Quotes

In most of their communication (fliers, letters to the editor, posters, Web site postings), SDP advocates for divestment and "right of return" take great pride in presenting large numbers of Jewish and Israeli sources as virtual spokespeople for their cause. Rhetorically, this is not such a bad strategy. After all, if they can make their case that their issues are actually supported by prominent American and Israeli Jews, their positions can be made to seem less extreme, despite the fact that they have been rejected again and again by mainstream voters and leaders (as in Somerville or in the Presbyterian Church).

Yet if one peels back the layers of the quotes that adorn their literature, a familiar pattern emerges. In nearly every case, such quotes prove to be taken out of context at best, distorted beyond recognition at worst. To site one example, the letter to the editor that started this year's flamewar in the Somerville Journal contains this chestnut:

"On April 4, 1969, in the Jewish Daily Ha'aretz, the same Israeli leader [former defense minister Moshe Dayan] stated that 'Jewish villages were built in the place of the Arab villages. You don't even know the names of the Arab villages, because those geography books no longer exist. Not only the books do not exist, the Arab villages are not there either -- there is not one place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population. Nahalal was established in place of Mahalul, Gevat in place of Jibta, Sarid in the place of Hanifas and Kafr Yehoushua in the place of Tel Shamam. There is not a single settlement that was not established in the place of a former Arab village.'"

Damning indeed, especially coming from one of Israel's greatest military heroes! Yet what does one find out when looking for the original source material?

This quote was taken from a speech given by Dayan at Technion University on April 4, 1969, a transcript of which did indeed appear in the Israeli daily Ha'aretz. During that speech, a student suggested that Israeli adopt a policy of deporting Arabs who commit crimes in the recently occupied West Bank to Jordan, a policy Dayan vehemently rejected reiterating his commitment to Israel's long policy of trying to live in peace with it's Arab neighbors. Needless to say, this context of accommodation and rejecting deportation has been completely omitted whenever the quote above has circulated through the anti-Israel propaganda community. Also omitted is an important element of the actual quote which reads as follows:

"We came to a region of land that was inhabited by Arabs, and we set up a Jewish state. In a considerable number of places, we purchased the land from Arabs and set up Jewish villages where there had once been Arab villages. You don't even know the names..."

And so a critical phrase regarding how these Arab villages came into the hands of Jews (through legitimate purchase rather than implied conquest) seems to have disappeared from the presentation of Dayan's quote. The reason for this extreme editing is obvious since it would point out the fact that much of the land allegedly "occupied" by Jews at the expense of Arabs was legitimately purchased, a historical fact Israel's critics would like to erase from history. For if the land was purchased and not conquered, if previous occupants sold their property and moved on, then by what law would they have a "right of return" to re-occupy property many sold of their own free will?

The letter writer also makes the case that Israeli racism is embodied in the fundamental laws of the Jewish state, claiming:

"Section 7A (1) of the Basic Law of Israel says that a fundamental tenet of the state is the 'existence of a Jewish majority.'" (Again, note the writer's intentional use of quote marks around the final phrase.)

And yet a review of Israel's Basic Law 7A says no such thing. In fact, the phrase the writer puts in quotes marks, indicating that he is lifting this phrase directly from the text, does not appear in any of Israel's Basic Laws which can be read in their entirety here here.

imilar mischief can be found between nearly every set of quote marks that appears on any piece of SDP communication. The fact that nearly every piece of "evidence" they present can be easily debunked by anyone with a library card of Web browser is testament to the contempt this organization has for the average Somerville voter. Throw enough lies on the page, make it sound good, and make sure to smother your writing with a blanket of human-rights vocabulary, goes the SDP strategy, and voters will swoon.

In truth, it takes very little research to debunk various SDP accusations they allege come directly out of the mouths of Jewish and Israeli sources. This is because the organization has yet to introduce a single piece of original material to the propaganda wellspring from which they constantly draw. The Dayan quote (like the bogus presentation of Israel's Basic Laws) have been staples in anti-Israel books, pamphlets, leaflets, fliers, letters to the editor, editorials and - now - Web sites for decades. As with most of their presentations, SDP "research" consists of little more than cutting and pasting from other sources, flinging it into the face of Somerville voters and hoping, praying that their borrowed lies will hit home amongst those who don't know any better.

This rhetorical device of using Jewish words to condemn the Jewish state gets particularly hilarious when it comes to the subject of Albert Einstein, a name dropped in nearly every letter to the editor SDP has written to the Somerville papers this year. Einstein was a committed Zionist (he was even offered the honorary presidency of the new Jewish state which he declined to pursue other activities, including support for science education at Israeli colleges and the foundation of Brandeis University). Yet Einstein, especially after World War II, ended up questioning the entire idea of nationalism and talked about the possibility of a world government as a way to prevent nuclear war. The famous scientist contributed to the creation of an atomic bomb that killed hundreds of thousands, then spent his latter years forcefully advocating for an end to nuclear weapons.

Think about it. Here is a man who was able to reconcile the connection between energy and matter, a breakthrough that had eluded mankind for its entire history. He posited new ways of thinking about the universe that no one had ever considered before that continue to be the basis of our cosmology today. A mind this complex was able to hold differing views on the same complicated subject: a passionate connection to the Jewish state, coupled with a concern about its challenges and political direction. An understanding of the horror of fascism, coupled with guilt about helping create the weapons that ended fascism in the 20th century. Indeed, every quote taken from Einstein to prove his alleged anti-Zionism has unique and interesting historical context in the 30s (when Zionism was just a political idea), the 40s (when the Jewish state became a reality) and early 50s (when Jews like Einstein were contributing to a new state less than five years old when the great thinker died).

And what do Israel's critics do with this fascinating figure and his complex, worthwhile ideas? They cherry pick instances when he said mean things about individual people or actions of the Jewish state and try to convince readers that Einstein was as hostile to the Jewish state as they are. Again, one can imagine the debate at SDP headquarters as they were planning their campaign for '06:

"OK - We've got some black hated Jews to join our protests - check that one off. Now we need a famous Jew to be the mascot for our cause. Hey, who's that guy on the poster in my dorm room? Einstein! He'll do. Hit the browser guys and find me some 'Einstein hates Israel' quotes! And pass the bean dip."

Oh, and by the way, the quote marks used above are there to represent a fictional dialog, as in a novel. Perhaps the SDP can follow my example and also label what they put in quotation marks as works of fiction.