Last week, Israeli commandos boarded a relief ship attempting to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip and, during a clash with pro-Palestinian activists, shot nine people to death. It was an old-fashioned, bona fide "international incident," a fiasco that raised alarming questions about the current trajectory of Israel's security, the wisdom of its government, as well as the fate of Obama's Middle East policies and U.S. security in general.
Within a few days, though, the Washington media's "Israel narrative" abandoned those questions and focused instead on the ugly words and sudden retirement of cranky 89-year-old White House correspondent Helen Thomas. Somehow, the debate shifted from Israel behaving badly to Helen Thomas behaving badly.
I'm not going to defend Thomas -- what she said was deeply offensive. But in the overall scheme of things, it was a trivial incident, and DC's sudden obsession with it -- to the exclusion of a lot of other, more important things -- is especially ironic given the parlous state of the Israeli situation.
The Washington media universe may not have set a new speed record here for spinning itself, Tasmanian devil-style, from grave and difficult to trivial and ironic. (That seems, after all, to be what it does nearly every hour of every day.) But it did set a kind of distance record for leaping the moral gulf between important, complex issues and easy, knee-jerk ones.
If you withhold judgment for just a moment on Israel and the Palestinians, all you see are difficult issues, stark moral choices, no-win scenarios. The appalling economic conditions in Gaza, the awful paradox of a democratically-elected Hamas, the unintended consequences of Israel's unyielding military and diplomatic posture, the blowup with Turkey, potential impacts for terrorist recruitment, Iran, ad infinitum. But American politicians flee from these issues. Instead they fell over one another defending Israel for doing something indefensible. (Yes, of course the blockade-running is a provocation. But if you're smart, you don't kill provocateurs.)
The media and punditocracy follow the politicians. And pretty soon you've got Liz Cheney denouncing Turkey -- our ally -- for all but countenancing the destruction of Israel. Add Helen Thomas into this combustible mix, and a serious engagement with these issues (never a likelihood, but still) becomes impossible.
There are two problems here: The default media posture for hard issues is he-said-she-said, and when you try that with the Middle East all you get is people hurling accusations back and forth. That might work for cable chat shows, but not for understanding what's really going on in the Middle East. Worse, few in the media are smart or brave enough to weigh these issues. If they were, we might get more pushback on the vacuous political debate on Israel here in the United States. For instance, read Peter Beinart's carefully-argued piece on the failure of the American Jewish establishment in the New York Review of Books. Beinart's arguments are alarming. But he is simply too reasonable and nuanced to get much of a hearing in a media that feeds on outrage and is dealing with a situation that is a bottomless BP well of outrage. Reasonable won't cut it when you're arguing with Liz Cheney.
This post first appeared on my True/Slant blog.
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If I had to offer an opinion of the content of the video, I'd say that Nesenoff isn't exactly poised for a future at the Upright Citizens Brigade.
I learned about, Aliyah, which means ‘going up,’ during my first of seven trips to Israel and occupied Palestine in June 2005 from an American Jewess who had taken the deal and she informed me:
"I get fifteen hundred shekels or about thirty-six hundred dollars a year in increments to help with my expenses. I can apply for unemployment benefits after seven months, as long as I look for a job. I just completed Ulpan, which was five hundred hours of Hebrew language immersion studies that took five months, five hours a day, for five weeks. I get subsidized rent and just moved out of the Absorption Center Projects. All the new immigrants get room, utilities, and three meals a day for the first five months in Israel. We also receive free medical care and all the doctors here are dedicated. We can go to the university with 100 percent of the tuition paid by the government. College is much cheaper here; it’s about three thousand to four thousand dollars a year. Until I am thirty years old, I can receive up to three years of education for my master’s degree."
"Dear Helen Thomas with a PS to all her 'Colleagues' @
http://wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1755&Itemid=234
http://www.petitiononline.com/nprfront/petition.html
I am no liberal, by any means, but have never understood the Right's mindless support of Israel. While I don't think that the Arabs in general stand for much we can support, Israel certainly commits horrendous acts against the peoples of the region. Beyond that, to claim Israel is a democracy is a joke. It is a Jewish State, plain and simple. As one of my friends said in it's defense 'Well they can't allow the Arabs there to vote they'd destroy it'. Interesting defense for denying rights to so many people who rightfully and legally inhabit that land.
