Update: Comic Relief Responds to my complaint about its funding of "War on Jews"

Last week I posted this story about Comic Relief's continued funding of the anti-Israel organisation War on Want (I now know it is giving £685,131 to ongoing War on Want 'projects'). After following up with a formal complaint to the Charities Commission I finally got a response today from Comic Relief (below, along with my response). In looking carefully at all the projects Comic Relief funds it becomes very obvious that, in total contrast to the TV image it presents to the unknowing British public, almost all the money raised actually goes to political activists under the guise of 'social justice' (a euphemism for communism). And remember that, apart from War of Want, the current main recipients of Comic Relief funding are also organisations that spend enormous amounts of money on anti-Israel political campaigns (namely Oxfam, Save the Children and Christian Aid).  Comic Relief is an enormous scam that is deceiving decent hard working people (especially kids) into giving money for campaigns designed and implemented by extreme leftist political activists - campaigns that are providing no discernible benefits to the 'starving Africans'.

Dear Edgar,

Thank you for your email. I can only reiterate our correspondence with you last year confirming that Comic Relief is not involved with War on Want’s campaigning work in this area and has never made a grant to or relating to Palestine or Israel.

Comic Relief currently has two grants with War on Want as part of our People Living in Urban Slums programme; one grant in South Africa and the other in Zambia. The most recent of these was made in 2011. These grants were made to support slum dwellers and street vendors by helping them get their voices heard, secure lasting improvements in their working and living conditions, and avoid exploitation. We closely monitor all our grants to ensure the money is spent to good effect on the work outlined in the grant application. As our grant-making policies state, we do not fund campaigning work that takes a partisan political stance.

Contrary to your email, our website does provide information about our grants for these projects. You will find the information in the same place we publish information about all the grants we make: http://www.comicrelief.com/how-we-help. You will find the two projects mentioned above by searching for projects in Zambia or South Africa. Our International Grants Strategy from 2013 confirms the focus of our grant-making is mainly for projects in Africa,which, as explained above, includes the grants to War on Want.

We have clear terms and conditions for all grantees that any grant must be spent on the project costs as outlined in their applications. We have robust monitoring and reporting systems in place to review project progress and expenditure, and undertake audits on projects if we have any concerns. We are satisfied that our funding has not been used to support War on Want’s wider work.

We hope this provides the information you needed.

With best wishes,

Julia Rose
Grants Operations Team

*Comic Relief*
1st Floor, 89 Albert Embankment
London
SE1 7TP
Switchboard: 020 7820 2000
Fax: 020 7820 2222
Website: _www.comicrelief.com_

Here is my response:

Dear Julia

Thank you for your response.

With some difficulty I did indeed manage to search and find the grants you gave to War on Want:

• £326,187 for a project in Zambia "helping to build the confidence of informal street vendors to negotiate with local authorities to improve their working condition".
• £358,944 for a project in South Africa that "helps grassroots slum dwellers' organisations by training community activists and slum dwellers on their legal rights. "

Both of these sound like an enormous amount of money for what is essentially political activism with ill-defined outcomes. Apart from the fact that those grants do not seem consistent with your statement that you "do not fund campaigning work that takes a partisan political stance" are you able to provide explicit information about what the benefits of those projects have been and if the money was well spent? Given the very large sums involved (for projects that could be completed for a faction of the cost), how can you possibly know that War on Want did not use that money to subsidize its political campaign to deligitimize the Jewish State of Israel. Its campaign against Israel has been almost the ONLY activity War on Want has undertaken in the last 5 years (as proven by the material I have previously provided). Every one of their employees spends almost 100% of their time on the campaign against Israel and it is therefore impossible that your money does not contribute to this.

While I am happy to know that the most recent grant to War on Want was made in 2011,  can you at least confirm that this will be the last you will ever make to this organisation?

Yours

Edgar Davidson

See also: Anti-Israel Charities

(Updated) BBC lies on behalf of the Palestinian Authority after it is convicted of involvement in 6 terrorist attacks

UPDATED 25/2/2015 (see below for the response I received from the BBC to my formal complaint)

The jury in a New York court today found the Palestinian Authority and PLO guilty of direct involvement in six acts of terrorism in Israel that killed American citizens in each case (as well as hundreds of Israelis killed and wounded). The evidence was overwhelming, with documentary proof that the terrorists were paid by the Palestinian Authority before and after the attacks. In many cases the terrorists were members of the Palestine Authority security services and police.

