Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Anna Baltzer out of the Middle East

Inasmuch as this event was taking place in my own area, I gave up several hours of my life last night to hear Anna Baltzer speak. Baltzer is another in a line of anti-Zionist Jews who traipse around the country to speak against Israel. Her apparent expertise comes from 1. being the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors (she calls them Holocaust refugees, a subtle attempt to put the Palestinian refugee experience on the same level as the horrors of Nazism) 2. Having been a Fulbright scholar at Columbia which resulted in her obtaining a teaching job in Turkey and 3. Having lived in the West Bank for eight months and been trained by the terror support network the International Solidarity Movement.

Her talk focused on many photographs she had taken while in the West Bank and on the hardship that the occupation poses for Palestinians who are seeking emplyment, education and health. She also rails against Israel's security barrier, and shows many pictures of that. From her talk, you would never know that hundreds of Israeli civilians died since 2000 in the terror war launched by Yasser Arafat. You would never know about the children sent to try to smuggle suicide bomb belts through checkpoints. You would never know about the jihadist propaganda on Palestinian TV. She asked at one point "Does segregation bring peace?" (Well, yes if you segregate those who would act violently against you it does!)

She also talks about 1948 in such a way that it is no surprise when she admits that she is an anti-Zionist who favors the so-called "one state solution", in which the Palestinians will agree to suddenly live peacefully with Israel and sing "kumbaya" in the hilltops watching the sun set into the Mediterranean (until the moment they are a demographic majority, that is). She shows the same inaccurate slides of land ownership favored by Jewish Voice for Peace , though this writer was sardonically amused by the slide that showed landownership in 2007 with large chunks of Gaza still designated as "Jewish owned".

In her question and answer period she kept referring back to an appendix in her book, presumably with all her set responses already written in. Most of them sound like they are lifted directly from Ilan "Facts aren't important" Pappe. She also would not answer several questions directly, such as how Israelis can feel secure in withdrawing from the West Bank if that will put Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Airport in the range of rocket attacks, or how Palestinian children are expected to learn peace if they are taught hate.

Not surprisingly, her talk and her answers were riddled with inaccuracies. She showed a slide with a quote by Ben Gurion supposedly advocating compulsory transfer:
"I support compulsory transfer. I do not see in it anything immoral ... The Arabs will have to go, but one needs an opportune moment for making it happen, such as a war."
By omitting the full quote, she incorrectly implies that the Jewish leadership adopted transfer as a plan. Efraim Karsh, in his critique of a book by Israeli historian Benny Morris, quoted from the record of the Jewish Agency Executive meeting on June 12, 1937 (“Falsifying the Record: Benny Morris, David Ben-Gurion and the ‘Transfer’ Idea,” Israel Affairs, V4, No. 2, Winter 1997, p52-53). It reads as follows: "I saw in the Peel Plan [proposed by England] two positive things: the ideas of state and compulsory transfer. I support compulsory transfer. I don’t see in it anything immoral, but compulsory transfer can only be effected by England and not by the Jews... Not only is it inconceivable for us to carry it out, but it is also inconceivable for us to propose it. " This was in reference to the Peel plan, which proposed a very tiny sliver of land on the coastal plain for the Jews from which a small number of Arabs would be transferred. The Jews accepted the plan; the Arabs, foreshadowing the intransigence of 1948, 1967 and 2000, rejected it.

She claims that Gaza is still "occupied" under international law. Good thing she's not MY international lawyer. The International Committee of the Red Cross states: What is occupation?Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Regulations (HR) states that a "territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised." If Israel had control over Gaza then Haniyeh would be dead or captured. Who is responsible for public order in Gaza? Hamas. Rather than occupied, Gaza is under sanctions, because of its refusal to adhere to the basic requirements of renouncing violence and terrorism. Those sanctions are enforced by Israel and Egypt jointly, and supported by the EU and the US.

She claims the Arab armies in 1948 never entered areas that were set aside for the Jewish state; that is completely false. There is a Syrian tank at the gates of Kibbutz Degania--it's a relatively famous photo spot. Degania was within the Jewish area of the 1947 UN Partition plan. The description of the battle is at http://www.degania.org.il/eng/history3.htm. Egyptian armies occupied most of the Negev until driven out by the IDF in late1948-early 1949. Kaukji's "Arab Liberation Army" roamed in Galilee. You can see a detailed map here.

