish and Norwegian newspapers are writing about how the Israeli embassy in Sweden is bribing Swedish policemen with “hundreds of bottles” of booze. The source for this story is anonymous. But Swedish Aftonbladet insists that their anonymous source has thorough knowledge of the matter.

I know, it does not sound very credible. In fact, it sounds like something a desperate blogger would make up in lack of a proper story. But Aftonbladet, Aftenposten, radio channel P4 and Dagbladet are proper media channels. Anders Johansson, Karin Östman, Anbjørg Bakken, Harald Nygård Kvam and Marie Melgård are educated journalists writing proper stories on well-researched issues. These guys are professionals. They’ve got editors and checks and balances, all in order to provide their readers with quality product. So if they say their anonymous source has thorough knowledge of how Swedish cops are being bribed with beer, perhaps we should give them the benefit of doubt. I mean, NUPI researcher Helge Lurås says what’s going on in Sweden might very well be happening right here in Oslo. And NUPI’s got some shrewd minds, those guys are SMART.

Exhibition at Paris Museum of Modern Art: parallel between Nazi camp/Gaza Strip

"Seen from Europe, it is not because the frightening reality of the Nazi concentration camps began on the soil of our continent ["our continent" is Europe where six million Jews were industrially exterminated, of which 1.5 million children], that we can now accept the reality of what has become in 60 years, with the radicalization of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a genuine Palestinian internment camp at the gates of Israel." (Edouard Carmignac) 

"To journalists outraged by the infamous parallel Nazi camp / Gaza Strip Carmignac Gestion protested without arguing or convincing."
 
Honest Reporting report on Kai Wiedenhöfer: Getty Images Awards Photo Bias
 
Source: Véronique Chemla (« Gaza 2010 » de Kai Wiedenhöfer)

The prestigious museum of Modern Art of Paris is showing an exhibition by German photographer Kai Wiedenhöfer entitled "Gaza 2010".  Kai Wiedenhöfer, a photographer with Lookat Photos in Switzerland, was awarded  the first ever the "Carmignac Gestion Photojournalism Prize".  The Prize was created in 2009 by the Luxembourg/French fund manager Carmignac Gestion and the first theme was Gaza after the Lead Cast operation.  Vivienne Walt, of Time Magazine, was a member of the jury.  The prize comprises EURO 50,000 for further work on Gaza, an exhibition, a book, published by Steidl Publishers (from the U.K. [1]- making it a truly pan-European enterprise) and a deluxe catalogue The Book of the Destruction Gaza – One Year After the 2009 War offered to journalists at the exhibition opening together with … a 20-page summury of the Goldstone report in French.  And lots of exposure.

French journalist Véronique Chemla has made an harrowing account of the exhibition. 

The head of the Carmignac fund, Edouard Carmignac, explained the reasons behind the choice (unauthorised translation):

"It is unacceptable for the victims of one of the most terrible tragedies of the century to remain virtually forgotten and abandoned by all.

Seen from Europe, it is not because the frightening reality of the Nazi concentration camps began on the soil of our continent, that we can now accept the reality of what has become in 60 years, with the radicalization of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a genuine Palestinian internment camp at the gates of Israel.