******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ********************
#1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
#2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.
#3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern.
*****************************************************************
Since writing this article, I came across another particularly egregious
and morally corrupt lie in Silverstein's piece that I missed, it was
highlighted to me by Stephen Shalom. Silverstein writes:
"When al-Nusra *and FSA* forces attacked Druze villages in northern
Syria, killing 20 residents
<http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/06/25/syria-druze-attack-israeli-medical-
workers-out-fear-jihadists-being-treated/> , those living on the
Israeli-occupied side of the Golan became restive and angry."
So here he says the FSA was part of Nusra's slaughter of the Druze
villagers!
He is so utterly dishonest that he even uses a "source," a Foxnews
report, which in fact makes no mention at all of the FSA. Even Fox
couldn't come up with anything as blatant as this it seems.
Of course, as I have detailed, all major anti-Assad rebel organisations
in north and south, including Islamists, vigorously denounced Nusra's
crime
(https://mkaradjis.wordpress.com/2015/06/15/revolutionary-forces-throughout-syria-condemn-nusras-massacre-of-druze-villagers/)
and it is appalling for him to slip this in.
I hadn't noticed this disgusting lie because that was in his second
version of his story
(http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2015/06/26/syrian-killed-in-attack-by-golani-druze-was-islamist-fighter-not-civilian-as-idf-claimed/)
which I only skimmed. In the first version, which I critiqued
(http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2015/06/25/israels-dangerous-game-with-syrian-islamists/),
he doesn't say that, instead he says something less morally corrupt, but
so equally factually wrong that it beggars belief that he even writes:
he says Nusra massacred the Druze in the Golan!
Meanwhile, someone else pointed me to the article where Silverstein
makes his claim about Israel setting up a camp for Syrian fighters in
Israeli territory, which I said in my article was completely absent in
the UN reports. He pointed me to this article by Silverstein:
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2014/12/07/israels-offers-aid-to-radical-islamists-in-syria/.
In fact when someone in the comments challenges him, informing readers
that what Silverstein claims is there is not there, he is forced to put
his foot in his mouth by actually quoting the part of UN Observer Force
report that he is referring to. Actually, I did see this section in the
report, but because it is so completely different to Silverstein’s lies,
I didn’t even recognise it as the part he was referring to! Let’s see –
in his article he wrote that *Israel* has built a camp *to house
fighters* and their families *on Israeli-held territory*. The UN report
says:
“During the reporting period, UNDOF observed two tented camps housing
internally displaced persons in the vicinity of United Nations position
80. The number of tents has varied over the period. At the time of
reporting, approximately 40 large and medium-sized tents were seen in
the vicinity of Al Aishah village, north of position 80, and two tents
placed approximately 300 m south of position 80. UNDOF estimates that
from 60 to 70 families live in the camps. On 23 September, position 80
observed armed individuals gathered in Al Aishah village unloading
weapons from a truck. Some individuals were in civilian attire and
others in camouflage uniforms. A vehicle with a mounted anti-aircraft
gun was observed in proximity to the place of unloading. Late in
September, the Senior Syrian Arab Delegate sent a letter to the UNDOF
Force Commander stating that the camps for internally displaced persons
were not used for humanitarian reasons but as a base for “armed
terrorist” groups who also crossed to the Alpha side.”
So (1) there is nothing here about Israel having built the camps, he
simply made that up completely, (2) it is very clearly on Syrian free
territory, it even reports which Syrian villages the camps are near,
once again he simply made up the bit about them being on Israeli-held
territory, (3) the UN report clearly refers to them as camps for
internally-displaced people for 60-70 families. These camps are also
referred to in other reports, having no military connection. Only in
this report is there an apparent incident where some armed individuals
were loading weapons. The UN reports this as an irregularity (but which
in any case has no connection to Israel). True, the Syrian regime said
it was an “armed terrorist” base, but it usually thinks, and acts, as if
refugee camps, schools, hospitals, markets, apartment blocks etc are
“armed terrorist” bases, just as Israel does in Gaza. Only someone as
wilfully naive as he is blatantly dishonest would take a regime
statement as evidence.
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Karadjis
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 1:41 AM
To: Activists and scholars in Marxist tradition
Subject: The “Israel backs Jabhat al-Nusra” fairy-tale and its deadly
consequences
The “Israel backs Jabhat al-Nusra” fairy-tale and its deadly
consequences:
https://mkaradjis.wordpress.com/2015/06/29/%E2%80%8Bthe-israel-backs-jabhat-al_nusra-fairy-tale-and-its-deadly-consequences/
(it is a long article, but anyone just interested in looking in detail
at what is in the UN Observer Force reports on the Golan, that various
writers allege show "Israeli support for Nusra", can go to that
sub-heading for a reality check)
_________________________________________________________
Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm
Set your options at:
http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
