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Anna Baltzer

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Anna Baltzer
Baltzer at Columbia University, New York, 2008
NationalityUnited States
EducationMathematics/Economics
Alma materColumbia University
OccupationPublic Speaker
Known forpro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activism
Websitehttp://www.annainthemiddleeast.com/

Anna Baltzer (also known as Anna Piller[1]) is a American pro-Palestinian activist, author, and public speaker, known for taking positions counter to the Israeli government regarding the Palestinian territories, including the Israeli West Bank barrier and checkpoints.

Overview

After graduating from Columbia, Baltzer claims that she traveled to the Middle East in 2003 on a Fulbright grant to teach English in Ankara, Turkey.[2] Since then, she has traveled to the West Bank as a volunteer for the International Women's Peace Service to as she describes, document human rights abuses and support nonviolent resistance. Her publications have documented eight months of human conditions while on assignment in the West Bank for the International Women’s Peace Service.[3]

Since the summer of 2005, she has been touring around the United States and abroad with a presentation and has written a book (Witness in Palestine) describing her personal experiences, observations, and photographs from eight months of documenting what she described as human rights violations in the West Bank. Noam Chomsky’s review of Baltzer's book states, "Even those who are familiar with the grim reality of the occupied territories will quickly be drawn into a world they had barely imagined by these vivid, searingly honest, intensely acute portrayals”,[4] while Tanya Reinhart author of "Roadmap to Nowhere" call it "Moving and vivid.”[citation needed] Mark Chmiel, teacher at St. Louis University and Webster University and author of "Elie Wiesel and the Politics of Moral Leadership",[5] has also written about Baltzer's book.[6]

On October 28, 2009, Baltzer was a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, along side Mustafa Barghouti.[7]

Political activism

Baltzer's activism centers around nonviolent protests, as well as providing documented information to those interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the purpose of education and encouraging dialogue towards taking action on the issues. She claims that critical information doesn't show up in the United States mainstream media.[8] According to Balter's own account, wthe she first went to Israel on a free birthright trip in January 2000, where she saw "a beautiful picture of Israel" but nothing of what was happening to the Palestinians. "A Jewish student-life coordinator at Hillel, called the SJP event very well organized and well attended. It seemed very non-threatening and very non-violent. (Speaker) Baltzer made an extra special point that just because she was anti-Israeli policy, it doesn’t mean she is anti-Jewish." Strangely, The Gatestone Institute alleges that, amongst other things, she is not Jewish, she was not a Fulbright Scholar (as she claims), and that there is no evidence that she ever went on a Birthright trip, so she would be advised to provide proof of all of these things. an[9]

Criticism

Baltzer has been criticized by Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), a pro-Israel media watchdog group,[10][11][12][13] which described her as "Chomsky Lite" and condemned Baltzer's "baseless distortion" of "Zionism as a racist movement".[14] She has been accused "wilful ignoring of facts which mitigate against her position" and writing in an inaccurate "one-sided, inaccurate, politicised, and inflammatory" manner. Her expertise on issues have also been questioned.[15] Steven Stotsky writing in the New Jersey Jewish Standard described her message as rehashed accusations against Israel made by Palestinian speakers, and involving absurd claims. He accused her of sanitising the stated Arab intention to eliminate Israel. She reportedly published on her blog for months a false story accusing Israeli soldiers of shooting several Palestinian children before eventually removing it. Baltzer added that while the story, purportedly circulated by a colleague, emerged as false, “I don’t think it’s hateful to hold a nation accountable for targeting civilians.”[16]

She has also been accused of fraud by claiming to have witnessed an incident in which a Palestinian woman was refused emergency entry into Israel for medical care when in fact she later admitted that she had heard of the incident second hand, from a Palestinian propagandist, and could not provide details such as the name of the woman, the date, or the name of the checkpoint.[17]

In another instance, it is alleged that Baltzer falsely claimed that she is a Fulbright scholar, a descendant of Holocaust survivors, and a Birthright participant. “Anna Baltzer seems to be neither a Fulbright scholar, not a descendant of Holocaust survivors nor an alumna of the Birthright program. She appears to be just a fraud and a fabulist."[18]

Further reading

  • Witness in Palestine: A Jewish American Woman in the Occupied Territories (Updated & revised ed.), Anna Baltzer, Paradigm Publishers, 2007, paperback, 400 pp.[19]
  • "Life in Occupied Palestine: Eyewitness Stories & Photos", Matt Quinn (journalist for Citizens for Justice in the Middle East) on Anna Baltzer.[20]

Notes

  1. ^ "Author shares stories of Palestine". Independent Collegian. 16 August 2006.
  2. ^ "Peacemaking Workshop explores Mideast conflict". Journalstar.com. 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2010-04-09.
  3. ^ Lawrence Davidson (2007-10-10). "Caliber - Journal of Palestine Studies - 36(4):112 - Citation". Caliber.ucpress.net. Retrieved 2010-04-09.
  4. ^ http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/ChomskybookreviewonBaltzer.JPG
  5. ^ http://www.ctsastl.org/site/mission.php
  6. ^ "Caliber - Journal of Palestine Studies - 36(4):i - Citation". Caliber.ucpress.net. 2007-10-10. Retrieved 2010-04-09.
  7. ^ "Video: Exclusive - Anna Baltzer & Mustafa Barghouti Extended Interview Pt. 1 | The Daily Show | Comedy Central". The Daily Show. 2009-10-28. Archived from the original on 9 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ By Michael Nuñez. "Speaker addresses Palestinian-Israeli conflict". Columbia Missourian. Retrieved 2010-04-09.
  9. ^ "> Archives > News > Local > Pro-palestinian group at Case hosts 1st event". Cleveland Jewish News. 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2010-04-09.
  10. ^ Manfred Gerstenfeld and Ben Green. Watching the Pro-Israeli Media Watchers. Jewish Political Studies Review. 16:3-4 (Fall 2004).
  11. ^ "Murdoch, Son Differ Sharply Over Israel". Newsmax.com. 2007-07-25. Retrieved 2010-04-09.
  12. ^ Lando, Michal (2007-11-04). "Israel critique on campus". Jerusalem: Jerusalem Post.
  13. ^ Rob Eshman (2008-01-25). "Butt out". Los Angeles: Jewish Journal.
  14. ^ Stotsky, Steven. "Chomsky Lite: Anna Baltzer Joins anti-Israel Campaigns". Camera.org. Retrieved 2010-04-09.
  15. ^ "Anna Who?". JWire. October 27, 2010. Retrieved March 27, 2012.
  16. ^ "Anna Baltzer, Jewish defamer of Israel". The Jewish Standard. 4 February 2010. Retrieved March 27, 2012.
  17. ^ "Exposing the Palestinians' Anna Baltzer". Gatestone Institute. January 29, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  18. ^ "Will Oxford Endorse Fraudulent Identity of Israel Detractor?". Retrieved 2013-01-30. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ Witness in Palestine: journal of a ... - Google Books. Books.google.com. 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2010-04-09.
  20. ^ admin (2009-08-31). "Life in Occupied Palestine: Eyewitness Stories and Photos (2005)". CJME. Archived from the original on 26 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

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