The NYT Continues to Push Nonsense

The NYT continues to push nonsense

Posted: 09 May 2011 03:19 AM PDT
An editorial in the New York Times about the Hamas/Fatah unity agreement uses a couple of the usual NYT memes.

We have many concerns about the accord, starting with the fact that Hamas has neither renounced its legacy of violence nor agreed to recognize Israel. The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, has said he remains in charge of peace efforts and the unity government will be responsible for rebuilding Gaza and organizing elections. Whether that is Hamas’s vision is unclear.

Also disconcerting are suggestions that Mr. Abbas may have privately agreed to replace his prime minister, Salam Fayyad, who has done so much to build up the West Bank economy and institutions. There are big questions about the future of the two sides’ security forces.

The United States has spent millions of dollars helping the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority create a security force that Israel has come to rely on to keep the peace in the West Bank. Whether Hamas, which has terrorized Israel with rockets from Gaza, can ever be integrated into that force, or even work side by side, is a huge question.

Israel certainly has many reasons to mistrust this deal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suspended tax remittances and is pressing Washington hard to cut off aid to the Abbas government. The Obama administration has reacted warily to the new pact but said its assistance will continue for now. Congress is talking tough.

It’s too early for a cut-off. The money is Washington’s main leverage on the new government. A cut-off would shift the political balance dangerously toward Hamas.

If the US would have clearly warned the PA ahead of time that a government that does not meet the long-standing preconditions of the Quartet will lose all its foreign funding, all of the above problems would never have come up to begin with. Why should the world embrace Hamas now when we saw what happened last time they had "unity" - leading to Gaza turning into Hamastan?

Other reconciliation attempts between Fatah and Hamas have imploded, but Mr. Abbas seems to believe this will advance his push to get the United Nations General Assembly to recognize a Palestinian state. Above all, his sudden willingness to deal with his enemies in Hamas is a sign of his desperation with the stalled peace process.

No it isn't. It is proof that Abbas refuses to compromise with Israel and therefore is cunningly using the international community to accomplish by fiat the same goal without his being forced to tell his people that they will need to make concessions. There is no desperation here: just a very smart end-run around his making hard decisions.

Hamas’s goals are far harder to game, although there are reports of new frictions with Syria and a desire for better ties with Egypt’s new government.

The NYT covers world events, but cannot draw a line between the popular revolutions against authoritarianism in the Arab world and Gaza? Apparently, to the Times, the PA is an island of Western-style democracy in an ocean of Arab dictatorships.

In an interview with The Times last week, Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader, declared himself fully committed to working for a two-state solution. Just a few days earlier Hamas’s (supposedly more moderate) prime minister, Ismail Haniya, was out there celebrating Osama bin Laden as a “Muslim and Arab warrior.”

Hmmm. How can the New York Times resolve this seeming contradiction? Maybe it should go back and read Ethan Bronner's actual interview with Meshal, without Bronner's unprofessional and frankly dangerous assumptions, and discover that Meshal said no such thing!

Here's a rule to live by: When Hamas seems inconsistent between its words and actions, look for a loophole in their words. This is what a serious journalist must do, and it is something that the New York Times cannot seem to grasp vis a vis Palestinian Arab promises.

Huge skepticism and vigilance are essential. But more months with no progress on peace talks will only further play into extremists’ hands....

After Israel withdrew from Gaza, rocket attacks increased. After Israel killed some 750 Hamas terrorists in Cast Lead, rocket fire went down dramatically and Hamas started stopping other Gaza groups from firing rockets.

There were more suicide attacks in the immediate aftermath of Oslo - even before the second intifada - then there are today, after Israel went on the offensive to destroy the terror infrastructure in the West Bank.

Amazing how peace can result from war - another concept that the New York Times cannot grasp.

Washington needs to press Mr. Netanyahu back to the peace table. A negotiated settlement is the only way to guarantee Israel’s lasting security.

In the funhouse mirror image universe that the NYT resides in, it is Netanyahu who has refused to talk with Abbas, not the other way around. Their meme of an intransigent Likud leader is so ingrained that they cannot even get basic facts right.

