Miftah describes itself this way:
Established in Jerusalem in December 1998, with Hanan Ashrawi as its Secretary-General, MIFTAH seeks to promote the principles of democracy and good governance within various components of Palestinian society; it further seeks to engage local and international public opinion and official circles on the Palestinian cause. To that end, MIFTAH adopts the mechanisms of an active and in-depth dialogue, the free flow of information and ideas, as well as local and international networking.
Hanan Ashrawi, a darling in the Western media, remains the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Miftah.
In Miftah’s Arabic edition there is an article railing against President Obama’s speech to Israeli students. But one part of the speech particularly raised the ire of the author, Nawaf al-Zaru.
I also know that I come to Israel on the eve of a sacred holiday – the celebration of Passover. And that is where I would like to begin today. Just a few days from now, Jews here in Israel and around the world will sit with family and friends at the Seder table, and celebrate with songs, wine and symbolic foods. After enjoying Seders with family and friends in Chicago and on the campaign trail, I’m proud to have brought this tradition into the White House. I did so because I wanted my daughters to experience the Haggadah, and the story at the center of Passover that makes this time of year so powerful.
It is a story of centuries of slavery, and years of wandering in the desert; a story of perseverance amidst persecution, and faith in God and the Torah. It is a story about finding freedom in your own land. For the Jewish people, this story is central to who you have become.
Al-Zaru asks:
Does Obama in fact know the relationship, for example, between “Passover” and “Christian blood” ..?! Or “Passover” and “Jewish blood rituals..?!
Much of the chatter and gossip about historical Jewish blood rituals in Europe are real and not fake as they claim; the Jews used the blood of Christians in the Jewish Passover …
He then quotes a 2007 Haaretz article on a book by a Bar-Ilan University professor that bizarrely claimed that a few blood libels could have had a basis in fact, without noting that the same professor recanted those claims a year later.
UPDATE
Hanan Ashwari’s NGO MIFTAH asserts publication of Passover Blood Libel is part of “open dDialogue”
ADL, Wiesenthal center slam MIFTAH for defending publication of Passover Blood Libel article
