Lawsuits are a public relations opportunity for Israel

Israel should use the trials of senior IDF officers to highlight Palestinian crimes. From Lawsuits PR opportunity for Israel:

Brigadier-General Aviv Kochavi's decision to cancel a study sabbatical in London for fear of being indicted for "war crimes" is only the latest episode in an apparently growing phenomenon by Palestinian Arabs and their supporters to expand their struggle against Israel to a different arena.

Last September, former IDF Southern Commander Doron Almog was advised not to deplane at London's Heathrow Airport after Muslim groups filed suit against him for "war crimes" during his stint as head of the IDF Gaza division from 1993-95 and head of the IDF Southern Command starting in 2000.

And Sunday, Israel radio reported that Danny Ayalon, Israel's ambassador to Washington, has asked the U.S. state department to dismiss lawsuits against IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon and former Shin Bent director Avi Dichter.

Such a trial would allow Israel to pick up the gauntlet, turn the tables and use the media spotlight to put the Palestinians on trial for both war crimes and propaganda excesses against Israeli civilians.

What better way to gain world-wide exposure for the fine work of Palestinian Media Watch , an organization that monitors state-run Palestinian media and features chapter-and-verse on such topics as PA Promoting & Glorifying Terrorism, Teaching Children to Aspire Death for Allah, and Rape, Murder, Violence and War for Allah Against the Jews: Summer 2000 on Palestinian Television , with translations into English, French, Russian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, German and Dutch?

One expert witness for the defense could be former PLO terrorist Walid Shoebat, who says he was taught in his Jordanian school that "Arabs are beloved, Jews are dogs" BEFORE the 1967 Six Day War.

Shoebat is routinely boycotted by university conferences on the "Palestinian question." A trial would be a great platform to get his message the widespread exposure it deserves.

"You don't 'join' a terrorist organization," says Shoebat, "it's (the result of) collective incitement of millions of children – in school, in the social arena, in clubs, in mosques, on the Temple Mount, on the street, in graffiti. It is absolutely part of the culture, part of our upbringing."