Dealing with Bob Novak on Israel

Robert D. Novak has for a long time rebuked Israel while turning a blind eye to the problems it faced.

Hamas

Novak has falsely claimed that Hamas, an Islamo-fasciest extremist terrorist group dedicated to the destruction of Israel and all Jews as a group that wants peace in his idiotic article Olive Branch from Hamas just because of one interview he had with Hamas educational minister Nasser al-Shaer. Contrary to Novak’s interpretation, he did not say he recognized Israel’s right to exist. What he told Novak and what Novak wrote in his article is in which he interpreted as him calling for peace with Israel is this:

"We are talking about the government, not groups." He said Hamas was no more relevant to Palestinian policy than the views of extremist anti-Palestinian cabinet member Avigdor Lieberman are to Israeli policy. Unexpectedly, Shaer expressed dismay that "previous attempts at peace were ruined by suicide bombers. Now, we look forward to a sustained peace.

While avoiding Israel-bashing, Shaer conjectured: "I don't think the Israeli government wants a two-state solution. Without pressure from the president of the United States, nothing is going to happen." That sounded like a plea for help from George W. Bush. But will he hear it if Elliott Abrams does not listen?”1

It did not totally say that he recognized the existence of Israel. It’s off the edge on what he says about Israel. Even if he said he did there, how does Novak know he’s not saying another thing [inciting terrorism toward Israel and calling for it’s destruction] to his people? Hamas, Fatah, Hezbollah and other terror groups call for peace when talking to foreigners while advocate terrorism and destroying Israel when talking to their people. The educational minister denied that he said what Novak claimed he said.2

He omitted the Middle East Media Research Institute [MEMRI] had interviews and speeches of Hamas leaders calling for the destruction of Israel. It ‘s first part had an interview in dream TV with Musa Abu Marzouq, the Deputy head Hamas political Bureau, in which the interviewer said that Hamas has to determine it’s position on weather it’s calls for a two-state solution or for Israel’s destruction.3 He said that Hamas calls for a two-state solution to foreigners while calls for the destruction of Israel to their people. Musa said that Hamas is very clear that and calls for the destruction of Israel. 4

The Hamas run schools, media and TV is full of anti-Semitic propaganda; glorify anti-Israel terrorism including suicide bombings as a religious obligation from Allah and calls for the destruction of all of Israel. Hamas has fortunately been caught showing a Mickey Mouse that not only calls for the destruction of Israel but for radical Islam to take over the world. Some Palestinians [the Palestinian Authority leadership] pretended and some really did condemn the program. Al Aqsa TV, the Hamas TV station told NBC that they wouldn’t change the program. 5

That was one example. Hamas has shown other bits of propaganda either demonizing Jews, glorifying terrorism a shortly Islamic duty or calling for the destruction of Israel.

Novak called Hamas freedom fighters, which is something only an idiot would do. Ed Koch wrote the following in his article "Don’t call Hamas Killers Freedom Fighters:"

“ LAST WEEKEND, 25 Israelis were murdered and hundreds injured in terrorist suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa. The immediate families of those Israelis, like those of the Americans murdered in the World Trade Center attack, will never again lead normal lives.

Two weekends ago, I watched 'Capital Gang' on CNN, featuring Robert Novak. I've known Novak for many years. He interviewed me when I was mayor and a congressman. Novak has always been a very conservative commentator and always hostile to the State of Israel.

On his Nov. 24 show, Novak went ballistic in his ill will toward Israel. While discussing the Israeli assassination of Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, a senior military leader of Hamas on the West Bank directly responsible for dozens of Israeli civilian deaths, Novak denounced Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for ordering Hanoud's assassination. Novak's colleague, Margaret Carlson, rightly called Hanoud a terrorist, and Novak defended him as a freedom fighter. Carlson responded, "Bob, you're the only person who would call Hamas freedom fighters."

‘Oh, no,’ Novak rejoined. ‘People all over the world do.’”6

Palestinian Christians

Novak claimed that Israel persecutes and is driving out Palestinian Christians. Israel is mainly seeking to get security and live in peace. Israel has always been willing to [and is still willing to] trade land for peace. The ones who are persecuting Palestinian Christians out and causing them to leave are the Palestinian Authority [PA] and radical Islam. While it is fair to say that not all Palestinian Muslims are persecuting their fellow Christians, it is also not just isolated incidents.

Palestinian Christians and Muslims alike are free to criticize Israel cause they know Israel won’t harm them for doing so. The ones who Novak interviewed did not have to hide their identity. The ones who talk about persecution by the radical Islamists and the Palestinian Authority have to hide their identity for heir safety. One Bethlehem Christian leader told World Net Daily [WND] the following:

"All this talk about Israel driving Christians out and causing pain is nonsense. You want to know what is at play here, just come throughout the year and see the intimidation from the Muslims. They have burned down our stores, built mosques in front of our churches, stole our real estate and took away our rights. Women have been raped and abducted. So don't tell me about Israel. It's the Muslims."7

That leader did not show his/her identity for his/her safety.8

Rami Khader Ayyad, the manager of the Christian bookstore, has been murdered by radical Islamist terrorists after the Hamas takeover of the Gaza strip. “Although no group claimed responsibility for the murder, a number of Christians in Gaza City told The Jerusalem Post that Ayyad had received several death threats in the past from radical Muslims who accused him of missionary activity,”9 wrote the Jerusalem Post correspondent Khaled Abu Toameh, who is an Israeli Arab Muslim. According to paragraph 12 of the Jerusalem Post article, Ihab Ghissan, spokesman for the Hamas interior ministry said, "This despicable crime won't pass without punishment of the perpetrators. We will pursue all those involved in this case and make sure that they are severely punished."

