An Open Letter to Tim King and the Salem News

The third inning in Israel 4 Art's spat with Salem-News over the Apartheid wall that makes Gaza an open air prison.

Artwork on the left by the amazing Carlos Latuff, friend of Salem-News.com in Rio de Janeiro. To see more of his work, visit: Latuff Gallery. Image on the right supplied by Artists 4 Israel

(TEL AVIV / SALEM) - Forward by News Editor Tim King: OK, here we go again, and let me get this right; according to the Artists 4 Israel I'm the "News" Editor of Salem-News.com. So right off the bat they are trying to delegitimize my career by inferring that I am, what... posing?

I wish sometimes that I was posing; having a nice easy life where my brain isn't torqued with five or more simultaneous tasks all day every day seven days a week, trying to process news from some 70 writers about what are often the most important stories in the world.

Salem-News.com is the only news agency in the US that approaches the Israel/Palestine conflict with an open mind and an unwavering desire for truth.

Numerically, there is no fairness in this game where Israel receives endless billions to build up its military weapons arsenal from US taxpayers and then uses that muscle to rob Palestinians of their remaining land.

Israel's end game isn't 'security'; it is possession of all of the remaining Palestinian land, with their famous cry, "God gave it to me!"

Yeah right, you guys have the most discriminatory government in the modern world that professes to be 'democratic'. Don't accuse me of not addressing your false claim of this.

A Palestinian child who throws a stone at an occupational soldier faces horrible abuse and if they are arrested, they will be treated like a terrorist and denied fair humane treatment as demanded by the United Nations, which Israel, with the help of the US, constantly defies.

This is not a sign of a fair or equitable society. In order to see things the way Israel sees it, you have to appreciate that they see themselves as a supreme race, i.e. "God's Chose People" and it creates an entitlement issue of mammoth proportions.

I suspect most Israeli people who march to the Zionist beat don't necessarily see themselves as racist, though they inherently are.

Moreover, Israeli media paints Arab people exactly the way Blacks were portrayed in the early years in the US; they are openly bashed and always it seems the goal of hasbara to make people think those innocent babies and children and women and men in Palestine are less human.

What an old game that is. I'll leave that one right there; anyone with half a brain can put together the rest of that statement.

I think Israel's parody of the peace song "We are the World" mocking the Peace Activists Israel killed aboard the Gaza Flotilla ship in cold blood "execution style" according to the UN, was the sickest thing of all.

How about the fact that courts in Israel have different arrest ages and sentence structures for Arab and Jewish youth?

So many undisclosed facts.

28 Israeli citizens have died from the heavily touted 'Hamas rocket attacks' and Israel killed more than 1400 with illegal weapons during Operation 'Cast Lead' that began just over two years ago.

I will stop and publish their letter unedited so these artists at least can't paint our agency in a poor light for that reason.

The “News” Editor of the Salem News, Tim King, has decided to defend his errant writer and her less than stellar reporting skills in a response to Craig Dershowitz’ Open Letter to Belen Fernandez HERE. By way of justification, Tim explains that Belen is “tongue-in-cheek” which seems to equate to “foot-in-mouth.” But, he vehemently protests, she is also “ever so smart.” Mr. Dershowitz never called her intellect into question. Instead, Craig simply demanded that Ms. Fernandez, holding herself out to be a reporter, maintain standards of journalistic integrity.

Reading Tim King’s response, it becomes clear, however, that editorial standards are somewhat confused at the Salem News. Mr. King refers to the artists who traveled with A4I as being Israeli. The artists who travel with A4I represent a cross-section of the world, with artists from the U.S., Europe, Israel and Latin America. It is this very diverse audience that proves that the world, arts community supports Israel. And, rightfully so!

After all, Israel is the only country in the Middle East with full and equal rights for all citizens. It is the only country where artists can practice their various crafts protected by freedoms of speech, expression and defense of their civil liberties. In Gaza, areas ruled by Fatah, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, artists have significantly less rights and more fear. The stories of artists who have been arrested, tortured and murdered for their craft in these nations are horrifying. The amount of artists who have sought refuge in Israel is testament to the protection of arts we applaud so wildly.

