IAP Manufactures the News, January 2002


Aims of Islamic Association for Palestine:
Any political plan which does not restore Palestine to its rightful owners, the Muslims, and any plan which does no bring back rule by Islamic law will not bring about real peace and will thus only lead to further violence, bloodshed, and instability.
See bottom of page for IAP links to Hamas

I read this story and I was outraged. I could not believe it.
If it was true, I would ask with all the powers available to me
to bring those repsonsible to justice.
 
I asked for verification from the IAP and received a reply:
 
From: iapinfo@yahoo.com
To: <myjoy36NO@SPAMyahoo.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 2:40 AM
Subject: responce to your question
 
"The story was widely reported in the Arabic press here. The name and age of
the victim were also reported. See (Al-Ayyam newspaper, 30 December)
 
"There are many things happening  in the West Bank which don't find their
way to the Israeli and internatinal press."
 
I investigated it on my own by contacting Amensty International - Israel
and B'tselemand learned the truth.
 
I am appalled at what the IAP did back then and they still do it today.
 
Would you believe anything IAP wrote after reading this?
 
----- Original IAP Story  -----
From: "Islamic Association For Palestine -"
iapinfo@yahoo.com
To: "list" iapinfo@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, December 30, 2001 6:56 AM
Subject: [IAP NEWS] Israeli soldiers gang up on Bethlehem housewife, beat her to death
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iapinfo/message/2524
 
Assalamu'alaikum,
 
Israeli soldiers gang up on Bethlehem housewife, beat her to death
 
Occupied Jerusalem: 30 December, 2001 (IAP News)
 
Israeli occupation soldiers last night raided Palestinian homes in several areas surrounding the town of Bethlehem, killing a young housewife after beating here savagely on the head using the butts of their rifles. 
 
Hospital sources said Nujud Muhammed Ghuneim, 27, died of a massive brain hemorrhage resulted from sever beating that also caused a rupture of the skull. 
 
Palestinian sources in Bethlehem said several crack Israeli soldiers raided Ghuneim's home at the village of el-Khader south of Bethlehem, and as the young woman sought to prevent the onerous soldiers from vandalizing her utensils and house appliances, the soldiers reportedly ganged up on her, beating her savagely on the head until she collapsed. 
 
Here cousin Muhammed Ghuneim described the incident as "extremely ugly." 
 
"This is a reflection of the brutal ugliness of the Zionist-Jewish mentality. Here, you had ten soldiers, and all of them ganged up on the young lady, hitting her on the head without mercy until she died. So, why doesn't the American media speak about Jewish terror?" 
 
Muhammed said the occupation soldiers understand only the language of death and murder. 
 
"Nujud didn't pose any threats to those crack soldiers. She is a lady, does any person in his right mind believe she posed any risk to their lives?" 
 
"If so why did they kill her? Why?
-30-
 
 
Item #1 - When did the beating take place? "last night" - 29 December 2001
 
Item #2 - Why are the Israeli soldiers in her house? It doesn't say why - only
suggests and implies that as she "sought to prevent the soldiers from vandalizing
her utensils and house appliances" that they were looting.
 
Spot the differences:
 
----- Original AFP Report -----
Feed Date:        29/12/01          
Feed Time:        19:13                                                      
Keywords:        Mideast, unrest, toll        Language:        English
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Dec 29 (AFP) - A Palestinian woman died of a head wound Saturday, nine days after she was hurt in a struggle as Israeli border police raided her home, family and hospital sources said.
Hospital sources said Nujud Ghonam, 26, died of a brain hemorrage.

She was hospitalized after a policeman knocked her unconscious with the butt of his rifle during a struggle to free her brother, the family said.

According to the army, the border police entered the house in the West Bank village of Al-Khadr on the edge of Bethlehem early on December 20 to arrest her brother after he and three others threw Molotov cocktails at an Israeli outpost.

Army central command said the Joint Liaison Committee reported a complaint that Ghonam died of a heart attack a few days after the arrest of the four Palestinians.

"The heart attack was unrelated to the raid," the army said.

Ghonam was declared brain dead several days ago.

Her death brings the number of people killed in the 15-month Palestinian uprising to 1,118, including 862 Palestinians and 233 Israelis. dg/al
-30-
 
Item #1 Date of her death: 29 December 2001 "last night!"
 
