"This way to explain the world, without any reference for the rich and the poor, weak and strong, north and south, and very popular in North America and Europe, only claiming that every human being has the right for a righteous trial and freedom from cruel treatment, not humane and humiliating. This way isn't looking for the reason to human rights violations, but just outlines them." (“The Shock Doctrine”, 144)
The absolute majority of struggles for human rights in Israel and across the globe are dealt with the documentation of the violation of the rights, and ignore the reasons for their violation. The thing is similar to a crime investigation without a reference to the motivation and interests that stand at its base. So there is no organization that asks: why this violence occurs? The interests of whom it's serve? Hence, who earn from the damage in the rights of the Jewish inhabitants, the settlers, the Palestinians, the new immigrants, the orthodox Jews, the women, the soldiers, the handicapped people, The workers, migrant workers, the refugees, the unemployed, homeless?
Why does the occupation really continues, and why the cancer epidemic and car incidents occur? And who make money from the damage in the expression right and protest right? And who have the interest in prolonging all these injustices?
For these things, human rights organizations do not refer.
Why? Don't they understand that in effort to stop the human rights depression, there is a need to refer to the motivations and to the interested people that stand behind it?
The sources of all human rights violations are found in the historic and global process in which the wealthy people center more and more wealth and power to their hands, on behalf the public expense and while damaging its rights.
This process is known very well for us from the history books. From the days of the first Temple, through the empires and to the colonialism rulers and their buddies in occupation of nature sources and in gaining control in labor force. By this way monarchies, aristocracy, nobility and the wealth possessing people of our days could consolidate. All of these elites could not rise up, if the people, would not except the order presented to them as predestination and choose to collaborate with their exploitation and not to resist.
It seems, In the social order perceived by us, that the human rights organizations are actually a fig leaf, serve as a way to get the cooperation of the public with the policy wanted by the big businesses, which are in conflict with the public's needs.
The situation is an irony: the praising of the values of liberty and freedom by the human right organizations, undermines those very same values, by quietening the exploited, divided and conquered public.
The meaning of that is that the human rights organizations, which glorify themselves with the promoting of unified morality and moral progress, are actually strengthening the power and fortune system, and deepens the class gap, which characterizes all history and the most violent and racist societies. Do they do this deliberately?
" In her way of working for human rights but without politic involvement, the fund created a field of action in which you can not ask the question that is in the basis of the documented violence: why is this violence happening, who’s interest does it serves?" ." (“The Shock Doctrine”, 148)
let’s have a look at the human rights violation in Israel through the glass of the interests of the big businesses.
The threat of deportation over the migrant workers, create a fear, which enable to exploit them as cheap work force without rights. This creates unemployment, which threatens the Israeli workers and forces them to except their own employment.
The common diseases are mostly a result of comprehensive free hand given to the industries to spread materials and products known as diseases factors (poisons).
The road accidents, traffic congestion, traffic pollution and other traffic problems, are the result of promoting private transportation and not safer, cleaner, cheaper and more effective public transportation. This policy benefits the transportation industries (cars, oil, road, insurance, ext).
The Israeli (economic) control over the Palestinian territories is also motivated by big businesses’ interests: the military and political occupation enables the economic control, the market occupation. By denying local (Palestinian) industry development, and blocking the Palestine’s borders of import and export, the Israeli and international businesses are gaining control over the a captured consumer and labor force of millions of Palestinian people. There is also the interest of the weapon and security services industry, which are very big in Israel and take a big cut out of the annual budget. And of course, as long as we are kept afraid of an enemy from outside, or each other, we don’t pay attention to the ones that harm us from inside: divide and conquer.
In fact, every public policy we will look at, is derived by a privet (businesses) interests (because they, the big businesses, are activating most of the pressure on the public policy and public discussion), and it would be obvious, that every approach to such matter, would refer to that.
In order to understand the NGOS' ignoring the "Who" and the "why" (the big businesses' interests) behind the oppression, we need to take a closer look in the way they are managed.
The businesses which are responsible for the human rights violation / public policies that have a negative effect on the public are aware of their effect, and in order to keep their control and deny public arousing and civil protest, they aspire to limit the public discussion. Therefore, those businesses finance and control the human right organizations themselves and determined there activity. And so, instead of allowing deep discussion of the general public, the organizations are limiting the discussion to the violations itself, and direct the discussion into a negotiation between administrative institutions, which are liable for bribe, opportunism, and other influence by the big businesses. The borders of the discussion are being set between the governmental organization and the nongovernmental organization, all pretending to represent the general public. Within these borders, the human rights violation are presented and expelled as abnormal; the motives for those violations are not examined; and the public accept the “failure” of the NGOs that “represent” him, without protest, and in a feeling of gratefulness for the “help” given to them. Little improvements, usually false impression, are presented as big success of the NGOs and are used to gain more public trust.
In some of the NGOs (mainly the biggest, like the "War on Cancer" association and "Or Yarok" – against road accidents"), we can see direct control and financing by the interested businesses (drug, chemicals, food, transportation, energy and other industries).
In most NGOs, the control and financing by the interests is less direct, through funds, presenting themselves to the public as philanthropic and as Investment Funds or as businesses to their donators/investors.
"In fact, there is not any significant social organization the does not owe its existence to the [New Israel] fund – from the Civil Right Organization, through the Child Welfare Council and the Governance’s Quality Movement to the El-Azama Tribe Board of Parents." (Don't take power from others – give them the power", Ruty Sinay, "haaretz" newspaper).
In Israel, the biggest and most influence funds are "New Israel fund" and its subsidiary, S.H.A.T.I.L.; and " Ford foundation" (and "Ford Israel fund" – a fund uniting "New Israel fund" and "Ford foundation"). Ford foundation is the main associate and the biggest financing organization of the "New Israel fund", and it appears that "New Israel fund" is the local representative of the American-international Ford foundation.
“It is not surprising that when the fund dive into dealing with human rights, it defined the discipline in the most narrow way possible, […] because every serious investigation trying to track the purposes that the oppression serve […] would have lead […] to ford foundation" (“The Shock Doctrine” 147)
Those foundations are managed the past decades by high rank former C.I.A. and U.S.AID (United States Agency for International Development – which is actually a Subsidiary C.I.A. organization) seniors. It is well known that those organizations served mainly for the violent occupation of American corporations over markets (societies) all over the world. Using the excuses of "defeating communism", "bringing democracy and peace", "fighting terrorism", or "defending human rights", they all in all promote the financial interest of the American international corporations.
In order to examine this claim, it is appropriate to look at the history of the Ford foundation management. This organization is consistently managed by presidents and CEO's that were also managing organizations and international businesses that played a major part of the biggest violations of human rights in the last seventy years. Let’s take a look on some of the Ford foundation managers:
Luis Obins – the current president of the Ford foundation. Served as the CEO of McKinsey & Company, one of the biggest economies consultation companies in the world, which represent the biggest governments and corporations in the world. Obins was responsible for the biggest privatization projects in the world – the privatization of the governmental companies of East Germany, after the collapse of the wall, in especially comfortable prices for the big corporations. There is no need to mention the connection between privatization and human rights damage.
Richard Bisel – served as a special assistant for the CIA chief, was responsible for the CIA programs and controlled on most of the CIA budget.
