Prefatory Note: What follows is a letter to the New York Times responding to their editorial of June 6, 2014 (“Israeli-Palestinian Collision Course”), which was not accepted for publication. I publish it here because I believe it identifies some of the continuing ways in which public opinion on the relationship between Israel and Palestine continues to be distorted on Israel’s behalf in American media sources that have the undeserved reputation of being objective and trustworthy. The New York Times has long ranked high on this list, if not at its top!
This letter is particularly concerned with the misleading characterizations of Hamas, and the failure to pass judgment on the Netanyahu leadership as ‘extremist.’
To the Editor:
Re “Israeli-Palestinian Collision Course” (editorial, June 6, text reproduced below):
You are correct that this is an opportune time to take account of Israel-Palestine peace prospects in light of failed direct negotiations and subsequent developments. It is misleading, however, to equate Israel’s accelerated expansion of settlements with the formation of the Fatah-Hamas unity government. Israeli action continues a pattern of flagrant violation of the 4th Geneva Convention while the Palestinian action is a constructive move that could finally make diplomacy on behalf of all Palestinians legitimate and effective.
Even more regrettable is the editorial treatment of Hamas as “a violent, extremist organization committed to Israel’s destruction” and responsible for the violence on the border because “militants regularly fire rockets into Israel; in 2012 Hamas fought an eight-day war with Israel.” This kind of unqualified language distorts the realities of the last several years, and irresponsibly blocks any path to peace.
It is prudent to be wary of Hamas, but not without some recognition that the situation is more nuanced. It is worth remembering that it was the United States that urged Hamas to compete politically in the 2006 elections, and when it unexpectedly won, reverted immediately to treating Hamas as a terrorist organization. Its administration of Gaza since 2007 has been orderly, despite intense difficulties caused by the Israeli blockade, an illegal form of collective punishment. During this period Israel itself negotiated several ceasefire arrangements with Hamas, relying on the good offices of Egypt, that reduced violence almost to zero; these ceasefires were broken by Israel. Let us recall that the Israeli attack on Gaza in November 2012 was initiated by the targeted assassination of Ahmed Jaberi, who was at that moment in the process of delivering a truce agreement to an Israeli interlocutor and had been the Hamas official leading the effort to suppress non-Hamas militias operating in Gaza that were firing many of the rockets into Israeli territory.
In every conflict of this kind, when the dominant side is interested in peace it signals such an intention by abandoning its earlier refusal to deal with ‘terrorists’ and accepts its adversary as a political actor with genuine grievances and goals. This was true in Ireland in relation to the IRA, and indeed earlier when Israel decided to talk with Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization. It was true also in South Africa when the apartheid government released Nelson Mandela, whom we should remember was at the time a convicted and imprisoned terrorist leader.
It is not necessary to overlook Hamas’ past, but to move forward it would certainly be more responsible to take account of its leaders recent statements that call for long-term coexistence with Israel within its 1967 borders, up to 50 years rather than repeating sterile condemnations. Surely there are better diplomatic alternatives than for both sides to engage in the demonization of their opponent.
Richard Falk
June 9, 2014
The author served as UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Occupied Palestine on behalf of the Human Rights Council, 2008-1014
2 apart worlds of moral values of the Palestinians and Israelis:
-Israel protects “” life “” including the families of their enemy leaders.
-Palestinians indoctrinates “”death”” for all Jews including children and civilians.
Palestinians kidnapped 3 school boys.
What is Israel response? :
— Clinton testimony: Palestinian indoctrination of Kids- Bombs more precious
than children
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIBNRVgq59Ydeology
—Human Shield Confession:
‘WE IMPOSE A NEW NON CONVENTIONAL EQUATION IN WARS
(terrorist hiding among civilians=armies respecting war conventions cannot
protect their own civilians)
-Khalid Mash’al on Al-Jazeera
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0wJXf2nt4Y
— The Palestinians uploaded pictures images and words of solidarity of small
children to the kidnappers of the Israeli boys
http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/middle-east/israeli-palestinian-relations/palestinian-childrens-campaign-three-shalits-5965
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh promotes and indoctrinates the hate
ideology.
–“”The day of judgment will not come until Moslems fight killing the
Jews.
The stones and trees will say
O MOSLEM, THERE IS A JEW BEHIND ME, KILL HIM””
Hamas charter:http://www.mideastweb.org/hamas.htmFollowing
——-
– World Health Organization report:
Israel approved 91.5 percent of all Palestinian applications to receive medical
care within the State of Israel.
Save a Child’s Heart, an Israeli organization, saved the lives of 3,000
children, of who half were hailing from the Palestinian Authority
The official PA daily Al Hayat Al Jadida has recognized these facts
http://unitedwithisrael.org/palestinian-newspaper-recognizes-israel-helps-palestinians/
– The granddaughter of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh was transferred to
an Israeli hospital for treatment, sources in the Gaza Strip confirmed.
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Israeli-hospital-treats-Hamas-PM-Haniyehs-granddaughter-332193
— The wife of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has been treated in an Israeli hospital.
http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-presidents-wife-treated-israel-hospital-173726192.html
The West has had enough of Israel’s manipulation of the media and of Evangelicalism all in the name of its own genocidal agenda.
Zionists and Islamic terrorists are cut from the same cloth. But Jews have been trained in dominating the discourse,as your posts attempt, and so they present the appearance of being reasonable and modern and rational. And then they turn around and burn kids alive with petrol or phosphorus or tungsten, or shell them playing on the beach.
We no longer buy Israel’s quails of fear and claims of victimhood. The epithet of “anti-Semitic” is nothing more meaningful than the raving of an Internet troll.