Yet, in its reporting of the verdict, the BBC website has removed all reference to terrorism and therefore not only redefines American law, but is factually incorrect.  The report is in clear breach of the BBC guidelines - being demonstrably inaccurate and misleading since the verdict it describes is not the actual verdict in the case.

To make matters worse the report is nothing more than an appeal on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. Normally when someone is convicted of terrorism you would expect detailed reporting of the attacks and the victims (see Daniel Greenfield's report for examples of some of the victims' harrowing testimonies). But instead of reporting the evidence that led the jury to its conclusions, the report simply accepts the Palestinian statement of innocence, and presents the story as a kind of obvious miscarriage of justice, even including the bizarre and irrelevant quote "The Israeli government has denied any official involvement in the lawsuit." as if to prove their case.

Compare, in particular, the different use of words to describe the two sides claims. Whereas the report says the PLO

described the charges as "baseless" 

when it comes to the victims' families it says they

allege that internal documents show ...

The report also fails to mention that the Palestinian Authority's claims of innocence are completely compromised by the fact that they continue to pay convicted terrorists - with higher salaries for the more Jews they killed - and treat them as heroes/martyrs.

I have submitted a formal complaint to the BBC.

The only thing I will say in favour of the BBC is that it did actually report this important story (albeit being hidden away in its 'world news' section). The story has been completely ignored by all other main stream news media.

Here is the full text of the BBC report:

Palestinian groups face $218m Israel attacks fine in US

A US court in New York has found the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority liable for attacks in Israel over 10 years ago.

Six attacks in and around Jerusalem killed 33 people and wounded hundreds more during the second Palestinian intifada between 2002 and 2004. 

The jury awarded victims of the attacks more than $218m.
The Palestinian groups expressed dismay at the court's decision and vowed they would appeal.
As some of the victims were American citizens, the lawsuit was filed in a US court.
After deliberating for a day, jurors ruled in favour of 10 American families who were seeking damages related to the six attacks.

The Israeli government has denied any official involvement in the lawsuit.

The Palestinian groups have said they will appeal against the ruling. A joint statement by the PLO and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) described the charges as "baseless" and said they were disappointed by the ruling.

The victims' families allege that internal documents show the attacks were approved by the Palestinian authorities. "Those involved in the attacks still receive salaries from the Palestinian Authority and still get promoted in rank while in jail," said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of the Israel-based Shurat HaDin Law Center, a lawyer who is representing the victims' families.

But defence lawyer Mark Rochon told jurors that the PA and PLO did not have knowledge of the attacks before they took place. And he said the organisations could not be held liable for the actions of suicide bombers and gunmen, whom he argued acted alone.
The victims had requested more than $350m. The US Anti-Terrorism Act could yet allow for the fine to be tripled.

Update: How the Media is Trying to Deny Justice to the American Victims of PLO Terrorism  

25/2/2015 UPDATE. BBC Response to my complaint:

Dear Mr Davidson

Reference CAS-3167142-LK0VYB

Thanks for contacting us regarding the BBC News website.

I understand you believe a report titled ‘Palestinian groups face $218m Israel attacks fine in US’ omitted references to terror and therefore misled readers.

Having looked at the report, it offered a brief overview of the case with a response from the Palestinian groups however I can’t agree that this was misleading. The BBC doesn’t take any particular stance on any matter when reporting the news as the BBC is impartial. The report states “The US Anti-Terrorism Act could yet allow for the fine to be tripled” and details that the attacks killed 33 people and wounded hundreds more. Offering a statement from the PLO also does not constitute as an appeal on behalf of them.

Please note that we can cover a lot more information across our network, including television and radio, and one report doesn’t reflect all of our coverage.
Nevertheless, we value your feedback in that you feel there should’ve been more references to ‘terror’ in the article for a more accurate account of the case. All complaints are sent to senior management and news teams every morning and I included your points in this overnight report.
 
These reports are among the most widely read sources of feedback in the BBC and ensures that your complaint has been seen by the right people quickly. This helps inform their decisions about current and future programmes.
 
Once again, thank you for contacting us.

