“Zionism is racism.”

• ADDRESS: This is simply untrue. Zionism is the Jewish national movement. Jews share a common history, language, culture and religion, just like many other nations.

• REFRAME: We should apply the same standards to all nations. If the Syrians, Egyptians, and Brazilians are entitled to have their own states that bestow certain privileges to their own people, then why are the Jews condemned when they do the same? Where is the criticism of Jordanian nationalism that forbids Jews from becoming citizens? Saudi Arabia does not allow churches to be built nor does it permit the practice of other religions. Those are forms of discrimination that are rarely criticized. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You are talking anti-Semitism.”

• MESSAGE: Zionism, having succeeded in re-establishing the Jewish state as a vibrant democracy, inspires freedom not only in Jews but in other minorities seeking self-determination.

“The Israel lobby has a harmful impact on U.S. policy.”

• ADDRESS: This claim is misleading and inaccurate. Israel is a strategic asset to the United States. The two countries share similar economic, political, and security concerns.

• REFRAME: Numerous ethnic, religious and special interest groups exercise their right to lobby government officials. With regard to the Middle East, pro-Arab and “Big Oil” lobbies continue to exert strong pressure over American foreign policy. While the Israel lobby seeks to advance the cause of Israel it does not speak for all pro-Israel groups which have differing views on foreign policy and often disagree on key issues. Similarly, the Taiwan lobby has been successful at influencing Asian policy. All foreign lobbies should be held to the same standards of scrutiny. Singling out the pro-Israel groups and accusing them of acting against American interests is unjust and unreasonable.

• MESSAGE: The United States and Israel share similar values and concerns, and supporting the only democracy in the Middle East is in America’s best interest.

“Israeli presence in the disputed territories is responsible for the suffering of the Palestinians.”

• ADDRESS: This statement distorts the facts. Israel does not want to keep a military presence in the West Bank; however, each time the IDF retreats, violence against Israelis escalates. This pattern can be seen clearly with the disengagement from the Gaza Strip and subsequent increase in rocket attacks.

• REFRAME: The real cause of Palestinian suffering stems from the Arab leadership, which since 1948 has used the Palestinian refugees as political pawns against Israel. While Israel resettled over 700,000 Jewish refugees expelled from Arab countries, every attempt by Israel, the U.N., or the U.S. to resettle the Palestinian refugees and provide them a decent life was thwarted by the Arab regimes. Additionally, vast amounts of international aid given to the Palestinian Authority has been lost to corruption or used to finance terrorist activities, instead of being used to improve the lives of Palestinians.

• MESSAGE: Palestinians will continue to suffer as long as Arab leaders focus on destroying the Jewish state rather than on creating better lives for their people.

“Israeli occupation is the root cause of the conflict.”

• ADDRESS: This is simply untrue. Israel’s presence in the disputed territories is the result, not the cause, of ongoing Arab aggression against the Jewish people. Israel gained control of these territories through a defensive war fought in 1967.

• REFRAME: Before the 1967 Six-Day War, there were no Israeli soldiers or citizens living in the West Bank or Gaza. These territories were occupied by Jordan and Egypt, respectively. Yet, there was terrorism against Israel. One example is the Egged bus massacre in March 1954, where eleven Israeli passengers were murdered and mutilated. Moreover, terrorism against Jews pre-dates the independence of Israel in 1948, with one example being the slaughter of 67 Jews in Hebron in 1929. Those who ignore the history of Arab terrorism and incitement fail to understand the complexities of the conflict.

• MESSAGE: The root cause of this conflict is Arab rejection of Jewish sovereignty and freedom, and the ongoing incitement to hate which leads to terrorism against Israelis. Palestinians need to choose between peace and terrorism.

“Israel stops Palestinian ambulances at checkpoints.”

• ADDRESS: It is unfortunate when any human being cannot get ample medical care in a timely manner.

• REFRAME: However, you need to understand why these checkpoints exist in the first place. The Palestinian leadership has encouraged its young people to wage jihad against the Jewish state, and one tactic they employ to infiltrate Israel is to smuggle suicide bombers in seemingly innocuous vehicles like ambulances. In March 2002, Israeli forces found a 20-pound explosive belt hidden under a gurney in an ambulance that was carrying a teenager. This gruesome discovery saved the lives of both Palestinians and Israelis.

• MESSAGE: The constant threat of war and the celebrated strategy of terrorism created the need for the checkpoints. When the violence ends the checkpoints will come down but, the murdered Israelis cannot be brought back to life.

“Israel is in violation of U.N. Res. 242 that calls on the state to return to its 1967 borders”

• ADDRESS: This is not true. Israel is in fact in compliance with the 1967 U.N. resolution passed after the Six-Day War that calls for the “Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.” The drafters of the resolution specifically refrained from using “all” or “the” before “territories,” thereby not requiring Israel to relinquish every inch of land it acquired in this defensive war. By leaving the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip, Israel has in fact withdrawn from more than 90% of the territories it acquired.

• REFRAME: It is the Arab regimes which are in clear violation of U.N. Resolution 242. This resolution calls for, “termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries, free from threats or acts of force.” Except for Jordan and Egypt, Arab states refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and continue to provide material support to terrorist groups that threaten Israel and launch attacks against civilians.

• MESSAGE: This conflict is not a border dispute and can only end when Arab regimes adhere to their obligations in Resolution 242 and accept Jewish self-determination and freedom in the Middle East.

“Israel is guilty of murdering innocent civilians in Lebanon.”

