How is CNN different from makers of anti-Muhammad video?

On September 11, 2012 attacks on U.S. embassies took place all across the Middle East, most notably in Cairo. Attackers blamed an anti-Muhammad video called Innocence of Muslims. Magically, those who laid siege were not responsible for their own actions. There was evidence of foul play in the video's production as well. In post-production editing, the words Muslims found most incendiary appeared to be dubbed in; the actors said they were duped.

We have now learned that CNN is responsible for putting forth egregious propaganda... on video. It is the kind of propaganda that, in the past, has been blamed for - you guessed it - violence in the Middle East. Like in the year 2000, it involves the exploitation of a young Palestinian boy.

In 2000, a Palestinian cameraman who was a stringer for France 2 shot what he claimed was news footage (rushes) at Netzarim Junction in the Gaza Strip. When Talal Abu Rahman sent the rushes to Charles Enderlin at France 2, he claimed to have footage of the now infamous shooting death of a young Palestinian boy named Muhamad al-Dura at the hands of Israeli forces. This news report was pointed to as being responsible for the second intifada; mass riots ensued.

Osama bin Laden pointed to the death of al-Dura as a motivating factor in the 9/11 attacks; Daniel Pearl's murderers blamed the al-Dura shooting for Pearl's murder; and two weeks after al-Dura was allegedly gunned down by Israelis, two Israeli soldiers were literally torn to pieces by an angry Palestinian mob in Ramallah.

There was one problem. The world was set on fire over a lie. The rushes captured nothing more than manufactured scenes that were passed off as news.

Boston University professor Richard Landes had a chance encounter with Enderlin in 2003 when the latter thought he had an ally in Landes after the professor was introduced to Enderlin by the Israeli ambassador to France. Upon visiting the France 2 studios, Landes was exposed to staged scene after staged scene. In 2006, he produced the first of three documentaries that would reveal the truth about a conspiratorial culture he identified as "Pallywood".

Fast forward to 2012. As Israel bears down on Gaza after having to endure rocket attack after rocket attack, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Egypt's Prime Minister Hisham Kandil attempted to capture some of the al-Dura / Pallywood glory while Kandil was visiting Gaza. Photos of the two men holding and kissing a dead Palestinian child appeared to lay the foundation for the narrative that Israel's attacks on Gaza was responsible.

It wasn't. The child was killed by Hamas, the same group led by Haniyeh, who was all too willing to exploit the young boy over a lie. In hindsight, perhaps the propagandists wish they hadn't included Kandil in the photos; there were no Israeli rockets fired into Gaza while he was there.

CNN's Sara Sidner, in much the same way that Charles Enderlin did in 2000, produced a news report that echoed the narrative of Hamas, saying that the boy's death was the result of Israeli rocket fire. You can watch that report here.

This report from Sidner is an outright lie, Pallywood style:



That is not the only example either. Earlier, the BBC had captured video of a large man, allegedly injured, being carried away by several Palestinians. Moments later, the man was walking around as if nothing happened. During a CNN report anchored by Anderson Cooper, the footage of the man being carried away, as if injured, was used to portray Palestinian suffering at the hands of Israelis.

In a word - fraudulent.

CNN is now officially complicit in Pallywood. If, as many on the left believe, a video can spawn outrage in the Middle East, then CNN is using fraudulent footage of a boy's death that could lead to the same outcome.

Can someone please explain how CNN, Anderson Cooper, and Sara Sidner are any different from the makers of Innocence of Muslims?

If you haven't seen the 2006 Pallywood documentary, please have a look:

Pallywood is back... in Gaza

The term "Pallywood" was coined by Boston University professor Richard Landes, who by an encounter that resulted from sheer happenstance, was exposed to raw video footage (rushes) shot by a stringer for France 2 in the Gaza Strip in 2000. What Landes uncovered was jaw-dropping. He was exposed to a tactic of war used by Palestinians and captured a glimpse, via those rushes, of what goes on behind enemy lines.

