Assange has links with ''dubious people''/Smear campaign against Israel Shamir

international | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis Friday February 18, 2011 02:39 by Astrid Essed

The US led smear and hatred campaign against Julian Assange and his close co workers also affects important adherents, like Israel Shamir
As well by Domscheit-Berg, ex second Wikileaks man, as by newsmedia as the Guardian and the Dutch RTL News, Shamir is wrongly accused of Holocaust denial and anti-semitism

ASSANGE HAS LINKS WITH DUBIOUS PEOPLE/SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST ISRAEL SHAMIR

Dear Editor and Readers

FOREWORD

As you all know, a US led hunting campaign was started against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange because of his revelations of US war-crimes and the use of their foreign policy in the world [1]
Therefore solidarity with Assange and Wikileaks is of the greatest importance

See also

http://www.phillyimc.org/en/arrest-case-julian-assangea...press

But not only Assange is scapegoat, but all the people, who support or work for him are facing risks of whether prosecution, or a smear campaign
Known is the US ''order'' to Twitter to handle over details about 5 Wikileaks activists, of course Assange himself, but also an Icelandic member of parliament, famous Dutch hacker Gonggrijp and Bradley Manning, the courageous US Army Intelligence analyst, who was arrested for alleged leaking information regarding American war-crimes in Iraq [2]

Recently a new scapegoat is tageted, Israel Shamir, human rights champion of the Middle Eastern conflict

Direct cause was the book of former Wikileaks second man Mr Daniel Domscheit-Berg, ''Inside Wikileaks''

Although he has the right to write it, I can't appreciate his timing, now Assange is facing possible extradiction to Sweden and still worse, US charges with the risk of extradiction [to the US] [3]
And with his writing, revealing unnesserary personal details about Assange, he is violating as well Assange as Wikileaks

But there is more
He also refers to Assange's ''links with dubious people'', naming Israel Shamir as a ''famous Holicaust denier and anti-semite'' [4]

ROLE OF THE GUARDIAN:

A great number of newsmedia took the newsmessage, among else, of course, the Guardian
But in contrary with most other papers, which simply mentioned Domscheit-Berg's opinion about Israel Shamir, The Guardian accepted it as a fact, calling in its title Israel Shamir a holocaust denier, without giving Israel Shamir the opportunity to defend himself

See

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/31/wikileaks-h...ables

This is inproper journalism

Well, Israel Shamir is not
Not a Holocaust denier, not an anti-semite

He only critizes the misuse of the Holocaust for propagandistic goals

His anti-semitism is nonsense also
He is a political adversary of the STATE OF ISRAEL,as well with regard to its occupation of Palestine as the existence of the zionistic model [5]
The most ridiculous about the anti-senitisn accusation is however the fact, that Shamir himself is a Jewish Israeli

How then could he be an anti-semite?

To confront the Guardian with his lack of complete and proper journalism, I have written underlying comment
See directlt under the notes [A}
I also have written my critical reaction on the Dutch RTL News [Teletext], which calls Israel Shamir a right wing extrenist, holocaust denier and anti-semite
See directly under the notes of the Guardian Letter [B]

It became clear, RTL News had this information derived from the Guardian

Giving proper newsinformation is the most important journalistic obligation of newsmedia

With the Giardian smear newsmessage, they are violating as well Israel Shamir, as Wiileaks and Assange

Kind greetings
Astrid Essed
Amsterdam
The Netherlands

NOTES

[1]

INDYMEDIA PHILADELPHIA
ARREST CASE OF JULIAN ASSANGE/ATTACK ON THE FREEDOM OF PRESS
ASTRID ESSED

http://www.phillyimc.org/en/arrest-case-julian-assangea...press

[2]

BBC NEWS
US WANTS TWITTER DETAILS OF WIKILEAKS ACTIVISTS
8 JANUARY 2011

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12141530

BRADLEY MANNING SUPPORT NETWORK
''Exposing warcrimes is not a crime''

http://www.bradleymanning.org/

Request for sign the petition on behalf of Bradley Manning

http://www.standwithbrad.org/

[3]

INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
US TARGETS TWITTER IN BID TO TRAP ASSANGE
15 FEBRUARY 2011

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27477.htm

[4]

OTTAWA CITIZEN
ASSANGE TELL-ALL SPARKS WAR OF WORDS
11 FEBRUARY 2011

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/todays-paper/Assange+....html

[5]

ISRAEL SHAMIR, a leading Russian Israeli writer, is a champion of the "One Man, One Vote, One State" solution seeking to unite Palestine & Israel in one democratic state. Shamir's work and that of his contributors speaks to the aspirations of both the Israelis and the Palestinians seeking an end to the bloodshed, true democracy and lasting peace.