Item #2 Date of the raid: 20 December 2001 "last night?" - ten days earlier!!
 
Item #3 Why the raid: "to arrest her brother after he and three others
threw Molotov cocktails at an Israeli outpost." Looting?

----- Original Amnesty International - Israel Message -----
  From:
MHoubrec
  To:
myjoy36NO@SPAMyahoo.ca
  Cc:
lhodgkin; Amnesty International- Israel
  Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2002 4:48 AM
  Subject: Re: Fw: [IAP NEWS] Israeli soldiers gang up on Bethlehem housewife,beat her to death

  Dear Mr Avraham, 

We have checked the information on the ... case with B'tselem. They have interviewed several witnesses, among them the mother of the deceased woman. Apparently, none of the witnesses has seen the alleged beatings. After the incident, the woman suffered of headaches, was brought to hospital, where she died. The hospital declared that she died as a result of brain hemorrage.

  Best regards,

  Maartje Houbrechts
  Middel East Program
 
-----Original b'tselem Message-----
From: Jessica Montell [mailto:jmontell btselem.org]
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2002 3:04 PM
To: myjoy36NO@SPAMyahoo.ca

Cc: gsvirsky@
Subject: FW: Truth or Fabrication

Dear A,
The story forwarded to us by Gila Svirsky is one that we have investigated.
 
The IDF did in fact raid Ms. Ghaneim's house, in order to
arrest her brother. We have a testimony from her mother, who did not
know whether the daughter had been beaten or not.
 
In any case, Ms. Ghaneim died a few days later of a brain hemorrhage.
The hospital's medical report indicates that there were no signs of external injuries
(bruises, lacerations). Though a traumatic experience is sometimes a cause of such
hemorrhages, there is no way to determine whether this is the case in this incident.

Please let me know if you would like additional information on this or
any other case.

Sincerely,
Jessica Montell
Executive Director
-30-
 
Well there you have it folks. The real deal behind just ONE of IAP's stories.
There is more famous one from IAP that claims Ariel Sharon, as reported on
Israeli Radio, said in a cabinet meeting: "...we, the Jewish people control America, and
the Americans know it."
 

INSIDE SUICIDE INC. Another US-based group that apparently has ties to Hamas is the Islamic Association for Palestine. An INS report obtained by Newsweek alleges that a top Hamas official, Mousa Abu Marzook, had contributed $US490,000 to the IAP's budget. The report notes that the IAP distributed Hamas recruitment videos and published two pro-Hamas newspapers. But the precise links between groups like IAP and operations against civilians in Israel are hard, if not impossible, to find. IAP president Rafeeq Jabar told Newsweek that he was unaware who had made the $US490,000 contribution, and that his organization's funds are used to produce position papers, videos and other materials dedicated to "educating our fellow Americans about what's going on in Palestine. We don't send money to martyrs." Asked about his appearance at a conference two years ago, when he read the will of a Palestinian "martyr" who had driven his car into Israeli soldiers and died in a hail of gunfire, Jabar said: "I read his will so that people will feel the despair that Palestinians feel. These people feel they have nothing to live for."

The "Truth" about Hamas
Hamas issued its long-term goals in April 1994. The movement declared that it is not opposed to the principle of peace. [Really? See below!!] In addition, it outlined a pragmatic policy position by declaring its willingness to cease military operation in the West Bank and Gaza, as long as the following conditions are met: 1) complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories; 2) disarming the settlers and dismantling the settlements; 3) placing international forces on the "green line" established in the occupied territories during the '48 and '67 wars; 4) free and general elections to determine true representation of the Palestinian people; and 5) the Council, which will be composed of electoral victors, shall represent the Palestinians in any negotiations that determine their future and that of the occupied territories.

HAMAS does not support any Peace process with Israel
Hamas leaders gloated openly over a March 2002 suicide bombing that killed 28 Israelis at a Passover seder, calling it "a great success," welcoming Israeli retaliation as a way to recruit more supporters, and hailing the weapon of suicide bombings as the "F-16" of the Palestinian people. Hamas believes "peace talks will do no good," said the group's main spokesman, Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi. "We do not believe we can live with the enemy." After a bombing, Hamas gives the family of the suicide bomber between three and five thousand dollars and assures them that their son was a martyr who fell in a holy jihad; Iraq [until March 2003] also often contributes. http://www.terrorismanswers.com/groups/hamas.html