UPDATE: Ms Sherwood left me a voicemail after seeingmy initial post, complaining that she did not scream. And you know what, listening to the conversation, it’s a fair point and I’m happy to change that. It felt like screaming to me as her voice was very loud on my phone. I’ve edited the post to take that out. I’ve also changed the post so that it’s made up of verbatim quotes, now that I have been able to transcribe the conversation.
How did I listen to it? Because she recorded it. She casually dropped into the voicemail the news that she had an MP3 of it.
At no point did she tell me that she was recording it. So she has broken the law. What a fantastic piece of Guardian hypocrisy, to (rightly) lead the charge against phone tapping but then to break the law so casually in recording our conversation.
Sherwood is simply out of control. Not only has she demonstrated that she sympathizes with the most ardent, vile Israel haters – destroying any semblance of claim to journalistic objectivity – but she may have violated UK law recording of the call with Pollard without his permission.
In her blog today Sherwood again defended Arrigoni against charges that he was anti-Semitic. How does she know this? Well, for one, she sought the sage advice of Jeff Halper, ICAHD director, and proponent of a one-state solution who employs the Nazi analogy in characterizing Israel’s behavior.
However, in her rigorous research into the question of Arrigoni’s feelings towards Jews, she apparently didn’t bother to look at his Facebook page.
OMG! The Jewish Chronicle's Stephen Pollard describes a screaming match with al-Guardian's Israel correspondent Harriet Sherwood.
Normally when a mainstream journalist calls it’s for help, for a quote or for something specific. Not this time. Ms Sherwood rang me to scream at me for publishing a piece by Geoffrey Alderman last week, which began:
Few events – not even the execution of Osama bin Laden – have caused me greater pleasure in recent weeks than news of the death of the Italian so-called “peace activist” Vittorio Arrigoni.
Pretty arresting, indeed, and not something I would have written. But then the editor of a paper doesn’t agree with everything in the paper. Ms Sherwood doesn’t seem to realise that.
‘How could you print that? Don’t you think that is a disgusting thing to say? You are happy to publish that?’
I pointed out that it’s not my view but it’s the view of the writer.
‘That is disgusting. He was a peace activist!’ she screamed back.
I pointed out that Mr Arrigoni was not a ‘peace activist’ but a member of ISM, a hardcore anti-Israel group. Ms Sherwood then started screaming at me in a frankly unintelligible manner, but which included more about him being a peace activist and asking me:
‘So you take pleasure in someone’s murder at the hands of Hamas?’
I pointed out again that it wasn’t my piece.
‘But you’re the editor! You must think it worth publishing’.
This was not what I had in mind when I hinted that 'peace activist' Vittorio Arrigoni may have been murdered for sleeping with someone. And while I always assumed that Amnesty International (and Human Rights Watch) are in bed with the terrorists in Gaza, I didn't really think it might literally be the case. But in the case of Amnesty, it is. Claudia Milani (pictured at left), whose position has been described on an Amnesty website as "“Israel / Occupied Territories Co-ordinator of the Italian section of Amnesty International,” was Vittorio Arrigoni's live-in girlfriend, and accepted condolences at a condolence tent after his death as per Muslim custom.
Milani and Arrigoni were very close. So close that she has been described in the Italian media as “Arrigoni’s girlfriend”.
Here she “receives condolences” for Arrigoni in Gaza. The man at the end of the row appears to be violent thug and lunatic Ken O’Keefe, a comrade of Arrigoni.
I trust that Arrigoni's Jew-hating views had on influence whatsoever on any of Amnesty's findings regarding Israel during his time in Gaza. None at all.
To understand the death of this Italian activist, one important fact must be grasped: his death was triggered by the spurious way he mixed his humanitarian ideals with the cause of fundamentalist Gaza, by the fact that he mixed his life with that of his potential enemies, that he thought about as his best friends. But fundamentalists do not have stable affinities. Only their interpretation of Quran counts. Hamas Gaza, where Arrigoni has been killed, is for us a land ruled by awful and distant laws. Arrigoni loved the Palestinians, but he remained a total foreigner for them. It is for us unconcivable, even if you are a militant like Arrigoni, to live alongside those who fire missiles on civilians, wear belts packed with explosives and hand out sweets when an Israeli family is killed in Itamar, including a three months baby, a four years old child and another of nine.