Roen Giter – a senior in the Rand Corporation, which dealt at first on consolation and research for the armed forces of the United States, and later on for other governments and for private groups as well.
John Mcloy – worked with the CIA. Served as an special consultant for the American Wars Affairs, as the World Bank president, as the chairman of the Manhattan Chase bank, as the attorney of the seven world's biggest oil companies in the united state, and as the supreme governor of the United States in Germany.
Henry Heild – a senior in the biggest corporations in the united state in the field of insurance, communication, cosmetics and metals.
Mcgeorge Bandy – the presentational consoler of national security for the presidents Kenndy and Johnson.
Franklin Thomas – a senior police governor, lawyer of the Federal Financing Agency, and one of the managers of Citygroup (one of the strongest economy groups in the world), the Pepsi corporation, the Aluminium Company of the united states (ALCOA), the huge corporation Camings (manufacturing engines in third world countries), and THE cellular communications corporation Lucent.
Larry Garber, the CEO of the New Israel fund, was one of the U.S.aid managers.
"And again people refer to the establishment of the free market and its dependants on very brutal violence, like there is no correlation between them" (“The Shock Doctrine”, 152)
The article was written out of partnership feeling of destiny and sincere apreciation to the moral voluntary, that itself exist in human rights organizations, but based on history, the dry facts and our life experience, we are not allowed to trust on human rights organizations anymore for doing our job. we need to go to a new way. we can start in self diagnose of the information. The information available and reveald to whoever really want's to know. Good luck.
"Shatil" organization – "New Israel Fund"
Diverting campaigns and organizations to a direction comfortable for fund donors' businesses
"As said, businesses will cooperate with an organization for social change only if they conclude they can gain from it, or at the very least not get harmed by it. According to a research done by "Shatil" on the social involvement of businesses in Israel, a business would not want to get involved in an issue that could utterly harm its financial activity". (From the book "Businesses as Partners in the Community" published by "Shatil" – Counseling and support services for organizations for social change, founded by the New Israel Fund, printing – Rolly Rozen and Hanan Cohen).
Which means, that according the research which has been performed by Shatil itself, businessmen which become partners and associates of The New Fund for Israel, thereby giving it a financial funding ( e.g. : businessmen which are also owners of factories that put out pollutants into the Earth's environment, exploit others, bereave workers of their rights, and promote their own selfish interest on the expense of general public welfare, in general ), would not proceed to act so ( i.e., would not proceed to be giving any financial support for the benefit of The New Fund for Israel ) in their turn , if The New Fund for Israel would not have first served to promote their own ( i.e. those same businessmen’) economical interest, to start with.
In the light of this above conclusion, then how could one explain, for instance, the fact that the Cellcom Company appears on the list of institutions which are included on the list of donors to The New Israeli Fund, as shown on its annual financial report for the year of 2,005 ( appearing on page 26 of that very report ), which so happens to also be the same year in which "The Forum for Sane Cellular Use", which claims itself to be an umbrella organization which represents those who object to the current prevalence of radiation which has its origins in cellular communication systems ?
Lior Veronna, who works as a speaker on the behalf of the Cellular communication companies, has given once the following explanation, which is quoted hereby: "By many ways, those same acts of civilian enforcement which the cellular communication companies attempt to promote are of a matching stance with the goals and activities of many environmentally-oriented organizations, as well as other public organizations, which also so includes The Forum for Sane Cellular Use.”
Large businesses invest a lot of money in order to maintain and enlarge their earnings: public relations and advertisements; lobbyists; lawyers; research institutes; they many times own media networks; [1] they fund political parties; they hire former and current seniors from the academy, government, media, legal system, security system and more. Against these private interests stand organizations whose goal is to promote public interests: organizations for social justice, human rights, environment and public health. These organizations often demand the government to prevent businesses from polluting, exploiting workers, deceiving customers or selling harmful products. Anyone familiar with what is being done at this field knows very well that these businesses work hard to influence it as well, and that there are organizations and companies offering influencing services on theses organizations for social change. These services are meant to help businesses liquidate or at least to tone down these organizations' social activity. This is done for the purpose of terminating their activities, or for toning their activities down, in order to achieve a situation in which their activities would not only cease to have any prospect, or effect, of interfering with the interests of various businessmen, but even further to that, for the purpose of shifting those very same activities, to such ones which actually promote the interests of businessmen.
One of the largest and most powerful organizations in the field of controlling public organizations and the liquidation of public campaigns in Israel is "Shatil".[2] [3]
"Shatil" (Counseling and support services for organizations for social change, funded by "New Israel Fund" – NIF) defines itself as operating arm of the "New Israel Fund", an investment fund in which owners of large businesses in Israel invest, in order to influence organizations for social change that could jeopardize their businesses – through funding or through "management services", "counseling" and "support". Only roughly a third of the investments going to "Shatil" end up at the organizations – the heads of this fund got millions of dollars rolled into their private pockets in the past few years through this "philanthropic fund" fraud. [4]
It is important to state that some of the heads of the "New Israel Fund" declare themselves as former seniors in bodies specializing in influencing governments throughout the world on the behalf of the United States government. In other words, though it might sound far fetched, anyone looking at the dry facts could see it is actually the CIA – the world wide ambassador of American corporations' interests.
A little bit on "Israel New Fund" General Manager: "Larry Garber, 48 years old, arrived at the NIF after 5 years of management at the USAID (United States Agency for International Development) branch in the West Bank and Gaza strip. He was previously a senior policymaker and the deputy to the Department of Policy and Programs Coordinating vice-manager at the USAID.
Garber was a member of the senior staff of the National Democratic Institute for Foreign Affairs from 1988 to 1993 and arranged election monitoring missions that lead to historical replacement of governments in the Philippines, Chile, Pakistan, Panama, Bulgaria and Zambia. He also served as and adviser to a number of governments in matters of election-laws reform".[5]
(the following text is taken out of the website which represents The New Fund for Israel on the Internet, specifically from the part in their which is titled as "About the Fund" — if for some reason you fail to gain access to this part of that website, or if this certain part of that website has been revision, as is often the case on instances when a link is provided unto certain information on that site, then this information could be viewed instead on the website which contains the archives of the Internet )
For the purpose of assisting those readers who are not familiar with the organizations and professional titles which were mentioned above, the following text is provided below:
Venezuella : the U.S. utilizes donations of money in order to weaken the stability of the Chávez regime.The president of Venezuella blames the American USAID aid fund of financing political subversion whose target is to topple his regime down, and to purposefully cause Chávez to fail at becoming re-elected as president, on future elections for presidency which will take part in Venezuella.
Chávez published a lengthy list which documents grants that were given to different groups that are identified with current political opposition organizations in Venezuella.The grants which are mentioned above, were actually proportioned beforehand, according to the exact needs of various bodies which are considered as related to researching and promoting democracy; according to the claims which were made by Chávez, then those very same bodies, are actually a mean which serves the end of receiving sums of money from the CIA, one example of which is the "Foundation for the Promotion of Democratic Education in High schools".
Or "The Covenant of Protection upon Workers of Seaports", e.g., when at the end this current matter which is at hand, deals with a sum of money which amounts to no more than a few thousands of U.S. Dollars.
Or "The Covenant of Protection upon Workers of Seaports", e.g., when at the end this current matter which is at hand, deals with a sum of money which amounts to no more than a few thousands of U.S. Dollars.