Source

THE WRITINGS OF ISRAEL SHAMIR, CHAMPIONING DEMOCRACY FOR ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

http://www.israelshamir.net/

A

LETTER TO THE GUARDIAN
ABOUT YOUR SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST ISRAEL SHAMIR
14 FEBRUARY 2011

TO THE EDITOR AND STAFF OF THE GUARDIAN
REGARDING YOUR SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST MR ISRAEL SHAMIR, ACCUSING HIM OF ''HOLOCAUST DENIAL'' AND ''ANTI-SEMITISM''

Summary

To my opinion Mr Shamir is unjustly accused of Holocaust denial and anti-semitism
Also his right on defense against those serious accusations has been denied and there is no reference to his website, which is necessary for the public to control your allegations

See the article

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/31/wikileaks-h...ables

Mr Shamir will get a copy of this letter to you

Dear Editor and Staff

I have learnt with indignation about your smear campaign against Mr Israel Shamir, a well known writer and journalist, accusing him of ''notorious Holocaust denial'' and ''anti-semitism
I refer to the article of two of your journalists, Mr David Leigh and Luke Harding [1]
As you know, the article is written with regard to the connection between Mr Shamir and the founder of Wikileaks, Mr Julian Assange [2]

I

Holocaust denial:

When referring to Holocaust denial, by the big public the connection with anti-semitism is made, although that is not always the case

There are writers, who deny the Holocaust out of anti-semitism
However there is a group [to which Israel Shamir belongs] , who is critical against the propagandistic misuse of the Holocaust [3]

I quote Mr Shamir

''''This site and its editors take no point of view on the subject of holocaust. We neither affirm nor deny any question of fact regarding World War II. However we reject the doomed attempts to create a new pagan religion, a parody of Christianity, from the World-War-II-based narrative. Whatever are our feelings and attitudes towards the holocaust narrative, we fully reject its deification. '' [4]

For example:

The deification of the Holocaust is done by the mostly extreme right wing Israeli politicians [denying the Palestinian human rights], who misuse the horrors of the Holocaust to justify Israeli occupation and warcrimes against the Palestinians [5]

With regard to this, Mr Shamir is right when stating, that Holocaust denial an such is no crime and that for example the Nakba denial doesn't meet the same indignation [6]

II

Anti-semitism

I quote a sentence in your Guardian article

''He is notorious for Holocaust denial and publishing a string of antisemitic articles.''

May I remind you of the fact, that far from being an ''anti-semite'', Mr Shamiir is an anti-zionist, who want the zionistic structure of the State of Israel being dissolved and replaced by one secular State Palestine, with equal rights for Jewish Israeli and Palestinians

I quote from the website of Mr Shamir:

''ISRAEL SHAMIR, a leading Russian Israeli writer, is a champion of the "One Man, One Vote, One State" solution seeking to unite Palestine & Israel in one democratic state. Shamir's work and that of his contributors speaks to the aspirations of both the Israelis and the Palestinians seeking an end to the bloodshed, true democracy and lasting peace.'' [7]

Whether one agrees with those views or not [I agree], there is no connection however with anti-semitism

Further your accusation is ridiculous, since Mr Shamir himself is a Jewish-Israeli
How then he can be an anti-semite?

III

The right to defense
Website of Mr Shamir

I think it's very reprehensible, that in your article one fundamental journalistic principle has been violated, namely the right of Mr Shamir to defend himself
In this case you should have approached Shamir for a comment, or at least mention the link to his website, so thart the public could judge for themselves

To my opinion, you owe Mr Shamir an apology, accusing him of those serious facts without giving him a chance to defend himself

RESUMING

The journalism in this article has been incomplete and not objective, since the points of view of Mr Shamir have not been checked sufficiently
Also his right on defense has been ignored

I speak out hope, that your article will meet the standards of journalistic values in the future, especially when a vulnerable subject as the Holocaust is involved

Thank you for reading my comment

Kind regards
Astrid Essed
human rights activist

Amsterdam
The Netherlands

NOTES BELONGING TO LETTER OF THE GUARDIAN

[1]

THE GUARDIAN
HOLOCAUST DENIER IN CHARGE OF HANDLING MOSCOW CABLES
31 JANUARY 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/31/wikileaks-h...ables

[2]

THE GUARDIAN
HOLOCAUST DENIER IN CHARGE OF HANDLING MOSCOW CABLES
31 JANUARY 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/31/wikileaks-h...ables

[3]

NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION
Israel Shamir and Ken Freeland

http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Spanish_inquis...n.htm

[4]

NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION
Israel Shamir and Ken Freeland

http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Spanish_inquis...n.htm

[5]

See for Israeli warcrimes

Gaza offensive ''Cast Lead'' dec 2008/jan 2009
ISRAELI ATTACKS ON GAZA/DIRTY WAR AGAINST THE PALESTINIAN CIVILIAN POPULATION

http://chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/85520/ind...x.php

[6]

''In a sane world, Richard Williamson’s denial of Jewish holocaust would mean as little as Deborah Lipstadt’s denial of Dresden’s holocaust. People may deny whatever they will, though it can be annoying. So many Jewish sites deny the Nakba, the Palestinian holocaust of ‘48 or even the much more recent assault on Gaza, and there is no outcry.''

