Date: June 2nd 2008

Haaretz promotes website advocating genocide and terrorism
Report, The Electronic Intifada, 2 June 2008

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9579.shtml

Haaretz.com, the website of the Israeli newspaper often
cited as an example of Israel's liberal, critical media
carries paid advertisements from a website openly
advocating the total destruction of the Palestinian
people, the murder of large numbers of Muslim civilians,
the assassination of the family members of Arab rulers,
and the use of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons
against dozens of countries.

The website, Samson Blinded, claims that Google banned its
advertisements from its adwords program. If that is true,
it would be consistent with Google's policy that prohibits
advertising promoting violence or advocating against any
group based on race, ethnic or national origin or
religion. Yet the Samson Blinded advertisements appear
prominently on the main page and article pages of
Haaretz's website. For example the ad appeared on the
front page of Haaretz.com on 1 June, and also prominently
on an article page headlined "Who didn't attend New York's
pro-Israel march? Israelis" on the same date.

(visit this article on EI to see the images:
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9579.shtml)

Samson Blinded, whose publishers keep their identities
secret, calls on Israel to eliminate all Palestinians from
the territory it controls and to annihilate their culture.
The site demands that Israel "destroy the Palestinian
settlements [sic] and exile them far away -- not to
refugee camps in neighboring Arab countries, or the
conflict would be perpetuated." It argues that "Forced
cultural assimilation of Palestinians should accompany
deportation," adding that "With demise of Palestinians,
Arab Israeli conflict would lose its impetus [sic]."

The hate site advertised on Haaretz incites religious war,
exploitation of children, and terrorism. It states for
example that "Slavery is not an option in the modern
world, but Israel adopting children from the poorest
countries, indoctrinating them with anti-Islamism, and
training them for low-rank military service in Israel
Defense Forces may be feasible." It also proposes that
"Israel could invite Western Christian radicals to police
the Palestinian territories" as "they would be happy to
get a training ground in Israel for their militia."

The site adds that "To succeed, Israeli violence against
Arabs should be immediately overwhelming. Israel should
show itself a bloodthirsty monster to scare the Arabs into
submission." Among the violence advocated by the site is
the unprovoked wholesale murder of relatives of the rulers
of Arab countries, civilians, and prisoners of war.

The site even calls for nuclear strikes against
neighboring countries: "Israel should legislate that a
nuclear attack against her from whatever source means
immediate, simultaneous nuclear destruction by Israel
Defense Forces of everything Muslim -- capitals, temples,
population centers -- by the hundred or so nuclear weapons
in Israel's possession. Islamic terrorists who plan to use
nuclear weapon against Israel must understand that the
Jewish state will be commemorated with a really big bang."

The website's call for the destruction of the Palestinians
appears to violate the 1948 Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The convention
defines as genocide acts including killing, expulsion and
causing bodily and mental suffering "with intent to
destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial
or religious group."

The Convention, adopted in the wake of the Nazi holocaust,
also defines as crimes "Direct and public incitement to
commit genocide" and "Complicity in genocide." The treaty,
ratified by over 130 countries including Israel and the
US, calls for the prosecution and punishment of these acts
whether the individuals committing them "are
constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or
private individuals."

Contacted by EI, Osnat Kohali, the manager of Haaretz.com
stated that the newspaper and its website have a clear
policy of not allowing any advertisements that include
"incitement against any side." In reaction to some of the
statements on the Samson Blinded site quoted in this
article, Kohali noted that the offensive statements were
on the advertised website itself rather than in the
advertisements that appeared on Haaretz. Kohali added, "We
don't go through each and every website and make a
complete review about what it says." However she undertook
to review the Samson Blinded advertisements noting that
"mistakes can be made."

But the Samson Blinded ads are not the only case of
Haaretz apparently profiting from extremism; its website
has often carried advertisements for an organization
called "The Jerusalem Summit" which also advocates the
removal of the Palestinians from their homeland and holds
that "the de-legitimization of the Palestinian narrative
becomes a vital prerequisite to any comprehensive
resolution of the Palestinian issue."

This kind of militant Jewish extremism has been making
steady inroads into Israel's political mainstream, as
numerous parties openly advocate the "transfer"
(expulsion) of Palestinians and Israeli leaders have done
little to marginalize and discourage it. What is
surprising is that the widely respected Haaretz, which
publishes jointly in Israel with The International Herald
Tribune, would profit from hate groups and their possibly
criminal incitement.

In 2006, the German newspaper publisher M. DuMont
Schauberg bought a 25 percent stake in Haaretz, a move
German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised as an instance of
German reconciliation with Israel. In Germany, as in many
other European countries, incitement to racial hatred is
illegal.



--

ABOUT US: The Electronic Intifada (EI) is a
not-for-profit, independent publication committed to
comprehensive public education on the question of
Palestine, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the
economic, political, legal, and human dimensions of
Israel's 39-year occupation of Palestinian territories.

EI, found at http://electronicIntifada.net provides a
needed supplement to mainstream commercial media
representations of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
More information about our work can be found at
http://electronicIntifada.net/v2/aboutEI.shtml

To find out about other EI/eIraq lists available, see:
http://electronicintifada.net/cgi-bin/kebab/mail.cgi

SUPPORT OUR PROJECT: Our work needs funding. We accept
donations via credit card and cheque. U.S. donations are
tax deductible. More information can be found at:
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2162.shtml

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing
list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list:
ei Weekday Press Picks

Using the following email:
example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by
visiting the following URL:
<http://lists.electronicintifada.net/mail.cgi/u/eimedia/[email_name]/[email_domain]/1234/>;

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the
entire address. Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break
this automatic unsubscribe mechanism.

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:
<http://lists.electronicintifada.net/mail.cgi?f=list&l=eimedia>;

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:
<mailto:news@electronicintifada.net>;

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:
MECCS/EI Project
1507 E. 53rd Street, #500
Chicago, IL 60615, USA
http://electronicIntifada.net

Mailing List Powered by Dada Mail
http://lists.electronicintifada.net/mail.cgi/what_is_dada_mail/