In Mr. King’s desperate defense of his rogue reporter he fails to answer or even mention the point about freedoms and rights. This was the central point of Craig’s letter and the driving force behind Artists 4 Israel. It appears that Mr. King is tacitly ceding to us that Israel is, indeed, a country to be admired for its inclusiveness and liberty. Or not. Instead, Tim, like Belen, continues to be divisive. So divisive that he even finds time to play a game of “whose pain is worse” between Arab and Jewish youth. Mr. King, do you mean to say that one life is more valuable than the next? Artists 4 Israel believes that all creation – be it an artistic work or a life – is precious. That is why A4I has, on our trips to Israel, done large-scale painting projects with mixed groups of Arab and Jewish youth. I am sorry that I do not know the exact percentage break-down but, we are not the ones who choose to segregate and see distinctions in people.

Artists 4 Israel is proud to have painted an Intel Clubhouse that unites Arab and Jewish youth through computer skills and community building. We are proud to have painted an elementary school that educates near equal numbers of Arab and Jewish children. We are proud to have painted a shelter for women who have escaped abusive relationships. We are proud to have painted the bomb shelters of Sderot. These are shelters that protect all citizens of Israel from rocket attacks – over 9,000 reported since 2001 causing 28 deaths. It is terrifying to think how many more might have suffered if not for these shelters. And, one day, we will be proud to paint the Security Fence because it too provides protection from people with mindsets like Tim King who want to divide us and deem one side more worthy of suffering than another. We paint shelters because we believe in protecting creation.

The facts are undeniable:

“During the 34 months from the beginning of the violence in September 2000 until the construction of the first continuous segment of the security fence at the end of July 2003, Samaria-based terrorists carried out 73 attacks in which 293 Israelis were killed and 1950 wounded. In the 11 months between the erection of the first segment at the beginning of August 2003 and the end of June 2004, only three attacks were successful, and all three occurred in the first half of 2003. Since construction of the fence began, the number of attacks has declined by more than 90%. The number of Israelis murdered and wounded has decreased by more than 70% and 85%, respectively, after erection of the fence.” http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/fence.html

That Israel has made the brave decision to deal with the near constant barrage of rocket attacks and homicide bombers by building a shelter is testament to its courage and devotion to peaceful resolution. I leave it for the reader to determine what it says about Tim King and Belen Fernandez who want to tear down this wall and expose innocent men, women and children to the threat of death.

While Israel builds shelters to protect, Gaza and Fatah continue to stockpile weapons and build tunnels into their own civilians’ homes to wage an illegal, terrorist war against the citizens of Israel. You can read all about this deathly underworld HERE in a report from an Arab citizen whose family suffered.

In one year alone, these tunnels brought over:
33 tons of military-grade high explosives
20,000 assault rifles
3,000 pistols
6,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition
38 long-range Qassam missiles
12 shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft guided missiles
95 anti-tank rocket launchers
410 anti-tank rockets
20 precision-guided anti-tank missiles

http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=689705&ct=3267913

A4I would never paint a tunnel. We work for peace. But, we would consider painting on the other side of the fence if we were allowed. We have artists who are African-American, Latino, gay and female. Would they all be allowed into Gaza? Could Tim King or Belen Fernandez promise me their rights, even the most basic right to life, would be protected?

Oh wait, I know the answer already. We learned the answer when, approaching the gate to Bethlehem, our convoy was stopped. We were told no Israelis could enter this city under Arab control. Like the segregation signs of the 1960s, Bethlehem was closed to Israelis. We saw no apartheid that day but we did see good old, Jim Crowe style racism and segregation.

And, Tim, I was going to tell you something regarding lipstick but, seriously, can you class it up a little? There are innocent Israelis dying from terrorist attacks and innocent citizens of Gaza dying because their government chooses war over peace and you want to make obnoxious comments about animals. C'mon.

Posted by Dreyfus Amadeus Diallo

These children were all killed two years ago during Israel's 'Operation Cast Lead'. Supporting Israel is supporting this theft of children from the earth.