However, as I said, Hamas, Fatah, Hezbollah and other groups have said one thing to foreigners and another thing [inciting terrorism] to their own people. It is true that sentence 2 of paragraph 6 does say, “In Bethlehem, Palestinian Authority police are still investigating last week's stabbing of a 27-year-old Christian man, who was seriously wounded in the attack.”

However, there is not much evidence that the PA and Hamas condemn persecution of Palestinian Christians. There is a lot of evidence that they take part in the persecution.

Hamas, Novak’s hero, has also called for the closure of the Yong Men Christian Association a year ago. Residents of Qaliqila told the Jerusalem Post that the local campaign against YMCA had been initiated by local Hamas leaders.10

World Net Daily also obtained a petition that says the following

"We the preachers of the mosques and representatives of major families in Qalqiliya ask you to close the offices of the YMCA because the population of Qalqiliya doesn't need such offices, especially since there are not many Christians in our city." 11

Samir Qumsiyeh who ran the only non-governmental Al-Mahd TV station has spoken out against the persecution of Christians by Islamic extremists.

Ahmad El-Akwal converted from Islam to Christianity. He was repeatedly arrested and tortured by the Palestinian Authority [PA]. El-Akwal showed the results of his torture by the hands of the PA before getting killed. “He showed me a the time what were then recent arrests, which included burns all over his body and hut pieces of sheep metal were taken from the fire and touched to his skin. And on January 21, 2004, someone knocked on the door. He opened the door and was he met with bullets. He was shot dead in the entrance of his apartment,’’ human rights attorney Justus Weiner told the Christian Broadcasting News [CBN]. 12

The root cause of the mass-Emigration of Palestinian Christians is the persecution by the Palestinian Authority and radical Islam. After all, if it’s caused by Israel, why is there also not a mass-exodus of Palestinian Muslims? Is it cause Muslims are better at suffering?

Anti-Israel propagandists don’t say that Israel is just singling out Christians. They say that both Palestinian Christians and Muslims alike suffer cause of the Israeli occupation. After all, it’s a “shared suffering” of Christians and Muslims under the Israeli occupation. Robert Novak says the following in his article walled off Christians:

“But this is no Christian problem. During Easter Week, I visited Palestinian territory in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Gaza as well as Aboud. Christians share the harsh fate of Palestinian Muslims in the wake of the disastrous Second Intifada.”13

Why was the mass-exodus there before 1967? Arabs citizens Israel Christians, Muslims and Druze have equal rights to Israeli Jews. There are plenty of Arabs in the Israel Defense Forces [IDF], Israel Supreme Court, and Knesset and there are Arab political parties in Israel. Arab Israelis have full voting rights. The Palestinian Muslims are growing. So it’s more logical to believe that the mass-exodus is caused by the persecution of Christians by the radical Muslims and Palestinian Authority [PA]. A Palestinian Christian women, who hid her identity for her safety, told CBN, “A lot of families are leaving cause they can’t do anything about what’s going on. They can’t take it. They can’t handle it.”14 The CBN program about Palestinian Christians goes on to say that she said that half of her family left the West Bank cause of persecution.15 CBN decided to call her Hanan.

Worse than Apartheid, not

Novak titles one of his articles Worse than Apartheid. Israel is willing to trade land captured in 1967 for peace and is fighting Palestinian terrorists who target innocent civilians and fighting to end the Israeli “occupation.” Though they consider Israel’s existence to be part of the occupation. According to them, the occupation began in 1948 when Israel was created but not 1967 when Israel gained new territory from Egypt, Jordan and Syria from the Six-day war.

But the Apartheid governments wanted to have black South Africans treated as second-class citizens. So Israel is not on Apartheid state nor is running an Apartheid system in the Palestinian territories. Apartheid South Africa is much worse. The African National congress [ANC] fought to end the Apartheid system. They, unlike Palestinian terrorists fighting to destroy Israel, did not fight to eliminate a lawful democratic country. Unlike the Palestinian terrorists, they did not target innocent civilians but government buildings.

1 Olive Branch from Hamas Robert D. Novak URL http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/15/AR2007041500563.html. Last two paragraphs

2 http://maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=21290.

3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEXQHqXmCRg.

4 Ibid

5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaMDfKF2Vd0.

6http://www.likud.nl/press115.html

7 Paragraph 2 of world Net daily article by Aaron Klein. Muslim Grinch steals Bethlehem Christmas. URL http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48064.

8 Ibid but paragraph 3, which is one sentence

9 Paragraph 3 of JP article Palestinian Christians Found dead in Gaza. URL http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1191257240876&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FshowFull.

10 Ibid but paragraph 7 first sentence

11 Paragraph 9 of World Net Daily article Palestinians burn West Bank Qaliqlya. URL http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51909.

12 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4985547126245225031&q=palestinian+christians&total=1306&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0. Youtube video. See him saying that from 5:15 to 5:49

13 Paragraph 3 first two sentences URL http://www.townhall.com/columnists/RobertDNovak/2006/04/17/walled_off_christians and http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/13899.html.

14 See footnote 12 but 5:50 to 6:00 in the Youtube video

15 Ibid