Alleged Ya'alon quotation

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The alleged Ya’alon quotation is a sentence widely cited as having come from an August 30, 2002 Haaretz interview with the Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon which has been shown to be a fabrication.

The fraudulent quotation

"The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people."


Media usage

The disputed quotation was published by a number of media outlets and websites in the Muslim world and elsewhere in conjunction with anti-Israel commentary, including an op-ed by Arnaud de Borchgrave, [1] by Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi in his book Resurrecting Empire: Western Footprints and America's Perilous Path in the Middle East[2] and in a New York Times op-ed, [3] an op-ed by Ali Abunimah, in The Electronic Intifada [4] a book by Saree Makdisi [5] an op-ed in The American Conservative by Daniel McCarthy, [6] and elsewhere.

Called a fabrication

According to the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), the quote is a fabrication. The cited interview with Ya’alon does not contain the alleged Ya’alon quotation, rather, it “reverses” the sense of Ya’alon’s statement, which was that terrorism will not make Israelis into a defeated people. [7] Jason Maoz, editor of the Jewish Press, writing on the web site of Commentary Magazine, brings further evidence that Ya’alon never uttered these words.[8]

See also


References

  1. ^ "Road Map or Road Rage?" Arnaud de Borchgrave, Washington Times, May 28, 2003, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2003/may/27/20030527-100900-6910r/
  2. ^ Resurrecting Empire: Western Footprints and America's Perilous Path in the Middle East, Rashid Khalidi, Beacon Press, 2005, p. 148
  3. ^ January 8, 2009, Rikki Hollander and Alex Safian, PhD, Rashid Khalidi Uses Bogus Quote in New York Times Op-Ed [1]
  4. ^ A defeated policy, not a defeated people, Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 7 March 2008 [2]
  5. ^ Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation, By Saree Makdisi Published by W. W. Norton & Company, 2008, p. 90
  6. ^ Henry Regnery, Conservative for Mideast Peace Posted on January 8th, 2009 by Daniel McCarthy [3]
  7. ^ January 8, 2009, Rikki Hollander and Alex Safian, PhD, Rashid Khalidi Uses Bogus Quote in New York Times Op-Ed http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=35&x_article=1587]
  8. ^ What Did Moshe Yaalon Really Say? by Jason Maoz, Commentary Magazine, January 9, 2009 [4]