HERITAGE FLORIDA JEWISH NEWS, SEPTEMBER 12, 2014
By Wallace Bruschweiler
and Alan Kornman
The definition of peace
between the Palestinians and
Israelis is when the two can
work alongside each other,
earning equal wages, benefits,
and economically energizing
their neighborhoods, in a 'so
called' peaceful environment.
Peace broke out in Maale
Adumim, West Bank at the
SodaStream factory 15 minutes
west of Jerusalem. 600 West
Bank Palestinians, 300 East Je-
rusalem Arabs, and 300 Israeli
Jews entered, without knowing,
into a voluntary peace deal at
" SodaStream. All this achieved
without outside interference
from the United Nations, United
States, and UK.
The SodaStream factory
had an on-site synagogue and
mosque. Jew and Palestinian
break bread everyday sharing
the same cafeteria in peace
and harmony. The economy
of Maale Adumim, West
Bank was benefiting from
the positive financial benefits
Oxfam and BDS hypocrisy
as SodaStream's Palestinian
workers were building homes,
buying local goods, and saving
money for their future.
How Did This Peace
Work?
Al Monitor asked SodaS-
tream's President Daniel
Birnbaum to explain how this
peace worked between Israeli
and Palestinian.
"You know, as far as many
of they (Palestinians) are
concerned, the only Israelis
they know are settlers and
the policemen at checkpoints.
Most of them had never even
been to Israel until I took
them on a tour last summer.
Then they saw Israelis on the
beach and in the street. They
saw plain, ordinary people.
On the other hand, it was
also an opportunity for us to
break through the barriers of
hatred and to get to know the
other side, so that we coUld
finally recognize that not
every Palestinian is a terror-
ist. I'm proud of that. I want
people to finally realize that
we're talking about people and
that peace is possible, despite
the politicians. If there were
another hundred companies
like us extending a hand to
the other side, we would have
a peace agreement, because
everybody wants it, including
the Palestinians."
This SodaStream economic
peace effort was a glimmer of
light at the end of avery dark
and bloody tunnel. Then, out
of nowhere, Oxfam and BDS
Movement came into playwith
a worldwide action that at the
end of the day is hurting over
3,500 Palestinians.
900 Palestinians and
Arabs betrayed by Oxfam
and BDS' nonsense
The Boycott, Divestment,
and Sanctions Movement
(BDS) is a global campaign
to increase economic and
political pressure on Israel i.e.
branding Israel as an apart-
heid state. BDS puts public
pressure on companies like
SodaStream by protesting
and intimidating retailers
around the world for selling
their products.
The BDS movement has
evolved into a non-affiliated
arm of Palestinian terrorism.
Oxfam/BDS are hell bent on
Israel's economic destruction.
Sacrificing the economic fu-
ture of 900 Palestinian work-
ers was a very small matter to
the BDS movement.
Oxfam
Oxfam's mission statement:
"Working with thousands of
local partner organizations,
we work with people living
in poverty striving to exercise
their human rights, assert
their dignity as full citizens
and take control of their lives."
Oxfam International in
its zeal to hurt SodaStream
violated its own mission
statement.
Oxfam went on a personal
rampage mission to destroy
SodaStream, in January
2014, after their international
spokesperson, Ms. Scarlett
Johansson, appeared in a
SodaStream worldwide TV ad
campaign.
Oxfam got hot under the
collar when Ms. Johansson's
publicist gave this reason for
leaving Oxfam. "Ms. Johans-
son, respectfully decided to
end her ambassador role with
Oxfam after eight years... She
and Oxfam have a funda-
mental difference of opinion
in regards to the boycott,
divestment and sanctions
movement."
In a January 30, 2014 Oxfam
press release the 'aid' groups
politics become crystal clear,
"Oxfam believes that busi-
nesses, such as SodaStream,
that operate in settlements
further the ongoing poverty
and denial of rights of the Pal-
estinian communities thatwe
work to support. Oxfam is op-
posed to all trade from Israeli
settlements, which are illegal
under international law."
Oxfam International, with
an operating budget of $1.2
Billion US and net assets
of $396 Million, decided to
exact their pound of flesh
from SodaStream. Scarlett
Johansson publicly exposed
Oxfam's political bias against
the State of Israel in favor
ISIS is much worse than Hamas
PAGE 5
of the BDS Movement. The
only one's who got hurt at the
end of the day were the 900
Palestinian and Arab workers
who were earning four times
more than the average wage
in Judea and Samaria.
Back to square one
'JTA reports, Daniel Birn-
baum, SodaStream CEO said,
"We are committed to con-
tinue serving as a bridge and
to sowing hope." The flames
of that hope were extinguished
because of outside influences
from Oxfam International
and BDS, both showing their
anti-Semitism.
