Dec 22nd, 2010
By F. Grey Parker
Three days ago, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hosted a dialogue in New York City for 60 prominent Israeli politicians, activists and social leaders. The event was Abbas' idea, starting with an invitation from him, and the group was notably not limited to the more liberal players or the usual peace proponents. Discussions ran the range from territorial boundary disagreements to the potential details of a two-state solution in the world's most consistently troubling conflict outside of the Koreas. It was, in my view, a tremendous example of the progress we have made. A little less than a quarter century ago, when the Intifada was fully raging, it could not have been predicted that something of this kind might ever be possible.
But, stunningly, it didn't rate much as news. Aside from The NY Times, it counts as arguably the weeks most underreported story so far.
Exclusion from coverage is not enough for some conservative outlets. Nope. Simply not reporting a positive action on the part of the Palestinian leadership doesn't suffice for our media's Neo-Cons. My case in point is Tucker Carlson's rag, The Daily Caller, which devoted not so much as a paragraph to the gathering or it's potential. Not one line. What The Caller did make time for, however, was a piece this morning reminding us that Jerusalem's Grand Mufti from 1921 to 1948 and infamous anti-Semite, Haj Amin al-Husseini, was a real great friend to Adolph Hitler.
It is more important, apparently, for Mr. Carlson to "report" to his readers about Palestinians who were complicit in the Holocaust 70 years ago than to report on those who are struggling for peace today.
Shame on you, Tucker. Shame on you.
Clasping media friends and enemies close, as Abbas does, is essentially inviting them not to report anything. It's Israel's 'no news is good news' kind of PR. Besides, this 'invitational' is one of several ways that distract world media from Israeli West Bank settlement expansion and Palestinian land expropriation.
ReplyDeleteBefore anyone can stop it, the triangular shape that Israel originally wanted in 1948 will be a fait accompli. Thing is, more Palestinians will live within the borders than do Israelis. Israel will become a two-demographic state. Which, really, is not so bad.