Last week the UK's Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) launched a campaign to raise funds for humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza. Their TV advertisement was shown free by the main terrestrial broadcasters and Sky One. They also advertized in newspapers including the Jewish Chronicle. That last created a firestorm of hate among British Zionists who launched a Facebook campaign to boycott the Jewish Chronicle until they apologized for running the ad based on lies promulgated by Netanyahu.
Boycott the "Jewish" Chronicle until they issue a full apology for printing a full page "Gaza Crisis Appeal" in this weeks "Jewish" Chronicle. At a time when Anti Semitism is at a all time high since the Nazi's were around, Israel is facing boycott after boycott and pressure from all around the world to stop defending itself, The "Jewish" Chronicle have decided to print a full page (14/08/2014 page 16) "Gaza Crisis Appeal" fulling further hate towards Jews and Israelis alike.
If the money raised in this "appeal" was actually given to those "Gazans in crisis" we would have less of a problem, however it is now well stated and been talked about many times including the prime minster of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו That all money raised in these appeals is given to the "Government" of Gaza who just happen to be Hamas (a accepted Terror group) who sole purpose is the destruction of Israel and to kill Israelis.
Further more millions of dollars in aid which has previously been given to Gaza has funded rockets and now the well know "Terror Tunnels".
For these reasons we feel the "Jewish Chronicle" is completely out of line for printing this advert and WE, the Jewish community demand a full apology!
I'll give greater background about the DEC and its members' work in Gaza below the fold however suffice it to say for the moment that virtually all of the above are complete lies apart from the fact that the Jewish Chronicle published the ad. They have now now issued this apology on their Facebook page:
In this week's JC, we ran an advert for the DEC Gaza crisis appeal. This was meant as a purely humanitarian gesture, and was not an expression of the JC's view.
We have received complaints from readers angry at the decision.
We apologise for the upset caused.
In response, the JC will be giving space in next week's issue to readers wishing to express their objection to the advert.
The JC will also be running a free advert encouraging readers to donate to a range of charities supporting Israel.
They also donated their income from the advertisement to DEC members.
Today the Jewish Telegraph published a piece repeating the lies about DEC (photo included in post) in this description of the advertisement:
A full page, in stark black and white, including the logo of the notorious Islamic Relief, appeals to readers to "Donate now". It advises them that "Thousands of children in Gaza like Ahmed are injured, homeless and living in fear. They desperately need medical supplies, shelter, food and water right away".
And the Jewish Telegraph's comment on this humanitarian crisis? You can guess the Hasbara talking point.
What of the residents of southern Israeli whose homes have been hit by rockets and are constantly forced into shelters?
The London Jewish Chronicle has given the Gaza lobby some wonderful ammunition by running the advert. Its editor justifies it by describing the appeal as "humanitarian". So are countless efforts by charities raising funds to repair the damage caused by Hamas rockets and to provide facilities for Israelis in affected areas.
The hate campaign's page has Magan David Adom UK's logo and tag line "saving more lives" dominating a small reproduction of the DEC advertisement as their banner. This has not gone unnoticed in the mainstream media with a
BBC news report on the apology. Earlier today a different group started their own Facebook page
"Jews who welcome the Jewish Chronicle publishing Gaza aid advert":
Some people who seem to have lost their humanity objected to Jews giving aid to Gazans, made a facebook page calling for a boycott, and successfully forcing the Jewish Chronicle into an apology.
That facebook page, liked by 161 people, has made the national news. I don't think these 161 people speak for Jews, yet today, this is the face of the Jewish Community that is being shown to the world.(http://www.bbc.co.uk/...).
Can we get more 'likes' for THIS page from some of the other 300,000 British Jews who don't stand with these 161 people? Who believe that Jewish Chronicle readers can be trusted to see an advert and decide for themselves if they want to help Gazans, humans, in crisis? It really doesn't matter if you're a supporter or opponent of Israel, this is just about charity to other people who need it.
Some of the comments on the boycott page are particularly disgusting. Ant Zem posted a reproduction of one of DEC's advertisements with "We promise every penny raised will be used by Hamas for rockets, terror tunnels and anti-semitic indoctrination" printed on top of it.
Lesley Glassberg Nadel: Stephen Pollard's [editor of the JC] get out was disgusting. I can't believe that this was allowed to be published. Why should we rebuild terror tunnels?
The page owner added:
The problem we have is that this current conflict has largely come about due to "aid" which Hamas is responsible for distributing as they run the Gaza strip, they took this "aid" and built terror tunnels to send death squads to kill men,women and children instead of using it to build schools and hospitals.
However the vast majority of comments are opposing the boycott and the tenor of the campaign page. Some are simple expressions of disgust:
Jennifer Robins: You all are disgusting. How can you sleep at night??? You're protesting an advertisement for the poor babies your armies have slaughtered needing humanitarian aid??? I pray to God my country sends no more money to you selfish animals
Many point out that the boycott campaign would have the effect of increasing antisemitism.
Keith Ballard: Your inhumanity and distortion of the facts is doing far more to smear the "jewish community" than any Gaza aid advert in the JC, I can assure you of that. You fools are shooting yourselves in the foot.
Peter Berman: Are you a secret Fascist organisation trying to stir up anti semitism in the UK? You couldn't do a better job than by this foolish campaign which makes it seem that it is a crime for Jews to try and relieve the obvious suffering in Gaza.