“The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, has delivered this morning an announcement, in which he reported that another county (department) of his country asked of people who work for their local U.S. aid agency ( USAID ) to take their leave of their county.
Morales congratulated the residents of the Bolivian county of Chuquisaca upon the event of their county ( department ) becoming now for "A Territory Which is Devoid of American Imperialism", as was reported by the official state news agency of Cuba, which is called Prensa Latina ;
At the beginning of this year, one of the counties (departments) of Bolivia asked permission to cease of their relation with that same aid agency whose men are suspected around Latin America for actually serving as agents of United States of America Intelligence institutions. At the beginning of the current month President Morales has deported the U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia, due to claiming that this Ambassador has taken action for strengthening the local political opposition in Bolivia to President Morales' regime.”
It is also recommended to read the book which is titled "From Profits of War to Dividends of Peace", and to also search for information on those certain matters and subjects, such as the industry of war.
In light of that, the service of influencing organizations for social change that the fund is offering to its donors raises a few question marks:
"How will you be able to invest and influence? The New Israel Fund offers a variety of possible influential routes in most of Israeli social lines of work: fighting poverty, social justice, human and civil rights, promoting equal rights to the Arab population in Israel and the coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Israel […]. The fund has brought an enormous change into the field of civil activism, and has been the main financer of the building of a civil society in Israel and of the non-profit section in Israel. 20 years ago this section had about 2,500 groups, most of which were tied to political parties and publics institutions. As of today there are roughly 30,000 organizations, institutes and civil action-groups who work without profit ambitions, and hundreds of them receive grants from the fund each year. Since its establishment, the fund has granted over 130 million dollars to about 800 organizations, and through "Shatil" it has supported nearly 2,000 organizations. The NIF and "Shatil" stood behind the empowerment of civil organizations – through money as well as through giving administrative advisement and tools. In addition to that, the fund has influenced the ways of thought and action of other funds, which brought additional support to this kind of organizations"(As it was written in “about the Fund” page at its website). [6]
A research done by YNET (largest news website in Israel) in the matter of non-profit organizations' transparency has found that the least transparent of the organizations that were studied was "Shatil".[7]
This is a mind-troubling piece of data, particularly in light of the enormous influence "Shatil" has over non-profit organizations that some of their most important activity is the publishing of information in order to enlarge the transparency of social bodies: Nearly all organizations for human rights, social justice, environmental issues, minorities and other important social issues are controlled by "Shatil" in one way or another. When so much power is concentrated in such few hands, who were not elected by the public, it is highly important that we know who stands at the top of this hierarchy, what their interests are and to where their money goes. But the Israeli public (as well as the organizations that the fund controls and sets their activities' paths) knows very little, if any at all, about "Shatil". The common man in Israel has not even heard of "Shatil" and the "NIF", and the organizations supported by "Shatil" know that in order to continue receiving money form the fund they must remain in good relations with the fund's managers, and avoid any actions that might set them off.
Listed here are some of the ways in which the fund (NIF/"Shatil") influences the activity of organizations to the benefit of the business men investing in the fund (we recommend readers to go into "Shtail"'s website – http://www.shatil.org.il/sites/english – and look for additional ways through which "Shatil" controls organizations for social change in Israel, their activity and the messages they convey to the public):
- Funding regular activity and projects of organizations:
As time passed, hundreds of organizations for social change in Israel have become increasingly dependant on their regular income from the NIF: office rent, regular spending and primarily the salary of the organizations' workers – who are usually the ones making the decisions. [8] The organizations send the fund requests for project funding, and with time they learn what kind of projects the fund agrees to finance and what it does not, and so they learn to send out the "correct" requests. In that way, the fund controls organizations' projects, activity fields, messages, ways of action, and leads them to inefficient directions: instead of outreach activity, of distributing vital unknown information to the public and hosting public protests against the wrong doings of government bodies and businesses (which is usually the outcome of activities done by the exact same businesses that are invested in the NIF), the fund finances and leads the organizations' activities inwards: lectures, gatherings and meetings of the volunteers, lectures from the funds' people, politicians and establishment members and researches that are rarely accessible to the wide public. [9]
For instance, the main problem in the field of labor rights is the process that is being lead by large employers (some of which are invested in the NIF), which is to break down labor organizations and to employ workers through personal contracts, "human resources" companies and thereby to weaken employees' force to stand for their labor rights and interests. [10] Workers' organizations approaching elimination usually turn to "Kav La'oved" ("a line for the worker") – the largest labor-rights organization in Israel. Amazingly, the organization avoids from helping them, since the NIF has prevented them from supporting labor-rights campaigns and has threaten to stop funding "Kav La'oved" if they will not agree to this demand (according to an oral testimony given by an activist, after saying she’d spoken with the head of the organization). Therefore, the organization helps individual cases only, and is not active in the most important aspect of labor struggles and the keeping of labor rights. [11]
Furthermore, an organization requesting funding from the NIF is required to give out to the fund a lot of information regarding their activity and lines of work. The NIF is free to pass on this information to any of the businesses invested in the fund.
- Assembling coalitions of organizations:
Most of the organizations for human rights and environmental and social change in Israel work under the structure of dozens of "coalitions" and "forums", where at the head of each stands a coordinator, who is a worker of "Shatil"'s. In reality, that coordinator is usually the only active decision maker at the "coalition". The job of the coordinator is to trace down organizations working in the field of their particular coalition and to persuade them into abandoning their independent activity partially or completely and join their "coalition" – meaning letting the coordinator be their spokesman. The coordinator, again, initiates inwards activity: mainly internal gatherings and correspondence between the activists themselves or between them and establishment representatives, without letting information or protest out of the organization itself. Meaning, only a so called activity that promotes the elusion that something is being done. Sometimes the coordinator is in charge of several coalitions in different fields, a fact that points out the lack of intention to perform real campaigns. [12] Nonetheless, when the issue that the coalition deals with comes to the attention of the media and there is a public debate over it, the coordinator responds to the matter on the behalf of the organizations under the coalition's management, and presents the issue in a way that would not harm the interests of the businesses invested in the NIF (who sponsors and provides most of these coordinators) that may clash with an activist campaign. It is interesting to look at the job description of "Shatil"'s coordinator at the "Coalition for a Healthy Environment in Ramat Hovav", according to their own document: "Goals and missions of the position: arranging meetings with local committees, collecting and processing information, documenting the work of the coalition and helping the management of the fluent work, organizing the coalition's media work".
This is our impression of the matter after years of working with organizations under "Shatil". We recommend you to personally check the activity of environmental, social change and human rights organizations in Israel (nearly all of them are funded by the NIF and are coordinated by "Shatil"), and see if they indeed distribute information and strong protests (demonstrations, street displays, handing out flyers, distributing information via chain-emails, internet clips, direct actions) – or – if they mainly perform false displays of action towards their volunteer activists (lectures, conferences for actives, fund raisings, applications to the establishment and endless researches and books).
