SPRUNG

The International Solidarity Movement, some of whose members received a lavish six page plug from Paul McGeough in the Fairfax Good Weekend gets a good going over here from The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

It's worth reading the piece if for no other reason than to discern how lacking in research the Walkley Award winner McGeough's propaganda piece was.

These people laughingly call themselves "peace activists" but "its senior figures have justified the Palestinian's armed campaign, even at the height of the Palestinian suicide bombing attacks (during the second intifada). In addition, an analysis of ISM activities on the ground showed that ISM activists sheltered a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative involved in suicide bombing and shooting attacks, and in laying IEDs. They also hindered IDF counterterrorism activities, including the detonation of an explosives laboratory where bombs used in suicide bombing attacks were made. Moreover, in addition to activities to support the Palestinians, ISM activists participated in events which included "soft" violence where both Palestinian demonstrators and IDF security forces suffered casualties."

In other words, these people shill for Hamas - the terrorist group that speaks with forked tongue and that keeps the people of Gaza firmly under the jackboot. That's the Hamas that didn't rate a mention in McGeough's epic about Gaza.

While we're on the subject, back in November when the subject of the flotilla was discussed in Going Down with the Ship, I referred to a question asked of Fairfax Chairman at it AGM about lack of balance in reporting on the Israel/Arab conflict:-

Q: What are you going to do to restore some balance in this area?

Roger Corbett (response):

Well sir, you are entirely entitled to your opinion which we respect, there are others who would disagree with you. Only yesterday I was speaking to the Israeli Ambassador and I invited him and he accepted the opportunity of taking an interview with one of our journalists to put the Israeli point of view if you like.


Two months later, a puff piece about the Ambassador finally saw the light of day in the Sydney Morning Herald - Treading the Halls of Power.

I'll leave it to you to judge whether this puts "the Israeli point of view" or whether it goes any way at all to respond to the preposterous Good Weekend propaganda article.

As for balance?

Certainly, there was some balance in that we were treated to a balance between the evil in a story of the liars who are the subjects covered in the Good Weekend piece and an honest man as described in the article about the Israeli Ambassador.

For that reason, I say well done Sydney Morning Herald, but why wasn't the Ambassador article included in Al Age as well?