In essence, Palestinians were caught staging scenes for the cameraman, who then proceeded to send the footage to France 2, who would use those scenes in a news report that ultimately favored the actors and made the Israelis look bad. What Landes subsequently discovered what that this phenomenon was actually part of the Palestinian culture. It is gross journalistic malfeasance and he blew the lid off of it with his 2006 Documentary, Pallywood: ...According to Palestinian Sources.

Now, fast forward to today. As Israelis seem to have reached their breaking point again, killing Hamas Military commander Ahmed al-Jabari. Pallywood is now back. Watch this short video, shot by the BBC. In 30 seconds, you will understand fully what Pallywood really is. This is not an isolated incident but a stratagem of war.



Unsung Davids consists of an entire chapter on Richard Landes, along with his discovery of and fight with... Pallywood.

h/t Shoebat

***UPDATE*** Warner Todd Houston over at Breitbart has noticed that CNN is using the footage from Pallywood above, in its newscast (Anderson Cooper in particular).

Video: CBN's Erik Stakelbeck gives College Students the spankings they didn't get as children

There's something ironically creepy about leftists taping their own mouths shut in the name of free speech but that's what they do; they're leftists. CBN's Erik Stakelbeck was speaking at the University of Portland and the pro-Palestinian crowd had their mouths taped shut with various messages on the tape. However, when they decided to walk out like a pack of lemmings, Stakelbeck's pleas for someone to debate him fell on deaf ears (perhaps stuffed with tape).

At the end of this first clip, one woman finally answers the cameraman after several attempts to get the protesters to respond. When asked why she wouldn't debate Stakelbeck, she said, "because we don't debate racists."

Children in adult bodies...

Via Fox Nation:



In Part 2, you will see the pro-Palestinian lemmings gather in their own echo chamber...

Video: Palestinian Mufti Tells West Caliphate is coming

How many times do liberals who defend Islamists have to be proven wrong before they have to finally and shamefully admit it? We're eventually going to find out just how intellectually vacant they are on the matter.

Here's what may just be another vain attempt to sound the warning bell. The Palestinian Mufti pledged that the West will fall to an Islamic caliphate and that its citizens either pay the Jizyah tax or get beheaded.

Hey liberal whackos, go ahead and tell us this is tolerant. No, really, go ahead.

Via MEMRI:

Newt calls Palestinians an 'Invented People,' Palestinians Respond

One of the knocks on Newt Gingrich is that he's undisciplined. Consequently, he says and does things that leave people either cheering or scratching their heads. How else can one explain his willingness to sit on a love seat with Nancy Pelosi for an ad on climate change? Recently, Newt referred to the Palestinians as an 'invented people.'

Before getting to the Arab response, here is the video via MediaIte:

Apparently, the Palestinians consider Newt a racist after those comments.

Via CNN:

Senior Palestinian leaders on Saturday strongly criticized comments by Republican presidential frontrunner Newt Gingrich that the Palestinians are an "invented" people, calling the comments ignorant and racist.

Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said the Gingrich remark was "the most racist statement I've ever seen."

Erakat, who has negotiated in talks with Israel and the United States, said the remarks show "how really despicable things can get" in American politics.

"Such thinking should be an alarm and concern for the world," Erakat said.
Gingrich made the comments in an interview that aired Friday with The Jewish Channel, a U.S. cable channel.

Apparently, in the minds of the Palestinian leadership, hating the Jews is not racist.

h/t Weasel Zippers

The Cost of Gilad Schalit's Release

The deal reached by Israel to ensure the release of Gilad Schalit, the soldier captured by Hamas in 2006 seems rather lopsided, with nearly 500 terrorists being released in exchange for Schalit. Does this mean that Israel values the life of its people hundreds of times more than do the Palestinians? Perhaps, but in addition to the sheer numbers, the atrocities committed by those who are being released almost defy comprehension.

Via IPT:

Public-opinion polls show considerable popular support for the Schalit deal, with 79 percent of respondents to a Yediot Ahronot poll backing it. Even so, Israelis could have second thoughts as they see some of the names on the list of militants scheduled to be released.