But perhaps the biggest and most damning lie is her claim that Zionism supports an EXCLUSIVELY Jewish state. Ephraim Karsh specifically examines the entire (not edited) relevant quotes from early Zionists-- even Jabotinsky, who drafted a constitution in 1934 that would put Arabs on an equal political footing. Zionism is the movement for a Jewish state, but there is room for non-Jews in it just like there is room for Jews and Moslems in the Christian states of Europe. Even a few (a very, very few) predominantly Moslem states such as Morocco (and officially secular Turkey) grant Jews political and civil rights. But it serves Baltzer's purpose to portray Zionism as an evil, exclusionary policy, because she is promoting the BDS agenda: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel. Specifically trying to draw a parallel with the anti-apartheid movement, Baltzer shows a slide of logos of companies that do business in Israel and urges the audience to boycott them. Since the "BDS" movement specifically also calls for the so-called "right" of return of 1948 Palestinian refugees, its underlying agenda is clear-- the end of Israel as a Jewish state.

Anna seemed fond of saying "Don't trust me; do your own research." Of course, all the sources she used were of the Ilan Pappe variety. I did my research, and it shows that Baltzer twists the truth in support of an agenda against the existence of Israel. She's right; I don't trust her.

22 comments:

  1. I also had to endure the rants and raves of Anna and her travels. I tried to educate her, but really decided to expose her lies so if there were any people in the audience that were ignorant of the real facts, that they would leave the lecture and attempt to research further to see that she is just a ....liar. It ended up being a battle of the wills, but when I told her my son, was a solider in the IDF trying to protect people like her, who are used a goons for the enemy, and that she would be shot by them in the end, because she was a Jew. I had to walk out, as I got jeered and yelled at by the "Jewish" women in black org. and decided that time would be better spent trying to speak to people who are open the hearing BOTH sides, and having an intellectual lecture with facts, other than Pappe and Said. Thank you for your post. It is true, informative,and keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Where did she speak? Who was the sponsor?

    ReplyDelete
  3. She spoke at a Presbyterian church (what a surprise!), sponsored by a local group called "14 Friends of Palestine" and another group called "Keep Hope Alive" (which may or may not be the group by that name with a website that describes itself as "A virtual library with thousands of pages of condensed self-help information for the immune challenged").

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anna Baltzer is an example of what we used to call "useful idiots" during the Cold War. She ignores the horrible acts that have been carried out by Palestinian terrorists and suicide bombers.

    I don't know who pays for her to travel around the country-and the world, but no doubt it is some group(s) that hate America as much as Israel.

    Gary Fouse
    adjunct teacher
    UCI-Ext
    fousesquawk

    ReplyDelete
  5. She's about to speak here in Nebraska. I appreciate your site as my daughter lived in Israel for a semester and returned definately pro-Israel. Thank you for presenting the Israeli side, now I'm going to send some more pizza to the IDF.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Whenever I listen to the Pro-Israeli side, I look for an acknowledgement from your side that what Israel is doing in the West Bank is illegal and a clear violation of basic human rights. I respect Anna a lot and don't see much fairness or willingness to seek understanding in your very biased post.

    love, john + www.abundancetrek.com + "The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, humankind will have discovered fire." -- Teilhard de Chardin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Israel is not doing anything illegal in the West Bank nor denying basic human rights to the Arabs. ANna Baltzer uses ISM rhetoric and tells people Israel conducts :illegal" events, but she is not an international law attorney. Israel tries to conduct itself within the confines of international law. It's always amusing how the ISM and Baltzer scream about violations of international law but see nothing wrong with the knifings and car attacks against Israeli women and children, civilians. The entire anti-Israel movement and BDS are continuations of Arab war making against the Jews in the Middle East. HUman RIghts in the PA and the rest of the Arab world is a joke, but the Palis are the first to accuse Israel which has equal rights for its Arab citizens and women by law.

      Delete
  7. I agree with John. You demonstrate abpsolute no effort in actaully understanding what the other side is going through.
    I would add to that the fact that your view points and those that support them are actually the reason why the conflit sees no end in sight. The fact that millions of Arabs (Christian, Jews and Mulsims alike) in the mid-East at the and the hands of Israel means absolutely nothing and for some reason you don't seem to think that it may be a reason why the little kids who grew up in that opressive environment may chose the path of terror. You seem to be OK with the fact that generations are now lost and more will be if this conflict doesn't get resolved. No one is belittleling what the Jews went through at the hands of the Nazis... but if you don't recognize the signs and similarities then you have a problem... "operation Break Bones"

    By the way Anna know whay she's talking about.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. '
      "By the way Anna know whay she's talking about." She lies continually and fabricates false atrocities such as the tale of a Plestinian woman losing two fetuses due to a checkpoint. She witnesses nothing but repeats hearsay from ISM activists. She openly lies about her own educational background (she is not a Fulbright scholar) and even about her experiences as a "Jewish woman." She lies and attacks Israel and Jews for Hamas for money. She has refused to say Israel has a right to exist.

