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Wednesday, April 30 2008The Stench Spreads: Johann Hari's Stinking Op-EdUsing a falsified quote and revisionist history, Hari compares Israel to excrement. Read more at HonestReporting's latest communique: The Stench Spreads: Johann Hari's Stinking Op-Ed
TrackBackTrackBack URL for this entry: Listed below are links to weblogs that reference The Stench Spreads: Johann Hari's Stinking Op-Ed: CommentsHR, you are up in arms that Hari dared to call you dishonest and fanatical, but take a look at how you've misrepresented him here, you claim he compared Israel to excrement then quoted him "Whenever I try to mouth these words [of reassurance for Israel], a remembered smell fills my nostrils. It is the smell of shit." conveniently cutting out the following sentence "Across the occupied West Bank, raw untreated sewage is pumped every day out of the Jewish settlements, along large metal pipes, straight onto Palestinian land. From there, it can enter the groundwater and the reservoirs, and become a poison." HR had on a previous occasion said that Hari gave no response, just abuse, whilst ignoring that Hari had actually linked to a site gave a factual rebuttal of HR's piece which HR didn't answer, and just abused Hari instead. Same thing here, can they counter claims such as "...a 2004 report by Friends of the Earth found that only six per cent of Israeli settlements adequately treat their sewage."? It's pretty clear what Hari is saying in this article, it's Israel's 60th birthday, you want to feel good about it's history, but maybe it's time to face up to it's uglier side that you don't want to see? And maybe it's time HR stopped fanatically defending everything Israel does, and perhaps put some of their time and effort into holding Israel to account where need be? Maybe a communique calling on readers to write letters to the relevant authorities in the Israeli settlements to deal with their sewage problem properly? Unbelievable - only someone who is really sick or really warped could write what Johann Hari writes. If what he writes wasn't so dangerous, it would be pitiful. It may not be " politicaly correct " to note that Mr.Hari is a homosexual but his obvious hatred of all things Jewish may simply be a reaction to the values we as Jews hold dear. The frightening thing is that Johann Hari is taken seriously and he even appeared on "Any Questions" a few months ago. These people are given a platform *because* they have jumped on the most popular bandwaggon of all time, the anti-Israel bandwaggon. In these days of Darfur, Tibet, Zimbabwe and all the other human rights abusers, there is something particularly despicable about choosing Israel, the "easy target". Hey Alex, if HR is so Fanatic, how did you managed that they post your opinion? By the way, we, Jews, we are very critical about Israel, but that's because we concern for it, have you read the newspapers from Israel, no, you didn't, there are biased, isn't that right? Once again Harry Callahan was right about opinions... Ye-a, I believe Hari when he claims that stinking "smell fills his nostrils." The source of his stench (and of that felt by his "stench" supporters), however, is not in the "raw untreated sewage pumped every day out of the Jewish settlements". It is a direct result of him "brown-nosing" famous anti-Semites (like Pappe). That's where he apes his anti-Semitic ideas from. When someone uses his nostrils to analyze political issues, I immediately lose interest. I seem to remember that King James the First gave the Scottish hero (I cannot remember his name) a very grusome death for daring to try to free Scotland. Wales was likewise taken into the British Empire. Suppose Scotland wanted to become independent, or Wales? Where were all of the do gooders" when the Nazies were killing Jews? What REAL claim does Britain have on ANY PART of Ireland? The only reason the United States is a sovereign country is that we had to fight the American Revolution. Is Israel the only country which has no right to defend itself? With most of the European countries only to happy to turn in Jews to the Nazies, what real choice have the Jews had? President Roosevelt would not even allow the St. Louis, a ship full of Jews, to land in the U.S. The article strikes me as (relatively) temperate, but I do have to take issue with anyone that cites "3000 years of Jewish history" as a primary reason for the existence of a modern state. Persecution is a legitimate concern; "we used to be here awhile back" isn't. A homeland isn't something you just claim through age -- it's something you earn every day. At least a few 20th century dictators (I need not say who) made appeals to "motherlands" and restoring old territories. That didn't make them right. Alex wrote, in part, ""Across the occupied West Bank, raw untreated sewage is pumped every day out of the Jewish settlements, along large metal pipes, straight onto Palestinian land. From there, it can enter the groundwater and the reservoirs, and become a poison." If that is so, then there may be a valid reason for Hari to say what he did. Personally, I'm offended that HR slanted its quote in that manner. It was Dishonest Reporting; exactly the kind of "reporting” I do not look for in HR's reports. Although I love Israel with all my heart, and I love America with my whole heart, neither country is perfect. There is nothing inherently wrong with criticizing either country. At the moment I am so angry with the United State’s mishandling of the food and fuel supply that I could stroke out. I’ve been critical of our president and congress since I was old enough to vote. If Hari has a point, REPORT IT fully. I find that clipping a quote to be as disingenuous as anything I’ve ever seen in HR. Israel is not perfect; no country is. She has her flaws. Israel can stand up to honest criticism as well as Honest Reporting. Hari's manufactured quote sounds more like something Hitler would have said, since it was his policy to wait until a war to begin in earnest his morally repugnant euthanasia program. Hari's article drips with hatred for the Jewish people. He disgusts me. I come from the area, and I was not running for my life from "their lives from a genocidal European anti-Semitism that was soon to systematically slaughter six million of their sisters and their sons" but was running for my life from the systematic genocide by Arab anti-semitism that was consistent from Morroco to the Afganistan. Please review the Arab massacre of Jews over the period of 1900 to 1948 within "Palestine". I lost an uncle that was recently married. Also check the record that in 1948 