-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: June 10, 2007 1:13:46 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Fwd: Believe It or Not (Modern Historical Myths, AKA Lies)
The problem with "Ripley's Believe It or Not," of course, is that
its extraordinary facts will never offend anyone. There are no
suicide bombers in Ripley, no Israeli air strikes ("Believe It or
Not, 17,000 Lebanese and Palestinian civilians, were killed in
Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon"), no major casualty tolls
("Believe It or Not, up to 650,000 Iraqis died in the four years
following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq"). See what I mean? A
bit too close to the bone (or bones).
But, I was reminded of dear old Ripley when I was prowling through
the articles marking the anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Memoirs there have been aplenty, but I think only the French press
was prepared for a dose of "Believe It or Not".
It recalled vividly -- and shamefully -- how the world's newspapers
covered the story of Egypt's "aggression" against Israel. In
reality -- Believe It or Not -- it was Israel who attacked Egypt
after Nasser closed the straits of Tiran and ordered U.N. troops
out of Sinai and Gaza. "Egyptians attack Israel," France-Soir
informed its readers on 5 June 1967, a whopper so big that it was
later forced to amend its headline to "It's Middle East War!."
Quite so. Next day, the socialist Le Populaire headlined its story
"Attacked on all sides, Israel resists victoriously." On the same
day, Le Figaro carried an article announcing that "the victory of
the army of David is one of the greatest of all time." Believe It
or Not, the Second World War -- which might be counted as one of
the greatest of all time, had ended only 22 years earlier.
Johnny Hallyday, France's undie-able pop star, sang for 50,000
French supporters of Israel -- for whom solidarity was expressed in
the French press by Serge Gainsbourg, Juliette Gréco, Yves Montand,
Simone Signoret, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and François Mitterand.
Believe It or Not, not long ago, Mitterand had been honored with a
medal for being a Vichy-era NAZI collaborator.
Only the president of France, General de Gaulle, risked political
ostracism by telling a press conference several months later that
Israel "is organising, on the territories which it has taken, an
occupation which cannot succeed without oppression, repression and
expulsions -- and if there appears resistance to this, it will in
turn be called 'terrorism'." This 100% accurate prophecy earned
reproof from the Nouvel Observateur -- to the effect that "Gaullist
France has no friends; it
has only interests". And Believe It or Not, with the exception of
one small Christian paper, in the entire French press one word was
conspicuously absent that no one dared utter: "Palestinians."
See what's free at AOL.com.
From: "Jim S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: June 9, 2007 5:13:05 PM PDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: ICH~Lies and outrages... would you believe it?
http://www.ichblog.eu/text/content/view/1637/1/ *Lies and
outrages... would you believe it?*
By Robert Fisk
06/09/07
It was Israel which attacked Egypt after Nasser closed the straits
of Tiran.
"The Independent" -- When I was a schoolboy, I loved a column which
regularly appeared in British papers called "Ripley's Believe It or
Not!." In a single rectangular box filled with naively drawn
illustrations, Ripley -- Bob Ripley -- would try to astonish his
readers with amazing facts:
"Believe It or Not, in California, an entire museum is dedicated to
candy dispensers ... Believe It or Not, a County Kerry man
possesses an orange that is 25-years-old ... Believe It or Not, a
weather researcher had his ashes scattered on the eve of Hurricane
Danielle 400 miles off the coast of Miami, Florida." Etc, etc, etc.
Incredibly, Ripley's column lives on, and there is even a
collection of "Ripley Believe It or Not" museums in the United States.
The problem, of course, is that these are all extraordinary facts
which will not offend anyone. There are no suicide bombers in
Ripley, no Israeli air strikes ("Believe It or Not, 17,000 Lebanese
and Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed in Israel's
1982 invasion of Lebanon"), no major casualty tolls ("Believe It or
Not, up to 650,000 Iraqis died in the four years following the 2003
Anglo-American invasion of Iraq"). See what I mean? Just a bit
too close to the bone (or bones).
But, I was reminded of dear old Ripley when I was prowling through
the articles marking the anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Memoirs there have been aplenty, but I think only the French press
-- in the shape of Le Monde Diplomatique -- was prepared to
confront a bit of "Believe It or Not".