For example, in recent years many independent researches were published which have clearly demonstrated the health damages caused to humans by the late increase in exposure to electromagnetic radiation (cellular phones and antennas). [13]
Many spontaneous organizations of individuals, families or groups of neighbors had organized together against the placing of antennas near their homes, often with significant success. Their campaigns usually included distribution of their fight to the public through rallies and demonstrations, publishing information on the internet and direct action. In reaction, the NIF with the financial help of "Cellcom" (the largest cellular company in Israel) and other senior executives from the cellular industry founded "The Forum for Sane Cellular". [14] Avi Dabush, who was previously the fund raiser of "Megama Yeruka" – "Green Direction"(being a fund raiser- meaning having him connect business, such as private cars companies, to the funding and directing of “Megana Yeruka” projects, such as the "Megama Yeruka" campaign against Private Transportations), was hired for the job of the coordinator of the newly formed coalition. As the coordinator, Dabush was to locate civilian uprisings on the issue and persuade the people invloved – instead of working "alone" against the antennas – to join the forum/coalition, which was presented to them as a big organization with massive budgets, specializing in social change, media work and political lobbyism, and which would do the job of protesting for them. In reality, the only active person at the forum is Dabush himself, and there is no need for any large resources and budgets because there was rarely ever any real activity. In fact even Dabush barely works at the forum, since he is also the coordinator of "The Green Movement" party, where he holds a very high position – an unelected one – of the secretary of the party, and is also the chairman of the "The Forum of Organizations Fighting Unemployment" (a coalition that is supposed to represent tens of organizations which are supposed to represent the interests of employees against the interests of the employers – that many of them invest in the NIF). Dabush's main line of work is speaking on the subject of cellular radiation in the behalf of organizations and activists whenever the matter is publically debated, despite the fact that the main experts and activists on the matter do not regard Dabush as their representative or spokesman, [15] since Dabush has decided to stubbornly ignore researches done on the subject and continues to claim that there is no vivid proof illustrating that cellular radiation is harmful. Since the founding of "The Forum for Sane Cellular", Dabush has performed his job with great excellence in our opinion and has successfully managed to prevent and block many campaigns against placements of antennas in populated areas. [16] "Shatil"'s reaction to our claims is brought at the end of this article, and strengthens our point.
- Offering "social change specializing" services:
"Shatil" workers turn to organizations, present themselves as experts on social change, spokesmanship and political lobbyism and offer to escort and support these organizations. In that way, they collect information on activists and their plans; influence their decisions and screw-up their work; take responsibility for performing various missions and avoid doing them and in that way they many times mange to prevent these missions from ever being done. If the campaign fails, they do not mention it on their "resume", and if it goes on successfully despite their efforts, they take credit for it and use it and its reputation in order to get a hold of additional campaigns. [17]
- Offering workshops for "specialization in social change" and empowering the myth saying "social change requires expertise":
One of the main reasons for the passiveness and lack of social involvement by many citizens in Israel is the false belief according to which social change is a job for "activists", "activism experts" – people with knowledge that is supposedly beyond what most people have. Organizations wishing to encourage public involvement must crash this myth. "Shatil" do the opposite: they act to convince the public that in order to change, an organization must be large and "professional", and that any person that wants to change has to go through a lot of studying and internships in one of "Shatil"'s workshops and courses (which are not given for free). These workshops and courses for "specializing in social change" are a series of nonsense and cannot be anything other than nonsense since as said before (and as this site WWW.MESHANIM.COM is ment to show) there is no information known to activists that cannot easily be obtained by anyone from the public. Therefore, beyond the fact that these workshops/courses waste the time and money of activists and organizations, they are also meant, so it appears, to convince those exposed to their content that even a person who has participated in one of "Shatil"'s courses or workshops still know very little of what they need to know in order to be able to act for change. Meaning, they convince people of their inability to perform change – which is naturally the opposite of encouraging social change activity. " Shatil"'s main project in this field is probably "The Social-Economic College". [18]
Furthermore, in this way "Shatil" presents itself as an organization of experts on social change, and makes it easier for its people to get a hold of important positions in campaigns and organizations, as mentioned before.
- Controlling messages distributed on the internet:
Another one of "Shatil"'s lines of work is trying to control messages and content distributed on the internet. This issue is coordinated by their internet expert, Hanan Cohen. [19]
"Shatil" operates a website that gathers information on campaigns and organizations, in order to assemble information on these matters for the NIF's investors and gain control over the information that is being passed on by activists to the public. "Shatil" use this website to present campaigns in a way that is convenient to its investors. [20] In addition, Cohen contacts operators of websites for social change and offers them "support", which is basically adding a RSS chanel to their website that allows to track changes done on it. Cohen insists of adding the RSS by himself, by giving him the website’s password, thus giving "Shatil" control over the website:.
"In addition to established mainstream news channels, publishing RSS channels by websites of small organizations' websites may bring to an exposure of their contents in other websites. Recently, I have created on "Shatil"'s website a page called 'headlines of social change', in which headlines from various websites dealing with social change are gathered. Publishing all headlines in one page allows easy reading of all information in one place, but also so much more than that: an organization is an assembling of information an actions made towards a mutual goal. Creating centers of information on social change (like the page on "Shatil"'s website) can form a base for cooperation between organizations based on information and actions they publish anyway. Publishing the information on an organization's website and on other organizations' websites (without effort) could enable greater exposure of the organization's activity to people outside of it, and encourage new people to join it and other organizations to cooperate with it. Besides "Shatil"'s website itself, I currently tracked down just four websites of organizations for social change that are publishing RSS channels. I hope that an understanding of the enormous power found in this format and the usage of this power will allow a join of forces needed to fix society and its flaws. I am offering assistance to any organization seeking to combine an RSS channel on their website. The more websites there are publishing alternative information through RSS channels, the closer we will get to realize the vision of a true alternative news-paper […]. Hanan Cohen is the manager of "Shatil"'s website". ("RSS and social change revolution" by Hanan Cohen, "Captain Internet" section, "Ha'aretz").
Meaning, the idea is that "Shatil" will gather all updates of websites working for social change, and in that way it could strengthen their control over issues and messages that are conveyed to the public, under the condition that this plan will work and many people would update on news through their website. The more Cohen succeeds in promoting "Shatil"'s website (with significant success one must say) as a sort of head-organization where activists update on activities and messages, the more power he will have to decide what information to distribute and what not. This is an overwhelming power that is found in the hands of an organizations almost completely unknown to the public, that even organizations themselves do not know how it is being run, how it is built or who stands behind it. An organization which is under the “YNET” inquiry, previously mentioned, as the least visible of all the organizations who were checked. Hanan Cohen’s project was having this organization coordinate the social change’s news as he sees fit.
