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Knowledge Is Power
Expert says factual rebuttal of
charges against Israel works.
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16
March 11 • 2010
iN
Don Cohen
Special to the Jewish News
A
ds with gorgeous Israelis on
beautiful beaches or repeat-
ing talking points aren't the
best way to make the case for Israel.
This was the message that Dr. Alex
Safian, associate and research director
for the Boston-based Committee for
Accuracy in Middle East Reporting
in America (CAMERA) brought to a
community gathering March 3 at Adat
Shalom Synagogue in Farmington
Hills sponsored by the Zionist
Organization of America together with
StandWithUs—Michigan and the Adat
Shalom Israel Advocacy Committee.
"How can we effectively counter their
falsehoods?" Safian asked the overflow
audience of almost 200 people, listing
an array of false charges against Israel
that have entered into the mainstream
understanding of Israel because of rep-
etition and media attention.
He criticized efforts to counter criti-
cism by "rebranding" Israel as beauti-
ful and technologically advanced or
by simply repeating that Israel is a
democracy and has a right to exist,
calling them "guaranteed to fair
"The only thing that works is fac-
tually rebutting the charges;' Safian
insisted, providing examples from
American politics where falsehoods
sunk campaigns that underestimated
the resonance of the attacks or felt
responding would dignify the charges.
"It's clear',' he said, "if we don't effec-
tively engage on the issues, people will
believe the charges can't be rebutted
and must be the truth." Doing so also
"exposes Israel's critics as liar or, at
best, uninformed;' raising questions
about their motives.
"It is important to convince non-
Jews as well as Jews;' he said, with
many nodding in agreementlews are
embarrassed; instead, they need to get
angry, informed and active:'
Fighting Back
As examples of bias, tilted language
and judging Israel by "absolute stan-
dards of conduct" that no nation
adheres to, he cited news media
descriptions of some West Bank roads
as "Jewish-only" though Israeli Arabs
can and do use them. In contrast, he
Dr. Alex Safian of CAMERA tells of
ways to rebut charges against Israel.
showed pictures of Saudi Arabian roads
to Mecca clearly labeled "Muslim Only."
He displayed doctored quotes from
Israeli leaders cited in The Israel Lobby
and U.S. Foreign Policy by academics
Stephen Walt and John Mersheimer
that did not support the conclusions
the authors drew as well as British jour-
nalist Robert Fisk's front-page story
claiming Israeli use of uranium-laced
weapons, which the U.N. found to be
false but the paper never retracted.
He also played audio clips to criti-
cize National Public Radio coverage of
Israel, saying "the whole crew at NPR
must be held to account',' and video
clips of CNN's Chief International
Correspondent Christiane Amanpour,
whom he called a "buffoon."
"Yes, they have the free-speech right
to lie and we have the free speech
right to expose them for the liars they
are',' he said, recommending a variety
of resources. "Knowledge is power."
Ron and Linda Sherr of West
Bloomfield will turn to the CAMERA
Web site for more information. "He
told us concrete things we can do','
she said. "Refute, call, write letters.
Whatever they are saying, when you
feel it is wrong, question it."
"If you don't answer the charge, they
tell the next person and they tell the
next and it grows like a fungus," cau-
tioned Art Kirsh of Southfield. "You
have to answer every one. Sometimes,
it might get uncomfortable, but so
what? You have to be able to talk about
important things."
Visit www.camera.org or call ZOA-
Michigan Region at (248) 282-0088
for more information.