• ADDRESS: It is tragic when civilians die in war, but this accusation twists the truth. While it is true that some civilians were accidentally killed during the war, as in any other war, the IDF is guided by a strict policy to protect civilian life whenever possible, regardless of nationality.

• REFRAME: We must understand that Hezbollah ultimately bears responsibility for civilian deaths in Lebanon, especially during the 2006 conflict. This terrorist group utilized a ruthless strategy of attacking civilians with rocket fire in hundreds of Israeli towns and then cowardly hid behind Lebanese citizens. This tactic was in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions and led to unnecessary casualties during the war. U.N. officials also took note of this breach of international law and rightly condemned the terrorist group for their actions that put U.N. workers in serious danger.

• MESSAGE: Israel has the right and the responsibility to protect its civilians, as all countries do. It’s absurd and contradictory to blame Israel for defending itself against the provocations of a terrorist organization that routinely tries to maximize civilian casualties on both sides.

“Israel is an apartheid state.”

• ADDRESS: This accusation is simply untrue. All Israeli citizens, Jews and Arabs alike, regardless of age, gender, religion, or ethnicity, enjoy the same fundamental democratic freedoms, such as the freedom of speech, the freedom of association, the freedom of religion and the right to participate in the political process.

• REFRAME: To understand true apartheid policies in the Middle East, we must look at the Muslim world where 150 million women are persecuted because of their gender. A rape victim in Saudi Arabia was recently sentenced to 200 lashes and imprisonment for being in the company of unrelated men. Honor killings and female circumcision continue to take place on a daily basis in many Arab and Muslim societies. Where is the outrage over the religious persecution faced by Christians and Jews in the Muslim world, where they are treated as second-class non-citizens through institutionalized discrimination? Condemning Israel, the lone democracy in a region made up of dictatorships that sponsor apartheid-like policies is unjust and hypocritical.

• MESSAGE: While institutionalized racism and sexism are common in virtually every country throughout the Middle East, Israel is a bastion of pluralism and democracy.

“Israel has no right to build the wall.”

• ADDRESS: The Israeli government has the right and the obligation to protect its citizens against terrorism.

• REFRAME: While it is legitimate to disagree with Israel’s policies regarding the fence, it is illegitimate to view those policies in a vacuum, disregarding the fact that Israel built its security barrier only in direct response to relentless Palestinian terror attacks in 2000. It was erected in an attempt to prevent the infiltration of suicide bombers into Israeli towns and cities. Pakistan has a fence on its border with Afghanistan and the U.S. has a fence on its border with Mexico. If it is legitimate for other countries to erect a fence to prevent illegal immigration, it is certainly legitimate for Israel to erect a fence to defend its citizens against murder. Thankfully, the fence and other security measures have saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives.

• MESSAGE: The Palestinian and Arab regimes have to choose between terrorism or open borders, between ongoing aggression or peaceful coexistence with Israel.

“Israel does not have the right to exit.”

• ADDRESS: The Jewish people, like other nations have the right to self-determination. Israel’s primary right to exist is endorsed by U.N. Resolution 181, which called for a two-state solution in Mandated Palestine: one Jewish, and one Arab.

• REFRAME: If we are going to question the legitimacy of Israel, then all countries in the Middle East must come under scrutiny. Prior to World War I, the majority of the Middle East was under the domain of the Ottoman Empire. Following its defeat, European leaders determined the boundaries of what would become Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. These states were all artificial creations, constructed by foreign, imperial powers. For example, the British allocated land east of the Jordan River to a leader of the Hashemite tribe, who was not indigenous to that region, and helped created Trans-Jordan (later to become the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan). The legitimacy of Jordan and other Middle Eastern states is never questioned. Why then is Isarel singled-out for so much attention?

• MESSAGE: Those who question Israel’s legitimacy are holding the Jewish state to a different standard from all other countries. Israel, like all members of the U.N., has the same right to exist in peace and security, free from the threat of war.

“Both Israelis and Arabs are equally responsible for the conflict.”

• ADDRESS: This is a common misconception.

• REFRAME: There is no equivalent between the IDF and Arab terrorism. The IDF’s practice is to protect all civilian life and to defend the country against foreign aggressors. Arab terrorists stage a relentless campaign of suicide bombings and terrorist attacks, which are deliberately designed to destroy innocent lives. In fact, 57% of Palestinian Arabs support terrorist attacks upon Israeli civilians, according to research conducted at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in September 2006. There is no moral equivalency between the educational system in Israel, where children are taught to love life and hope for peace with their Arab neighbors and the hate-education of the Arab world, where children are indoctrinated to believe that murdering Israelis will bring them to heaven.

• MESSAGE: Israeli leaders have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Responsible Arab leaders are needed to do the same.

“A bi-national state would end the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

• ADDRESS: This may appear to be a reasonable and even-handed solution to some.

• REFRAME: But, we need to understand the real consequences of such a solution. Jews in a bi-national state would likely become a minority and would be vulnerable to persecution and genocide. The precedent for this claim is that for over a thousand years Jews and Christians living under Muslim rule throughout the Middle East were denied basic rights and freedoms, and subject to riots and pogroms in which countless Jews were killed. Furthermore, the Arab nations have never accepted the Jewish historical connections to the land of Israel and incitement against Jews continues in much of the Arab world today. It is clear that a bi-national state would only serve the interests of one side in this conflict.

• MESSAGE: While Israel has yearned for peace throughout its history, those who advocate for a one-state solution are putting both Jewish and Christian lives in jeopardy.

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• Bye bye Al-Jazeera!
• Google Earth: A New Platform for Anti-Israel Propaganda and Replacement Geography