      Delete
    2. Not only does Anna Baltzer not know what she talks about but she knowingly lies. For detailed reports on this modern day TOkyo Rose google Anna Baltzer + DIscover the Networks. She has even lied claiming she is a Fulbright Scholar when she is not. She admitted once while she came from a Jewish mother, she wasn't raised Jewish nor does she know anything about the religion. Meanwhile, she rubs elbos with Arab terrorists and gets travel benefits and paid for it. Her grandmother, who was Jewish was a strong supporter of Israel. That is why Anna even lies about her real name, Baltzer was used so her grandmother would not know what Anna was doing. She has a criminal record also and has used aliases Carolle Corsuy and other fake names and identities. She's a pretty woman with nothing between her ears. On radio in Canada she screamed out "Inshallah! One day we will bring down Zionism." This woman found a sinecure by doing what Tokyo Rose did for the Japanese only Anna does it on a much greater scale. She uses her grandmother's Jewish legacy to lend credibility to her rantings on behalf of the Al Aksa Martyr's Brigade and the terrorist movement.

      Delete
  8. I am a simple woman,my friend and I WENT To here ms.anna at aUNITARIAN.church insyr.n.y.I never was educated on resistance,but we totally harrased her whole speech.She looked like a frightedned little bunny rabbit.She did not want to discuss muslim terrorism.IT WAS GREAT FUN AND THE AUDIENCE WAS A BUNCH OF PUSSIES!aLL i KEPT SAYING WAS SELF HATEING JEWESS.....

    ReplyDelete
  9. This woman recognizes that there are devils among all of us. There are no exclusive country/states, only prejudice among its occupants. Power by segregation has always failed. I appreciate her work, as it tells the story of lives oppressed. Why can't intelligent people grasp that concept?

    ReplyDelete
  10. "From her talk, you would never know that hundreds of Israeli civilians died since 2000 in the terror war launched by Yasser Arafat. You would never know about the children sent to try to smuggle suicide bomb belts through checkpoints."

    http://rememberthesechildren.org/remember2008.html




    "She also would not answer several questions directly, such as how Israelis can feel secure in withdrawing from the West Bank if that will put Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Airport in the range of rocket attacks"

    Do New Yorkers feel secure about living in New York after 9/11? Does that mean that America has the right to seize control of another country? I know Americans typically do seize control of other countries in the name of their defense, but is it morally justified for them to do so?

    "how Palestinian children are expected to learn peace if they are taught hate."

    How are Israeli children expected to learn peace if they are taught to hate, to discriminate, to dominate and obliterate?
    If you agree that my question is racist, than yours is also- the difference between mine and yours is that I'm asking the question for illustrative purposes whereas you are simply being a bigot.

    "What is occupation?"
    What is United Nations Security Council Resolution 242?

    I was going to keep arguing but I think I made my point. UNSCR 242 pretty much voids anything you have to say. The only reason Israel hasn't had to comply is because of America, and I think their patience is running out.
    1967 borders. Go. I have no problem with Jews at all...I'm actually concerned about the security and well being of the Israelis AND the Palestinians. Gaza is a human rights issue. Militant Palestinians are terrorists because Palestine does not have a military.
    If someone came in to your house and took your stuff away, and then killed your father when he tried to stop them, you'd want to do something about it too...but violence is definitely not the right way of going about it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm glad you cited Remember these children- look at it- really look at it. You'll find that over 90% of the Palestinian "children" killed in this conflict are teenaged boys. The cynical use of children as soldiers in this conflict is a direct violation of the Geneva convention- and shows the willingness of the Palestinians to sacrifice and martyr their own children. Look at eth names of the Israel i children dead- equal numbers of girls and boys in all ages- that indicates to me that children were deliberately targetted for terror.

    Do you interpret the results differently?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your number is 90%? Ok. Let's plug that in to this list and see what we find. January 2009. I'll only include, children of age 14 and under. Fair?

