The Combination of Extreme Criticism of Israel & Avoidance of Criticism of Palestinian Terrorism

1. Introduction of the Issue
Selective reporting

"Selective reporting involves devoting more resources, such as news articles or air time, to the coverage of one side of the story over another."

The basic issue of The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the relationship between claimed cause and claimed effect. Israel, its supporters and advocates, generally claim a relationship of Palestinian Terrorism is the cause of Israel's extreme security measures. Palestinians, their supporters and advocates, generally claim a relationship of Israel's extreme security measures are the cause of Palestinian Terrorism. 

The following are criteria to determine the existence and extent of selective reporting:

1) Reporting of one side of the relationship in absolute numbers. 

2) The relative reporting of one side of the relationship to the reporting of the other side.

3) The level of the description used. 

4) Possible consequence of under reporting the other side of the relationship.

2. Discussion

                         Why Israel Gets Away With Murder

Let's test drive the criteria above for Neil Godfrey's blog Vridar starting with a search of his site for "Israel" and summarize:

1) The number of articles involving Israel.

2) The tone of the article regarding Israel.

3) The extent of the article's tone towards Palestinians:

1. Postscript on Rome’s and Israel’s foundation stories   

Israel tone = The purpose of the article is to consider parallels between The Jewish Bible's Israel origination stories and Greek origination stories. In the comments you can see the author theorize that the Jewish stories were to some extent copied from the Greek and that a historical Jewish Palestine was significantly later than what The Jewish Bible indicates. 

Palestinian tone = No direct mention of Palestinians here. The article has an implication, which is explicit in prior related articles, that if "The Jews'" history in Israel is much later than is commonly thought/argued than someone else must have been there earlier/much earlier such as maybe, I don't know, Palestinians?

2. Comparing the Rome’s and Israel’s Foundation Stories, Aeneas and Abraham

Israel tone = Same as above.

Palestinian tone = Same as above. If the author wanted to objectively compare who's claim to Israel/Palestine is earlier a good comparison would be, which one, Israelis or Palestinians, use the other one's religious book as the start of their history? Hmmm. 

3. How Philo-Semitic British Israelism Morphed into Anti-Semitic White Supremacism / Christian Identity

Israel tone = The article is about antisemitic beliefs and not about Israel.

Palestinian tone = The article is about Christian antisemitism and not Muslim/Palestinian antisemitism. So based on this article Israel has reason to feel threatened, just not by Muslims/Palestinians.

4. Reality Behind Arab Threats to Destroy Israel

Israel tone = Israeli leadership knew from the beginning that Arabs were not a significant threat to Israel and by lying to the Israeli population about the level of the threat wrongly convinced Israelis that the Arabs were a significant threat. 

Palestinian tone = No mention of "Palestinians" in the article. Strangely, the Arabs are first described as easily having the ability to destroy Israel and than described as always realizing that they could not destroy Israel. Since there is no mention of Palestinians there is no mention that all Palestinian political organizations have always had a Charter calling for the destruction of Israel. Note that in the potential context of Palestinians as a threat to Israel, Godfrey's blog minimizes their numbers, in this case to -0-. In the context though of Palestinian refugees/supposed right of return they quickly multiple into greater numbers than Israelis and exponentially more than Jews with any religious/physical connection to Israel. 

An objective review of the history of actual quotes/writings of Arab leaders from the beginning shows that they were not just sincere about thinking they could destroy Israel but enthusiastically sincere.

5. Primitive Democracy in Ancient Israel

Israel tone = Same as 1. and 2. above but now the source for The Jewish Bible has been expanded from Greek sources to (non-Jewish) Middle Eastern sources.

Palestinian tone = Same as 1. and 2.

6. The Inspiration for Israel’s Law of the Ideal King

Israel tone = Same as 1. and 2.

Palestinian tone = Same as 1. and 2.  

7. Israel’s Best Friends to Her Rescue

Israel tone = Israel is described as being overly influenced by its "radical" element leading to a policy of illegal settlements in the West bank. These illegal settlements are said to prevent a peace agreement all by themselves and it's said that this policy will lead to an Apartheid State.

Palestinian tone = No mention of any radicals, illegal activity or plans to have an Apartheid Arab/Muslim State. In fact no mention of Palestinians at all except for the context of being victims.