They include Musab Hashlemon, a Hamas operative from Hebron, who received 17 life sentences for his role in facilitating a 2004 double suicide attack in Hebron. Sixteen civilians were murdered when suicide bombers dispatched by Hashlemon detonated themselves on two city buses.

In January 2004, Hashlemon – at the time a minor Hamas operative –was released in a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hizballah. He will be deported to Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Also on the list is Nasser Yataima, involved in planning the March 2002 suicide attack on a Seder at the Park Hotel in Netanya, in which 30 people were killed and 140 wounded.

Another is Abd al-Aziz Salaha, who participated in the October 2000 lynching of two IDF reservists who mistakenly drove into a mob of Palestinians in Ramallah. Salaha was photographed holding his blood-soaked hands out of the window.

The image of Salaha is notoriously iconic in light of the animalistic barbarism it represents.

More on the heinous acts of Salaha HERE.

Seven Democrat Congressmen Endorse Next Gaza Flotilla

The Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) has issued a Resolution in support of the second Gaza flotilla, which is scheduled for June 20th (originally October of 2010). Thanks to video cameras, the first flotilla - on Memorial Day weekend of 2010 - was proven to be an attack on Israel's sovereignty. Israeli soldiers had to kill nine in self-defense. Perhaps worse than the fact that one of the ships in the upcoming flotilla is named 'Audacity of Hope,' is that seven of PDA's members are members of congress.

Via Big Government, those seven members are (all Democrats):

John Conyers
Donna Edwards
Raul Grijalva
Barbara Lee
Jim McGovern
Lynn Woolsey
Dennis Kucinich

Here is the text of the Resolution that appears on PDA's website:

Resolution in Support of U.S. Aid Ship The Audacity of Hope
RESOLVED – We, the membership of Progressive Democrats of America, by democratic and representational vote, hereby affirm our support and endorsement of the U.S. aid ship The Audacity of Hope, due to set sail for Gaza in October of this year, as an expression of our insistence that Israel meet its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and end its occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands. As peace and justice advocates, PDA considers it our obligation not only to criticize immoral and illegal acts, but to back up that criticism with action.

Check out the list of PDA's Board members in addition to seven sitting congressmen. It includes Code Pink founders, SDS founder Tom Hayden, and liberal talk show host Thom Hartmann.

More at BG

Video: Benjamin Netanyahu's AIPAC Speech

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on May 23rd, a couple days after Barack Obama spoke. Based on what we saw between the two on May 19th - when Obama called for Israel to return to 1967 lines and on May 20th, when Netanyahu told Obama very publicly inside the Oval Office such a notion is a non-starter, neither man is budging. Obama doubled down at AIPAC. In his speech, Netanyahu reiterated what he said in the Oval Office. It's long but worth watching.

Via Hapblog:

Video: Obama Doubles Down on 1967 Borders Comment, Licks Wounds

While speaking at AIPAC one day after he got a spanking in the Oval Office from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about his comments regarding Israel returning to the 1967 borders, Obama decided to fire back at Netanyahu. Indignant, Obama re-read the same comments that were so inflammatory on Thursday. He did so while claiming that he didn't veer off the path of what has long been U.S. policy with respect to Israel. Even if he's technically correct, his calculated ambiguity and timing is what hurt him. Both were calculated. Otherwise, Netanyahu wouldn't have objected so much.

As I said on my radio show this morning, Obama used Alinsky Rule #3 on Thursday, which says:

"Go outside the experience of your opponent. It will cause confusion, fear and retreat."

No Israeli Prime Minister had experienced a U.S. President invoke 1967 borders in the way Obama did, just one day before a White House visit. If Obama was relying on his hero's Rule #3 working on Netanyahu, it backfired in a big way and this video is proof; watch Obama lick his wounds.



h/t the Blaze

Israeli Settlement Family Murdered; U.S. says Further Settlements 'illegitimate'

An Israeli family, consisting of two parents and three children (one very small) was killed when someone broke into their home in the middle of the night and slaughtered them. The perpetrator(s) was presumably a Palestinain Muslim. Because the family lived in a settlement home, that is the likely motive.