"SodaStream's case, some
say, is onel example of how
boycotting an Israeli company
doing business in the West
Bank can end up hurting the
very goals that boycott pro-
ponents say they are trying
to achieve: Palestinian rights
and Israel-Palestinian peace."
Conclusion
SodaStream will soon be
closing their West Bank plant
Oxfam on page 14A
By David Benkof
Last Friday, Rabbi Shmuley
Boteach began an advertising
campaign to defend the State
of Israel by arguing that Hamas
and ISIS are equally vile. Ac-
cording to his press release,
"The ad equates ISIS and its
execution of American jour-
nalist James Foley and Hamas'
actions in Gaza."
Not only is the opinion of
"America's Rabbi" wrong, it is
dangerous.
Let me be clear: I believe
Hamas is an existential danger
to the State of Israel, and I
denounce that bellicose terror-
ist regime vigorously. I was a
strong supporter of our recent
efforts in Gaza, where we prob-
ably should have fought longer
and harder.
But ISIS represents a new
kind of evil with scant prec-
edent in world history.
[Warning: very graphic
descriptions follow.]
ISIS lines its enemies up in
front of ditches, makes them
kneel, and shoots them from
behind so they fall into pits.
Sound familiar?
The organization publicly
crucifies their perceived en-
emies, including some as
young as twelve.
ISIS warriors place decapi-
tated heads on sticks, march-
ing them through the streets.
Sometimes, after they've
murdered someone, they rip
his brains out for all to see.
ISIS captures non-Muslim
women and girls and sells them
into sexual slavery for as little
as $25. The rest are raped and
tortured in special prisons.
Their soldiers have cut
Christian children in half, in-
cluding those as young as five.
And, perhaps most impor-
tantly, the would-be caliphate
engaged in actual genocide
(not threatened genocide)
against Yazidis, an ancient
Kurdish ethno-religious com-
munity.
Certainly, Hamas does evil
things, including far milder
versions of ISIS's grotesque
actions. But the two organiza-
tions are not even in the same
category.
The advertisement Rabbi
Boteach placed in The New
York Times, the Washington
Post, and other major news-
papers shows two photos: an
• ISIS soldier getting ready to
behead Foley; and Hamas
militants preparing to murder
men accused of collaborating
with Israel.
To Rabbi Boteach, ISIS and
When burning Jews isn't news
By Stephen M. Flatow
JNS.org
On Aug. 30, Palestinian
terrorists set a Jewish man on
fire in Jerusalem, and on Sept.
1, other Palestinian terrorists
tried to set an entire bus full
of Israeli Jews on fire.
Yet I couldn't find any
mention of these horrific at-
tacks in the New York Times,
the Washington Post, or any
other major American news
outlet. Why is it that news
about burning Jews is not
considered fit to print?
The first of the firebomb at-
tacks took place in Jerusalem's
City of David neighborhood.
A Molotov cocktail--a flam-
ing bottle of gasoline that
explodes upon contact--was
hurled through the window of
a historic 19th-century house
known as Beit Meyuhas. One
of the residents, a 45 -year- old
man, was struck by the fire-
bomb and set on fire. He suf-
fered first and second-degree
burns to his face and head.
Second-degree burns often
result in permanent scarring
and require skin grafting.
Burning one Jew is not
• enough to satisfy the appetite
of Palestinian terrorists. On
Sept. 1, two firebombs were
thrown at an Israeli bus trav-
eling on Route 505, between
the towns of Migdalim and
Kfar Tapuach. The attackers'
goal was tO set the entire
bus on fire and burn all of
its passengers alive. They
almost succeeded. The flam-
ing bombs exploded as they
crashed through the front
windshield of the bus. Fly-
ing glass slashed the driver.
It was only by a miracle that
he was able to stop the bus
without crashing--and that
the flames did not spread
through the entire vehicle.
Palestinian terrorists
sometimes use rocks instead
of firebombs. Stoning is, after
all, a time-honored method
of execution in that part of
the world. Recently, they
certainly have been trying to
do just that.
On Aug. 20, Palestinian
rock-throwers attacked an
Israeli automobile traveling
near the Yitzhar junction.
An 11-month-old baby was
wounded. Medics on the scene
were quoted as saying that it
was a "miracle" she survived,
since the rock that hit her was
the size of a fist.
