Yesterday Elder of Ziyon blogged about an article in the New York Times. The NYT’s bureau chief, profiled a reporter who recently returned from Gaza. Elder of Ziyon observed:
But there are a number of stories that do not get adequate coverage when reporters like Bronner talk about Gaza.
One is how, despite the troubles that Gazans have, their standard of living is still better than that of many or most in the Arab world at large, let alone the world itself. The number of humanitarians that say they care so much about the lives of Gazans far outweigh the needs of Gazans to get their basic goods. The big argument in Gaza is about how Al Jazeera’s initial coverage of the World Cup was interrupted, forcing them to watch it on Israeli TV stations. This is hardly the type of concern one would expect from an area suffering from a humanitarian crisis.
The next underreported story from Gaza is how the murderous Hamas dictatorship has turned Gaza into a place where there is no freedom of speech or freedom of expression, where freedom of religion gets only lip service, and where the rulers prefer to hang on to their sheer hatred of Israel rather than compromise to help their citizens. Any self-respecting liberal – or conservative, for that matter – should be outraged at Hamas’ repression of basic human freedoms. Yet such outrage is muted, or non-existent. Humanitarian agencies in Gaza are too frightened to speak negatively about Hamas, which routinely closes charities they do not like. Reporters in Gaza know that they won’t have jobs – or they’ll end up in prison – if they report facts that Hamas is unhappy with.
Much easier to just toe the Hamas line and blame everything, again, on Israel.
Treppenwitz also covered an article about Palestinian life. In his case an article in the NYT’s travel section about Ramallah.
Treppenwitz writes:
All in all, a travel article that spans a mere 1000 words (roughly analogous to the clear picture he paints), manages to directly mention the occupation/conflict eight times, with several more veiled references thrown in for atmosphere.
But to make sure he hasn’t scared off potential travelers who might be worried by the suggestion of a combat zone or (Allah forbid!), a repressive Muslim enclave, there are plenty of calming references to free flowing alcohol…
I know that he’s emphasizing the gratuitious Israel bashing references to the article, but again it’s easy to see that the travel reporter is trying to portray life in Ramallah as normal as possible – by Western standards.
It’s impossible to ignore that something has changed. Or at least a perception has. For years we were told “well we don’t agree with the terror, but you have to understand that it’s driven by despair.” This made it imperative for Israel to solve the Palestinian issue, whether the Palestinians cooperated or not. But now when it’s impossible to argue that the Palestinian suffering is uniquely bad, (Elder points out that it’s Hamas, not Israel, that makes life in Gaza unpleasant.) demands for Israel to accede to every single Palestinian demand, simply provide cover for perpetuating anti-Israel grievances.
In the past decade Palestinian leaders have twice rejected peace offers from Israel. Given these rejections and the normalcy now experienced by most Palestinians, contrary to the conventional wisdom of the past 43 years, Palestinian independence and statehood are clearly in their own hands.
Crossposted on Yourish.