It now looks like Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the armed wing of Fatah, may have claimed responsibility. Via Ynet:

According to an unverified report, Fatah's military wing – the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades – claimed responsibility for the attack. A group spokesman told a Palestinian news agency that a terror cell infiltrated the settlement of Itamar and committed the attack.

The spokesperson stressed that the attack "came as a response to Israel's continues hostile policy toward the Palestinian people."

All of this appears to be leading to another showdown between Israel and the U.S. as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in conjunction with his nation's recent approval of 300-500 more settlements, 'They murder, we build.'

Via the AP:

JERUSALEM (AP) -- The U.S. Embassy said Monday it was "deeply concerned" by Israel's plans to build hundreds of new homes in the West Bank following a deadly attack on a settler family, calling Israeli settlements "illegitimate" and an obstacle to peacemaking.

Barely a peep out of the Obama administration - if one at all - about the murder of five innocent people. Instead, not succumbing to terrorism is somehow an obstruction to the peace process.

Who knew?

h/t Weasel Zippers

Rep. Lt. Col. Allen West Rips Flying Palestinian Flag

These are the kinds of things that often fly under the radar but once given sunlight, are so obviously and blatantly egregious that no one should find them acceptable. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) has apparently been flying its flag outside its Washington, D.C. offices. Thanks, once again, go to new Rep. Lt. Col. Allen West for pointing out this affront. The first question should be why on earth is the PLO even allowed in this country but the second question is just as obvious. Why are they allowed to fly their flag?

Via Sun-Sentinel:

The office of U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, says the freshman congressman is publicly condemning the Palestine Liberation Organization, or PLO, for raising its flag outside its offices in the nation's capital.

"The raising of this flag is an attempt to legitimize an organization with a known history of terrorist actions," West said, in a written news release.

"By allowing this flag to be flown, the United States is extending a diplomatic right that we refrain from offering to even our own allies, like Taiwan. This action is a diplomatic slap in the face of our greatest of allies, Israel."

Not only does this put the PLO on its heels but it puts many of the Jewish liberal Democrats in congress on defense as well.

h/t Weasel Zippers

IRS: ISRAEL A TERRORIST STATE BECAUSE.....

Get ready for this one because it's a doosey. There is a pro-Israel group known as Z Street that is being denied tax exempt status by the IRS because Israel is a terrorist state. How was the IRS able to reach such a conclusion? Because terrorism takes place within Israel's borders. Lost on the IRS is the fact that the terrorism that takes place is by those who want to eliminate Israel from existence. Prior to this latest IRS position, Z Street alleged that the reason it was denied tax exempt status was because its policy toward Israel didn't jive with the policy of the Obama administration.

Check out the Press Release from Z Street:

12/11/10 We now have the mind-numbing IRS defense for delaying (almost a year now!) Z STREET's application for tax exempt status. In a signed affidavit, an IRS official explains that there is no "Israel Special Policy," instead it is a Terrorism Special Policy, and that Israel is included. That's right, Israel is a terrorist state because terrorism happens there. True, Israel is the victim, but why quibble with details? This brings moral equivalency to a whole new level. Every Zionist should be screaming from the rooftops. The brief is here and the most significant of the IRS affidavits is here. The affidavit of the agent in charge of Z STREET's application is here. And you'll be shocked, shocked to learn that the government completely ignores that it asked of another organization whether that organization "supports the existence of Israel", and what are that organization's "religious beliefs about the land of Israel." That doesn't quite fit into their new defense. Nor, of course, the Constitution.

Ok, this convoluted logic on the part of the IRS to conclude that Israel is a terrorist state because terrorism exists within the state of Israel, raises another question with me. Does Israel get extra credit for preventing acts of terrorism by constructing the security fence along the West Bank? I understand the number of suicide bombings in that area has plummeted to virtually zero.

h/t to Weekly Standard.