This is a crucial issue: when you go to Gaza, or Afghanistan, you have to realise that our conception of life, is complitely different from any Islamic political conception of life. You can die because you are Jewish, because you are Italian, or Christian, because you are an apostate, or a corrupt Westerner... the extremist mentality, make no bones about it, cancels out friends and allies. No matter how much you have worked against the «Zionist power» or that you have called Zionists «rats» (and Arrigoni did this), nothing is of any worth if you break their rule, a rule which will remain unclear until the knife blade comes. Arrigoni was fan of political Islamism because he was an enemy of the Jews, but this did not save him from a cruel execution in front of the camera, just as the one of many others friends or enemies of Hamas or the Islamic Jihad, never mind.
So it is intellectually sad and even dangerous that a demonstration in front of the Italian Parliament blamed Israel and Italy for Arrigoni’s death; or that the ISM, the pro-Palestinian NGO Arrigoni belonged to, attributed «moral responsibility to the State of Israel». These reactions seem to be triggered only by ideological hatred. But what is more striking still, with sincerest respect for the figure of the President of Republic, was the statement of condolences which Giorgio Napolitano rightly delivered; instead of laying the blame on Islamic fundamentalism, he asked that «a negotiated solution be found to the conflict which sees bloodshed in the region». With the same coherence, he could have invoked any good cause: the fight against world hunger, or child prostitution. Yet instead, Israel is being summoned to face some mysterious responsibility. But the fault is only of Islamic fundamentalism; what is the point of dragging the pained witness and victim of Hamas terrorism into the question?
No, this post is not about Jimmy Carter, although it could be. In fact, Jay Nordlinger even mentions Carter in this comment about Vittorio Arrigoni.
I noticed something in a New York Times article. Eulogizing him, the deputy mayor of his hometown said that Arrigoni had “married Palestine.” That is well put. And I was reminded of something Jimmy Carter once said. He long ago fell under the sway of Palestinianism, and is in fact a leader of it. In 2009, he accepted an award from the PLO. And he said, “I have been in love with the Palestinian people for many years.” Those words are revealing. Ordinarily, we consider individuals lovable, or not. But there are those who fall in love with an entire people, believing in that people’s martyrdom, or essential holiness.
Palestinians are surely the most condescended to people in the world, aren’t they? I remember a lunch I once had with a noted British arts administrator. She said how much she hated the Israelis, who had been so beastly to “my Palestinians.” I was struck by that phrase: “my Palestinians.” She said it as though she might have been saying “my doggies and my kitties.”
By the way, a Jordanian Arab living in the Gaza Strip has been arrested for Arrigoni's murder. No, his Mommy doesn't believe he could do anything like that either.
Alia Sawaadeh, the mother of the most-wanted man in the Gaza Strip, Jordanian Abdul-Rahaman al Barizat, accused of having strangled Vittorio Arrigoni, has said her son is not a member of any terrorist organization. That is what her son told her when she warned him to be careful in choosing his friends. "I do not know if he has lied to me about his affiliations," said Sawaadeh, "I have not seen him for two years." . .
About 70% of Jordanians are... you guessed it: 'Palestinian.' Anyone want to take a bet?
We're back again to Vittorio Arrigoni, the Italian terror sympathizer who was killed by a rival terrorist organization this week. Incredibly, the New York Times manages to use 16-year old Daniel Viflic, who died on Sunday night as a result of wounds inflicted by an anti-tank missile fired by 'Palestinian' terrorists on April 7, to turn Arrigoni into a hero.
On the front page below the fold, Fares Akram and Isabel Kershner began their report with these sympathetic words:
For Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian pro-Palestinian activist who friends said fought peacefully for justice, the end was as violent as it was incongruous. ("Killing of Pro-Palestinian Activist in Gaza Deals a Blow to Hamas," Apr. 16, 2011)
Supporting Hamas is fighting peacefully for justice? A few days ago, on April 7, Hamas fired a highly advanced and deadly anti-tank missile (a Russian supplied Kornet) at an Israeli school bus – a clearly marked yellow schoolbus – injuring the bus driver and gravely wounding the only passenger, 16-year-old Daniel Viflic.