Source:

NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION
Israel Shamir and Ken Freeland

http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Spanish_inquis...n.htm

[7]

ISRAEL SHAMIR, a leading Russian Israeli writer, is a champion of the "One Man, One Vote, One State" solution seeking to unite Palestine & Israel in one democratic state. Shamir's work and that of his contributors speaks to the aspirations of both the Israelis and the Palestinians seeking an end to the bloodshed, true democracy and lasting peace.

Source

THE WRITINGS OF ISRAEL SHAMIR, CHAMPIONING DEMOCRACY FOR ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

http://www.israelshamir.net/

B

LETTER TO DUTCH RTL NEWS [TELETEXT]

B

MY REACTION TO RTL NEWS [TELETEXT]
ORIGINAL RTL NEWSCOMMENT

RTL NEWSCOMMENT
MY REACTION TO RTL NEWS

I

TRANSLATED FROM DUTCH

RTL NEWS COMMENT [TELETEXT]
11 FEBRUARY 2011

''ASSANGE HAS DUBIOUS CONTACTS''

Daniel Domscheit-Berg, a yearlong confidant of Wikileaks boss Julian Assange, is now hard hitting him.
Assange should have dubious contacts with an extreme right wing activist from Sweden
Domscheit-Berg was working for Wikileaks untill last year.
He wrote a book about that period
He says, that Wikileaks is surrendered to the whims of Assange
One of the examples, which he blames Assange, are the dubious contacts with an extreme right wing activist from Sweden
It concerns Israel Shamir, who is according to some sources a known denier of the Holocaust

END RTL NEWSCOMMENT

II

MY REACTION TO RTL TELETEXT
TRANSLATED FROM DUTCH

TO THE EDITOR OF RTL NEWS [www.rtlnieuws.nl] [rtlnieuws@rtl.nl]
REGARDING YOUR NEWSCOMMENT ABOUT THE ''DUBIOUS CONTACTS'' OF ASSANGE
12 FEBRUARY 2011

Dear Editor,

I want to ask your attention about the following:

In your newsmessage dd 10 february ''Assange has dubious contacts'' you refers to the ''dubious contacts'' of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange [while mentioning the book of Daniel Domscheit-Berg, ex second man of Wikileaks] with an ''extreme right wing activist from Sweden'', Israel Shamir, who is a ''holocaust denier'' according to some sources

Sofar your newscomment
See the text of your message under P/S

With this newscomment

With a newscomment like this and especially your naming of ''extreme right wing activist'', as the neglection of background and motivation of Israel Shamir, you are responsible for unjust and tendentious report of the news
Moreover, by not mentioning the version of Shamir [especially regarding the holocaust] you have violated his right to defend himself

I

Extreme right wing views/Motivation Israel Shamir

As you'll know extreme right wing views stem from Superiority theories, by which people are considered as ''minor'' because of their descent, with as consequences a position without rights, etnical cleansings or worse: destruction
Those views are mostly held by parts of the population [or politicians] of a native country against ''strangers'' [migrants etc]

Whover studied the views of Israel Shamir knows, that he is a great opponent of this form of racism or xenophobia
With regard to the Middle East conflict he is an adherer of a secular Palestine with equal rights for Palestinians and Jewish Israeli's, the one man, one vote system [1]

Therefore he holds a plea not only for ending the Israeli occupation and the rights of the Palestinian refugees, but also for the end of Israel as a State, which is to his opinion discriminative against the original Palestinian population, the socaled ''Israeli Arabs''

One can have second thoughts about the dissolutiion of the State of Israel [in contrary with the end of the Israeli occupation and the rights of Palestinian refugees, as laid down in International Law], but this opinion is legitimate and has no connection at all with extreme rights extremism

II

Background Israel Shamir

The more ridiculous your accusation of extreme right wing views in connection with the Holocaust, Israel Shamir being a Jewish Israeli [originally from Russia], who has migrated to Israel in the 60's
His residence is by the way not Sweden, but Tel Aviv

III

Holocaust denial

Your connection between holocaust denial and extreme right wing views is not in all cases right
You should make a distinction between holocaust denial, stemming from anti-semtism, which is mostly defended by anti-semitic writers