VIDEO: ROCK-THROWING PALESTINIAN BOY HIT BY CAR

Frankly, I can't blame the driver for hitting this kid. What would YOU do if someone was running toward you, poised to throw a rock at you while several other people were actually THROWING rocks at you? I'd keep moving forward, not to intentionally hit the kid but because it's the only option. How about the hit and run angle? Uh, I'd keep going too. If these thugs are throwing rocks at a car because the driver is a Jew, what would they do if the driver got out to tend to one of the rock-throwers he injured?

Here's a thought. How about the kid's parents take some responsibility for not teaching the kid it's a bad idea to go mano-a-mano with a car armed with nothing but a rock?

This is nothing more than Pallywood gone wrong.

Via Breitbart

VIDEO: WHY DID THIS MAN VISIT THE WHITE HOUSE?

Hatem Abudayyeh is the Executive Director of the Arab American Action Network (AAAN). The AAAN is the group responsible for sponsoring the 2003 dinner for Obama friend Rashid Khalidi. The Los Angeles Times was in possession of a videotape before the 2008 election that showed Barack Obama speaking about Khalidi at that event but refused to release it. Last week, the FBI raided the home of Abudayyeh, reportedly seeking documents that show connections to Hamas.

Now it is learned that earlier this year, in April Abudayyeh visited the White House. In light of recent developments, that visit should be explained immediately.


Khalidi is also the man who founded the AAAN. When Obama was director of the Woods Foundation in the 1990's, he oversaw $40,000 in grant money issued to the AAAN. Abudayyeh rose up through the ranks after joining AAAN in 1999.

In addition to the $40,000 in grant money from the Woods Foundation, the AAAN also received well over $450,000 in City Taxpayer grants since 1998. That timeline, when coupled with Obama's political career is interesting since Obama's political career was launched in the home of Bill Ayers. Obama started his career as a state senator in 1997.

Big h/t to Gateway Pundit. Here is the local ABC affiliate's news report.

GEERT WILDERS SAYS JORDAN SHOULD BE PALESTINE

Dutch politician Geert Wilders continues to raise his game as others refuse to join him, apparently unable to read the tea leaves resulting from Wilders' huge gains in the recent June 9th elections in The Netherlands. Israel is almost constantly on defense against the collective arab world, which refers to Israel as occupied land. That occupied land belongs to the Palestinians and should be called 'Palestine' according to them. As a consequence, Israel is constantly trying to defend itself by having to explain why it should be called 'Israel'.

Enter Geert Wilders, who says Jordan should be re-named 'Palestine' and that Palestinians can move. Via Ynet:

"Jordan is Palestine," said Wilders, who heads the third-largest party in Holland. "Changing its name to Palestine will end the conflict in the Middle East and provide the Palestinians with an alternate homeland."

Wilders added that Israel deserved a special status in the Dutch government because it was fighting for Jerusalem in its name.

"If Jerusalem falls into the hands of the Muslims, Athens and Rome will be next. Thus, Jerusalem is the main front protecting the West. It is not a conflict over territory but rather an ideological battle, between the mentality of the liberated West and the ideology of Islamic barbarism," he said.

Predictably, Jordan didn't take kindly to Wilders' assertions, neither did the Saudis. The west is in desperate need of leaders like Wilders.

The phrase, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way" could not be more appropriate.

h/t to Free Republic

VIDEO: LIBERAL RABBI RE-EVALUATING POSITION

I am literally fascinated when I see someone make a strong ideological change. Frankly, I'm almost equally fascinated that liberals don't do more of it. I went through a similar shift when Bruce Springsteen came out of the closet as a hardcore liberal in support of John Kerry. I used to be one of his biggest fans. After 2004, I can't even stand to hear any of his songs.

The Rabbi who shot video of Helen Thomas telling Jews to "get the hell out of Palestine" appears to be going through a similar process. Watch as he tells CNN's Howard Kurtz that he basically needs to re-evaluate his entire belief system. In this video, Rabbi David Nesenoff admits to being a New York liberal who voted for Obama. He then goes on to say he's re-evaluating his positions.

