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PrintDecember 18, 2010
WikiLeaks conspiracy theorists target Israel
Many just cannot take it. After all the exposed hypocrisy of the Arab governments vis-a-vis Iran and the incompetence of the Obama Administration in dealing with the messianic apocalyptic regime in Tehran, people do not understand how come Israel come out so clean in Wikileaks. So they concoct conspiracy theories of an Israeli deal with WikiLeaks. Where is the real dirt on Israel?" question some.
But the answer is quite simple and straightforward. Israel has been demonized and lied about by a pernicious media for the last 30 years. It was held to a higher standard than any other western democracy and when finally the truth comes out it looks totally out of sync with the distorted image most have of Israel.
The dirt on Israel the bloggers are looking for has actually been hurled at Israel for all these years, so some of it stuck. Now the few glimpses of truth may only wash it away somewhat, and that is what is making many people very unhappy.
There are so many instances of distortion that it is impossible to list them all. I'll mention just three:
Hamas Casualties During Operation Cast Lead
Hamas admitted last week that between 600 and 700 of its militants were killed during Operation Cast Lead - a figure consistent with that reported by the Israel Defense Forces.The figure is several times higher than the previous number of fatalities that Hamas claimed it sustained during the operation.Hamas' military wing had previously claimed that only 49 of its militants were killed during the three-week operation that the IDF launched in December 2008. Israel had put the figure at 709.
Israel had been accused targeting civilians by the Goldstone report and most of the of media took the Hamas's original claims of losses at face value.
How Did The 2000 Violence Start?
For years most of the world's media reported that Arial Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount triggered the 2000 violence. However, the violence that started in September 2000 was an explicit decision by the Palestinians. According to Imad Faluji the Palestinian Authority Communications Minister, the violence had been planned in July, far in advance of Sharon's "provocation." "It [the uprising] had been planned since Chairman Arafat's return fromCamp David, when he turned the tables on the former U.S. president and rejected the American conditions.
Two Percent Occupation
From 1996 until 2000, only 2 percent of Palestinians lived under Israeli control. The rest, i.e. 98 percent lived under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority. Even this 2 percent of Palestinians living under Israeli control would have ceased to do so if Arafat had accepted a peaceful solution at Camp David. Therefore the whole Palestinian justification for starting a terror war against Israel in September 2000 is based on 2 percent occupation which Barak offered to end at Camp David in 2000.
Upon concluding the Oslo II Interim Agreement in September 1995, which extended Palestinian administration to the rest of the West Bank cities, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres declared: "once the agreement will be implemented, no longer will the Palestinians reside under our domination. They will gain self-rule and we shall return to our heritage."14Since that time, 98 percent of the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has come under Palestinian jurisdiction.15Israel transferred 40 spheres of civilian authority, as well as responsibility for security and public order, to the Palestinian Authority, while retaining powers for Israel's external security and the security of Israeli citizens
What about the remaining 99 percent of the yet unreleased cables? It is almost certain that the cables will always be more favorable towards Israel than the media distortions of the last three decades.
A government has to function with a certain degree of secrecy. Regardless of the fact that in this case WikiLeaks revelations backfired on the Left and exposed the hypocrisy of everyone else regarding Iran, the leaks also revealed the most vulnerable targets of the West to Al Qaeda and much more. Therefore Julian Assange should be held accountable for what he is doing. One key point is that the US had warned Assange in a letter that the revelations would be detrimental to US interests and he went ahead nevertheless, so he knowingly did it, and therefore they have a case.
Imagine if WikiLeaks had been available during WWII. One sentence about Bletchley Park breaking the Enigma code would have changed the outcome of the Battle of Britain, The Battle of the Atlantic, Stalingrad, Kursk and D-Day -- in other words winning the war would have been much, much more difficult.