Hanan Cohen also operates a website called "Irrelevant". [21] It is meant to present as irrelevant campaigns and claims that are inconvenient to the NIF and "Shatil"'s investors, and that are passed on to the public through e-mail – one of the most efficient means of distributing information that the bias mainstream media ignores due to unholy relations between them and big companies and their owners. The website advises on how to regard chain-letters distributed on the internet through e-mail, and whenever a piece of information that is inconvenient to one of NIF's investors is being distributed in that way, the website systematically recommends discarding the campaign. "Shatil" like to present itself as an organization working for social activism, but their internet manager Hanan Cohen is consistently blocking and suppressing social change initiatives on the internet. [22]
For example, on his website "Irrelevant" Hanan Cohen has advised to ignore letters containing information on aspartame's harmful consequences on human health, has tried to silence information distributed on the existence of toxic chemicals in cups manufactured by "Elit" (largest Israeli food corporation) and animal-rights activists who called for a boycott on "Castro" (large Israeli clothes distributer), and more. Recently, the website posed a recommendation to ignore and to not distribute a link to a clip made by us, containing information on the "fluoridation" of water in Israel (contaminating water with toxins like arsine and led). Cohen has brutally slandered us and claimed we were spreading false information. However, the only example he gave to back this claim of his was the clip's statement saying the Adin Committee (health bureau's committee on the quality of water in Israel) has recommended ending the fluoridation compulsion was untrue. "Irrelevant" posted a link to the committee's medial conclusion from 2005, instead of the updated final conclusion from 2007 where they clearly decided to stop the fluoridation compulsion. By doing that, "Irrelevant" had mislead its readers (deliberately – since updated information has been brought to them immediately). After we have published in many places online of "Irrelevant"'s disinformation, Hanan Cohen changed what he had wrote and said that we were right about the Adin Committee, yet he still continued to recommend his readers to not distribute the clip, this time without specifying any reasons for this decision and his statement according to which "the claims brought in the clip have nothing in them". After we again published his bizarre conducting, Hanan amazingly and almost unprecedentedly brought some sort of information to back his decision – only the information he brought was not even remotely linked to his claim saying our clip had false information in it. It is this bizarre behavior of Hanan Cohen and his very influential website (that many people rely on), which brings out unfounded statements and information [23] – that has brought us to decide that it is important to come out and show the public the conducting of "Shatil" and the NIF, and set out to a campaign against these powerful people, while putting our personal security at risk.
- The privatization of the educational system – passing the control over it to the hands of the New Israel Fund and its investors:
The primary project of the NIF is "Project IVN, Education Services": out of six programs that were stated on the "Fund's Programs", four of them were actually the same program, IVN, with a change of name/headline. On the "About the Fund" page on the NIF website, it said: "The New Israel Fund […] created partnerships with high-tech initiators form Israel and the world, such as Israel Venture Network (IVN)". The board of directors of IVN includes, other than NIF representatives, a group also known as the "Dovrat Committee": Shlomo Dovrat form "Carmel Ventures", Benny Levine from "NICE", Arick Ben-Hamo from "com3", Yankee Margalit from "ALADIN", Itzik Denziger from "Comverse" and Nir Barkat (who is currently the mayor of Jerusalem) from "BRM Capital". These businessmen are invested in the largest high-tech companies in Israel, who are usually also the suppliers of different products to the cellular industry, and in companies offering private education services. It was IVN people who wrote and promoted the "Dovrat Reform" on the educational system, which meant privatizing it into the hands of the same companies and foundations they are invested in: According to their reform, the ministry of treasure was to cut down on public education budgets, which would force parents to purchase educational services from companies and foundations like NIF's IVN, CRB Found, Sakta-Rashi Found, Rothschild Found and others. The "Dovrat Committee"/IVN recommended that schools would tighten their dependency relations with businessmen (such as those invested in NIF), and enable them ever growing influence on schools – as a way to fund schools' activity. In accordance to Dovrat and his associates' recommendation, the institute for the training of school principals has been privatized into their hands, and today IVN people receive millions of dollars yearly for running this institute, and in fact now all school principals must go through their training and get their acknowledgement – this way they can encourage the consumption of services that the foundations they are invested in offer. Not only that, but they have also offered to deal with budget cuts through the replacement of current teachers for cheaper human resource personnel and through purchasing computers and software (a useful thing for their high-tech companies). The so called opposing campaign against the Dovrat conclusions was lead by "Shatil", among others through the "Forum of Organizations Fighting Unemployment". [24]
It is important to understand how the projects of "social marketing" work in the field of education and the privatization of different services to foundations. It goes something like this: an investment fund of businessmen, presenting itself as philanthropic, offers to give 20 million shekels (about 5 million dollars) as a donation to an important issue – an after school child care facility for Ethiopians in a remote town for example, so that their parents could work more hours and improve their financial situation and in that way to reduce the economic gaps in the Israeli society. The foundation then asks the government for an additional billion shekels (about 250 million dollars), an extra 50 million shekels from the local authority and a little bit more from the parents. The foundation gets a shelter or few rooms in a community center for free for this important project, hires a bunch of minimum wage workers, who operate a few volunteers. The expenses on the project tiny and in fact not only did the foundation not put in their promised 20 million shekels – it ended up rolling into its pockets, for its seniors that are invested in the foundation, 150 million shekels, and also allowed them to launder their money (avoid tax payment) through the help of the project and the foundation. [25]
One of the most outraging examples for social marketing (regular business marketing on false pretences of a social project) is the project "Tafur alai": marketing company "Prolog" and the food and drug companies it represents (Strauss, Teva, Promedico, Unilever and others) run, with the support of the ministry of education, the biggest project in Israel for "health and healthy nutrition" that is marketed to school students – according to messages chosen by these industries and commercial companies.(More information about this in a presentation we did about the privatization of the pulic education system: http://meshanim.com/h.pps)
- Encouraging cooperation between organizations and the businesses they are supposed to be fighting:
"Shatil" workers present themselves as experts on fund raising to organizations for social change and encourage organizations through workshops, tight escort and written information to financially associate with businesses, even at the price giving up on strategic means of action and ideological goals, and connect organizations to businesses. [26] [27]
Shay Dawidowicz, an activist from "Meshanim" group:
"For several months, I have been attending meetings of the 'Forum of Organizations Fighting Unemployment'", a coalition of dozens of known social organizations in Israel, which is funded by the New Israel Fund. "I was not part of any organization but they still let me attend the meetings. The salary of the chairman of the coalition was paid for by "Shatil". Her work was to arrange a meeting between representatives of the different organizations in the coalition every month. At these meetings, she would read updates and news-items on the happenings in the social field of the coalition's work. Afterwards, we would each time discuss a number of suggestions for action. Suggestions such as lectures, conferences, meetings with establishment representatives and writing position-papers often won the support in these meetings. Yet suggestions for real action, whose purpose were increasing public awareness to our issues, finding new volunteers, create gimmicks that would get us in the media and serious protests were disrespected and ignored. For instance, there was a suggestion that we take a minibus we had access to, a speaker, some posters and some pamphlets, and go on an awareness provoking journey throughout the country, and talk to residents and arrange protests. The chairman of the forum liquidated that initiative. I had an idea of sending a letter to the head of The National Insurance Institute (NII) asking him to cancel my insurance policy, send that letter to media networks, and with the help of this gimmick raise the issue that until then was only talked about in meetings while nothing was being done – tax benefits for employers that were on their way of being approved, while benefits for the poor were being cancelled. Heads of the NII cooperated with this processes, at the same time that they had billions of dollars worth reserves lying down. The chairman of the forum tried to talk me off of the idea, and said that we must not go out against the NII and that there was no point of directing ourselves to the media instead of what she claimed was the correct address – parliament members. I told her that if they wouldn't support me, I would go out and do it myself, and she asked me to talk to "Shatil"'s media adviser. That adviser also tried to talk me out