Members of Kos will be very aware of the need for a nuanced view of the whole Israel/Palestine conflict, especially the fallacy of conflating "Israeli" and "Jew" or "Israeli" and "Zionist" or associating the actions of the Israeli government with the opinions of those Jews outside of Israel. This Facebook campaign completely reverses that and conflates humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza with antisemitism. Both Islam and Judaism cherish charity giving and involvement, indeed it is part of the tenets of both. How ironic that the weapon the hate group chose was a boycott. I presume the lesson to be learned from the Jewish Chronicle climb down is that boycotts work. Did they really mean to give that ammunition to the boycott and divestment movements?
About the appeal
The appeal was launched on August 8 with two different videos. This is the one shown by most "public service" broadcasters on ITV1 (the producers), Channel 4, Five and Sky One:
(WARNING: Contain images of "photogenically distressed" persons)
The BBC produced this version fronted by Martin Freeman to ensure conformity to the BBC Trust's broadcasting guidelines which are somewhat stricter than OfCom's for other broadcasters.
The British Government matched the first £2 million of public donations. "Gift Aid" is als available for donations from individuals paying UK taxes. On confirmation of the address and donor confirming they pay income tax, a further 25% can be recovered by the charity. So for each eligible £10, they get £12.50. The latest total available shows that £9 million or US$15 million has been donated although that was from earlier this week.
About the DEC.
From the BBC
The DEC, an umbrella organisation which brings together 13 UK aid charities to deal with international crises, launched its campaign on 7 August. It said one and a half million people had "no or very limited" water or sanitation, with many in "urgent need of medical care".
The BBC and other public service broadcasters agreed to air a DEC Gaza appeal.
In 2009, the BBC and Sky chose not to broadcast a previous Gaza appeal, with the BBC's decision prompting angry protests and 40,000 complaints.
In a statement on the DEC's website on Thursday, addressing the "tone of the debate over Gaza", chief executive Saleh Saeed said: "The DEC's launch of a public appeal in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has been wrongly interpreted in some quarters as a political statement.
"It is nothing of the sort. Giving aid is not taking sides."
The
DEC site expands the list of charities and explains how they assess whether they should launch a joint appeal:
The DEC brings 13 leading UK aid charities together in times of crisis: Action Aid, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, Care International, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Oxfam, Plan UK, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision; all collectively raising money to reach those in need quickly.
We only appeal when we know we can help. These are the three key questions we ask 1) Does the scale and urgency of the disaster call for decisive action? 2) Are our member agencies in a position to provide effective and swift humanitarian assistance? 3) Will the public support us?
It's important to remember that member charities of DEC are usually already working on the ground, either directly or through sister charities e.g. the British Red Cross works through the Palestinian Red Crescent, both being members of the international Red Cross/Red Crescent organization. The libel that donations will be channeled through Hamas is therefore a blatant and vile lie. DEC is reporting back on their work in Gaza through a series of
updates.
Now let me address the matter of the inclusion of Islamic Relief Worldwide in the DEC. First, all members of DEC have to conform to its Accountability Priorities:
We use our resources efficiently and effectively.
We achieve intended programme objectives in accordance with agreed humanitarian standards, principles and behaviours.
We are accountable to disaster-affected populations.
We learn from our experience, taking our learning from one emergency to the next.
The DEC's
Board of Trustees ensures that compliance with agreed international standards of conduct continues. In Britain, charities are required to register with the Charity Commission and have to submit annual financial reports. The details of charities are easily accessible through
their site.
The latest financial statement for Islamic Relief Worldwide is only for the calendar year 2012, with 2013's due later this month. That shows it raised £100.37m, spent £85.43m on charitable spending (retaining £4.22m for future use) and spent £10.72m (10.7%) on income generation and governance. Governance costs of £1.11m (defined as "Costs associated with running the charity itself (e.g. costs of trustee meetings, internal and external audit costs and legal advice relating to governance matters)") or 1.1% of income divided by number of employees = £2,968.
In comparison, Magen David Adom UK is also a registered charity whose aims are:
TO SUPPORT MAGEN DAVID ADOM, ISRAEL'S ONLY AMBULANCE AND MEDICAL EMERGENCY SERVICE. MAGEN DAVID ADOM IS A NON-GOVERNMENTAL, NOT FOR PROFIT ORGANISATION THAT DEPENDS ON SUPPORT FROM DONORS AROUND THE WORLD. MAGEN DAVID ADOM ALSO WORKS INTERNATIONALLY TO SHARE ITS EXPERTISE AROUND THE WORLD. MAGEN DAVID ADOM IS A MEMBER OF THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT SOCIETIES.
Interestingly, they use a logo that is not compliant with the ICRC's regulations nor with the third Protocol to the Geneva Conventions (GCs) which permits the use of the Star of David or other religious symbols as a protected emblem
only if it is contained within a Red Crystal. Otherwise, its facilities are not recognized as a protected by the GCs nor are their personnel.
The latest financial statement is for the calendar year 2013 and shows it raised £3.77m spent £3.21m on charitable spending and spent £0.88m (23.3%)on income generation and governance. Governance costs of £0.35m or 9.3% of income divided by number of employees = £38,889.