Thread: GE-Sponsored Site Accuses Israel of War Crimes

GE-Sponsored Site Accuses Israel of War Crimes

Israeli army soldiers take positions during clashes with Palestinians in the early morning in the West Bank city of Jenin on July 2 / AP

BY: Adam Kredo
July 2, 2014 5:25 pm

The General Electric-sponsored explanatory website Vox.com is again facing criticism for biased and hostile reporting about Israel following a Wednesday article that accused the Jewish state of committing war crimes against the Palestinians following the murder by Hamas of three kidnapped Israeli teenagers earlier this week.

Vox writer Max Fisher accused Israel of waging “collective punishment” against the Palestinians and preferring war to peace following Israel’s targeted military strikes on Hamas terrorists responsible for murdering the children and launching rocket attacks on citizens.

Fisher argued that air strikes against Hamas are not justified because the killings were carried out by a “few rogue militants.”
“The Hamas political leaders based in Gaza seem unlikely to have participated in a kidnapping in the West Bank committed by rogue Hamas militants, so it’s not clear that air strikes on Hamas political leaders in Gaza are an appropriate or justified response,” he wrote.

The Netanyahu government prefers war to peace, Fisher added.

“Netanyahu’s government is launching attacks against Hamas, which Netanyahu insists is collectively responsible for a kidnapping that appears to have been conducted by rogue members,” he wrote. “This makes it far more likely that full-on conflict will resume between Israel and Hamas, a dynamic that Netanyahu seems to prefer, because it favors Israel’s overwhelming military strength and marginalizes Hamas politically.”

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which works to combat global anti-Semitism, described Vox’s coverage as a “shonda,” a Yiddish term for “a shame.”

“I would call it the boilerplate criticism of Israel, meaning that when Israelis are butchered like what happened with these three boys, many of the critics didn’t give a damn and didn’t say a thing but were standing on the sidelines waiting to go to for boilerplate critique of Israel,” said Cooper, describing the article as “nonsense.”

“For anyone, now, to unleash criticism of Israel’s behavior during those past 18 days, it’s simply coming from people who are incapable about doing anything about Israel except be silent when Israelis are murdered, and then be in the front line of the chorus to attack Israel when she takes steps to defend herself,” said Cooper, whose organization is urging the White House to cut funding to the Palestinian government.

The highly critical piece comes just weeks after Vox.com founder Ezra Klein ran a lengthy interview with former U.S. diplomat Chas Freeman, a longtime Israel critic who has been accused of anti-Semitism due to past comments claiming that the so-called Israel lobby manipulates U.S. foreign policy.

The continued publication of articles and interviews taking aim at Israel has fueled ongoing questions about GE’s investment in Vox.com.

Fisher and Vox were roundly criticized on Twitter and elsewhere for the article, which was characterized as, “moronic,” hateful, and a “blood libel.”

Others wondered is Fisher’s piece was meant to generate page views from those who hate Israel.
“I don’t think they do it for clicks. I think a lot of them just hate Israel,” tweeted Federalist cofounder Sean Davis.

Multiple GE spokesmen did not respond to a Washington Free Beacon request for comment on Fisher’s piece and Vox’s other writings about Israel.

A GE spokesman told the Free Beacon in June after publication of the Freeman interview that the company is not responsible for Vox’s editorial decisions.

“GE is sponsoring #Pressing, which aggregates independently reported content on important policy issues into a continuously updated dynamic display,” the spokesman told the Free Beacon at the time. “GE has no editorial input on partner content.”

The GE logo appears at the top of every page of Vox.com. It is the only discernible corporate sponsor of the site.

http://freebeacon.com/culture/ge-spo...of-war-crimes/

Interesting.

Boycott General Electric

Petition published by TomT on May 01, 2009

Target: General Electric
Region: United States of America

Sign the petition

Sponsor

Petition Background (Preamble):

Whereas, the mutually beneficial relationship between President Barack Obama and General Electric is not just about shared ideology, but, increasingly, it is being revealed about how one of the largest corporations in the world may have bought the Presidency of the United States.

Whereas, CEO Jeffrey Immelt decided in 2008 to give an all out effort for Barack Obama bydoubling the millions contributed to the Democratic Party making General Electric the number one lobbying company. In the 4th quarter of 2008 as the company’s stock fell 30%, GE spent $4.26 million on lobbying - that’s $46,304 each day, including weekends, Thanksgiving and Christmas. In 2008, the company spent a grand total of $18.66 million on lobbying.

Whereas, when General Electric acquired NBC they promised as a condition to the acquisition to keep NBC autonomous from the parent company and now literally 24 hours a day MSNBC commentators unabashedly and self admittedly promote - without attribution - the Obama agenda and GE’s ‘green’ business goals.

Whereas, recently the New York Post reported that CEO Jeffrey Immelt and NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker were critical of CNBC commentator, Rick Santelli, for Obama bashing, which many have said confirms the official corporate policy of unwavering Presidential support.

Whereas, the possibility that GE is using its news division to influence public opinion to favor Obama in the hope of gaining government contracts is a major breach of journalistic ethics.

Whereas, the troubled financial company GE Capital promptly received a bailout guarantee of $139 billion shortly after the election of Barack Obama.

Whereas, the Obama administration is planning to put in place regulations for new Cap and Trade laws regarding carbon emissions and GE’s investment in ‘green’ products such as wind turbines would benefit from this cap-and-trade legislation, potentially bringing in revenues approaching $700 billion. Many analysts say that General Electric must get these contracts to survive.

Whereas, Immelt was also named to Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board in February, despite GE’s poor performance, prompting many to question the appointment. Immelt was ranked as one of the Five Worst Non-Financial-Crisis-Related CEOs of 2008, by the FEAOX in December 2008.

Whereas, more evidence of a possible "quid pro quo" was Obama's stimulus package which included $11 billion for a "smart grid" technology to be built into our national electrical power grid system. Estimates are that, ultimately, a "smart grid" for the entire country could cost, at the very least, a half trillion dollars and GE is the company that is the primary leader in such a technology…

Whereas, GE sold infrastructure equipment to Iran, a country that is a recognized state sponsor of terror and was supplying Iraqi insurgents with platter charge improvisational explosive devices, also known as Explosively Formed Penetrators, that were maiming and killing American soldiers.

Whereas, Immelt defended his business dealings with Iran by saying “The issue of whether to conduct business in certain countries is complex; we must take into account not only the views of the U.S. Government but all relevant stakeholders.”

Whereas, General Electric, as a corporation, appears to be actively involved in influencing the Obama administration for its own benefit.
Petition:

Due to questionable business practices that we believe amount to deliberate corruption and represent clear unethical behavior, we call for a complete boycott of General Electric and all subsidiaries, to include all services offered and products manufactured by same.

We will continue this boycott until, GE complies with the following:

 Jeffrey Immelt is replaced as CEO of General Electric
 Jeffrey Immelt’s resignation from Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board
 Terminates NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker for major breaches of journalistic ethics
 GE divests itself of the broadcast networks which are clearly in violation of the promises made to the regulatory body when GE acquired NBC.
 Offers a public apology to all US Military Personnel for unsupportive business practices that endangered their safety and well being.

Therefore, the undersigned pledge to boycott General Electric, and all its subsidiaries. Additionally, they will do their best to get out word of the boycott and to persuade the organizations with which they are affiliated to join the same.

Sign the petition

The Boycott General Electric petition to General Electric was written by TomT and is in the categoryBusiness at GoPetition. Contact author here. Petition tags: boycott, general electric, ge, immelt,obama, corruption

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/...-electric.html