Three days later, Yedaya
Sharchat0n, his wife Hadas-
sah, and 1-year-old daughter
Nitzan were driving in the
Gush Etzion region. Arab
rocks smashed through the
front windshield, causing
Yedaya to lose control of the
car. It flipped over. All three
family members were in-
jured; Yedaya suffered internal
bleeding. It turns out that my
family was on the same road
as the Sharchaton's just a few
days before as we headed to
celebrate my granddaughter's
bat mitzvah by serving hot
dogs to Israeli soldiers at a
base in the Hebron hills.
On Aug. 29, a mob of
Palestinians emerging from
prayers in the AI-Aqsa Mosque
on Jerusalem's Temple Mount
threw rocks at Israeli police
officers. It would be interest-
ing to know if anything in
the sermons they had just
heard encouraged them to
try to murder Jews. Two of the
rock-throwers were arrested;
they were minors. One won-
ders what they are learning
in school about the idea of
stoning Jews to death.
The next day, Palestinian
rock-throwers targeted Israeli
policemen in another section
of Jerusalem. Three of the
officers were injured. Their
names were not mentioned by
the Israeli media. Nor were the
extent of their injuries. Did one
of them lose an eye? Was one of
them permanently disfigured?
Three more anonymous, for-
gotten victims of Arab terror.
On Sept. 1, the rock-
throwers chose the northern
Jerusalem neighborhood
of Pisgat Ze'ev. Spotting an
Israeli bus coming down Uzi
Narkis Street, from Pisgat
Ze'ev to the adjoining Arab
neighborhood of Shuafat, the
would-be killers attacked. The
rocks smashed the windows,
one striking and injuring a
3-year-old girl. The Magen
David Adom paramedics who
rushed to the scene to provide
emergency treatment knew
that the difference between
life and death for that little
girl was just bad aim.
So once again, they are
burning and stoning Jews.
Yet the New York Times and
the others are not interested.
Why? Because it doesn't fit
their preferred narrative.
Most of the editors and
reporters in the mainstream
media subscribe to a narrative
of the Israeli-Arab conflict in
which the Israelis are the ag-
gressors, and the Palestinians
are the victims. That narrative
supports the political out-
come that most editors and
reporters personally endorse:
an Israeli retreat to the 1967
lines, a division of Jerusalem.
the rise of a Palestinian state.
But when you report about
Palestinians burning and
stoning Israelis. that changes
everything. Americans--
from the average person in
the street to Members of Con-
gress-regard such behavior
as barbaric. They naturally
conclude that giving a state
to such violent extremists is
crazy. Telling the truth about
Palestinian behavior makes it
harder to mobilize pressure on
Israel to give in. That's why
in the editorial offices of the
New York Times and so many
other newspapers, news about
burning Jews isn't fit to print.
Sadly, it's that simple.
Stephen M. Flatow, a New
Jersey attorney, is the father
of Alisa Flatow, who was rnur-
dered by Palestinian terrorists
in 1995.
Hamas are twin examples of
the same phenomenon. But the
fact that both are part of radi-
cal Islam is largely irrelevant.
Technically, North Korea and
South Korea are part of Ko-
rea, and each has government
corruption. But to paint both
countries with one broad brush
would be ludicrous.
Even the images in the ad
itself show the obtuseness of
Rabbi Boteach's argument.
The Hamas soldiers are kill-
ing other Palestinians - using
guns. Foley's murderer be-
heads him with a knife, a much
more barbaric and painful
method of execution. Further,
ISIS videotaped Foley calmly
denouncing America and urg-
ing President Obama stop to
his attacks. Foley would only
have cooperated after extreme
torture and brainwashing.
And the murderer threatened
to behead another American
if his demands were ignored.
Worst, Foley was a journal-
ist. We need journalists to risk
their lives by going into crisis
zones. They inform us about
events of concern in far-off
places, and gather news that
can rally the public to • take
action. Without people like
Foley, ISIS propaganda would
be our only information from
that part of the world.
Anyone who doesn't believe
in levels of evil is a moral fool.
Raping a woman and killing
her is awful; but raping eleven
women, torturing them, and
burying them alive is not
equivalent- not even close.
It's tempting to harness
one's pet cause to something
everyone agrees is wickedly
brutal. But that hamstrings
the ability of good people to
galvanize the free world to
fightone oftheworst evils ever
known to man.
The rise and growth of ISIS
is probably this generation's
greatest moral challenge.
Please, people. Let's keep our
eyes on the ball.
David Benkof is a freelance
writer living in St. Louis. He
constructs the Jerusalem Post
Crossword Puzzle, which ap-
pears in this publication. Follow
him on Facebook, or E-mail him
at DavidBenkof@gmail.com.
Dry Bones
THE REAL HOR20 IS NOT THE
HUNDREDS WHO LEFT ELOPE TO
TErROrIZE SYRA AI IRA< IN ISIS
