NIF Staffer Accuses Israel Of State Terrorism

Ben Murane, the New York based “New Generations and Development Associate” for the controversial New Israel Fund, has accused Israel of state terrorism, according to a report from the Jewish Internet Defense Force (JIDF), a nationalist organization that monitors social media for anti-Semitism and terrorist activity.

In a posting on the organization’s website, the JIDF quoted Murane, who goes by the handle kungfujew18, as saying that Israel is responsible for civilian deaths when Hamas uses non-combatants as human shields.

“When civilians die, Israel is just at fault as Hamas,” wrote Murane. “Israel chose to accept civilian deaths as collateral. Worse, Israel is counting on civilian suffering to loosen the power of Hamas.”

The New Israel Fund staffer accused Israel of “stooping to terrorism” in its fight against Hamas.

According to a recent report by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (Malam), an Israeli think-tank, Hamas terrorists used “groups of children as cover to escape from combat areas” as well as placing women holding children alongside weapons being transported in order to deter Israeli forces from firing.

When some Gazans objected to these practices “Hamas operatives responded…with violence, on occasion even shooting the protestors.”

Israeli forces operating in Gaza dropped flyers from aircraft warning local civilians of impending airstrikes and Arabic speaking IDF personnel made thousands of phone calls informing non-combatants that their areas were being targeted.

Murane amended his controversial blog posting after being contacted by the JIDF regarding his “stooping to terrorism” comment.

“This post had one sentence struck due to its ease in misrepresenting me and my opinions,” explained Murane. “I aim to speak my mind, but not provide slander for others to claim that I put the IDF and Hamas on equal footing. That is not my opinion and never in anything I said have I done so.”

Murane’s statements echo the claims of the Goldstone Commission Report that called Israel to task for alleged war crimes during IDF Gaza operation Cast Lead in 2009. According to accusations by the Israeli Zionist student organization Im Tirzu, the New Israel Fund played a key role in shaping the conclusions of the report through testimony given by its Israeli-Arab and left wing grantees.

The JIDF also criticized Murane for claiming that “Spreading belief in a ‘global jihad’ is the same as spreading belief in the Elders of Zion,” a Czarist forgery that accused a secretive cabal of Jewish elders of plotting to take over the world.

http://www.thejidf.org/2010/04/nif-staffer-accuses-israel-of-state.html