The Electronic Intifada

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The Electronic Intifada
The Electronic Intifada logo.jpg
Web address http://www.electronicintifada.net/
Type of site Pro-Palestinian
Available language(s) English

The Electronic Intifada (ei) is a not-for-profit, independent online publication which covers the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a Palestinian perspective, "aimed at combating the pro-Israeli, pro-American spin" its editors believe exists in mainstream media accounts.[1].

Contents

History [edit]

EI was founded[2] by Ali Abunimah, an American citizen of Palestinian descent, and a lecturer and a researcher in social policy at the University of Chicago; Arjan El Fassed, human rights activist based in the Netherlands; Laurie King, an anthropologist and former coordinator of the International Campaign for Justice for the Victims of Sabra and Shatila (the Palestinian camps in Lebanon where Christian militias massacred Palestinians in 1982) and the managing editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies in Washington; and Nigel Parry, currently an eclectic Internet consultant, writer and musician based in Pittsburgh.[3]

According to their website, Electronic Intifada is mainly funded by its readers with additional funds provided by private foundations. It does not receive funds from any governments or political parties. In 2010 it received $130,000 in donations from individuals and $83,000 from private foundations.[4]

Reception [edit]

Hannah Brown of The Jerusalem Post calls EI "one of the most elaborate" sites of those that give a "Palestinian perspective of the news", going on to describe EI as "very professional, user-friendly and well written," and added that it "is adorned by photos, such as a picture of a lone, small Palestinian boy aiming a stone at an Israeli tank."[1]

Gil Sedan, a Jewish Telegraphic Agency reporter, described EI as a "cyberpropaganda" site which "may contribute to a better understanding of the Palestinian cause," but also said that it "is too biased to be of much use to mainstream publications."[5]

Political journalist and editor of the generally left-wing magazine CounterPunch Alexander Cockburn stated "there are a number of excellent news outlets for those who want unjaundiced reporting.... The Electronic Intifada...is trusted."[6]

Gerald M. Steinberg, head of the pro-Israel NGO Monitor, described Electronic Intifada as "an explicitly pro-Palestinian political and ideological Web site".[7] that hosts "anti-Israel propaganda."[8]

NRC Handelsblad, a Dutch major mainstream newspaper, recommended The Electronic Intifada to its readers in 2006 at the height of the war on Lebanon. NRC wrote, "The Electronic Intifada (EI), a news site in English, reports from a Palestinian perspective, but as impartial as possible. EI is often faster than the established media."[9]

ICCO financial support [edit]

NGO Monitor criticized the Dutch Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO) for providng financial support to Electronic Intifada which NGO Monitor accused of being antisemitic and frequently comparing "Israeli policies with those of the Nazi regime."[10] Marinus Verweij, chairman of ICCO’s executive board said "The EI reports frequently about the violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by the State of Israel. In no way is the EI anti-Israel or anti-Semitic."[10] He described Electronic Intifada as "an important source of information from the occupied Palestinian territories" frequently used by newspapers such as The Washington Post and the Financial Times.[10] Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman Ward Bezemer stated that whether ICCO had promoted anti-semitism, a criminal offence, is to be determined by the Public Prosecutor on the basis of Dutch law. On November 26, 2010 Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal who is Jewish and has an Israeli wife, said "I will look into the matter personally. If it appears that the government subsidized NGO ICCO does fund Electronic Intifada, it will have a serious problem with me."[10] Rosenthal later told IKON radio that "anti-semitism is not the issue" but "my concern about calls to contribute to boycotts and embargoes".[11]

The Electronic Intifada responded to NGO Monitor's statements regarding ICCO's financial support. The Electronic Intifada wrote: "NGO Monitor is an extreme right-wing group with close ties to the Israeli government, military, West Bank settlers, a man convicted of misleading the US Congress, and to notoriously Islamophobic individuals and organizations in the United States."[12]

EI co-founder MP Arjan El-Fassed, who also wrote for the website Al-Awda, told major Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant that the fuss created by NGO Monitor was related to one quote from an interview with the Jewish Holocaust survivor and anti-Zionist Hajo Meyer in June 2009. Meyer told EI: 'I can write up an endless list of similarities between Nazi Germany and Israel.'[13]

In the same article, the Director of the Centre for Information and Documentation Israel (CIDI), Ronnie Naftaniel, asserted that The Electronic Intifada is not an anti-Semitic website. He did, however, state that, while everybody should be free to express their opinion, the Dutch government should not indirectly fund a website that regularly calls for a boycott of Israel.[14]

On January 14, 2011, ICCO decided not change its policy even after a discussion held with the Dutch foreign minister.[15] In response to ICCO's decision, the Jerusalem Post reports that Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal “will monitor ICCO’s activities. He will consider this as a minus when he makes up the balance when ICCO applies again in new a subsidies-round,” said Ward Bezemer, a spokesman for Rosenthal."[16]

Partos, a national umbrella for more than a hundred Dutch civil society organizations in the international development cooperation sector, strongly condemned Rosenthal's threats to ICCO's funding. "Rosenthal's position vis-à-vis ICCO creates a dangerous precedent for the future. Development organisation will have to continue to fight for an independent voice in the debate. Partos will, as branch representative, stand tall for that."[17]