The answer, to us, is clear. It is time for Mr. Obama, alone or with the quartet, to put a map and deal on the table. If Bin Laden’s death has given the president capital to spend, all the better. The Israelis and Palestinians are not going to break the stalemate on their own. And more drift will only lead to more desperation and more extremism.

The map and deal have been on the table before. The Palestinian Arabs rejected it, consistently. The Times' editors fantasies that Israel just needs to give a little more to obtain peace reflects nothing close to resembling reality.

But it does reflect that they believe Mahmoud Abbas' lies completely and uncritically. They believe he is a moderate, that he is willing to compromise, that his hands are tied, that he desperately wants peace with Israel. All of those assumptions - each demonstrably and provably false, as has been documented over the years - are what informs ridiculous NYT op-eds like these.

It certainly isn't based on fact.

(h/t David G)
Elder of Ziyon

Throw the Traitors Out

'Israeli Arab' MK's Ahmad Tibi, Taleb a-Sanaa and Mohamed Barakeh (pictured) attended Wednesday's signing ceremony between Hamas and Fatah in Cairo and were pictured with Hamas' leaders. Now, lots of Israelis would like to see them thrown out of the Knesset.

National Union Chairman MK Yaacov Katz called on Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin to intervene and “throw out the traitors and the murderers and the collaborators with those who want to destroy” the very Knesset in which they serve.”

Almagor, a terror victims’ advocacy organization called on Attorney-General Yehudah Weinstein to open a criminal investigation into the participation of Ahmed Tibi, Mohammed Barakeh and Taleb a-Sanaa in the ceremony.

The organization argued that because Hamas is officially recognized as a terror organization, anyone participating in an event involving Hamas has violated an law prohibiting attending a meeting of a terror group.

“Public support of a unity agreement with a terror organization is the peak of expressing support of the organization and renders useless all attempts by legislators to differentiate between legitimate organizations and organizations that should not exist at all,” wrote Almagor in the letter to Weinstein.

Indeed.

Labels: Ahmad Tibi, Almagor, Fatah, Hamas, Mohamed Barakeh, Taleb a-Sana, Yaacov Katz, Yehuda Weinstein

posted by Carl in Jerusalem

A Small Incident in Gaza: Reconciliation

From PCHR:

At approximately 20:00 on Wednesday, 27 April 2011, dozens of Palestinian civilians, including women, spontaneously gathered in the Unknown Soldier Yard, in support for reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas movements declared in the Egypti... At approximately 20:30, 4 police vehicles arrived at the area, and immediately many police officers, some of whom were wearing civilian clothes, stepped down. They violently beat, insulted and chased the participants. They also arrested 5 of the participants, including Mr. Jamal Farawana, a defender of prisoners’ rights, who was violently beaten, and Mr. Talal Abi Zarifa, a leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.


And what was the spontaneous demonstration for?

To support the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah!

Fatah and Hamas sign reconciliation deal

Fatah, the Palestinian political organisation, has reached an agreement with its rival Hamas on forming an interim government and fixing a date for a general election, Egyptian intelligence has said.

In February, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority and a member of Fatah, called for presidential and legislative elections before September, in a move which was rejected by Hamas at the time.

"The consultations resulted in full understandings over all points of discussions, including setting up an interim agreement with specific tasks and to set a date for election," Egyptian intelligence said in a statement on Wednesday.

More on this from Saree Makdisi, a Palestinian scholar and author of the book "Palestine Inside Out - An Everyday Occupation". He also teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Fatah Wants Weapons Back from Hamas

From Ma'an:

Fatah-affiliated militant groups in the Gaza Strip have asked the Hamas government to return the weapons seized from fighters in 2007 when the Islamist movement took control of the coastal enclave.

Twelve divisions of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades asked to be rearmed in a letter to the government.

"Our fighters are on alert to confront any Israeli aggression, incursion, or folly," the letter said, asking for the return of their weapons in order to fight the threat.