    No deaths of Israeli Children. Of any age (0-18).

    Palestinian children killed in January of 2009
    179+93=272

    179 of the children stated below were 14 and under.

    93 were 15 and older. We miscounted by 4, so...if you want to correct me feel free.

    Mind you these are deaths from the single month of January in 2009.

    What's great about the site I mentioned above (http://rememberthesechildren.org/remember2009.html) is:
    not only does it tell you their
    name,
    age, and
    where they died,
    but it also tells you
    how they died.
    So your percentage of 90 percent of the "children" killed are teenaged boys is a little off. It's more like 65% (+/-3%) of the children killed were >=14.

    If you consider that 13 and 14 is an appropriate age for a child to be able to fight/die in a war (mind you, Palestinians are not allowed to carry arms) then I think you should send your 13/14 year olds to war and see how that pans out.

    Under the Geneva convention children are not allowed to be used as soldiers. Also under the Geneva convention is the restriction that civilians are not to be targeted.

    If you consider children throwing rocks at soldiers to be an act of war,
    then in Greece, whenever someone throws a rock at a stray dog to keep them off of their property, does that mean Greeks are declaring war on stray dogs?

    If you want to dispute how many of the child deaths above were caused by suicide bombs, please, feel free to post some statistics, I'd love to continue this discussion.
    Begin list of Palestinian child deaths:

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lina Abdul-Monim Nafez Hasan, 10, of Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza, killed by IDF shelling while at home near al-Fakhoura school in Jabalya refugee camp.
    Ismail Adnan Hasan Hweila, 16,of Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza, killed by IDF shelling while at home near al-Fakhoura school in Jabalya refugee camp.
    Bilal Hamza Ali Obeid, 17, of Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza, killed by IDF shelling while at home near al-Fakhoura school in Jabalya refugee camp.
    Ahed Iyad Muhammad Qadas, 14, of Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza, killed by IDF shelling while at home near al-Fakhoura school in Jabalya refugee camp.
    Muhammad Basem Ahmad Shaqoura, 9, of Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza, killed by IDF shelling while at home near al-Fakhoura school in Jabalya refugee camp.
    Ibrahim Ahmad Hasan Marouf, 15, of Beit Lahya, Gaza, killed by the IDF in Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza.
    Bashar Samir Musa Naji, 14, of Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza, killed by the IDF in Jabalya refugee camp.
    Marwan Hasan Abdul-Muamin Qdeih, 5, of Abasan al-Kabira, near Khan Younis, Gaza, killed by an IDF shell near his home in Abasan al-Kabira.
    Ranin Abdullah Ahmad Saleh, 12, of Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza, killed by the IDF in Jabalya refugee camp.
    Shahid Husein Nazmi Sultan, 8,of Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza, killed by the IDF in Jabalya refugee camp.

    ReplyDelete
  14. 7
    January 2009
    Anas Aref Baraka, 8, of Wadi al-Salqa, near Deir al-Balah, Gaza, died in an Egyptian hospital of head wounds sustained Jan 4. from IDF gunfire in Deir al-Balah.
    Abdullah Muhammad Shafiq Abdullah, 11, of Beit Lahya, Gaza, died of wounds sustained Jan 6. from IDF shelling near al-Fakhoura school in Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza.
    Suad Khaled Muhammad Abed-Rabo, 7, of Beit Hanoun, Gaza, killed, with her sister, by IDF tankfire to her chest after her family, waving white flags, left their home in Izbat Beit Hanoun to search for water.
    Amal Khaled Muhammad Abed-Rabo, 2, of Beit Hanoun, Gaza,killed, with her sister, by IDF tankfire to her chest after her family, waving white flags, left their home in Izbat Beit Hanoun to search for water.
    Habib Khaled Ismail al-Kahlout, 14, of Beit Lahya, Gaza,killed, with a brother, an older brother, father and distant cousin, by an IDF missile while riding in a car through the Beit Lahya Housing Project.
    Tawfiq Khaled Ismail al-Kahlout, 12, of Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza, killed, with a brother, an older brother, father and distant cousin, by an IDF missile while riding in a car through the Beit Lahya Housing Project.
    Muhammad Farid Ahmad al-Masawabi, 16, of Gaza City, Gaza,killed by an IDF missile near al-Taqwa mosque in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.
    Radwan Muhammad Radwan Ashour, 12, of Gaza City, Gaza, killed, with his brother, by an IDF missile in Gaza City's al-Zaytoun neighborhood.
    Abdul-Rahman Muhammad Radwan Ashour, 11, of Gaza City, Gaza, killed, with his brother, by an IDF missile in Gaza City's al-Zaytoun neighborhood.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Abdul-Rahman Muhammad Radwan Ashour, 11, of Gaza City, Gaza, killed, with his brother, by an IDF missile in Gaza City's al-Zaytoun neighborhood.
    Abdullah Jihad Husein Juda, 15, of Gaza City, Gaza, killed by the IDF in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.
    Ahmad Fawzi Hasan Lubbad, 17, of Gaza City, Gaza, killed by the IDF while engaging in military activities in Gaza City's al-Zaytoun neighborhood.
    Nadr Basam Ibrahim Qadoura, 17, of Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza, killed by IDF shell shrapnel to his head in Jabalya.
    Hussam Raed Rizq Subuh, 12, of Beit Lahya, Gaza, killed by IDF shelling while standing among a crowd of people in Beit Lahya's al-Salateen neighborhood.