Kind regards
Philip Young BBC Complaints

Exclusive: Obama's new security measures to combat ISIS and international terrorism

Following his speech last week declaring that ISIS and Islamic terrorism had nothing to do with Islam and that it was impossible for Muslims to be terrorists as it was forbidden by the holy Koran, President Obama has issued new guidelines to Homeland Security to combat ISIS and international terrorism. In a statement at the White House the President announced

Since 2012 I already made it illegal for the FBI and state authorities to profile Muslims as potential terrorists, as this was clearly racist and counter-productive. Now that we know it is actually impossible for Muslims to be terrorists we are taking the next logical step and making it mandatory to profile all non-Muslims. In short anybody who is clearly non-Muslim must be regarded as a potential terrorist since 100% of all acts of terrorism are, by definition, committed by non-Muslims. 

Later, in a White House Press Briefing an ignorant and obviously racist Fox News reporter asked  the brilliant White House foreign affairs spokesman Mari Harf how the new policy could be justified when 285,637 of the last 285,638 terrorist attacks had been carried out by Muslims in the name Allah. With characteristic incisive brilliance. Harf responded:

 Those  attacks were not only clearly un-Islamic, but the real victims were the attackers, who only became un-Islamic terrorists as a result of  US and EU tax payers failing to provide them with decent job opportunities.

The White House's other talented and brilliant spokesmen Jen Psaki provided further clarification when she later said:

Several thousand of those un-Islamic attacks were completely random attacks whose victims - other than the un-Islamic attackers - just so happened to involve people whose religion was of a type that we cannot mention in case it offends Muslims. All we can say is that the religion in question is associated with the State of Israel, which by refusing to relinquish its territory to the peaceful Palestinians of Hamas clearly brought this on themselves. Hence these cannot even be classified as terrorist attacks at all.

*Satire -  but not really much different to what Obama, Harf and Psaki have actually said in the last two weeks.

See also:
Obama slams Winston Churchill as root of all today's problems
Obama: Nazis were not Nazis and were no worse than the Jews who slaughtered Amalekites
Obama to renew ties with Nazi Germany
Obama has Israel's back
Dramatic new announcement by Obama
Obama dispenses with Israel
If World War 2 had been conducted like this

Spot the difference: ISIS child fighters and Hamas child fighters

Every main stream media outlet is covering - in outraged terms -  the story today that ISIS is training children to be fighters. Yet, the fact that Hamas openly and proudly trains 50,000 children every year to be terrorists (funded by Western donations) has never once raised the interest of a single main stream media outlet.

See also:

• Reporting attacks against ISIS and against Hamas
• Where are the Allies v Iraqi 'number of deaths' scorecards?
• Rules and Guidelines for reporting on the Middle East

What is the Board of Deputies doing to combat Israel Apatheid week?

Update (25 Feb 2015): 7 days later the Board of Deputies has still not acknowledged the letter below.

Below is a copy of a letter a friend has just sent to the Board of Deputies. It will be interesting to see if they reply (they have never once replied to anything I have ever sent them).

Dear Board of Deputies

As I am sure you are aware British Universities are about to embark on " Israel Apartheid" week - the annual, thinly disguised anti-semitic hatefest of lies and propaganda. Although this event is sponsored by extremist organisations that seek the total destruction of the Jewish State, and although every one of their lies can be easily challenged, the lack of any organised response by the 'Jewish Community' has allowed this event to become mainstream and credible. In the current climate in which anti-Israel activism is so clearly a cover for violent anti-semitism, it surely about time that stopped.

My daughter studies at XXXXXX University and feels extremely intimidated and threatened by this event having been through it once before.

I would like to know what the Board is doing to help Jewish students on campus at this difficult time. Is it distributing leaflets and other material to challenge the most common lies about Israel 'apartheid'? There are many such easily available resources that could be used such as these
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.co.uk/p/eoz-posters-for-apartheid-week.html.
Is it sponsoring Israel stands and speakers to directly challenge the lies and propaganda?

These kinds of modest activities would surely cost the Board significantly less than it recently spent taking a number of Imams on a trip to Paris, and it would also be more consistent with the Board's stated primary objective "to protect Jewish communal interests".

The last paragraph refers to the event described in this posting.

See also:

• Responding to the "Israel apartheid state lie"  
• Board of Deputies spends three times as much on pandering to radical Islam as it does on combating anti-Semitism   

Comic Relief funding War on Jews: update

Following my previous posting, since I had received no acknowledgement to my letter of complaint to Comic Relief, I have submitted a formal complaint to the Charities Commission. The submitted form is below ('coincidentally' one hour after submitting the complaint I finally got an acknowledgement - but not a response - from Comic Relief to my earlier letter). I encourage others to submit a complaint using this web form.