of it, and said that it had no chance of getting into the media. I said to her that in my opinion there is nothing to lose and asked her help in getting it to the media. She kept me hanging for a while, and then sent me a letter from a journalist, who she referred to as an expert in the field of media, and in his letter he said I shouldn't go through with it. I told her I would do it alone. I turned to "Adva Center", an organization of research on social issues that is funded too by the NIF, to get some relevant information. It was very difficult to find exactly where they were located, but eventually I found it. At the entrance they asked me what it is I want, and I replied that I need some information from them on an issue I am working on. They didn't let me in the building, said that information on the issue costs money, and that they would call me later. Late I received a phone call from Barbara Swirski, and explained to her that I have an idea for a gimmick that might be able to get the people of Adva Center into the media, so that they could distribute important information from their researches to the public. I made it clear to her that I am not from any organization and that I am not interested at all in receiving credit for this action. She told me that "news-papers are only good for wrapping fish", that there is no point in passing this information to the public because it has no force and that we should only speak to parliament members, to whom they have already sent the information. I told her that parliament members already know of the issue, and that they are the problem, but she only told me that it is the only line of work and that there is nothing further to do. At the same time, one of the main issues that was supposedly on the coalition's agenda was the campaign against the privatization of education, as the "Dovrat Committee" conclusions were about to be approved. But sadly all that they were doing in the forum meetings was talk about the issue, nothing was being done, and the chairman who had all the authority there liquidated all the initiatives on the matter. The press was talking a lot about the issue at that time, but I noticed that no one was telling the story of who the people of Dovrat actually are, people who were assigned for the important and influential role of directing the Israeli educational system. I looked up the internet for information on Shlomo Dovrat and the other members of the "Dovrat Committee", and I reached the IVN organization. I was amazed to find out that Shlomo Dovrat along with other members of the committee are running this organization together with seniors from the NIF, which was financing the activity of the "Forum of Organizations Fighting Unemployment" and that this IVN organization is providing private educational services, meaning it had direct financial interest in influencing elements in the educational system. I shared my findings with representatives of the organizations I have been working with at the forum through e-mail and in conversations, but they all ignored it. Ehud Shem-Tov, who told me about the forum initially who at that time earned his living from members fees of the organization "Syncopation" and from NIF money, said that "there is no black and white", and that the fund (NIF) is financing him and so he can't go against it. I explained to him that we are not talking about a minor conflict of interests, but a clear one, but it didn't help. The chairman of the forum obviously didn't act against her employers' primer project, and didn't do a thing in order to publish the information I found – on the contrary: for instance, the students' campaign against budget cuts in the academy and the privatization of it, I tried to help them at the Tel Aviv University campus. The chairman of the forum contacted the heads of the campaign and convinced them to leave their battle and work on other issues that were less urgent and a lot less likely to get the interest and support of academy staff and students, like labor-rights of the cleaning staff at the university. In that way they managed to liquidate the students' campaign that before the intervention of the forum enjoyed great momentum and public interest. This conduction by "Shatil" and organizations working under it was seen by me in many other campaigns I was active in, such as the campaign against cellular radiation; the campaign against the privatization of the water economy; the campaign against the contamination of drinking water – "fluoridation" (where Shimon Tzuk from the "Israel Union for Environmental Defense" tried to convince people not to go to a demonstration against the fluoridation, and even lied and claimed that there isn't any financial interest in this matter); the campaign of the homeless in Be'er Sheva, and in many other campaigns".
This conduct on the behalf S.H.A.T.I.L. organization, and organization financed, guided and controlled by S.H.A.T.I.L., as it was described above, is one such whose likes i have also witnessed in course of time, on the occasions of my participation in various other struggles for social change. Every campaign I was initiated, I was contacted by one or more of S.H.A.T.I.L.’S organizations, which tried to convince me not to do this campaign, by saying that they will do everything, that I am not qualified enough, that it is too difficult, that there is no use in giving the information to the public or protesting and it is enough to give the information only to the politicians, or that there isn’t really such a problem and the newspapers are exaggerating, and other reason why I shouldn’t do anything about what is happening. When they could’t convince me not be be involved, is saw haw they tried to convince other people who were active in the campaign not to help and stop their activism. This is what happened in my campaigns about the hazards of cellular radiation (at which S.H.A.T.I.L. have been continuously pursuing their approach of hampering and immobilizing different local struggles); against the privatization of the water economy (were they tried to stop my campaign using Pe'ula Yeruka ("Green Action") and “Yedidey Kadur-Ha'Arets” (“Friends of the Earth”)); the campaign against fluoridation and industrial pollution (they used green organizations and parties such as “Adam, Teva', VeDin” ("Man, Nature, and Verdict"), “Hayerukim” (the Green party), “Hatnua Hayeruka” (“Green Movement” party) and others; In a campaign for the homeless people in, the city of Be'er-Sheva (they used an “expert” from S.H.A.T.I.L.; a campaign against women trafficking (they used their women rights organizations); a campaign against illegal arrests of refugees, and a campaign against the work immigrants policy, (they used human rights organizations); a campaign against privatization of transportation and against road accidents (they used “megama yeruka” organization (“green course)); a project of creating a community center managed by the people themselves and not from above (they used “Mahapah” organization, which controls local struggles); and other campaigns.
An important comment!
The vast majority of activists in organizations for social change and probably even many of the workers of "Shatil" (at least in the low and middle levels of the organization), are wonderful people who wish to do good things. The problem is that when an organization is centralized and there are very few policy makers, and most organizations are built this way (similar to schools, army and other decision making bodies), it is relatively easy to take over them, their messages and lines of work, while exploiting their financial dependency, unawareness and lack of thorough check of the problems on the agenda, insecurity and tendency of people to go after people in high positions in the organization and outside of it, naivete and greed of heads of organizations, lack of awareness and self criticism and other weaknesses of a centralized management. It is not an accident that "Shatil" has built itself and the organizations working under it in a radically hierarchical formation. We believe it is possible to overcome these weaknesses. It is easy to see that organizations that are less centralized and more democratic are a lot harder to gain control of from the outside and manipulate. We advise activists in organizations: demand full transparency, demand to participate in the decision making, check the funding sources and their influence over your organization, always criticize, always raise problematic issues and try to work them out, and try to base as least as possible on large donations – experience shows that organizations that work with a small budget or without any budget at all, are far more effective than rich organizations which are dependent on budgets, arrangement of fund raising and a constant desire and need to please the donors. See for instance the poor "Black Panthers", "Green activity" (before it was taken over and given to the hands of rich foundations), the Zapatistas' struggle in Mexico, the protests against World Trade Organization in Seattle in 1999 and many more examples.
"Shatil"'s response to accusations against it from members of the "Forum for Sane Cellular" in regard to the claims about conflicts of interests in Shatil and in the "Forum for Sane Cellular" (this email was sent by Avi Dabush, manager of the “Forum for sane cellular” http://shatil.org.il/cellular ):
Dear members of the forum [for sane cellular],
In response to questions and wonderings that were raised regarding the policy and activity of the New Israel Fund and "Shatil", we would like to set the record straight on the following:
"Shatil" is part of the New Israel Fund. "Shatil" has professional and public management that expresses the autonomic aspect of its conduction.
The new Israel fund raises each year a lot of resources for the strengthening of the civil society and the empowering of organizations for social change. The money is being raised from foundations, private donors and public institutes. The list of the fund's donors is open to the public and is found in all its publishing.
The fund has a clear social agenda, which is found too in all its publishing. The claim as though the fund changes its agenda according to the interests of its donors raises heavy doubts on anyone donating money to a social/environmental activity, and at the same time stains the motives of anyone ever received money from an Israeli, American or any other donor (which includes nearly all organizations for social change in Israel).
