Surprise: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Distorts Facts

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the anti-Israel hate group set up as a funhouse type, distorted mirror image trying to make people believe it was doing for Arabs what the respected Anti-Defamation League does for everyone, was incensed that the Washington Post published an editorial which, in its opinion, was insufficiently biased against Israel.

It reacted by distributing the following distortion-filled press release, shown below with some comments added in brackets.

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Washington Post Editorial Distorts the Facts About Gaza

Washington, DC | January 25, 2008 | www.adc.org | The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is deeply disturbed by the Jan 24 Editorial by the Washington Post about the situation in Gaza. ADC encourages you to write to the Washington Post about their distorted editorial. Below you will find a letter sent to the Post by ADC, you can send your letters to letters@washpost.com.

[We recommend writing a letter to the Washington Post praising them for, this once, not pandering to hate groups like the one which would more accurately be called the American Arab Discrimination Committee.]

LETTER FROM ADC TO THE WASHINGTON POST

The author(s) of Jan 24 editorial by the Washington Post claim that "no one is starving in Gaza." Apparently, the Post did not consult the latest reports by the World Food Programme and the UN Relief and Works Agency which call for immediate aid to be sent to the impoverished Gaza Strip to "urgently prevent a humanitarian crisis."

[The very report cited contradicts the ADC's claim. The report did not urge aid be sent to end a crisis, but to prevent a crisis; ergo, there is no crisis; nobody is starving.]

Basic research by the Washington Post would have also found that 79 percent of the 1.5 million Gazans live in poverty and approximately 70 percent of the Gazans live on less than 250 dollars a month and food purchases account for 60 percent of household expenditures (World Food Programme, Jan 11, 2008).

[The actions of the Palestinian Authority and, since its coup, Hamas, have indeed created a horrendous situation for the Arabs living in both the West Bank and Gaza.

If the ADC was really interested in their situation, it would call for the replacement of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas by an international authority to undo the damage and try to create a civil society.]

The Post also fails to mention that despite Israel's unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, Israel continues to have complete control over Gaza's land, sea, and air borders; utilities; tax revenue; and internal economy, making it an occupying power.

[If it wasn't obvious before, the events of the last few days have made the absurdity of this claim obvious to all.]

The editorial goes on to call for Egypt to close the border and to turn back the Gazans. Under humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, Gazans must be allowed access to humanitarian aid and supplies.

[It's too bad the Palestinian Arabs keep attacking the very people who have been trying to ensure that flow of humanitarian aid and supplies, the Israelis. Besides launching thousands of Kassams and mortars at civilians, Hamas has repeatedly attacked the crossings through which aid would have to pass and has even tried to destroy the power plants used to supply much electricity to Gaza.]

Gazans should not be forced to go without food or medicine nor be forced to live under constant collective punishment. An end to the misery inflicted by the ongoing Israeli occupation should be the goal for all, however, the Washington Post seems to favor halting the peace process instead. Shame on the Post.

[Shame on anyone who falls for this, or any other, malicious propaganda spewed by the ADC.]