Raising concerns about a charity

Submitted:
19/02/2015 10:58:01

Charity name
Comic Relief

Identify which of the below best represents the concerns that you wish to report

Serious non-compliance in a charity that damages or has the potential to damage its reputation and/or the reputation of charities generally


Do you have evidence of this?
Yes

Please provide a summary of the evidence
Comic Relief is covering up its funding of "War on Want", which is an organisation that is almost entirely focused on a political campaign of
incitement to destroy the Jewish State of Israel (see, e.g. http://edgar1981.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/war-on-want-charity-that-is-just-anti.html).
There is no mention of funding War on Want on the Comic Relief website and the Comic Relief International Funding Guide document (which was written in 2013) suggests that their international grants go exclusively to projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet in War on Want's own annual report it states that it received £139,407 in 2013 and £27,790 in 2014 from Comic Relief.

Please set out any additional facts and information about the serious issue that you wish to report
See also: http://edgar1981.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/comic-relief-funds-people-who.html

Details of attempts you have made to get the charity to address this issue. Please provide details of when you reported this issue to the charity and the outcome:
I sent an email letter to Comic Relief on 12 Feb 2015 with the above details but have received no response

Details of any previous correspondence or contact with us:
None

Details of previous correspondence with any other public body about these matters:
None

Is the issue that you wish to report the subject of any legal proceedings or litigation? If so please give details:
No

Your name
Edgar Davidson

Comic Relief funds the people who legitimize the murder of 4-year-old Adelle Biton

Two years ago Adelle Biton (then aged two) miraculously survived a rock attack by Palestinian terrorists which left her with severe neurological damage. She died today after her condition deteriorated rapidly. Adelle is one of many Israeli civilians who have been killed or severely wounded by Palestinian rock attacks in the last few years. These attacks are never reported in the Western media (and, indeed, the overwhelmingly leftist Israeli media also does its best to cover them up) except in the context of them being an example of 'weak Palestinians throwing harmless stones against evil Zionists with guns'.

Organisations like War on Want and the openly terrorist supporting International Solidarity Movement (one of whose founders Atif Choudhury is a member of  War on Want's Council of Management)  regard stone-throwing by Palestinians as legitimate, 'peaceful' acts of resistance. Their relentless campaign to delegitimise Israel also ensures that children like Adelle Biton are dehumanised as "Zionist settlers" deserving of punishment (in fact the ISM mounted a campaign in support of the stone-throwers who attacked Adelle).  They even encourage and brainwash westerners to go to Israel and participate in the harassment of Jews. For example, Kayla Meuller (the American recently murdered by ISIS) was a member of ISM sent to Israel and who was proud to boast of her participation in the stone throwing; the world media called her a 'human rights activist dedicated to world peace'. They say the same about War on Want and the many dozens of other organizations dedicated to the delegitimisation (and ultimate destruction) of the Jewish State.

I have been warning about War on Want for many years. Yesterday the newly formed Jewish Human Rights League protested about the organisation's continued antisemitism  and its recent anti-Israel stunt that involved handing out fake guns to British students.

What many people still do not know is that War on Want receives a lot of its funding from the British Government and the EU. Even more scandalous is that it continues to receive funding from Comic Relief, even though this BBC mega-Charity implies that this should not be possible from its 2013 report (see letter below). No doubt Comic Relief and War on Want would both argue that the money from Comic Relief goes to 'special projects' unrelated to its anti-Israel campaign. However, as reported here, there is very little that War on Want does that is not a political campaign to delegitimise Israel and intimidate its Jewish population. Moreover, it is surely impossible to claim that such money does not in part support the senior full-time funded members of War on Want such as Rafeef Ziadah who the BBC is only too pleased to invite on to spread lies and propaganda against Israel (without informing viewers who she actually is).

The following is a self-explanatory letter I sent last week to Comic Relief.  They are normally fairly fast to respond but they have not this time. When someone asks you to buy a red nose make sure to tell them where to stuff it (especially when you consider the other anti-Israel organisations they fund).

Dear Sir/Madam

War on Want is an organisation that is almost entirely focused on a political campaign to destroy the Jewish State of Israel: 

Unknowing Brits (mostly youngsters) who send in their hard earned cash to Comic Relief thinking it will go directly to help the starving in Africa will surely be astonished if they knew that in fact Comic Relief continues to fund War on Want (£139,407 in 2013 and £27,790 in 2014)**** as stated in War on Want's own annual report. 