"Shatil" offers professional assistance to organizations working for social change. The assistance it gives to the "Forum for Sane Cellular" is part of this mission and is given to the forum because we at the fund and "Shatil" believe that it is the citizens' right to influence the environment in which they live, in order to change a policy that seems harmful and discriminating to them, and be part of the decision-making procedure.
The decision against which bodies the forum will act and with whom it will cooperate, as well as which strategies it will choose in order to achieve its goal is just like in any organization – your decision.
We will help in any way we can in the professional field so that the forum will succeed in promoting it campaign.
We will always be happy to receive feedback on the way "Shatil" is helping your campaign.
Best wishes for the New Year,
Alona Vardi, coordinator of project environment and community, "Shatil"
Carlos Stiglitz, vice-manager of "Shatil"
Source:
Meshanim group
Israel
Meshanim.com
[1] On this matter see for example map of media control in Israel: http://www.meshanim.com/media.htm
[2] Taken from a report the American fund has given to the authorities there: http://foundationcenter.org/cgi-bin/ffindershow.cgi?id=NEWI002
[3] Based on NIF's website: http://www.nif.org.il/about
[4] Taken from NIF's income tax report, page 7: http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org//990_pdf_archive/942/942607722/942607722_200412_990.pdf
[7] "Social change? Definitely. Transparency? Not necessarily", http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/1.7340.L-3257095.00.html Following an investigation which has lasted for three weeks, representatives of Shatil ( Services of Support and Counselling for Organizations which promote Social Change ), being one the bodies which exerts the most influence upon the local community of activists for social change in the State of Israel, that Shatil is not interested at participating in that article, or, in other words, Shatil were not interested to be revealing to us any of their aforementioned data. The strange explanation which they gave for this decision theirs, was given upon their behalf by the Counsellor of communications to Shatil by the very following statement : "We are bound from participating in this article, due to the fact that Shatil is not an independent body which has its own legal status, but that Shatil is rather a sub-divison of The New Fund for Israel ; this very organization ( i.e., The New Fund for Israel ) is also active in the United States of America, where it is legally registered as a foreign company, which expresses the will by thousands of supporters who are spreaded around Northern America, Europe, and Israel to make a contribution toward the strengthening and upholding of democracy and civil society in the state of Israel. Some part of this data, as well as some of those questions, which this certain questionnaire reffers unto, also appear on the internet website which is operated and maintained by U.S. Internal Revenue Service Agency ( IRS ), or also on the website of "Foundation Center". – “About that thing children would say that it is nothing but a bunch of nonsense. This association makes its operations inside of Israel, it provides its services to local Israeli organizations, whilst the very people who are registered as workers for this association, are also Israeli citizens. however, it is not clear why is it that the people who manage Shatil, reckon that if this data does appear on the U.S. IRS website, then is it not legible to also have its place as a published material on an Israeli website, as well. A local attempt which had been made in Israel to trace this data was then eventually concluded as a failed one, and further to that, a local request which had been made in Israel of the people who manage Shatil to provide reference for the whereabouts of that same data, was then also ignored by Shatil. Our conclusion from reviewing the local Israeli Internet website which is maintained by Shatil, is also that no mention of the matter of financing issues, has its appearance on their website, either. If Shatil was an American association, then it would have to acknowledge and recognize the fact, that according to law, it is obliged to upload all of its financial reports onto its respective website ; however, at the moment it seems that although one may choose on certain occassions to follow an accepted U.S. conduct in regard to law, then that on other occassions, one would preffer not to follow that same conduct at all.
It is only to be asked then, how will this organization could show a way toward making a social change, whilst at the same time, that very organization is not willing at all to adopt for its own conduct such elementary standards, as transparency is ?… the organization which is known as Shatil, which was founded in the year of 1,982 by the New Fund for Israel, has indeed been functioning since then as an meaningful part of the local Israeli community of activist people who wish to promote social change, and it has also won itself recognition and esteem on the behalf of the U.N., although that in despite of that, it is however unwilling and disinterested at sharing its financial conduct with the local public of Israel.” "
[8] NIF website: "NIF distributes more than $15 million annually in grants to Israeli organizations and allocates an additional $4 million a year for SHATIL, NIF's training and capacity building center, which annually provides technical assistance to approximately 1000 Israeli nongovernmental organizations": http://www.nif.org/about/staff/larry-garber.html
http://www.shatil.org.il/about The list of organizations funded by "Shatil" can be found in their annual reports: http://www.nif.org/about/financial-informaion/financials.html
9 Based on projects the NIF has financed, information on activities done by organizations supported by the fund, and out of our personal experience as experienced activists in Israel.
[10]" We have managed to utilize the recent period of recession for the benefit of changing the rules of the game, and to promote the most dramatic revolution of all — the dismantling of organized labour in Israel of its former powers… …organized labour has been diminished during the last few decades of its relative portion of holding 70% of the local Israeli market, down to a mere portion of 20% only. If we should/will have been able to carry out planned reforms in the fields of education and agriculture, then the estimated portion of this ( i.e., organized ) labour, will/should already by then be dropped down to even less than ( it's currently relative portion of ) 20% " — As been told by Mr. Uri Yogev, a former Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the Department of Treasury of the government of Israel, and currently holds the office of a Senior Advisor to the President of the State of Israel, on an interview which he had given to a local Israeli newspaper which is called Ha'Arets ; An original quotation of that certain interview, could be found on the following weblink : http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtPE.jhtml?itemNo=423771&contrassID=2&subContrassID=6&sbSubContrassID=0
[11] According to a phone call made with the manager of the organization.
[12] For instance, Avi Dabush coordinated both the "Forum for Sane Cellular" and the "Forum of Organizations Fighting Unemployment" at the same time. A list of the coalitions "Shatil" coordinates can be found here: http://web.archive.org/web/2007102513715/www.shatil.org.il/site/static.asp?apd=29
[13] Information exists, for example, in the book "Cellular – Not what you had thought, the information that is hidden from the public" by Iris Atzmon. An official representative of Shatil who is called Avi Dabush insists to ignore the information which presented in this book, as well as he also insists to ignore any any related information which was gathered from researches which had been performed in this same field, and so Avi Dabsh chooses on any given occassion or circumstance to present to people his own lies, as he claims that there are no reports of any empirical of evidence which prove radiation for being a cause as to negatively inflict one's health, i.e., of radiation for actually being an health hazard.
[14] NIF's reports show that nearly all of the donors are private people (mostly rich businessmen) and other foundations, and only six companies one of whom is Cellcom. According to the NIF, there is a wide cooperation between the fund and companies for cellular supplies, such as BRM: http://www.shatil.org.il/data/madrich_asakim_chapter.pdf
15 For instance, following below is a joint letter which was sent in the past by Mr. Ronny Keller ( an activist protesting against the dangers of radiation which is given off by cellular devices ), and by Dr. Zamir Shalita ( a known israeli expert in the field of cellular radiaion ) to Mr. Avi Dabush of S.H.A.T.I.L. Organization :
Mr. Avi Dabush
The Coordinator of The Forum for Sane Cellularity,
S.H.A.T.I.L. Association Ltd.
Friday, the Seventh of July, 2,006
Dear Mr. Avi Dabush,
Subject of Letter : In regard of your previous letter to us, conssisting of updates concerning progress and achievements of The Forum for Sane Cellulaity, which was sent to us on the date of the Sixth of July, 2,006.
