Saturday, November 17, 2012

"Israel’s Shortsighted Assassination," "I’m Losing Hope for a Peaceful Israel" and "Trapped in Gaza": More Imbalance From The New York Times

In today's New York Times we are confronted with three guest op-eds, all opposing Israel's decision to assassinate Ahmad Jabari and strike against Hamas's missile arsenals: "Israel’s Shortsighted Assassination" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/opinion/israels-shortsighted-assassination.html), "I’m Losing Hope for a Peaceful Israel" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/opinion/hope-for-a-peaceful-israel-dwindles.html?_r=0), and "Trapped in Gaza" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/opinion/trapped-in-gaza.html).

"Israel’s Shortsighted Assassination" acknowledges that "No government can tolerate having its civilian population attacked by rockets from a neighboring territory," but concludes that Jabari's targeted killing eliminated "the possibility of a long-term cease-fire" which the author was seeking to negotiate. (Incidentally, the author of this piece is "planning another speaking tour across the United States" (http://gershonbaskin.com/) and should be contacted directly "For information on fees and scheduling.")

In "I’m Losing Hope for a Peaceful Israel," the author condemns "Israel’s current leaders for failing to recognize that the best defense is peace," and after 15 years living in Israel, she tells us:

"I think of leaving. It’s not the missiles that are breaking me. It’s the lack of an alternative to them."

If the author is expecting peace in the short-term, I think she should indeed pack her bags. Iran is threatening Israel with annihilation almost daily, and Hezbollah, Iran's Lebanese surrogate, has more than 50,000 missiles pointed at Israel. (We're in for a rocky ride, but note how Shiite Hezbollah has refused to come to the assistance of Sunni Hamas.)

In "Trapped in Gaza," the author admits that "So far, in the war that began on Wednesday, only a handful of children and teenagers have died," before concluding:

"Each day here lays bare the ugliness of war, and for my siblings and me, each scene of our movie starts the same: we are trapped."

There is no mention by the author of this opinion piece of the hundreds of missiles fired from Gaza at Israeli towns and cities, i.e. each and every missile a war crime, or Israeli civilian dead and wounded.

Needless to say, there is no New York Times guest opinion piece informing us that Israel was left with no choice other than to attack Gazas' terror infrastructure, which targets Israeli civilians. You want balance from Andrew Rosenthal, editorial page editor of the Times? No way.

Just a quick reminder to my friend Andy: The Hamas charter calls for the murder of all Jews, not just Israelis. Moreover, when people specifically inform me that they intend to kill Jews, I believe them.

Negotiate a so-called "long-term" ceasefire with Hamas, while allowing them to continue building their arsenal of Fajr missiles from Iran, capable of striking Tel Aviv and Jerusalem? No thank you.

No hope for a peaceful Israel? Israeli prime ministers Barak and Olmert offered Arafat and Abbas an independent state along the 1967 lines with agreed upon land swaps, and Olmert even offered Palestinian control of east Jerusalem. Arafat and Abbas refused. Abbas might now be telling the Israeli public that he is again prepared to pursue peace talks, but I will never forget how he told Jackson Diehl of The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/28/AR2009052803614.html) in May 2009 that he was in no hurry to make peace:

"'I will wait for Hamas to accept international commitments. I will wait for Israel to freeze settlements,' he said. 'Until then, in the West Bank we have a good reality . . . the people are living a normal life.'"

Abbas will wait until Hamas accepts international commitments? He might just as well wait until hell freezes over.

And as far as being "trapped in Gaza," I wonder why the author didn't write an opinion piece decrying Hamas mortar, rocket and missile fire at innocent Israeli civilians prior to today. In January 2006 Gaza's electorate brought Hamas to power. They knew that Hamas called for the murder of all Jews, and they knew that Hamas rejected any binding peace treaty with Israel. Yes, sometimes we pay a price for our foolish decisions, and by voting for Hamas, the inhabitants of Gaza should have known that they had ensnared themselves in a never ending spiral of violence.

1 comment:

  1. Don't get me started. I saw the headlines, but I didn't read the "pieces." I don't have the stomach for this Stuermer.
    Antisemitism is one of my areas of expertise.
    Few things are more antisemitic than blaming ... Jews for everything. Sadly, the NYT has entered the history of antisemitism a long time ago.
    Again, pure undiluted evil.

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