8. How Israel Uses (not “Misuses”) The Bible

Israel tone = Israel is described as using The Jewish Bible to justify all of Israel being a Jewish State.

Palestinian tone = As in 7. no mention of "Palestinians" in the article except in the context of being victims. You wouldn't know from the article that it's actually the Palestinians who are primarily a religion oriented government and have a majority of their population who think all of Israel should be Arab/Muslim based on their Bible. In fact you wouldn't even know from the article that the Palestinians are Muslim.

9. The Tribes of Israel modeled on the Athenian and Ideal Greek Tribes?

Israel tone = The article is similar to most of the articles above, arguing that The Jewish Bible copied from Greek stories supporting that the Jewish history in Israel is much later than Jews would argue. The comments go beyond and all the way to The Jewish Bible dishonestly invented "history" of Jews returning to and reclaiming their homeland and demonizing the people (Canaanites/Palestinians) who were there first to justify genocide.

Palestinian tone = As always, Palestinians only referred to in the context of victims. No attempt to find similar copying/accusations in The Arab Bible. 

The Amazin Kristkin!

The Amazin Kristkin!

---

Story background: It's Herod's Palace, Saturday night. The warm up
ACTS have just finished and the place is hoppin. The Manager/MC goes
on stage to introduce the headliner. The crowd has been whipped up
into an eschatological frenzy. If they don't get their feature act
soon, someone is going to be crucified. Showtime!

Manager: Okay, okay. I know you're all dying for our featured act,
but first I have a few announcements to make. Next week at Herod's
Palace the always popular Balaam and his talking donkey, the world's
greatest ventriloquist act. I swear you will not be able to
see the donkey's lips moving. And the week after, back by popular
request, the number one burlesque show on the Gaza Strip, Eve West and
W.C. Snake. (Lowers voice) when she's bad she's very bad but when
she disobeys she's even better. (Wrinkles eyebrows) guys, you
might want to start working on your alibis early. (Some guys in
audience start nodding in agreement). We also have a VIP with us here
tonight. Sitting in the balcony next to our own beloved King Herod is
the Governor of this region for the mighty Roman Empire, the
honorable Pontias Pilate. Pilate stands up and waves to sparse
applause.

Voice from crowd : Caesar sucks! (Crowd laughs).

Pilate : Who said that?! (Directs Roman guards to find the source.
Entire crowd shuts up and puts on innocent faces as guards begin to
make their way through the crowd.)

Manager : Ahem. Okay, one more announcement before I introduce your
headliner tonight. Please remember to pick up your livestock
from the goat check room before you leave the Palace. We are not
responsible for any lost sheep or other animals that are left
here over night. Finally, Rebbe Yell will lead us in our pre-show,
non-sectarian prayer. (An old small Rebbe with a long white
beard comes onto the stage.)

Rebbe Yell : (All bow heads). Our gracious Father in heaven. We thank
you for the entertainment that we are about to receive and for
providing us with the gift of laughter.

All : Amen.

Manager : And now, it is my great pleasure to introduce to you,
(crowd starts to cheer) the man you've been waiting your whole lives
for. Direct from a sold out, extended stay, standing room only and
record setting performance in the Galilee. (Cheer builds) Guaranteed
to heal whatever ails you, able to get a rise out of anyone,
including the dead, a real son-of-a-god and your ticket to heaven, The
One, Only and Holy Guest, The Amazin Kristkin and Paul Saver and
The World's Most Disciplined Choir! (Thunderous applause). (Paul
leads the Disciples onto the stage on their hands and knees,
forming a large cross, with The Amazin Kristkin laying stretched
out on their backs with his hands and feet tied to their
backs). (Paul pulls out a small cross and starts leading the Disciples
in their opening number).

Disciples : (Singing) Your love, is lifting us higher, than we've
ever been lifted before.