In April 2011, Professor of International Cooperation Studies Paul Hoebink argued that Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal has no say in Dutch government funding to ICCO because Minister Ben Knapen holds the portfolio. In addition, ICCO's contribution to The Electronic Intifada is paid with ICCO's own funds. Professor of International Law Nico Schrijver considers Rosenthal's threat to cut government funding if ICCO continues its financial support to The Electronic Intifada as a very worrying muzzling."[18]

CAMERA and Wikipedia [edit]

In an April 2008 article on Electronic Intifada, e-mails sent between Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) members were published.[19] The stated purpose of the group was "help[ing] us keep Israel-related entries on Wikipedia from becoming tainted by anti-Israel editors".[20][19][21] Five Wikipedia editors involved in a CAMERA campaign were sanctioned by Wikipedia administrators, who wrote that the project's open nature "is fundamentally incompatible with the creation of a private group to surreptitiously coordinate editing by ideologically like-minded individuals".[20]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Hannah Brown, "Virtual war", The Jerusalem Post, September 27, 2002
  2. ^ EI FAQ: What is the Electronic Intifada?[dead link]
  3. ^ "About: Electronic Intifada". Middleeast.about.com. 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2012-01-21. 
  4. ^ pays for The Electronic Intifada? "About The Electronic Intifada - Who pays for The Electronic Intifada?". The Electronic Intifada. 
  5. ^ Gil Sedan, "Mideast cease-fire doesn't extend into cyberspace", June 29, 2001
  6. ^ Alexander Cockburn, "Torture Them", The Nation, December 11, 2000
  7. ^ "Human Rights Watch needs watching", Gerald M. Steinberg, The Jewish Week, March 25, 2005
  8. ^ "Ken Roth's blood libel, Jerusalem Post, August 26, 2006
  9. ^ "e-Intifada :: archief nrc.nl". Vorige.nrc.nl. 2006-07-25. Retrieved 2012-01-21. 
  10. ^ a b c d "Dutch will look into NGO funding of anti-Semitic website" (in The Jerusalem Post). 2010-11-26. Retrieved 25 January 2011. 
  11. ^ "Rel rond Israël, IKON RTV, De Andere Wereld". Ikonrtv.nl. Retrieved 2012-01-21. 
  12. ^ "Why NGO Monitor is attacking". The Electronic Intifada. 2010-11-30. Retrieved 2012-01-21. 
  13. ^ "Auschwitz survivor: "I can identify with Palestinian youth"". The Electronic Intifada. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2012-01-21. 
  14. ^ Van onze verslaggeefster Laura de Jong. "'Ophef rond The Electronic Intifada over één citaat' - Israëlisch-Palestijns conflict - VK" (in (Dutch)). Volkskrant.nl. Retrieved 2012-01-21. 
  15. ^ "ICCO will not change policy after discussion with Dutch foreign minister". Icco.nl. 2011-01-14. Retrieved 2012-01-21. 
  16. ^ Mcquaid, Elwood (2011-01-22). "Dutch FM mulls slashing funding for anti-Israel charity". Jpost.com. Retrieved 2012-01-21. 
  17. ^ "Partos: A free society needs a free civil society (translation of "Vrije samenleving heeft vrij maatschappelijk middenveld nodig")". Partos.nl. Retrieved 2012-01-21. 
  18. ^ "Minister Rosenthal heeft geen poot om op te staan". Viceversaonline.nl. 2011-04-07. Retrieved 2012-02-03. 
  19. ^ a b "EI exclusive: a pro-Israel group's plan to rewrite history on Wikipedia". Electronic Intifada. Retrieved 27 June 2010. 
  20. ^ a b Beam, Alex (2008-05-03). "War of the virtual Wiki-worlds". The Boston Globe. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on 2009-02-01. Retrieved 2008-05-04. "In what was probably not a very smart idea, Gilead Ini, a senior research analyst for CAMERA, put out an e-mail call for 10 volunteers "to help us keep Israel-related entries on Wikipedia from becoming tainted by anti-Israel editors." [...] More than 50 sympathizers answered the call, and Ini put his campaign into motion.
    In follow-up e-mails to his recruits, Ini emphasized the secrecy of the campaign: "There is no need to advertise the fact that we have these group discussions," he wrote. "Anti-Israel editors will seize on anything to try to discredit people who attempt to challenge their problematic assertions, and will be all too happy to pretend, and announce, that a 'Zionist' cabal . . . is trying to hijack Wikipedia."
    [...] Someone leaked four weeks' worth of communications from within Ini's organization, and the quotes weren't pretty. Describing the Wiki-campaign, a member of Ini's corps writes: "We will go to war after we have built an army, equiped [sic] it, trained." There is also some back-and-forth about the need to become Wikipedia administrators, to better influence the encyclopedia's articles."     
  21. ^ Damien, McElroy. "Israeli battles rage on Wikipedia" The Telegraph, May 07, 2008

External links [edit]

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