Yet it seems Comic Relief is covering up its funding of War on Want. There is no mention of funding War on Want on the Comic Relief website and the Comic Relief International Funding Guide document (which was written in 2013, i.e the same year a very large sum was given to War on Want to support its antisemitic activities) suggests that your international grants go exclusively to projects in sub-Saharan Africa.

I am planning to write a blog article about Comic Relief's support for charities that fund anti-Israel political activity this week, so would be grateful of any update as soon as possible.

Yours

Edgar Davidson

****3 March 2016 update: Comic Relief has provided its biggest grant yet - over £500,000 - to War on Want for a project starting 2016 ending 2020. This was on the Comic Relief website when I checked this morning.

Update: I have made a formal complaint to the Charities Commission now
Update August 2015:Confessions of an ISM member


See also: 

•  Why you should not give a penny to Comic Relief
• Anti-Israel Charities
• Oxfam and Comic Relief funding Palestinian Jew hatred

700 more artists now boycott Israel

* satire, but difficult to distinguish from the actual 'artists' statement below

Along with more than 600 other fellow dead artists, we are announcing today that we will not engage in business-as-usual cultural relations with Israel. We will accept neither professional invitations to Israel, nor funding, from any institutions linked to its government. Although we are all long dead it is perfectly obvious to us that  Israel has inflicted upon the Palestinians the most brutal genocide in the history of the world. The human rights organisations Hamas and Islamic Jihad have sadly confirmed this. The genocide has resulted in the Palestinian population only tripling in size in the last 10 years, with the Israelis having the audacity to continue sending millions of tons of food and medicine into Gaza, along with electricity and gas, even while the Palestinians were expressing their democratic right to fire thousands of harmless missiles into Israeli cities. The Israelis disgracefully detain and treat injured Palestinian resistance fighters in their hospitals, and they have also built horrific security fences to stop Palestinians from carrying out their legitimate right to murder Israeli children on buses. And the merciless Israelis have forced Gazans to live in poverty because the 20 billion dollars of charitable aid given by Western countries in the last 5 years all had to be spent on building desperately needed tunnels from Gaza into Israeli kindergartens, to hide the Palestinians' harmless weapons and suicide bombers.

While these atrocities take place Israeli artists cause pain and humiliation by continuing to paint pictures in occupied Palestinian land such as Tel Aviv and Netanya.  They even do water colours in occupied Haifa and Jerusalem, while in Ashkelon they have been seen to use pastels, and even pen and ink. Now we are saying, NO MORE. If we were not all dead, we would have nothing to do with any of them; we would not paint any pictures, accept awards, attend exhibitions, festivals or conferences, run masterclasses or workshops in any place where there are Jews, until Israel respects international law and ends its colonial oppression of the Palestinians. To see the full list of supporters, go to deadartistsforpalestine.org.uk.

Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sandro Botticelli, Raphael, Toulouse LaTrec, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Salvadore Dali, Gustav Klimt, Paul Cezanne, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Titian, Albrecht Durer, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Francisco de Goya, Camille Pissarro, Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edvard Munch, Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Piet Mondrian, Paul Gauguin......

.

See also: Incredible new boycott announcement from Israel boycotting artists 

Cameron maintains consistent position after Denmark killings

See: Geller and Spencer were banned from the UK because they were 'too pro-Israel'.  

Painting terrorist supporters as human rights angels: the International Solidarity Movement

I have written many times before about the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) - an  organisation dedicated to the total destruction of the Jewish state. Lee Kaplan's under-cover report tells you everything you need to know about ISM, including how they get recruits from students brainwashed by anti-Israel professors and how Israeli left-wing organisations such as B'tselem (funded heavily by EU and US taxpayers) provide material and logistical support to ISM, as well as lie on their behalf. If anybody wants to know why single non-Jewish people entering Israel are often given such a hard-time by security staff, they should read Kaplan's article. These people - and there are an ever increasing number of them - are determined to enter Israel and help destroy the country.

Although the ISM website claims it wishes to achieve its aim to destroy Israel by 'non-violent, direct action' it also says it supports 'every type of Palestinian resistance against the Zionists'. There is overwhelming evidence that the organisation provides direct support for terrorism against Israel (see here, here, here, here for example). Moreover, the organisation played a significant role in the suicide bombing of Mike's Place in Tel Aviv in 2003 by the British terrorists Asif Muhammad Hanif and Omar Khan Sharif. Israel's General Security Service (GSS) reported "The two terrorists were careful to base their presence in Judea and Samaria by forging links with members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) ".