However there is a group [to which Israel Shamir belongs] , who is critical against the propagandistic misuse of the Holocaust [2]
For example the mosly extreme right wing Israeli politicians [denying the Palestinian human rights], who misuse the horrors of the Holocaust to justify Israeli occupation and warcrimes against the Palestinians [3]

Israel Shamir is right when stating, that Holocaust denial an sich is no crime and that for example the Nakba denial doesn't meet the same indignation [4]

IV

Sources:

I am aware, that your ''sources'' are the Guardian and The Jerusalem Post [5], but it's your journalistic responsibility to check the facts, like in this case the motivation of Shamir regarding his views in general and the Holocaust in particular

V

Resuming:

As editor you and your staff are responsible for incomplete and wrong newscomments, especially with regard to the alleged ''extreme right wing views'' of Shamir
By neglecting his background and descent, the socalled ''Holocaust denial'' is been placed in an anti-semitic light
And moreover you don't mention Shamir's niews [see his website]

So you have violated his right on defense
This is part of a smear campaign against Shamir and Assange [6]

I speak out hope, that you will investigate things better in the future, especially regarding the Holocaust denial, which invokes strong sentiments

Kind regards

Astrid Essed
Amsterdam
The Netherlands

NOTES RELATING TO COMMENT ON RTL NEWS

[1]

ISRAEL SHAMIR, a leading Russian Israeli writer, is a champion of the "One Man, One Vote, One State" solution seeking to unite Palestine & Israel in one democratic state. Shamir's work and that of his contributors speaks to the aspirations of both the Israelis and the Palestinians seeking an end to the bloodshed, true democracy and lasting peace.

Bron:

THE WRITINGS OF ISRAEL SHAMIR, CHAMPIONING DEMOCRACY FOR ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

http://www.israelshamir.net/

[2]

''This site and its editors take no point of view on the subject of holocaust. We neither affirm nor deny any question of fact regarding World War II. However we reject the doomed attempts to create a new pagan religion, a parody of Christianity, from the World-War-II-based narrative. Whatever are our feelings and attitudes towards the holocaust narrative, we fully reject its deification. ''

Source:

NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION
Israel Shamir and Ken Freeland

http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Spanish_inquis...n.htm

[3]

See for Israeli warcrimes

Gaza offensive ''Cast Lead'' dec 2008/jan 2009
ISRAELI ATTACKS ON GAZA/DIRTY WAR AGAINST THE PALESTINIAN CIVILIAN POPULATION

http://chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/85520/ind...x.php

[4]

''In a sane world, Richard Williamson’s denial of Jewish holocaust would mean as little as Deborah Lipstadt’s denial of Dresden’s holocaust. People may deny whatever they will, though it can be annoying. So many Jewish sites deny the Nakba, the Palestinian holocaust of ‘48 or even the much more recent assault on Gaza, and there is no outcry.''

Source:

NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION
Israel Shamir and Ken Freeland

http://www.israelshamir.net/Contributors/Spanish_inquis...n.htm

[5]

IN DUTCH
ORIGINAL NEWS COMMENTARY RTL NEWS INTERNET [SEE FOR TELETEXT ON WHICH I COMMENTED, BELOW]

RTL NIEUWS.NL
ASSANGE HEEFT DUBIEUZE CONTACTEN
10 FEBRUARI 2011

http://www.rtl.nl/(/actueel/rtlnieuws/buitenland/)/components/actueel/rtlnieuws/2011/02_februari/10/buitenland/wikileaks_openleaks_domscheidt_assange.xml

SEE THE GUARDIAN AND THE JERUSALEM POST SOURCES:

ISRAEL SHAMIR/THE GUARDIAN

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/31/wikileaks-h...ables

ISRAEL SHAMIR/THE JERUSALEM POST

http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=199836

[6]

ARREST CASE OF JULIAN ASSANGE/ATTACK ON THE FREEDOM OF PRESS

http://www.phillyimc.org/en/arrest-case-julian-assangea...press

RTL NEWS COMMENT [TELETEXT]
11 FEBRUARY 2011

''ASSANGE HAS DUBIOUS CONTACTS''

Daniel Domscheit-Berg, a yearlong confidant of Wikileaks boss Julian Assange, is now hard hitting him.
Assange should have dubious contacts with an extreme right wing activist from Sweden
Domscheit-Berg was working for Wikileaks untill last year.
He wrote a book about that period
He says, that Wikileaks is surrendered to the whims of Assange
One of the examples, which he blames Assange, are the dubious contacts with an extreme right wing activist from Sweden
It concerns Israel Shamir, who is according to some sources a known denier of the Holocaust

END RTL NEWSCOMMENT TELETEXT