Beginning of quote from your aforementioned letter :
"…We continue in our progress, on one hand, for compiling a draft which is to consist of a proposal for regulations and new ordinances, thanks to the cadre which is coordinated by the Lawyer Ms. Tamy Ganot, on the behalf of Adam, Teva', Ve'Din Association, which also includes the following members : The Lawyer, Mr. Michael Bach, Doctor Zamir Shalita, Mr. Ronny Keller, and Mr. Yehuda Dror.
Earlier on this week, a meeting has been held with the Assistant Director General of the Ministry of the Environment, Mr. Yossi 'Inbar, and also with the Chief of the Department of Radiation, Mr. Stiliyan Gelberg.
We were surprised for the positive of the stand exercised by this Ministry, which views the participation of the public in the process of reviewing regulations, and attempts to promote relocation and distancing away from sensitive institutions or faculties, elimination of contact between business firms and surveyors**, notification of the public, legal shifting of the definition of all facilities, so as for a building permit to be required for their construction, and more.
We should of course wish to view a proof for matters which were claimed. …"
Ending of quote.
We would therefore wish to remind you, that you were requested by Mr. Ronny Keller, and also by Dr. Zamir Shalita, to provide us with notifications, as well as to require of us for our presence, at any meeting with any given public figure ; you were further asked by us to at least notify us of such meetings, in order for us to form an opinion which would reflect our positions.
However, it appears to us that you have made of late some common decisions, in accordance with the Assistant Director General of the Ministry of the Environment on a meeting which has been held ( Whilst further to that, we also have no knowledge regarding any other instances when you have had the occasion of meeting with other figures, or of any other statements which you have made, allegedly so in our name ), without giving us any notice of the prospected holding up of that meeting on an earlier date in time, and added to that, then we come now to an alleged understanding that decisions are being made behind our backs, whilst a pretence of our approval of your opinions is being continuously held up, and that as objective leaders of an approach, we then approve of things which we have actually not had any share of.
In the light of this situation, as well as due to the fact that we have so far failed to receive from you a complete transparency in regard of your meetings with various public figures, including those of general managers and assistant director generals of different ministries, then we do not see a further occasion of continuing our association with you.
Further to that, then we ( i.e., Mr. Ronny Keller, and Dr. Zamir Shalita ) shall wish to hereby make specific references to your meetings with Mr. Stiliyan Gelberg, Assistant Director General of the Ministry of the Environment, to your spokesman ship which is also given allegedly on our own behalf on occasions of various conferences, as well as to other deeds which have been committed by your own self, professedly claimed as relating for the benefit of settling and regularazing matters which are of relation to cellular communication companies.
Those actions and proclamations which we have mentioned above are not any such ones which are found to be agreeable by us, they do not reflect our own opinions, they have been executed whilst cynically exploiting our social regard and good name, with the absence of our presence at those meetings, and lack of our knowledge on their taking place, as well as without our expressed consent to any matters which are related to them.
We ( i.e., Mr. Ronny Keller ,and Dr. Zamir Shalita ) wish to hereby request for the removal of our names out of all and every correspondence which you may have with any other personae, and also to cease of giving legitimacy for your tales or fabrication, through the exploitation of names !
We would also wish to request of you cease and desist of your various activities in the field of cellular radiation, since that your understanding of the technical, medical, and judicial issues is greatly lacking, to the extent that it is not clear for whom do you work ? and, what is your own personal interest at the subject which is at hand ? you were never elected by the wide public ! we lack any knowledge of your identity, we don't know who you are ? and what are exactly your qualifications ?
Out of the avoidance of transparency which is exerted by yourself, there appears to arise an alleged manner of hypocrisy, as well as an unpleasant smell, along with the appearance of conflict of interests.
And so, due to this current state of affairs, then we ( i.e., Mr. Ronny Keller, and Dr. Zamir Shalita ) have no wish of any services of this sort of spokesman ship, and we would therefore life to ask you of you again, in a manner which is as lucid as possible, without any occasion of reference to ambiguity of any sort, to severe our ties with you, and of you to cease of including our names in any of your occasions of making a correspondence with other personae, and to clearly avoid of supporting any of your claims or personal affairs, through the use of presenting our names to others !
We wish you luck in any course which you shall choose !
Sincerely Yours,
Mr. Ronny Keller,
and Dr. Zamir Shalita
[16] Lior Verona, spokesman of the Forum of Cellular Companies: "In many aspects, the civilian activity that the cellular companies try to encourage matches the activity of many green organizations, such as "The Forum for Sane Cellular": http://www.nrg.co.il/online/35/ART1/442/376.html
17 Personal impressions of us and of other experienced activists – from experiences we have had in different activities and organizations we were part of, and from stories we have heard from other activists.
[18] Personal impression of us and of other experienced activists. Here is what one of the activists from our groups said: "I was a spokesman of our organization, which has paid "Shatil" for my participation in one of their courses on media and spokesmanship. They explained to us that these courses give only very little of the knowledge we need in order to be good spokesmen, and that it is an expertise that can only be acquired from years of practice".
[19] Hanan Cohen is "Shatil"'s internet coordinator, according to this website for instance: http://info.org/hanan/php
[20] See further information on "Shatil"'s website: http://www.shatil.org.il
[21] Look in Hanan Cohen's website "Irrelevant" and come to a conclusion yourself: http://www.info.org.il/irrelevant What does Hanan Cohen base his decisions on? Are his sources reliable in your opinion? Does he support public campaign and spreading of essential information to the public?
[22] For instance, all links given in the "Irrelevant site http://www.info.org.il/irrelevant website (on the lower right side of the page) are to websites that oppose the usage of the internet as a tool for social change. Here is a quote from the website "Break the Chain" that is recommended by Hanan Cohen: “Armchair Activism chain letters are those that encourage you to "sign" a petition or participate in a boycott to effect change. They are, unfortunately, typically based on the misguided belief that the sheer numbers of online denizens will be enough to influence social, political or economic policy with very little effort by individuals. They take many different forms, but all have the underlying flaw that activism requires action and few things are more inactive than sending e-mails to our friends. To learn more, read my Primer on Armchair Activism”.
[23] Http://www.meshanim.com/haflara.htm
[24] More on the campaign of the "Dovrat Committee" and the NIF for the privatization of the educational system can be found in http://www.meshanim.com/h.pps
[25] For example, we recommend for a wise read of the following article: "A new project will raise 2 billion shekels for jeopardized children", Ruti Sinai, "Ha'aretz": http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/1/542860
[26] "The cooperation between the business world and the non-profit organizations has turned also in Israel from a fashion to an integral part of the financial strategy of many businesses […] Today the social involvement has turned into a built-in and out-front part of businesses' general strategy. […] The social involvement of business had become a profession […] – it is a clear financial consideration and an investment with great returns […]": http://www.shatil.org.il/data/madrich_asakim_chapter.pdf
[27] "In the next few pages we want to give you a draft of the optimal procedure to effectively cooperate with businesses […] Cooperating with businesses is a long term investment and is an inseparable part of an organization's general resource development strategy […] each side has something to gain: the organization has something to give to the business and a business has something to give to the organization […] Like any other funder, a business could set the organization with some conditions of its own […]": http://www.shatil.org.il/data/madrich_asakim_chapter.pdf