The question I want to know is why brainwashed, terrorist-supporting antisemites who join the ISM and go to Israel are feted in the Western Media as 'peace activists'. The latest example of such a person to be eulogised in the most glowing terms is none other than Kayla Mueller - the latest American hostage to be killed by ISIS. The main stream media - without exception - parroted the family line that ''Kayla has touched the heart of the world... the world grieves with us", while President Obama said "she represents what is best about America". None asked why Kayla was hanging out in Syria (putting the US servicemen who tried to rescue her in mortal danger), and none told us the truth about either her stay in Israel with the ISM or her obsessive antisemitic, anti-Israel  social media activity. Lee Kaplan gives the facts not covered elsewhere and it is hard to disagree with the typically brutal Debbie Schlussel report headlined "Kayla Mueller: Dead ISIS Hostage Was Jew-Hating, Anti-Israel Bitch." As Kaplan concludes:

Instead of continuing to help those who needed it in America, she chose to take the ISM’s revolutionary path and to embrace part of the worldwide jihad and she died for it, tragically. But she was no true altruist. She sought “freedom” working to support fascist groups that provide just the opposite for their people and she paid the ultimate price for that choice.

See also:

• The forgotten Rachels
• Ahava protest and the ISM link

Update: Aussie Dave at the excellent Israellycool website has an article criticising pro-Israel bloggers who have posted about Kayla Mueller's anti-Israel background. While I assume the target of his anger was more the likes of Debbie Schlussel (because of her particularly aggressive stance) rather than me, I did feel the need to post the following comments:

The International Solidarity Movement, of which Kayla was an active member, is an increasingly key player in the movement to deligitimze Israel. It has increased antisemitism around the world and not only made life uncomfortable for Israelis but has played a role in the murder of Israeli civilians. It was because of her involvement with ISM and her trip to Israel (to help ISM's stated goal of destroying the Jewish state) that she went on to Syria. The fact that all of the main stream news media failed to mention any of this is a scandal. There are extremely important questions to be asked and lessons to be learned because it gets right to the heart of the hypocrisy about the world's understanding of Israel and the Middle East. Indeed, if only more people had actually exposed the activities of organisations like ISM then Kayla - instead of being brainwashed by them - woulld still be alive today doing genuine good for humanity. I therefore totally diagree with the suggestion of self-censorship in this case and, personally, am very happy with the story I posted about this

one of the respondents said:

Time and place. I believe that's all he's asking for in his article.

to which I responded:

The time and place is now. Fact 1: Kayla's death is the story. Fact 2: the organisation that placed her in danger is known for its brainwashing of young naive people like Kayla and for its support for anti-Israel terrorism. Putting the two facts together can finally expose ISM in the main stream media and the damage it is doing to impressionable youngsters. Result: 1) people better understand the fanaticism and lies of Israel's opponents and 2) future Kayla's are spared her ordeal. In 4 weeks time nobody will be interested in any of this and ISM will be sending its new set of recruits to stone Israelis and stop their kids going to school. Netanyahu - after offering his condolenses - which he did - should have followed up by making the above points. The Israel haters would have hated him no more than they do already, while others would have learnt something important even if it was not the (false) message they wanted to hear.

Update August 2015:Confessions of an ISM member

Obama slams Winston Churchill as root of all today's problems*

President Obama has followed up on his controversial interview with vox.com by claiming  in  a new interview with suckers.com that all of today's problems were caused by Winston Churchill. Obama said:

Just because a bunch of countries in Europe were randomly overrun by groups of vicious zealots during 1935 to 1939 was no reason at all for Winston Churchill to allow Britain to go to war with the peaceful nation of Germany. Then, when there were 572,896 completely random airplane bombing attacks that affected London for 254 consecutive nights during the so-called blitz, Churchill unwisely tried to blame a single nation.

Had Churchill been a great, mature leader like me he would have investigated each of the bombings as separate crimes and sought to find, arrest and prosecute the individuals responsible for each one.  Instead Churchill, spurred on by the media, blew the whole thing out of all proportion. The fact that millions of folks - from multiple ethnic backgrounds - were randomly killed in gas chambers was a tragic consequence of Churchill's aggressive actions. But far more tragic is the fact that the whole world was diverted from what was already then the only major existential threat: climate change. Had I been the leader of the free world in 1939 not only would there have been no more wars, but we would have ended climate change by devoting all of the world's resources to that, even if meant closing down all industry and transport. 

