Israel Matzav

Peace Now forced to apologize after slandering rights activist

Peace Now was forced to apologize and to take down a Facebook campaign against the human rights group (note - no scare quotes this time) Honenu, after it called one of the people Honenu assisted a terrorist. The person in question was acquitted on all charges ten years ago.

Extreme leftist group Peace Now was forced to delete its Facebook page campaigning against rights group Honenu Wednesday, after it falsely accused a man of being a "terrorist."  

Honenu is a legal rights group which campaigns for the legal rights of Jews from Judea and Samaria, including the right to see a lawyer and the right not to face punishment without trial under “administrative orders.” On several occasions, the NGO has represented young men accused of so-called “price tag” vandalism in court.

Peace Now founder Yariv Oppenheimer accused the group of defending "murderers and 'Price Tag' criminals" Tuesday. An attached advertisement accused Honenu of assisting “terrorists.”

The list of “terrorists” Honenu was alleged to have helped included Yossi Ben-Baruch.

According to the ad, Ben-Baruch was part of the Bat Ayin Underground group; in fact, he was found innocent of any involvement with the group over a decade ago.

Channel 2 journalist Amnon Abramovich also slammed the rights group on the weekly program "Friday News" on Friday evening, prompting the organization to submit a complaint.
"In the 'Friday News' program which aired last Friday night, Mr. Abramovich used the title 'Breaking the Law and Receiving Benefits' in his broadcast and on the internet about our organization," Attorney Doron Nir Zvi, legal representative for Honenu, noted in the letter to both Abramovich and the Channel 2 news corporation. "This header is not only false, but as indicated from the final words of Abramovich in the article, portray our group as participating in illegal activities." 

"This organization has proper administrative approval and has never acted without the full accordance of the law," the letter stressed. The attorney then asked in the name of Honenu to issue an official apology and change the false headline.

For the record, the picture at the top of this post is not Peace Now director general Yariv Oppenheimer,  but rather LATMA's Yariv Googleheimer, a caricature of Oppenheimer.

Labels: Facebook, libel and slander, Peace Now

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:45 AM