One of them is Hannen Zoubi, the first woman representative of an Arab party to be elected to the Kennest whom I met in June 2009 and she informed this reporter:
"From 1948 until now, loyalty to Zionism was enforced by policy. With the introduction of the loyalty law, anyone who would say Israel is not a Jewish State and a democracy would be jailed for three years! But we are optimistic for just by suggesting such a law it indicates the crisis that after 60 years we will never forget who we are.
"Loyalty to a state should require obeying the laws but Israel does not take our citizenship seriously. We cannot accept their Zionist dream, we have our dreams. We cannot accept the Zionist vision, we have our vision. I am a citizen of Israel but I am not an Israeli and I am not Jewish. Israel did not give me my identity and Israel cannot be a Jewish state and a democracy...
"Resisting occupation is legitimate and our goal is not one or two states, our goal is to end the occupation. The goal is freedom, equality and justice.''
Excerpted from "It's All About the Children" @
http://wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1307&Itemid=221
Its true that while they are 20%, they do have about 9% of the knesset seats - but they are routinely called "traitors" to their faces, and have their rights taken away by the Jewish super majority that can do anything it wants.
A number of Israelis have been heroes in killing terrorists - even that means a Palestinian is driving a tractor erratically, he can be deemed a terrorist and killed on the spot by gun packing Israelis. On the other hand, when a Jewish terrorist boarded a crowded Israeli Arab bus and opened up with an M16 on innocent passagenger, and was eventually overpowered, those people were not heroes. They were prosecuted for murdering the Jewish terrorist.
Its racism so clear and pervasive that its ugly to see. It would be like a white man going into a black bar in the old south, and shooting a dozen people and when they dare to overpower him, they are charged with the crime of daring to touch a white man.
And so it with the flotilla deal as well.
and here he is singing Happy Birthday to her on her 89th and giving her cupacakes!
But I digress...
So, the Israelis were occupiers of Palestinean land.
What should occupiers do?
Go home. What else? Commit mass suicide?
So, Helen said to the Israelis,"Go home."
Now those on the Left who supported the Palestineans on moral grounds had a dilemna on their hands - morality or political correctness?
PC wins every time!
When Israel pulled out of Gaza the Palestinian Authority were in charge. The plan was to transform Gaza into a Mediterranean heaven. Israel left behind all the businesses, the green houses, irrigation systems Etc... Than came the elections. The Palestinian had 2 choices, Peace negotiation toward a Palestinian state or violent and terror. The Palestinian stunningly voted for terror and violent. I can't even conceive a more reckless and stupid act than this one. Even the Hamas was stun. Once the Palestinian voted for violence the game changed. They can't declare war on Israel and expect Israel to help them. The second issue is the "Democratically Elected Hamas Government". Yes they were elected democratically, but their agenda is terror and violent, and the destruction of Israel. Are you suggesting that Israel just lie down and let the terrorist pursue their aim at will? The Palestinians chose war and war they got. Grown ups have to live with their choices, and they made their choice loud and clear. The Hamas initiated a violent cue and disposed of the Palestinian Authority by force. They murdered their own people in a barbaric and sadistic manner, and I am sure that you are familiar with the details. Is this a "democracy" you are in support of? Further more, their mandate to govern according to Palestinian law run out in January of 2010. They are currently ruling e legally. At the moment the Hamas is not "Democratically Elected Government" It's a dictatorship.
There is a TON of Palestinians history. The country is found on all the maps prior to '48. Please read a REAL history book.
As for there being "no Palestinian language".... it may have escaped your attention that the US speaks an IMPORTED language. There IS no "American language," which is why we call the language that we speak "English." You can cite that we have our own dialects of same. However the Arabs also have dialects of Arabic. Most Arabs understand Egyptian Arabic, because of the TV shows.
as is your viewpoint of the conflict ?
Whatever one might think of Helen Thomas, her retirement is a loss for all of us.