* satire but not much different to what he said in his actual interview. In fact, in addition to his comments about the random killing of people in a Paris 'deli', Obama really did still refuse to mention Islam in connection with terrorism and he really did say terrorism was not a major threat, whereas climate change was an existential threat. And, in defending Obama's 'random attack statement', his spokesman Jen Psaki not only refused to use the words "Jewish" in respect to the victims (referring instead to 'a particular ethnic minority') but she then blatantly lied in saying that not all of the victims were of that same 'ethnicity'.

See also:

Obama: Nazis were not Nazis and were no worse than the Jews who slaughtered Amalekites
Obama to renew ties with Nazi Germany
Obama has Israel's back
Dramatic new announcement by Obama
Obama dispenses with Israel
If World War 2 had been conducted like this

Just in case you thought there might be some contradictions in what Islamists believe ...

The phenomenum of Arabs saying one thing in English (as in "we are prepared to make peace with Israel") while saying something different in Arabic (as in "we will never rest until we slaughter the last Jew") has been long known (to people who take notice, although the Western Media does everything possible to cover this up). But after 9/11 a slightly different phenomenon has been prevalent among a broad swathe of the Islamic community (just listen to any radio phone-in). Not knowing whether to be embarrassed or proud of the terrorism that is carried out in the name of Islam many Islamists manage to hold completely contradictory views of the same thing. So, for example, while they laud Osama bin Laden as the great Sheikh who brought America to its knees on 9/11,  they will tell you (if you mention Islamic terrorism) that 9/11 was actually a Mossad plot and that bin Laden was a Zionist agent (even while naming their children after him). And what is especially strange is that many believe both viewpoints without even being aware of the contradiction.

So, in the spirit of previous posts (e.g. this one) I have produced a simple chart which clearly shows how rational Islamists really are about politics

What Islamists believe	What Islamists believe
9/11 was carried out by Mossad	9/11 was a great victory for Islam
Osama bin Laden was a Zionist agent	Osama bin Laden was a great Islamic hero
The Holocaust did not happen	Hitler was a great man who punished the Jews
Netanyahu (or any Israeli leader) is an evil tyrant worse than Hitler	Hitler was a great man who punished the Jews
Iran, Hezbollah and Syria are controlled by the Zionists (Sunni Muslims believe this)	Iran, Hezbollah and Syria are the only ones who can confront the Zionists (Shia Muslims believe this)
ISIS and Al Qaeda are controlled by the Zionists (Shia Muslims believe this)	ISIS and Al Qaeda are the only ones who can confront the Zionists (Sunni Muslims believe this)
ISIS (Islamic State) is nothing to do with Islam	ISIS (Islamic State) is restoring Muslim honour
Islam forbids the murder of innocent civilians	There are no innocent civilians in infidel nations
Israel is a weak pathetic country that will self-destruct	Israel is a world super-power which controls every country in the world
The Israeli army is weak	Israel’s army is the strongest in the world and it is dedicated to killing Arab children
Jews are the “sons of apes and pigs” who are the “dregs of society”	Jews control all the world’s finances, media and politicians
We do not recognise Israel. We are Palestinian residents of the Zionist entity (Muslim citizens of Israel say this)	We will never agree to be citizens of a Palestinian state (Muslim citizens of Israel say this)
We love death more than you love life. We yearn to be martyrs	If you dare to kill us we will open up the gates of hell to you
We are not trying to force Sharia law on the West	Refusal to allow Sharia law in the West is a crime against Islam
Palestinians are a distinct people  who must have their own state	There are no Arab states. We are a single body under Sharia Law
The Jews use the Holocaust to gain sympathy for Israel	The real Holocaust is carried out by Israel against the Palestinians
Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance	There can be no peace until Islam dominates the world
Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance	Anyone drawing a cartoon of Mohammed must be beheaded
Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance	All apostates must be killed
Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance	Homosexuals must be killed by throwing them from a high building
Hamas is just a political and social welfare organisation	Glory to Hamas for killing Israeli kids. Glory to Hamas for its rocket arsenal
Obama hates Muslims	Obama is a Muslim

Update: Just after posting this I saw this report

See also:  

• What leftists believe
• Is anti-Zionism the same as antisemitism
• The boycott campaign