Peter : (Solo with Disciples singing opening refrain in background)
So keep it up, quench our desire, and we'll be at your feet for ever
more. (The cross formation reaches the center of the stage and stops.
Then the top of the cross starts to elevate where Kristkin's head is.
Kristkin looks to the right and his right hand immediately becomes
untied. He looks to the left and his left hand becomes untied. He
looks down at his feet and his feet become untied. As the cross
continues to elevate he slowly and smoothly slides down to a standing
position. The Disciples remain in tiered formation, still singing the
opening number with their outside arms forward, presenting Kristkin.
The crowd goes crazy and the continuous drone of the Palace vendors
shouting "mutton on a stick" and "nice, cool wine, get your nice,
cool wine here" is temporarily drowned out.)

Kristkin : (Wearing a long, flowing, white cape and a matching white
robe with very large sleeves and an extra large, red K emblazoned on
the back of the cape with smaller red K's on his sleeves waves to
the crowd). Thank you. Thank you very much. (Blows kisses). I love you
all. (Extends and raises his right arm and a large loaf of white bread
suddenly appears by his right sleeve). (Heavy applause). (Hands loaf
of bread to a man sitting in front row). Here, pass this around.

Man : Thanks. Say, do you have any butter?

Kristkin : (Pats his vest). Um, no. Sorry. (Looks back at crowd).
Hey, it's great to be back at the Palace. I just flew in from the
Galilee today. (Lifts arms). Boy, are my arms tired! (Fuh-boom-Paul
does rim shot). (Crowd roars). I tell you the truth. Show business,
show business, it' in my blood show business. I just wish it was in
my act! (Crowd howls). (Looks and points to a small group of Roman
woman and their babies a few rows back). This must be the Caesarian
Section! (Crowd is dying). Okay, now for my first trick. (Raises left
hand and a large deck of cards appears next to his sleeve. Applause.)
I hold here in my hands all six hundred and thirteen
commandments. I will now shuffle the cards and let a member of
the crowd select one without my seeing which one it is. I will
then tell you exactly what that commandment means without knowing
which card has been taken. (Moves to a man in the front row and holds
all the cards out, written side facing away and turns his face away.
The man picks one card.) The commandment you selected means love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind.(To the man) Now, read to the crowd the commandment you
selected.

Man : Thou shalt not boil a calf in its mother's milk.

Kristkin : See? (Raises arms triumphantly as crowd applauds). Thank
you. Thank you. (Waves to crowd) I love you all. (Extends and raises
both arms and loaves of white bread at one sleeve and dark bread at
the other sleeve appear. Crowd oohs and then applauds. Throws bread
into the crowd). For my next trick I was going to pull a Rabbi out of
a hat but the Rabbi died. (fuh-boom.) Okay, I am now ready to perform
a feat of magic never before seen here at Herod's Palace. I will
attempt to transform a jar of ordinary water into wine. (Raises arms
and looks upward). Paul, I'm ready. (Paul carries over a jar of rather
brown looking water and a large shroud).

Paul : (Holds up jar for audience to see). Hmmm. Looks like the
Romans put the bath lines a little too close to the sanitation lines.
(Laughter) (Places jar at Kristkin's feet and covers Kristkin with
the shroud.) (The Disciples come slowly strolling onto the stage,
wearing big, white, comfortable sweaters with the first letter of
their name stitched in red on the front, singing and snapping their
fingers to the beat).

Disciples : Kristkin just left for Chicago, turning muddy water into
wine.

Simon : (Solo with Disciples singing opening refrain in background).
He's been from Jerusalem to Egypt and all points in between. (As
Disciples continue their song there is a small amount of movement at
the bottom of the shroud and a barely audible squishing sound.)

Manager : (Peering out from the side of the stage and saying to
himself) I hate it when he does this one. I'll be up all night trying
to get the stains out of the floor.

Kristkin : (Dramatically removes shroud and raises jar up to reveal
what appears to now be wine. Heavy applause. Brings jar over to front
row to drink and then stops, raises both arms out and head upwards
and three loaves of bread simultaneously appear, one at each sleeve
and one at his collar). (Huge applause. As they are clapping half of
audience is asking "how does he do that?" and the other half are
shaking their heads saying "I don't know.") Thank you. Thank you.
(Blows kisses) I love you. I love you all. Now be sure to pass over
my bread and wine to King Herod. Eating and drinking is his second
favorite activity next to taxing the peasants. (People are doubling
over with laughter. Herod gets annoyed look on face). Actually, I
shouldn't make fun of King Herod, we go way back together. I remember
when he first opened up this Palace ten years ago and since then,
there's nothing I wouldn't do for King Herod and nothing King Herod
wouldn't do for me. And that's the way its been for ten years, we've
done nothing for each other. (People are rolling on the floor. The
look on Herod's face changes from annoyed to really annoyed.) And
now, it's time for my grand finale. Never before successfully
performed on stage. I will be placed inside a coffin with the lid
nailed shut. There will then be spears thrust through the coffin,
piercing my body and killing me. The coffin will be opened and I will
have disappeared. Then the coffin will be nailed shut again and after
three minutes I will reappear, unharmed. Paul, is everything ready?