Israel is in occupation of Palestinian land, and must surrender.
Shein Ariely is the latest Hasbara volunteer to post Israels Foreign Ministry propaganda, in an attempt to misdirect and divert from the basic cause of the problem in Palestine.
The creation of the State of Israel on stolen Palestinian land was and is the problem that Israel refuses to accept.
Shein Ariely posts his hatred for Palestinians, 4.9 are currently registered with the UN as refugees, they would all be living peacefully in their homeland but for the creation of an artificial State which required their removal.
Shein Ariely states “Palestinians Kidnapped 3 school boys” (That is an Israeli assertion), then asks “What was the Israeli response”.
The Israeli response has been to kill 4 Palestinians and place over 400 in preventative detention, standard practice for Israel, so it receives no publicity in the US, luckily that is not the case elsewhere!
your comment is poor.
there’s nothing but truth in the claim that 3 schoolboys were kidnapped by Palestinians and labeling it “an Israeli assertion” is fatuous disputatiousness without any value or reason.
That is your opinion dubinsky.
My opinion is based on Benyamin Netanyahu`s long history of lying, that and the simple fact that no organisation or entity has claimed to have kidnapped any Israelis.
I would add that Israel as the occupying force could prevent the possibility of trouble simply by withdrawing from Palestinian land, it`s not rocket science!.
your “opinion” is still totally bullsnot, Thompson. those three kids disappearing weren’t invented by Netanyahu. that’s just stupid.
Well dubinsky, they`re dead now. They would have been alive if they had not chosen to live in the illegally occupied West Bank.
4 weeks ago an Israeli soldier was filmed killing two Palestinian youngsters, one was shot in the back. What happened? NOTHING, the Israeli soldier was suspended on full pay while “investigations” were made.
What the F***K to you expect Palestinians to do? When Hitler invaded European countries to recreate the Morovingian and Carolingian Empires, there was resistance to his occupations, and the first and second Reich`s lasted far longer than the Kingdom of Israel.
The artificial State of Israel has perfected the killing of Palestinians, in the past 13 years the ration is100 to 1
Three Israeli youngsters killed, and during that time 5 Palestinians have been killed in addition to those murdered (on video) by an Israeli soldier, that`s 7 Palestinians killed, NOT INCLUDING the Palestinian kidnapped and killed in Jerusalem, which now makes it 8 dead Palestinians.
Israelis are conditioned to kill Palestinians they started killing Palestinians in 1925 and have perfected the technique, Israelis deserve no sympathies, and the simple fact that the huge majority of Jews prefer living in their own homelands rather than the Apartheid State of Israel, shows that Israel no longer gets unconditional support from decent Jews.indeed many are supportive of the Palestinian plight.
If Israelis were Druids they would not be tolerated.
sometimes I expect more than childish stupidity and snotty rationalization from people, Mike.
good luck with your journey toward adulthood.
Falk’s baseless assertion that including Hamas in government will ease and value to negotiations is tripe.
there’s no Earthly reason to assert that claim and it’s far more likely that including a group committed to not negotiating at all will have an opposite effect.
Hamas is a democratically elected organisation which reflects the response of the people of Gaza to the theft of Palestinian lands by Europeans who are members of a tiny religious sect.
If Israelis were Druids the world would not tolerate Israeli crimes, and lies.
there’s nothing democratic about Hamas.and there hasn’t been an election since they won and their term of office expired long ago.
furthermore, that has nothing to do with Hamas’ refusal to participate in any direct negotiations.
are you some sort of professional paid liar for Hamas?
or do you spread lies and disinformation without being paid?
Mike is absolutely correct; Hamas was in fact democratically elected into power. Furthermore, it is Israel that refuses to negotiate with Hamas, not vice versa. So spare us your hypocritical accusations of spreading lies and disinformation.
when was Hamas elected and when did the term run out and when was the next election held, Jeremy?
Hitler was fairly elected……once. and there never was another fair election until Hitler was dead.
why not try a little honesty rather than trying to blueshirt?
You know very well when Hamas was elected. You probably also know that Israel and the US conspired with Abbas to overthrow the elected Hamas government, resulting in Fatah being expelled from Gaza and Hamas remaining the governing authority there, while the West Bank government is headed by Abbas, who remains in power illegitimately.
Try a little honesty yourself, hypocrite.
after you, Jeremy.
there’s nothing that Israel and the US have done that prevents Hamas from holding elections.
geez, but some camp-followers will swallow anything.
See my previous comment.
I read your comment and responded. you obviously are unable to offer a cogent reply and think that ducking the gist of my reply is your best choice.
have a nice day.
http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/9100000/Have-A-Nice-Day-donald-duck-9178175-550-381.gif
Now you’re projecting. See my comment two previous.
no thanks. as long as you have nothing to add, why would I bother?
Because my previous comment sufficiently addressed your nonsense. Hence my having nothing to add to it.
CORDELIA
Nothing, my lord.
LEAR
Nothing?
CORDELIA
Nothing.
LEAR
How? Nothing will come of nothing. Speak again.
The truth is that it is Israel who refuses to negotiate with Hamas, not vice versa.
is that so?
you wanna tell us when anyone from Hamas has ever been willing to sit in the same room as an Israeli official, Jeremy?
You wanna tell us when anyone from Israel has ever been willing to sit in the same room as a Hamas official, hypocrite?
you wanna learn and understand the definition of “hypocrite” idiot?
As though accusing Mike of lying and spreading disinformation when he was right and you were the one who was wrong isn’t hypocrisy, and as though condemning Hamas for something Israel is even more guilty of isn’t hypocrisy.
You have frequently violated the terms of use of this site with your comments. One warning.