and 1949, the arab leaders told their own citizen to flee the areas that they knew had Jewish ancestry to areas more commonlly arab, whether it was north near Haifa, or south near Gaza. As to the stench, I think both sides should be interviewed to find the truth in the middle. By the way how come "Last March, one of them burst, drowning a nine month old baby and his elderly grandmother in a tsunami of human waste." It is the MO of every Arab complaint. Never see a man or woman in their prime years in the group of injured or killed. I know because I am from the area and this is how you can generate pity. Lastly, 30 Million Kurds hogwash, what about the Catholic vs the Protestant in Northern Ireland, oops, that is not to be discussed. Where is the stench when you go home, you should face north once in a while. Also, who else is going to fall for the Naqba, interpreted- a catastophre-, that never occured. One is stunned by the dynamic life of Tel-Aviv today, yet did not research enough to see that before 1948, that same town was still in the beginning of the 19th century. Enough half-facts and half-truths from British amateur historians and journalists, let see some of their creativity in dealing with the arab subteranean fires that is errupting in England. This despicable article sickens me - it will be embraced all over the world by anti-Israel zealots. Why is he allowed to spread these lies? At some point it is helpful to distinguish between serious criticism and, excuse the expression, hogwash. Haters of Israel generally do not make rational statements, so responding to them in a reasoned way is, for the most part, not useful. I don't believe that you can argue successfully with people who are predisposed to their own views however warped they may be. In our time, truth has assumed the quality of relativism. What our enemies do understand is a slap beside the head. We can prepare our arguments, but we'd better not let down our guard. Israeli hasbara may be strong or weak, but the nation itself had better be strong. For lovers of Zion (like me): happy birthday, Israel--and many happy returns! Am Yisroel chai! David Kross He knows not of who he deals with, One who favors Israel. Undefeated and unsurpassed. His words will come back to him with a vengence. BUT IT'S THE JEWS WHO WILL LEAD CHELSEA & MAN U ONTO THE PITCH FOR THE FINAL IN MOSCOW. NOT THE TERROR LOVER HARI NOR HIS LOVERS THE 'INDEPENDANT, GUARDIAN OR THE BBC'. DK Do you think it is worth to answer that type of comments of that type of personalities? Nothing will change in their minds and the type of publications that accept those articles probably are not worth neither the effort to answer them. Why not to devote more energies to publish information directed to the big public, non Jewish preferently, with our own version of facts,not just defensively answer to those attacks? Hari should stop journaling and make a journey to Israel and talk to it's leaders to get the proper information before he lets out his stupid assesment of Israel. Dear HR, Pschiatrists have a name for the medical disorder where people really believe their delusions. There is hope for Mr Hari. One tablet a day might cure him ! In the immortal words of that great Scott - Jock McBile: Hari me darlin, "Get Stuffed". Satire is its own Petard. To Michael Coyne, Most of the communities in the West bank, both Israeli and Palestinian lack adequate solutions to their sewage. Many of the streams that reach the Israeli cities on the coastal plain carry untreated Palestinian sewage. Why single out the Jewish communities? Ant-semitism. It is a damned shame that this superbiased plainly ignorant and stupid moron is allowed to heap shit on Israel the way he does... Would he been doing it to Muslims, he would have been history long ago... But of course, trouble with Jews is that their power is only for words, words and more words... Take for instance the matter of the unpunished Nazis and their collaborators: But it falls in line with the whole politics of the state of Israel, as for instance, WHICH COUNTRY IN THIS WIDE WORLD WOULD PUT UP WITH THE DAILY BOMBARDMENT OF ITS TERRITORY THE WAY ISRAEL IS PUTTING UP WITH HAMAS BOMBARDMENT OF SDEROT AND NOW ASHKELON AS WELL ????? To Alex and other critics, regarding the sewage problem, your claim makes no sense, since the water that is "dumped" on Palestinian land could end up in Israel (or the settlements themselves) and poison everyone. Water knows no borders, and if you had any knowledge of the geography of the land you would know that the most West Bank towns are on hilltops right above Israel's most populated region, which is along the Mediterrenian coast. Actually, it is the Palestinians who let their sewage flow, untreated, in riverbeds and creeks that flow into Israel. I agree Jacob and with many comments on here but also that HR did misrepresent Hari's words on the stench stuff! However there can be no denying, hari speaks out of sheer anti-semitism, and the vehemence of his words will have instilled such horror that I can understand the defensive reaction of HR and sympathise. It seems that Mr. Hari is only inetested in the limelight. He hopes that writing such inaccuracies This is SO vile and distorted that I think those who want to believe it will do so whatever we say. I just hope that discerning readers will see it for what it is, just scurrilous muck spreading. Amit said, "To Alex and other critics, regarding the sewage problem, your claim makes no sense, since the water that is "dumped" on Palestinian land could end up in Israel (or the settlements themselves) and poison everyone. Water knows no borders, and if you had any knowledge of the geography of the land you would know that the most West Bank towns are on hilltops right above Israel's most populated region, which is along the Mediterrenian coast" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE3tHPwmnSQ I can not beleive this attack on Hari, whose article was just commenting on a documented situation and who has also written pro Israeli piece. Surely there needs to be a stop to thes sustamatic attakcs on anybody who criticise Israel. The bombing by the Palestinians are shocking but so is the treatement of the Palestinion people by Israel and their continued ignoring of international law and refusal to return land taken in 1967. I was pro Israel but over the years the way they have systmatically persicuted another people has made me alter my position. I am sorry. This is not a critique of the unpleasant remarks by Hari. Post a comment[Comments are held for approval before appearing.]
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