Is this the peaceful justice that the Times credits to Vittorio Arrigoni by uncritically quoting his friends? And considering the extreme violence practiced by Hamas, not just against Israelis, but also against fellow Palestinians, such as those from the rival Palestinian Authority, how could the Times possibly term as “incongruous” any violence involving Hamas rule?
...
In contrast, the Times has quoted no such kind words about Daniel Viflic, the schoolboy who was so gravely wounded in the Hamas bus attack a few days ago. In fact his name has never graced the pages of the New York Times (according to Nexis and google searches). The Times did mention the bus attack in their article on Arrigoni, but only as a vehicle to generate more sympathy for the Italian, who was worried that the attack by his Hamas friends would provoke a response from the Israeli army:
In an e-mail to [a friend], he wrote, “I am very tense, exhausted, if [the Israelis] don’t kill anyone in the next 24 hours, I am getting out Thursday. Your V.”
So for the morally obtuse New York Times, a terror attack against a schoolbus that left a young boy fighting for his life ends up being used to evoke sympathy for a defender of the terrorists who carried out the attack.
Here's hoping that those of you who still subscribe to the Times will cancel it.
Why did Tawhid wal-Jihad want Vittorio Arrigoni dead?
Here's an interview with ISM founder Huwaida Arraf about murdered Italian 'peace activist' Vittorio Arrigoni. Watch how she is careful not to blame 'Palestinians' for Arrigoni's death. Well, who else killed him?
Let's go to the videotape.
The theme of not blaming 'Palestinians' - and by implication blaming Israel - for Arrigoni's death has been consistent in the 'Palestinian' reaction.
Here's a picture from a demonstration on Friday that promotes the theme.
Much more on the 'Palestinian' reaction to Arrigoni here.
But maybe there's another connection between Arrigoni and Rachel Corrie. Recall the following that I posted last summer.
She was propelled, in part, by frustration. During the past few days she and the nine other ISM activists had become preoccupied with an anonymous letter circulating through Rafah that cast suspicion on the human shields. "Who are they? Why are they here? Who asked them to come here?" it asked. The letter referred to Corrie and the other expatriate women in Rafah as "nasty foreign bitches" whom "our Palestinian young men are following around." It was a sobering reminder that outsiders -- even international do-gooders -- were untrustworthy in the eyes of some Palestinians.
That morning, the ISM team tried to devise a strategy to counteract the letter's effects. "We all had a feeling that our role was too passive. We talked about how to engage the Israeli military," Richard "Fuzz" Purssell told me by phone from Great Britain. "We had teams working in the West Bank, going up to checkpoints, presenting a human face to soldiers. But in Rafah we'd only seen the Israelis at a distance." And as is so often the case in the Middle East, lack of any humanizing interaction meant that the idf and the ISM knew each other only by their worst acts. Few activists had spent much time in Israel or spoken to soldiers except in moments of conflict; the soldiers experienced the peace activists only as nuisances who were getting in their way in highly volatile situations. That morning, team members made a number of proposals that seemed designed only to aggravate the problem. Purssell, for instance, suggested marching on a checkpoint that had been the site of several suicide attacks. "The idea was to more directly challenge the Israeli military dominance using our international status," Purssell told me.
And the connection to Arrigoni? Consider the following from the Salafists' statement to the news media (Hat Tip: David G).
In a YouTube clip posted earlier by his abductors, Arrigoni was shown blindfolded with blood around his right eye. A hand was seen pulling his head up by his hair to face the camera.
"The Italian hostage entered our land only to spread corruption," an accompanying Arabic text said, describing Italy as "the infidel state." It named the captors' leader as Hesham al-Sa'eedni and demanded he be released from a Hamas prison.
