ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA
NEWS RELEASE
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ZOA to MSNBC: Fire Ayman Mohyeldin for Using Coronavirus to Falsely Malign Israel |
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Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein and ZOA Chairman Mark Levenson, Esq. released the following statement:
Throughout the United States and the world, we desperately need to work together, “all hands on deck,” to contain and halt the Coronavirus pandemic. Jews have answered the call: Israeli scientists are at the forefront of vaccine development work. Jewish physicians and nurses are at the front lines in American hospitals, and Jewish aid groups are struggling to bring food to poor and quarantined persons. But despicably, certain parties are using the Coronavirus pandemic to foment hatred against Jews and Israel. MSNBC news anchor and co-host Ayman Mohyelzdin engaged in this odious, inexcusable behavior – and should be fired.
On March 13, 2020, Mohyeldin tweeted a picture of some half-empty shelves in an American grocery store, with the deceptive anti-Israel caption: “The last time I saw a supermarket this empty was in #Gaza (and it wasn’t because of the #Coronavirus) Maybe Americans will now be able to relate to what life under a blockade is like when you can’t find some of the most basic necessities for you family.”
Mohyeldin’s tweet incited numerous hateful anti-Israel comments.
Mohyeldin falsifies the facts. Food and medicines are not blockaded to Gaza by Israel! Thousands of Hamas and PIJ rockets targeting and wounding Israeli civilians necessitate the weapons blockade on Gaza. Moreover, Israel ships truckloads of food, medical items and equipment into Gaza. See, e.g., “Aid trucks roll into Gaza from Israel” (AP - YouTube). As this video showed, 360 trucks from Israel delivered food and medicine into Gaza in just 5 days – despite continuing Hamas rocket attacks. The video also explained that the Gazan food warehouses were full.
In response to Mohyeldin’s false tweet, @Imshin posted recent videos of Gazan youngsters’ 2019 shopping sprees throughout Gaza City’s “Meat City” supermarket and unnamed Gazan supermarkets. See, e.g., here and here and here and here. The Gazan supermarkets are obviously brimming with food and other goods on every shelf and in every corner. As @Imshin pointed out, Mohyeldin is lying.
Mohyeldin’s recent despicable use of the Coronavirus also continues his longstanding pattern of falsely maligning Israel.
And in 2014, Mohyeldin repeatedly maligned Israel regarding an Israeli airstrike that accidentally killed four Gazan youngsters. Mohyeldin stated that the youngsters were merely playing on the beach, and were near foreign hotels minutes before the strike –falsely implying that Israel was targeting youngsters in civilian areas.
In fact, video footage and a thorough investigation demonstrated that the youngsters were tragically mistaken for Hamas operatives, because they were running into a shed in “an area that had long been known as a compound belonging to Hamas's Naval Police and Naval Force (including naval commandos), and which was utilized exclusively by militants. The compound [was] . . . closed off by a fence and clearly separated from the beach serving the civilian population.” Moreover, “a container located inside the compound [] was used to store military supplies,” and “Shortly before the incident, an intelligence assessment . . . indicated that operatives from Hamas's Naval Forces would gather in the military compound in order to prepare for military activity against the IDF.”
ZOA President Morton Klein stated: “In this era when we all need to work together; MSNBC must fire Mohyeldin for using the Coronavirus to continue purveying antisemitic anti-Israel propaganda.”
Click here to view the News Release on our website.
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About the ZOA
Founded in 1897, ZOA played a key role in the Jewish State's re-establishment. Today, ZOA is the leading major American Jewish organization courageously defending Israel and the Jewish people; fighting against all forms of antisemitism, including anti-Jewish boycotts; and promoting the Jewish people's lawful right to live in and settle historic Jewish lands. ZOA exposes that a Palestinian state would endanger Israel's existence; presents the facts about the Arab/Islamic war against Israel; and combats the anti-Israel lie that Israel is an "occupier" of her own land. ZOA spearheaded long battles to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and apply civil rights protections to Jewish students. ZOA provides free legal assistance and programs to pro-Israel students at numerous college campuses. ZOA's bold, unapologetic voice has a significant impact on public discourse and policy.
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