The signatories of the statement included the Ahmad Abu Ar-Reish Brigades, Jihad Amarein Brigades, Sami Al-Ghoul Brigades, Nabil Mas'oud Brigades, Ayman Juda Brigades, Faris Al-Leil Brigades, Engineering and Manufacturing Brigades, Muhammad Siyam Brigades, Raed Al-Karmi Brigades, Luay Qanna Brigades, Marwan Zalloum Brigades and Palestinian Commandos Brigades.

Look at all those peaceful-sounding Fatah divisions - all with allegiance to the leader of Fatah, that well-known peacemaker Mahmoud Abbas.

Arab Spokesman Says Resistance is a Right

Fatah spokesman Osama Qawasmi said "resistance is a legitimate right of the Palestinian people for liberation from Israeli occupation for and achieving their goal of independence and the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem."

He said in a press statement issued by the Office of Information and Culture: 'Resistance and means to achieve the objectives of a comprehensive national goal is subject to its weapons and methods for a clear vision of strategic objectives and progress according to a unitary national and political goals agreed upon by the Palestinian people."

He goes on to say that Hamas' use of weapons has not been strategic and has hurt the goal of achieving a state, but in general there is a place and time for using terror against Israel.

I do not know if the "Office of Information and Culture" is a Fatah or PA organization.

Ma'an Arabic Blames Israel for Itamar Attack

Ma'an Arabic uses yet another of the oldest journalism tricks in the book to publish incitement and lies in a newspaper:

Quote somebody whose positions who you agree with.

In this case, it quotes some person on Facebook named Elif Sabbagh. (Ma'an has been obsessed with Facebook lately.) Sabbagh's Facebook page isn't even public, so it is not as if his original posting had gained any serious readership.

Sabbagh, who apparently lives in Acre, wrote about the story in YNet of the Jewish settlers who saved the life of an Arab baby yesterday while the Fogels were mourning the murders of their family nearby. He dismisses the story, claiming that there have been so many Arab babies who died because they were born at checkpoints. (Why the mothers in these probably apocryphal stories were trying to get into the evil Zionist entity to give birth is not really an issue for discussion.)

Sabbagh then goes on to quote Ma'an's thoroughly discredited story suggesting that it was actually Thai workers who slaughtered the Fogels. Ma'an, which knows that story was never true, therefore puts support behind its lie rather than admit that its sources are liars. (There aren't even any Thai workers in Itamar.)

Sabbagh goes further, saying that the settlements are dangerous places, and how irresponsible it is for Jews to live in the West Bank - putting their own children at risk. In fact, Sabbagh says, Netanyahu should be apologizing to the Fogels for allowing them to live in an area where Arabs are likely to come along and want to slaughter them! Sabbagh concludes dramatically - who should apologize to whom?

Ma'an, pretending to merely quote Sabbagh, is obviously showing its own position: that Arabs are inherently violent and cannot be blamed for murdering Jews in their midst, and Jews who want to live in their own historic homeland are to blame when (not if) they get massacred. Arabs, of course, cannot be held responsible for murder. That's natural.

How about this idea: Since Israel is obviously such a militaristic and genocidal state, isn't it irresponsible to want to live next to it? Shouldn't Palestinian Arabs move elsewhere in the Arab world so that their children are not put in danger from the IDF and the wildly rampaging settlers we hear so much about? In fact, when an Arab olive tree is allegedly uprooted by those evil Jews, doesn't that mean that it is time to move?

There is a reason I spend so much time talking about Ma'an: it is the only independent newspaper in the Palestinian Arab territories. It does not officially reflect the position of Fatah or Hamas. It prides itself on its professional journalistic standards. And it possibly reflects the opinions of the many Palestinian Arabs who really don't care for Fatah or Hamas or their more extreme cousins.

Yet here we see how Ma'an in Arabic is happy to publish lies and bigotry, blaming the victims and abandoning all journalistic standards.

And as of 1 PM Israel time, it is the top story on Ma'an's Arabic page.
Elder of Ziyon

Video of Gaza Unity Rally

This video actually comes from a Hamas website, where they are claiming that the people attacking the demonstrators are Fatah!



Hamas also attacked students at Al Azhar University in Gaza yesterday.