But the demand for al-Sa'eedni's release was gratuitous. Arrigoni was murdered long before the deadline for the exchange came. It seemed that the Salafist group Tawhid wal-Jihad wanted Arrigoni dead for reasons that had nothing to do with a failed prisoner exchange. Why? Look at what I highlighted in the press release, and recall that Italian President Silvio Berlusconi has been under attack of late for paying for sex with a 17-year old prostitute. Could it be that Arrigoni was 'spreading the love' to the women folk of Gaza a bit too generously? Is that why Tawhid wal-Jihad referred to him 'spreading corruption' and described Italy as 'the infidel state'?
Or is there nothing to see here and we should just move on?
I try not to link to Mondoweiss. Frankly, I think they're scummy kapo Jews and I don't want to send them the traffic. But they've personally attacked my friend Noah Pollak, the Executive Director of the Emergency Committee for Israel, and frankly, enough is enough.
What bothers Mondoweiss is two tweets that Noah wrote on Thursday night when the Vittorio Arrigoni story broke. I have reproduced them below.
That's mild compared to some of the stuff I have posted on this blog about Arrigoni. Mondo refers to what Noah has written as 'disgusting venom.' Well, no it's not.
To anyone who is concerned about the future of Israel and the Jewish people, the ISM is an organization that is a Westernized Hamas or Hezbullah. They are no better. They may even be worse.
Arrigoni himself was a virulent anti-Semite. Why should any of us weep at his death? Especially when his death happened at the hands of the 'Palestinians' themselves proving that he - and by extension the ISM - were and are nothing but useful idiots.
Now, I'm getting slammed in the comments (and for the most part I have let them through) for calling Arrigoni a useful idiot. Many of those comments are coming from Italians from Arrigoni's hometown (I discovered on Saturday night that one of the commenters is actually a city councilor in his hometown), who are discovering that it's okay to call Jews 'Christ killers' again (I deleted that comment, but yes, I got one like that). But for those of you who are not totally blind, please look at the definition of 'useful idiot' and if you think I'm wrong, tell me why.
In political jargon, the term useful idiot was used to describe Soviet sympathizers in Western countries. The implication is that though the person in question naïvely thinks themselves an ally of the Soviets or other ideologies, they are actually held in contempt by them, and were being cynically used. The term is now used more broadly to describe someone who is perceived to be manipulated by a political movement, terrorist group, hostile government, or business, whether or not the group is Communist in nature.
Anyone think that Arrigoni doesn't fit the definition of a useful idiot? For that matter, does anyone think that Mondoweiss doesn't fit the definition of a useful idiot?
Noah Pollak's head is screwed on as well as anyone I know. He got it right. Mondoweiss - as usual - got it wrong.
This is being written on Friday afternoon (we are going away for the Sabbath), and I am hoping that by the time it is posted, Vittorio Arrigoni will no longer be news. But in case he still is, have a look at his Facebook page.
Here's a sample: Elder has some more examples of Arrigoni's hate here. I've taken a lot of crap on Friday for calling Arrigoni a useful idiot. That's far too kind a term to describe him.
I feel no obligation to be politically correct in discussing Arrigoni. As Elder points out, he wasn't a 'peace activist' and he wasn't even 'pro-Palestinian.' He defined himself as an 'anti-Zionist.' He was nothing but a Jew hater. I feel no sorrow for him.
The Islamic 'radical groups' (are there any other kind?), including al-Qaeda affiliated Tawhid wal-Jihad, have denied that they had anything to do with the death of Vittorio Arrigoni. Can you guess what comes next? But of course: Blame the Jews (Hat Tip: Shy Guy).
Hamas also condemned the killing, saying that it was a shameful act, contrary to the tradition of the Palestinian people. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that the "goal of this depraved band of outlaws was to spread chaos and anarchy in the Gaza Strip, a desperate attempt to strike at the stable security situation."
He added that the kidnapping and murder of Arrigoni was intended to prevent the next flotilla headed to the Gaza Strip, expected to depart next month. Barhoum explained that he believed the murder was meant to dissuade other foreign activists from arriving in the Strip.
