her bio:
Public Activities
Director General, I`lam Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel
Education
B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy, Haifa University
M.A. in Communications and Media, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Knesset Terms
Knesset 18 24.2.2009
Committees
Knesset 18 Member, Committee on the Status of Women*
Parliamentary Groups
Knesset 18 National Democratic Assembly
Now here's the story from the Israeli perspective, just published today, you're gonna love this I promise:)
Israeli-Arab NGO Using American Jewish Donations To Slam Israel(You go girl!!)
“The soldiers are the grandchildren of the Nazis’ victims, the Nazis’ survivors. They have come here to consume food quickly and consume life quickly. This is the true image of Israel.” So goes a news story posted on the website of the Nazareth-based NGO (non-governmental organization) I’lam: Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel. Founded by freshman Arab-Israeli Knesset legislator Hanin Zoabi of the Balad party, I’lam does not hide its agenda: to question the legitimacy of Israel in the court of world opinion.
Zoabi, a self-described Palestinian with Israeli citizenship, co-founded the NGO I’lam. Under her guidance, I’lam issued press statements, engaged in lobbying over policy, led tours for foreign correspondents, provided information on Israeli-Arabs to Jewish journalists, and ran Arabic language courses in journalism.(I'm seriously loving this woman, she's brilliant!)
Ms. Zoabi went on the record with the Jerusalem Post as saying that she supported Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons as a counterbalance to Israel.
In the interview she also stated that she is not loyal to the state of Israel as currently constituted. MK Zoabi, in her capacity as director of I’lam, helped draft and signed the Haifa Declaration. The Declaration was a proposal, supported by a large cross section of Arab civil society, which called for the negation of Israel’s Jewish identity and for a “comprehensive change in Israeli policy, whereby Israel abandons its destructive role towards the peoples of the region…”
Most recently, Zoabi had kind words to say about the armed rebellion against Israel. As she said to Australian news outlet GreenLeft, “We don’t live in the territories, we cannot throw stones and we cannot participate in the legitimate resistance against occupation.”
I’lam is also connected with the Washington DC-based New Israel Fund, an American Jewish philanthropic foundation, which also sponsors Israeli-Arab NGOs Adalah and Mossawa. All these groups call for the removal of Israel’s Jewish identity and for the return of Arab refugees to the lands inside the 1948 armistice lines. In addition to receiving funds from the NIF, I’lam is also a grantee of the organization Al-Quds: Capital of Arab Culture, a group spawned by both the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League.
Among other charges laid against Israel in the materials distributed by I’lam are accusations that the Hebrew media contains “encouragement for killing and destruction” and that the editors of Ma’ariv “call for the destruction of cities, wiping out villages, and killing children.”(Too True, it's a horrible Zionist Propaganda Rag)
In the same press release, I’lam claimed, “The Israeli media should not shape public opinion that is separate from its surrounding environment [the Arab world] and from international public opinion” and demanded that “the Israeli media to avoid the militant, patriotic performance that it adopts.” I’lam has also made the claim that “Israeli authorities have been responsible for over 400 violations of journalists’ rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, ranging from mere bureaucratic harassment to outright killings.”(Truth hurts, Good For Her!!)
In a press release dated March 4, 2009, I’lam Empowerment Coordinator Zaher Boulos issued a “cry of solidarity with the Palestinian people who hold strong to the establishment of a Palestinian state that is independent with Jerusalem as its capital and the return of the refugees to their homes” at the annual conference of the Forum of Journalists, an I’lam affiliate of which he is also coordinator.(And what is wrong the the Hamas website, they are democratically elected, are a government and have an army, just like Israel. I go there quite often and find it much nicer than the IDF website. In fact, I'm going to give them a plug, here's their website)
At the conference, the Forum resolved “support for the Palestinian people in their struggle for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and the return of refugees.” Also in March, I’lam issued a press release stating that Israel cannot “liquidate the fact that Jerusalem is the capital of Arab culture and will be the future capital of a Palestinian state, and tomorrow will be the focal point of the Arab and Islamic world and the progressive forces in the world.” The terminology in I’lam’s media publications rebound with terms such as “massacre” and “ethnic cleansing.”
In a video I’lam produced, entitled Lama Zafouk, the charge is made that Israeli security forces engaged in executions of unarmed and cowering Arabs. According to the video, “Three soldiers went down, wearing green. They went down to this area. They beat two young men that were hiding under the olive tree, and killed them in cold blood at a range of two meters.”
In her position as director of I’lam, Hanin Zoabi attended events such as Israel Apartheid Week. She also issued calls for Arabs to refuse any form of national service in Israel.
In 2008, the organization held a conference in Ramallah with journalists from the PA which “aimed to develop and facilitate working relationships between Palestinians journalists in Israel and in the West Bank, and to discuss the role of the Palestinian media on both sides of the Green Line” as well as exploring “strategies for Palestinian media practitioners in addressing Israeli, European, and U.S.-American media.”
The current director of I’lam, Sanaa Hammoud, came to I’lam after serving as a consultant in the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s Negotiations Affairs Department. Meanwhile, Wadea Awawdy, a former member of the board of directors, has worked as a correspondent for the official Palestinian Authority publication Al-Ayyam.
Statements of support for Hamas, which is termed the “Palestinian resistance,” and a link to the website of Hamas’s armed wing, the Essedeen Al-Qassam Brigades, given as a legitimate source of information, have been found on a blog identified as belonging to I’lam’s International Relations Coordinator, Nasser Victor Rego (http://nasrawi.blogspot.com/2009/01/palestinian-resistance-around-80.html).
On May 16, 2007, the day the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas ended, Nasser used his online identity as the blogger Nasrawi to post a comment in which he gives regards on behalf of the staff of I’lam. “Stay strong—regards from me and all the staff at I’lam.”(And just what is wrong with that may I ask? After all they'd just been bombarded for 22 days with white phosphorous and DIME missiles with 1400 innocent dead including 400 children. So yeah, stay strong!)
Nasser also left a comment on another blog in which he said, “Unfortunately for Israel, Hamas is not playing the same game. It could very well play the same game if weakened enough, but it seems a genuinely emancipatory liberation and resistance movement… Israel is targeting civilians in the Strip to deflect and neutralize sentiment and action of a genuine liberation of Palestinians from subjugation.”(All True Statements)
Meanwhile, I’lam board member Anton Shalhat has previously been prevented from leaving Israel due to a recommendation from the General Security Services that stated that he may “harm the security of the state.”(Translation: He's under house arrest, like the Free Gaza Activists are. Because Israel does not like their politics. They have committed no crime but are detained and interned illegally)
The New Israel Fund says that it supports Israel as a Jewish state. In an e-mail statement to independent journalist Harris Phillipson, an NIF spokesperson wrote, “The New Israel Fund does not require ideological conformity from its grantees, and we differ with many of them on key issues. What we look for in grantees is the ability and track record to make a difference in advancing real social change in Israel, and a general commonality of values. Supporting I’lam’s work in no way signifies that NIF agrees with their position on the right of return or other difficult issues, only that we expect them to conform to our very rigorous standards for using our grant to execute their work.”I hope this women is not murdered by Israel, we should keep a close watch on her. Additionally I think she deserves a little recognition, here is her contact info, shoot her an email and tell her she's doing a great job:
Hanin Zoabi
Telephone: 02-6408030
Telephone 2: 02-6408029
Fax: 02-6496595
Email: hzoaby@knesset.gov.il
I think she deserves a supportive email don't you? Go on, you know you want to;-)
1 comment:
Oh no you dih-ent! (pass out the Hamas website link)
This is the coolest news ever! Yea Hanin!
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