    ReplyDelete
  16. And lastly, It was really hard to copy that so some names may either be omitted or doubled, see link below for actual documentation.

    http://rememberthesechildren.org/remember2009.html

    ReplyDelete
  17. Interesting how you cherry picked one month for effect. If I were to cherry pick, oh, lets say August 2001, my list of israeli casualities would look like this
    * Giora Balash, 60, from São Paulo, Brazil
    * Zvika Golombek, 26, from Karmiel, Israel
    * Shoshana Yehudit (Judy) Greenbaum, 31, from Passaic, New Jersey, USA
    * Tehila Maoz, 18, from Jerusalem
    * Frieda Mendelsohn, 62, from Jerusalem
    * Michal Raziel, 16, from Ramot, Jerusalem
    * Malka Chana (Malki) Roth, 15, from Ramot, Jerusalem (memorial) (originally from Melbourne, Australia)[2]
    * Mordechai Schijveschuurder, 43, from Neria, Matte Binyamin
    * Tzira Schijveschuurder, 41, from Neria
    * Ra'aya Schijveschuurder, 14, from Neria
    * Avraham Yitzhak Schijveschuurder, 4, from Neria
    * Hemda Schijveschuurder, 2, from Neria
    * Lily Shimashvili, 33, from Jerusalem
    * Tamara Shimashvili, 8, from Jerusalem
    * Yocheved Shoshan, 10, from Jerusalem
    They were killed eating pizza with their families, not while "engaging in military activities"

    Other reasons for the difference in casualty rates:
    1. Israel protects its citizens better than the PA or hamas does
    2. Martyrdom is not promoted by Israel
    3. 13 yr-old - 17 yr-old Palestinian boys engage in dangerous militant activities regularly from rock-throwing, to molotov cocktails, to guns, and are used as human shields by their elders
    4. Palestinian children are frequently around munitions, bomb factories, and rocket-firing sites which are dangerous
    5. there are armed fights between warring Palestinian groups struggling for power--children get killed in the crossfire
    6. Israel has state of the art medical facilities. Though many Israelis are injured, many lives are saved by heroic medical treatment.
    7. Palestinian mortality figures are padded

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anna Baltzer is a liar for the Arabs. IT's great workif you can get it. Her book I Witness Palestine contains fabrcated atrocities told her by ISM leader Lamis Deek that never occured. Anna is not a Fulbright scholar.She is a pretty girl who went to Turkey to teach ENglish and started sleeping with Arab boys who gave her a constant sob story. She has a nice job touring the world and presenting Arab propaganda against Israel.
    She is a modern day Tokyo Rose. She's aq pretty girl, but she's another Eva Braun inside.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anna Baltzer is not this disgusting woman's real name. It is Anna Piller. She has a criminal prosecution from 1997. She is not a Fulbright scholar. She got some money from Fulbright to teach English in Turkey. Fulbright does not list her as one of their scholars under any name.She alternates from saying both sets of grandparents are HOlocaust survivors then says only one was. It's doubtful any were in the death camps and may have spent the war in Switzerland. She did not go on Birthright in 2000 as Anna Baltzer. She is a serial liar and fraudster who even lies about her own name. She is paid by the Arabs to be a Jewish mouthpiece against Israel in AMerica to turn Christian churches against Israel. She is very pretty but ugly as sin inside. She repeats stock Arab lies against the Jews for money and she always promotes violence against Israel as the end of her presentations.

    ReplyDelete