Paul : Yes, Kristkin. (Wheels small wooden coffin onto the stage with
several round holes on each side and what appear to be blood stains
next to the holes. Crowd becomes quiet.)

Kristkin : I have here the "widowmaker" taken directly from Elijah
the Great's final performance. (Looks down) may G-d have mercy on his
soul. (Crowd starts to worry). (Climbs into coffin and as he's
closing the lid says) I'll see you in the next life. (Crowd is
becoming anxious).

Paul : (Hammers lid shut. Goes over to Roman guards and says) May I
borrow your spears? I think Kristkin has something caught between his
teeth. (Nervous laughter from crowd). (Meanwhile, the Disciples are
forming a human pyramid next to the coffin with Judas on top).

Judas : (Singing with the rest of the Disciples humming background)
Mistakes, he's made a few, cause he's not G-d, he's just a Jew.

Paul : (Placing spears into coffin but having trouble pushing them
completely through. Occasional "ow" or "ouch" can be heard from
inside the coffin.) Say, can a couple of you guards come over and
help me place these spears, I'm having some problems? (Two Roman
guards come over. The first grabs a spear that's halfway in and gives
it a forceful shove to put it all the way through. A loud "Ahhhh!" is
heard and the crowd shudders. The second guard pulls a stuck spear
back out of the coffin.)

Guard : That's not how you move a spear. This is how you move a
spear. (Backswings spear in air and then launches it forward towards
the coffin.)

Paul : (Tries to stop guard but it's too late). No, wait! Don't!
(Spear goes into coffin and becomes stuck inside. A very
loud "Aaaaaargh" is heard.)

Judas : (Finishing song). What have we learned, during our stay? Did
our good deeds, keep sin away? We kept the law, as best we may. We
did it Hisss Way.

Paul : (Starts tearing open coffin lid). Oh no. Please, no. (Manager
comes over to help. They finally get the lid open. The coffin is
empty and there is a trail of blood leading to a trap door underneath
the coffin.)

Manager : This is terrible.

Paul : You mean because Kristkin could be seriously or even fatally
wounded?

Manager : No, because the act's not finished and I paid Kristkin in
advance.(Notices small, blood spattered note at bottom of coffin).
What's this? (Reads note) "I shall reappear on the exact one
hundredth anniversary of Harry Houdini's death". Who the hell is Harry
Houdini?

Paul : I have no idea. Damn, it took me twenty years to put this act
together. What am I supposed to do now?

Manager : (Shrugs) I don't know. Why don't you write a book about it?

Paul : Yea, right. A book, sure. (Scratches chin) Hey, wait a minute,
hmmm.

Genocide In The Israeli/Arab Conflict

1. Introduction of the Issue

Over at Neal Godfrey's blog Godfrey continues to try and support his conclusion that there was/is/will be genocide in the Israeli Arab conflict Expulsion of the Palestinians: Insights into Yishuv’s Transfer Ideas in World War 2. His problem so far is that he continues to look for it in the wrong place. He keeps looking for it on the Israeli side but there are now more Palestinians in Israel than there were at the start of the conflict and while Israel had no reaction whatsoever to The Palestinian Museum the Museum has no exhibits because of internal Palestinian fighting.