It recalled vividly -- and shamefully -- how the world's newspapers
covered the story of Egypt's "aggression" against Israel. In
reality -- Believe It or Not -- it was Israel which attacked Egypt
after Nasser closed the straits of Tiran and ordered U.N. troops
out of Sinai and Gaza following his vituperative threats to destroy
Israel. "The Egyptians attack Israel," France-Soir told its readers
on 5 June 1967, a whopper so big that it later amended its headline
to "It's Middle East War!."
Quite so. Next day, the socialist Le Populaire headlined its story
"Attacked on all sides, Israel resists victoriously." On the same
day, Le Figaro carried an article announcing that "the victory of
the army of David is one of the greatest of all time." Believe It
or Not, the Second World War -- which might be counted one of the
greatest of all time, had ended only 22 years earlier.
Johnny Hallyday, France's undie-able pop star, sang for 50,000
French supporters of Israel -- for whom solidarity was expressed in
the French press by Serge Gainsbourg, Juliette Gréco, Yves Montand,
Simone Signoret, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and François Mitterand.
Believe It or Not -- and you can believe it -- Mitterand once
received the coveted Francisque medal from Pétain's Vichy
collaborationists.
Only the president of France, General de Gaulle, moved into
political isolation by telling a press conference several months
later that Israel "is organising, on the territories which it has
taken, an occupation which cannot work without oppression,
repression and expulsions -- and if there appears resistance to
this, it will in turn be called 'terrorism'." This accurate
prophecy earned reproof from the Nouvel Observateur -- to the
effect that "Gaullist France has no friends; it has only
interests". And Believe It or Not, with the exception of one small
Christian paper, there was in the entire French press one missing
word: Palestinians.
I owe it to the academic Anicet Mobé Fansiama to remind me this
week that -- Believe It or Not -- Congolese troops from Belgium's
immensely wealthy African colony scored enormous victories over
Italian troops in Africa during the Second World War, capturing
15,000 prisoners, including nine generals. Called "the Public
Force" -- a name which happily excluded the fact that these heroes
were black Congolese -- the army mobilised 13,000 soldiers and
civilians to fight Vichy French colonies in Africa and deployed in
the Middle East -- where they were positioned to defend Palestine
-- as well as in Somalia, Madagascar, India, and Burma.
Vast numbers of British and American troops passed through the
Congo as its wealth was transferred to the war chests of the United
States and Britain.
A U.S. base was built at Kinshasa to move oil to Allied troops
fighting in the Middle East.
But -- Believe It or Not -- when Congolese trade unions, whose
members were requisitioned to perform hard labour inside Belgium's
colony by carrying agricultural and industrial goods and military
equipment, often on their backs, demanded higher salaries, the
Belgian authorities confronted their demonstrations with rifle
fire, shooting down 50 of their men.
At least 3,000 political prisoners were deported for hard labour to
a remote district of Congo. Thus were those who gave their blood
for Allied victory repaid. Or rather not repaid. The four billion
Belgian francs which was owed back to the Congo -- about £500m in
today's money -- was never handed over. Believe It or Not.
So let's relax and return to Ripley reality. "Believe It or Not,
Russell Parsons of Hurricane, West Virginia, has his funeral and
cremation instructions tattooed on his arm! ... Believe It or Not,
in April 2007 (yes, these are new Ripley's) a group of animal
lovers paid nearly $3,400 to buy 300 lobsters from a Maine fish
market -- then set them free back into the ocean! ... Believe It or
Not, in a hospital waiting room, 70 per cent of people suffer from
broken bones, 75 per cent are fatigued, 80 per cent have fevers.
What percentage of people must have all four ailments?" Believe It
or Not, I don't know. And oh yes, "Geta, Emperor of Rome A.D.
189~212, insisted upon alternative meals. A typical menu:
partridge (perdix), peacock (pavo), leek (porrum), beans
(phaseoli), peach (persica), plum (pruna), and melon (pepone)."
I guess after that, you just have to throw up.
© 2007 Independent News and Media Limited
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