From Tim King: You guys deserve credit for a lot of things, but you're missing our point; you can't see the forest through the trees friend.

I am glad you represent a cross section of people, sort of like the activists at Bil'in who are shot at every Friday by Israeli soldiers who have no moral structure at all; and know only brainwashing. There is in my opinion, a great deal of denial of facts.

I am the writer by the way, who recently cited that the 'Hamas rocket attacks' that have been mentioned endlessly in media reports, literally thousands of times, have led to the deaths of a total of 28 people. No, that is not a small number, and yes, innocent Israeli people should never die from things like that, of course, but why don't you address the fact that Hamas halted rocket attacks years ago and stopped and even renounced suicide bombing? Today they are tracking down the guys who still fire rockets and are out of their control. I guess it would hurt the cause for you to recognize that.

With regard to Hamas, they aren't saints, no way; but they are the result of what happens when people are killed and pushed to the sea. I guess taking other people's land leads to endless problems, and that is the story of Israel. I view it all as a huge entitlement problem. Do you assist people in Gaza?

Those kids should be in school, but Israel wait... I forgot that Israel destroyed Gaza's schools and refuses to allow building supplies in to help those poor kids.

The information below is based on the 2010 report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council (A/64/742-S/2010/181) issued on 13 April 2010.

In Gaza, 18 schools were destroyed and more than 260 were damaged, including 5 schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, by Israeli forces during “Operation Cast Lead”. In some cases, the Israel Defence Forces forcibly entered school compounds and used schools as interrogation centres. The lack of materials for reconstruction and rehabilitation of schools, coupled with chronic shortages of educational supplies as a result of an ongoing blockade forced thousands of students to learn in overcrowded schools operating on double shifts and often under unsafe and unsanitary conditions. To date, very few of the destroyed or damaged schools have been rebuilt or repaired. In addition, discrimination and neglect by Israeli authorities in East Jerusalem and Israel-controlled area C of the West Bank have also jeopardized children’s right to education. Inadequate structures, including tents, shacks and crude cement structures, are being used as schools owing to the difficulties in obtaining building permits needed to expand and upgrade existing schools and build new ones to accommodate the student population in area C, while in East Jerusalem, each year large numbers of Palestinian children are denied admission in the municipal schools run by the Jerusalem municipality and the Israeli Ministry of Education owing to a shortage of over 1,000 classrooms. (see: Developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel - United Nations)

Palestinian people are unable to exit or return freely to their homes. Israel's politics and methods stand in stark violation of the UN Human Rights Charter. (see: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Salem-News.com)

You say I don't address 'freeedom' and you openly lie with: "After all, Israel is the only country in the Middle East with full and equal rights for all citizens."

My goodness, do you believe that? Do they put you guys through reeducation camps? Oh wait, I guess you wouldn't need the 're' education part; you must be raised with so much religious propaganda that you can't see why so many people and nations are speaking out and calling foul on Israel's persistent injustice.

Don't you know that Arab homes and villages are continually razed by these religious fanatics called 'settlers'? Thieves, taking homes...

Then you have the IOF thugs killing children in Gaza's buffer zone after planting an apartheid wall on Palestinian land. You can talk all day and paint your pictures and that is fine, I'm glad you can. People in Gaza have no freedom at all thanks to Israel. They are fantastic artists by the way. To the children there the wall is nothing but a symbol of Israel's non-free apartheid system that has DIFFERENT LAWS for Arabs and Jews. That is why I included images from the Palestine side in the last rebuttal.

Belen and I are people who want to see a future exist; we don't buy your religious superiority. Of course there is violence because the land has been stolen from innocent people. Israel creates terrorists the way the US does in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I have seen the latter two with my own eyes.

When it comes to my sister Belen and I, we would never partake in racist behavior. In fact we both go out of our way to fight racism. Israel is not free. I know you hated the lipstick analogy, I will refrain from being "crude" and I suspect that under any other circumstances we would hit it off and find many things in common. I however, refuse to blindly endorse my nation's regrettable, criminal military antics. It isn't about who it is, it is about what it is. Justice has no religion.