Genocide is defined as follows:

Genocide

"Genocide is intentional action to destroy a people (usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group) in whole or in part. The hybrid word "genocide" is a combination of the Greek word génos ("race, people") and the Latin suffix -cide ("act of killing").^[1] The United Nations Genocide Convention, which was established in 1948, defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group".^[2][3]

The term genocide was coined in a 1944 book;^[4][5] it has been applied to the Holocaust," 

Note that included in the definition of "Genocide" is a religious group and that the term was created because of the genocide of Jews in the Holocaust of which the Palestinians and Arabs participated. Strangely Godfrey prohibits the combination of "Holocaust" and the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict because he thinks it creates unfair sympathy for Israel. On the other hand he is quick to combine "Genocide" and Palestinians (as supposed victims) even though the word was originally created to describe the genocide of the Jews (which was largely successful because of the effort of Palestinians/Arabs to prevent a Jewish State at the time).

Everyone, including Godfrey, would agree that there was Genocide against the Jews in all of the surrounding Arab countries:

Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries

Here we have the expected qualities of genocide, murder, persecution, intimidation, forcible eviction, theft of all property, desecration and removal of history. Contrast this to what Godfrey tries to manufacture as Genocide on the Israeli side, while Israel is attempting to defend itself against a repetition of genocide against Jews, one (not "the") Jewish leader, in preparation for war, writes that assuming the Jews survive genocide one option is to try and make agreements with surrounding Arab countries to transfer some Palestinians out of strategically vulnerable areas so as to make the next genocidal attempt against Israel less likely to be successful. Under such a plan the Palestinians and Arab countries would be compensated per any agreement. The proposed plan would remove Palestinians by force if necessary (see how easy that was Neil). Note that this was one idea by one Israeli leader and never official Israeli policy unlike every Palestinian political organization that has an explicit genocidal policy towards Israel. 

So we do have clear evidence of Genocide just outside of Israel, perpetrated by all of Israel's Arab neighbors. But do we have evidence of Genocide inside Israel itself?


2. Discussion

During the Israeli/Arab conflict it's generally agreed that Jordan was the least malicious of Israel's neighbors. During The War of Independence Jordan illegally captured East Jerusalem which under the UN Mandate was supposed to be an International City. Let's see how that worked out for Jews not just in East Jerusalem but everywhere:

Jordanian annexation of the West Bank:

1) The Jordanians immediately expelled all the Jewish residents of East Jerusalem.^[14]

2) All but one of the 35 synagogues in the Old City were destroyed over the course of the next 19 years, either razed or used as stables and chicken coops.

3) Many other historic and religiously significant buildings were replaced by modern structures.^[15][16] The ancient Jewish cemetery on Mount of Olives was desecrated, and the tombstones were used for construction, paving roads and lining latrines; the highway to the Intercontinental Hotel was built on top of the site.^[17]

4) Tensions continued between Jordan and Israel through the early 1950s, with Palestinian guerrillas and Israeli commandos crossing the Green Line.

5) Tourists entering East Jerusalem had to present baptismal certificates or other proof they were not Jewish.^{[38] [39][40]}

1) - 5) = The destruction of Judaism in East Jerusalem, East 
Jerusalem being the most important geographical area for 
Judaism at the time as well as the symbol of Judaism.

For those sitting on the Wall as to whether this is sufficient to
justify a label of Genocide, add in that Jordan then allowed
Palestinian terrorists to operate from East Jerusalem.

3. Conclusion

In summary Neil Godfrey could end his desperate attempt to find evidence of Genocide in The Israeli/Arab conflict by simply looking everywhere except on the Israeli side. Seriously, Godfrey thinks he is helping the Palestinians by trying to demonize Israel and ignoring Palestinian/Arab evils. By doing this though he makes the Palestinians think that either he sees nothing evil in what they do or at least will tolerate it. Palestinian Terrorism though is the only reason Palestinians do not have their own State. They need constructive criticism and not just propaganda against Israel. By solely criticizing Israel you are hurting the Palestinians, not helping them, and your efforts will just blow up (so to speak) in your and their's face.

Figures Don't Lie But Liars Figure. A Proportionate Response to the Disproportionate Response Claim (Gaza)

1. Introduction of the Issue

Common Claim

It's often claimed that during The Gaza War (2014) Israel used "disproportionate force".  Bernie Sanders made this claim during an interview with Jake Tapper. 

The Numbers
Sanders mistakenly claimed in an interview a few weeks earlier that about 10,000 people were killed. The two main sources commonly used for casualties during the conflict are Israel and Hamas. Since everyone would agree that Hamas is a Terrorist Organization and therefore intentionally murders innocent women and children, the odds that they would also be willing to lie about the related casualties are proportionately greater than 2,125 to 73. Per Israel, 2,125 Palestinians died during the War and 72 Israelis and one foreigner died. 