The Foreign Press Association described the scene like this:

On a day ostensibly devoted to Palestinian unity, police brutally attacked photographers and cameramen, beating them, breaking equipment and confiscating photos and video footage.
Elder of Ziyon

Zionism, Hamas Style

Hamas 'foreign minister' Mahmoud al-Zahar gave a speech in Khan Yunis over the weekend in which he explained his ideas about anti-Zionism.

The Jews will soon be expelled from Palestine that same way they were kicked out by France, Britain, Belgium, Russia and Germany, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said over the weekend.

“The only nation that received the Jews after they were expelled was the Islamic nation, which protected them and looked after them,” Zahar said in a speech in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip over the weekend.

“But they have no place here amongst us because of their crimes. They will soon be expelled from here and we will pray at the Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem].”

Zahar claimed that Jews were expelled in the past “because they betrayed, stole and corrupted these countries.”

Zahar called for unity with Fatah as representatives of the two parties prepare to hold another round of reconciliation talks in the Syrian capital of Damascus this week.

“Let’s join ranks and speak in one voice,” Zahar said in his appeal to Fatah. “Together, with blood, we could liberate our lands and holy sites. You have tasted the bitterness of arbitrary negotiations.” He said that Hamas was making “big efforts” to ensure the success of reconciliation talks with Fatah.

Anyone still want to argue that there's a difference between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism?

Labels: Hamas 'foreign minister' Mahmoud al-Zahar gave a speech in Khan Yunis over the weekend in which he explained his ideas about anti-Zionism.

The Jews will soon be expelled from Palestine that same way they were kicked out by France, Britain, Belgium, Russia and Germany, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said over the weekend.

“The only nation that received the Jews after they were expelled was the Islamic nation, which protected them and looked after them,” Zahar said in a speech in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip over the weekend.

“But they have no place here amongst us because of their crimes. They will soon be expelled from here and we will pray at the Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem].”

Zahar claimed that Jews were expelled in the past “because they betrayed, stole and corrupted these countries.”

Zahar called for unity with Fatah as representatives of the two parties prepare to hold another round of reconciliation talks in the Syrian capital of Damascus this week.

“Let’s join ranks and speak in one voice,” Zahar said in his appeal to Fatah. “Together, with blood, we could liberate our lands and holy sites. You have tasted the bitterness of arbitrary negotiations.” He said that Hamas was making “big efforts” to ensure the success of reconciliation talks with Fatah.

Anyone still want to argue that there's a difference between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade Takes Credit for Hebron Hills Attack

The Fatah-affiliated al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades have taken credit for the terror attack that occurred on Sunday evening in the Hebron hills.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Fatah's military wing, and al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad's military wing, claimed responsibility for the shooting attack that injured a husband and his pregnant wife outside Teneh Omarim in the West Bank.

In a statement issued, the groups said, "The attack was carried out to mark the 15th anniversary of the killing of the Islamic Jihad's founder Fathi Shaqaqi." However, in a conversation with Ynet, members of both organizations denied having any knowledge of the statement.

I don't believe that denial. Do you? I think we're being taunted to continue the 'direct talks' despite the fact that Fatah is now carrying out terror attacks again.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem

The Palestinians Do Not Want a State

Ehud Yaari, a less optimistic commentator, sat for five weeks in the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and wrote a paper entitled “Armistice Now: An Interim Agreement for Israel and Palestine.” ....

Yaari’s basic assumption is that the Palestinians do not really want a state, not if it entails resigning themselves to dividing the land. The Palestinian strategy is to collapse into the arms of Israel. From Israel’s perspective, that is disastrous. It must force them to establish a state. Since they are incapable of signing a comprehensive agreement, they must be compelled to establish a state as part of an interim agreement.

It appears that Yaari’s basic assumption is correct. Abu Mazen and his colleagues in Fatah are missing two vital ingredients for the establishment of a state—willingness to impose painful concessions, and the desire and ability to take responsibility for everything that the day-to-day running of a state requires. The only one in the Palestinian leadership who is working seriously in this direction is Salam Fayyad. It is no accident that he is not a member of Fatah. It is no accident that he sees David Ben-Gurion, rather than Yasser Arafat, as a model to emulate. ....

Source: Laura Rosen, Politico