Accordingly, Hamas accused Israel of being behind the attack, noting that Arrigoni had often spoken out against Israeli policies in Gaza, going so far as to compare what he called "Israeli crimes against Palestinians" to Nazi crimes. Additionally, he was twice arrested by Israeli authorities.
Actually, Hamas is just employing Goldstone logic. Someone was killed. We don't know who killed them. Israel has an army. Therefore, Israel must have done it.
Got to remember to ask Andrew Breitbart how he keeps pace with all these morons (anyone who follows Andrew on Twitter will understand why I'm saying that).
Vittorio Arrigoni, who was kidnapped and murdered on Thursday night by 'al-Qaeda-affiliated' terrorists, was a 'famed peace activist' who was much more than the 'useful idiot' I depicted him as when the story broke. Arrigoni was affiliated with the International Solidarity Movement, was virulently anti-Israel, and probably would have agreed with the attempt by anti-Semite Ken O'Keefe to blame his death on Israel.
Here are some more facts I managed to glean from the posts of others, most of whom were not up doing Securities Act filings at 3:00 am (yes, that's what I was doing last night).
Elder of Ziyon reports that the name of the group that kidnapped Arrigoni is Tawhid wal-Jihad.
Aussie Dave has several videos of Arrigoni - unfortunately all in Italian with no English translation.
Each of them points to this blog post in Italian from three months ago in which Arrigoni criticizes French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie for expressing solidarity with kidnapped IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit (who is also a French citizen). There's also this post from Arrigoni's blog (this time in Google translate) in which - irony of ironies - he is most unsympathetic to Shalit's plight.
Honest Reporting reports that the ISM acknowledged that Arrigoni is one of their 'activists' (and asked that his name not be used!).
But to really see how virulently anti-Israel Arrigoni was, look at this blog post (which has English translation) written during Operation Cast Lead, and at his Facebook page, which unfortunately seems to be 'liked' by thousands of heirs of Benito Mussolini. You will find complete and unvarnished hate for Israel. (By the way, for those who click through to the blog post, you can find the true story of the Fakhura school here and here).
And one more from the irony department: Here's Arrigoni complaining (in English) that Israeli soldiers kidnapped him and wouldn't let him see a lawyer! He also complained about insects in his cell. I'll bet that he longed for that cell on Thursday.
While we don't have to celebrate the death of an enemy, I don't think there's much for Israelis to cry about here either. The guy clearly hated us.
Arrigoni is not the first Italian 'peace activist' to be murdered in Israel by 'Palestinian' terrorists. But the last one was mistaken for a Jew.
Israel Radio has just reported (3:00 am) that Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian pacifist who was reported kidnapped earlier this evening, has been found dead.
He was apparently executed by the al-Qaeda-affiliated group that kidnapped him. They didn't bother to wait for the deadline.
An al-Qaeda-linked 'Palestinian' group in Gaza has kidnapped an Italian 'human rights' worker and is threatening to execute him at 5:00 pm on Friday unless Hamas releases the group's leader.
[Vittorio] Arrigoni, an Italian pacifist and blogger, has lived in the Gaza Strip for some time. He was shown blindfolded with blood around his right eye and a hand can be seen pulling his head up by his hair to face the camera.
A spokesman for the Hamas interior ministry in Gaza City said it was investigating the abduction.
It was unclear when Arrigoni was kidnapped or where he was being held, but an Italian diplomat who serves in the region confirmed to Reuters he had been abducted.
The Arabic text that accompanied the footage of Arrigoni also said "the Italian hostage entered our land only to spread corruption" and it described Italy as "the infidel state".
Israel Radio reports that Arrigoni - who is pro-'Palestinian' - entered Gaza with the first blockade-running flotilla and has lived in Gaza ever since. Useful idiot.
You may recall that BBC reporter Alan Johnston was 'kidnapped' in 2007 by the Army of Islam - the same people who kidnapped Gilad Shalit.
Let's go to the videotape (sorry, Arabic only):
I doubt this will change his political views at all. Fool.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
Al-Guardian's Harriet Sherwood may have engaged in illegal wiretapping. 
Read the whole thing.