What is the Right Question to Ask?
Supporters of the Palestinians tend to try and emphasize the disproportionate casualty statistics and avoid or at least minimize the overall context. This starts and ends with an answer, "Israel used disproportionate force," and misses something more important, the related starting question:

Was Israel justified in its response based on Israeli standards of justice?

Of course you could ask the question using other standards of justice but, as most people would first ask the question using their standard of justice, this article will only ask the question using Israel's standard.

2. Discussion

                      You're Making Things Up Again Bernie

What caused the Israeli response?
In order to answer the basic question of this article, the first question to ask is what caused the Israeli response. Per Wikipedia:

Between 4 and 6 July, a total of 62 rockets were fired from Gaza and the IAF attacked several targets in Gaza.^{[190][191][192]} The following day, Hamas assumed formal responsibility for launching rocket attacks on Israel.^[32] Hamas increased rocket attacks on Israel,^[109] and by 7 July had fired 100 rockets from Gaza at Israeli territory;

Was Israel justified in making any response of force?
Per UN Resolution 3314 and therefore International Law:

Article 3
Any of the following acts, regardless of a declaration of war, shall, subject to and in accordance with the provisions of article 2, qualify as an act of aggression:

... 

          (b) Bombardment by the armed forces of a State against the territory of another State or the use of any weapons by a State against the territory of another State; 

 Clearly Hamas would meet the definition of "aggression" here. Beyond that, as Hamas was additionally targeting and murdering/injuring/terrifying civilians with this bombardment their actions would be considered by most, and especially Israel, to go beyond mere aggression, all the way to Terrorist Attacks. From Israel's standpoint then, a forceful response was justified.

In comparing the deaths on both sides what is a fair number to use for the Palestinians?

Per Israel 2,125 Palestinians died. Israel estimates 953 Palestinian civilians were killed. Since the 1,172 Palestinian soldiers who were killed were killed while supporting Terrorist Attacks against Israel, Israel would not include them in considering the extent of Israel's military response. Everyone would agree that some of the Palestinian civilians killed were killed by Hamas, either intentionally or accidentally. Fatah estimates that about 10% of the Palestinian deaths were intentionally killed by Hamas and let's guess that another 10% were unintentionally killed by Hamas. That would bring the Palestinian civilian deaths directly caused by Israel to about 762. Per Israel there were 73 Israeli deaths. Most were soldiers but since the soldiers were defending Israel against Terrorist Attacks Israel, by its standards, would be justified in including them in a comparison of fatalities. So the ratio here is about 10 to 1. 

How many casualties did the response PREVENT?
Before measuring how proportionate Israel's response was we need to consider how many Israeli deaths it may have prevented. In total the Israeli response stopped the Terrorist Attacks. Once the Terrorist Attacks stopped the Israeli response stopped. Most countries, including Israel, would accept a far higher ratio than 10 to 1 in order to stop ongoing Terrorist Attacks from a hostile State. 

We also need to consider the risk to Israel, even if relatively small, of the possibility of significantly more casualties. Hamas confessed/boasted that during the War it attempted to strike Israel's nuclear facility at Dimona HAMAS: WE ATTEMPTED TO HIT THE NUCLEAR REACTOR IN DIMONA .

Was Hamas indirectly responsible for some Palestinian casualties directly caused by Israel?
It's generally agreed that Hamas was by:

1. Deliberately launching some rockets from/near civilian buildings.

2. Ordering the general Gazan population not to move to safer areas.

                     The Hamasgous still rules the wasteland

3. Conclusion

In summary a fair consideration of the fatalities to include on each side indicates about a 10 to 1 ratio. From Israel's standpoint this ratio would be within the bounds of a proportionate response due to the following key considerations:

1. The Israeli response was caused by Terrorist attacks.

2. The Israeli response was limited to what was necessary to stop the Terrorist attacks. 

3. The possibility existed of significantly greater Israeli casualties if the Terrorist attacks were not stopped.

4. Hamas was also responsible for some Palestinian fatalities.