It's not an easy thing to do when you've invested so much of your energy building a set of beliefs and ideological views that are all called into question at once.

Going through this process with sincere intellectual honesty is quite liberating once you come out on the other side.



h/t to Hot Air Pundit

HELEN THOMAS EXCORIATED BY.....LANNY DAVIS?

When a self-professed liberal loses former White House Counsel for Bill Clinton, Lanny Davis, that individual definitely has problems. Davis is an avowed liberal spinmeister who has expressed exceedingly leftist views without batting an eye. He is the quintessential progressive who was called on by Clinton multiple times to spin the White House out of very tight spots. Put him in a debate and give him the opportunity to argue the left side of any argument and liberals know they're going to have their side explained as good as anyone can.

However, thanks to Helen Thomas' recent comments that all of the Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine", we have witnessed the limits of Lanny Davis, who pulls no punches with respect to his opinion of Thomas.

Via the New York Post:

“Helen Thomas, who I used to consider a close friend and who I used to respect, has showed herself to be an anti-Semitic bigot. This is not about her disagreement about her criticisms of Israel. She has a right to criticize Israel and that is not the same as being an anti-Semite,” Davis said in a statement.

Davis goes on to illustrate his point by making a very legitimate comparison...

“If she had asked all Blacks to go back to Africa, what would White House Correspondents Association position be as to whether she deserved White House press room credentials -- much less a privileged honorary seat?,” Davis asked.

Thomas' comments only serve to further unmask the true feelings of many on the left regarding Jews. Ayers, Dohrn, and Code Pink's involvement with the Free Gaza Movement do as well. People like Davis need to begin to see that. MediaIte has posted a video of Thomas proudly declaring that she's not only a liberal but is "as far left as you can go". Let me see if I've got this straight. A far left liberal is also an anti-semite? Perhaps this will cause liberals like Davis to not only reject Thomas but to re-examine their entire ideological paradigm.

I know, wishful thinking.

h/t to Gateway Pundit for posting.

SCHANZER: GAZA BECOMING TALIBAN-ESQUE

In 2005, Israel handed the Gaza Strip over to the Palestinians, which were led at the time by the Palestinian Authority. In 2007, Hamas violently wrested complete control of Gaza. Hamas is a group inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood and is similarly Sunni - just like the Taliban.

Jonathan Schanzer at the Jewish Policy Center reports that Hamas is beginning to turn Gaza into something resembling a swath of land in Afghanistan.

..in the two years since the 2007 coup, the Gaza Strip has steadily exhibited the characteristics of "Talibanization" -- a process mirroring the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1990s whereby the Islamist organization imposed strict rules on women; discouraged activities commonly associated with Western or Christian culture; oppressed non-Muslim minorities; imposed sharia law; and deployed religious police to enforce these laws. This has only served to underscore the dangers associated with the rise to power of Islamist groups in the Muslim world.

Any guesses as to how Ismael Haniyeh, Hamas leader and Gaza overloard responds to such accusations? Hint: The same way the Obama Administration responds to charges that it's spamming the American people with Health Care emails from David Axelrod:

Ismael Haniyeh, the ascendant ruler of Gaza, officially denied accusations by the PLO and some Palestinian media outlets that Hamas intended to establish an Islamic emirate.

Nothing to see here.

Schanzer continues:

The Islamization of justice in Gaza has been compounded by the emerging strength of the "Authority for the Propagation of Morality and Prohibition of Vice," aimed to "fight those who are being corrupted by Satan, and do not observe sharia law." The vice squads were not new; they had operated in Hamas-controlled neighborhoods in Gaza and the West Bank for years. Under Hamas rule, however, they began to operate in wider territory and with impunity.

Authority for the Propagation of Morality and Prohibition of Vice? Is there a Czar in charge of that department?

Be sure to read SCHANZER'S ENTIRE PIECE.

Isn't it interesting how a country like Honduras sees worldwide outrage when it removes a president from office who is found to have been laying the groundwork for keeping himself in office, which would have blatantly violated his country's Constitution yet not a peep at this insanity taking place in Gaza?