Help counter half-truths

Pamphlet urges Jews to take up fight to save Israel.

For the first time in its history, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre has begun a massive nationwide mailing campaign to distribute one million pamphlets to its members, to synagogues, Jewish community centres and campuses throughout North America to counteract the campaign unleashed by many in the Muslim world to delegitimize the Jewish state.

The pamphlet, which depicts a fading Jewish star, is entitled Israel is Fighting for her Life. It delineates the nine most frequent misconceptions and half-truths on the Middle East crisis and rebuts them. It also provides phone, fax and e-mail addresses of the Bush administration, U.S. Congress, world leaders, including Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, and major print and television outlets around the world. It reminds Jews that there are 60 Muslim countries, representing more than one billion Muslims, many of whom are actively involved in a campaign to delegitimize Israel, a country the size of the state of New Jersey.

"It's up to us," the pamphlet reads. "The fight against terror is our fight. Please stand up today and do your part."

"These are very critical times," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Wiesenthal Centre. "Jews feel very vulnerable with their backs to the wall, not only in Israel, but around the world. The double standards hurled at the Jewish state, particularly in Europe, each and every day, remind us of the late 1930s. Most Jews instinctively feel that we are all alone again and Israel's future is in our hands," he added.

The Wiesenthal Centre said that since beginning its campaign, its phones have been besieged by requests from all over the United States.

The centre is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations, with more than 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. For more information, contact the centre's public relations department at 310-553-9036 or visit www.wiesenthal.com.

– Courtesy of the Simon Wiensenthal Centre

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