Last week in "AP-PA-lled" we dissected one sentence of an AP report, which appeared as a link on Foxnews.com, and uncovered a wealth of rot.
But lately, I've been perusing the English online edition of Haaretz (you don't think I'd be caught dead buying the print edition, do you?). It occurred to me that while I've spent a lot of time chastising the international media, I've neglected to look at what's happening in our own house (Pesach must be around the corner). Israel's own Haaretz may be a major catalyst behind the very ominous trend of Israel bashing and defeatism that's presently plaguing the Jewish State.
In an exchange of emails on the subject, Nissan Ratzlav-Katz, Opinion Editor for Israelnationalnews.com, sent me the following quote by the celebrated academic, writer and Middle East analyst, Ian Lustick:
"[But] when I talk to people and distribute information, I never use reports in the American press, because the reports in the American press are too slanted toward a pro-Israel position. I only use Israeli newspaper accounts, Jewish Israeli Hebrew accounts. If those were published in the United States and known, that's all the information you need." [http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people2/Lustick.]
Professor Lustick (Jewish, of course) is no shlumper. It seems his respected opinions on issues regarding this region are held in high regard by U.S. presidents, congressional committees, the State Department, the Defense Department and the CIA. Not only does the renowned professor hang-out with the movers and shakers of the political, diplomatic and defense arena, he also wields untold power in academic circles.
Lustick is the Associate Director of the University of Pennsylvania's Solomon Asch Center for the study of Enthopolitical Conflict . This means that up-and-coming young minds are deeply influenced by the words and stature of this intellectual icon. And this is what the highly celebrated and cerebral Ian Lustick reads over his morning cup of coffee:
"All the settlers are tainted. If the Israeli society's sense of justice were more developed, the settlers would have long since been condemned and ostracized. A healthy society must disgorge its immoral elements." (Gideon Levy, Haaretz, February 8, 2004)
"It's not the armed, warmongering settlers who need protection, but the thousands of helpless Palestinians. Politically and morally, Israel cannot allow itself to turn a blind eye and even cooperate with gangs of hooligans who claim to be acting in the name of God as they force people out of their homes and expropriate their properties." (Lead editorial, Haaretz, February 17, 2004)
Last week, I inferred that if the AP writers bothered to look in the mirror, they would see a snickering image of PA Chairman Arafat in the reflection. But the staff at Haaretz might see a rather odd-looking rogue with plastered hair, wild eyes, and a little square of a mustache, glaring back at them (and I'm not referring to Charlie Chaplin).
The above statement may cause a furor (or fuhrer?) when read by the more genteel among us, but one has to wonder why so many of the Left seem so very anxious to apply their version of the Nuremberg laws to those Jews living in the communities of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. At the same time, we have to question the motives behind the Jewish intellectuals in America and elsewhere in the Diaspora who base their venerated views on what may amount to nothing more than cheap, yellow journalistic tactics used to sell a bankrupt political line (and a newspaper).
The earthquake in Israel is manifest on more than one plane. The tremors that occur when the brazen sabra rubs shoulders with the groveling Jew in exile reverberate around the world. In a sickening exhibition of elite Israeli intellectual bravado, it appears that the Landaus and Levys of Haaretz try their best to "one-up" and allure their illustrious counterparts in the Diaspora. Ian Lustick and Tom Friedman are most impressed and buy the Israeli Left's line lock, stock and barrel. They then adorn the deceptive reasoning with scholarly finesse and sell the entire bill of goods to the U.S. government, academic circles and media. The general public is usually perplexed, but too embarrassed to ask thoughtful questions, because that would indicate that they are perhaps lacking in intellectual acumen. "Duh, I dunno what was just reported, but the experts look like they know what they're talking about."
I'm not exactly sure what it is that the Israeli Left exports to the Jewish American liberals either, as it lacks any substance, ideology or truth - other than unadulterated hatred. But it's this very nothingness that is so dangerous. The match made in Hell between secular irreverence on this side of the world and the galut mentality prevalent among American Jewish thinkers spells disaster for all of us. The bankrupt Jewish mind run amuck has nothing left to do other than berate those Jews who still possess beating hearts and souls attached to their land, heritage and G-d. The damage being done by those bereft of anything but cold-blooded intellect and ego is incalculable.
In his New York Times column on February 5, 2004, Friedman wrote that Israel's Prime Minister "has had George Bush under house arrest in the Oval Office. Mr. Sharon has Mr. Arafat surrounded by tanks, and Mr. Bush surrounded by Jewish and Christian pro-Israel lobbyists, by a vice president, Dick Cheney, who's ready to do whatever Mr. Sharon dictates, and by political handlers telling the president not to put any pressure on Israel in an election year all conspiring to make sure the president does nothing."
I received a communique last week from MidEastTruth.com in which they juxtaposed the Friedman quote alongside the now infamous statement by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, in which he said, "Today the Jews rule this world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them." Mohamad's words sound almost mild next to Friedman's.
Friedman, and subsequently the New York Times, has a problem. The star writer of the progressive publication has staked a good part of his professional credibility on a Middle East peace process and a worldview that lacked validity from the start. The Oslo process will eventually breathe its last, followed by the total demise of the Israeli Left. When this occurs, Tom Friedman will be exposed as a sham of an analyst and journalist. But Mr. Friedman won't go down easily. Rather than admit a humbling defeat, he'd prefer to take Israel and the Jewish world right down the tubes with him.
Professor Lustick is so brimming with self-loathing that he would sic the U.S. authorities on fellow Jews who hold opposing opinions to his own. At a Brit Tzedek v'Shalom event that took place in June 2003, Lustick suggested that, as a "serious avenue of attack," people actively try "to get the IRS or the FBI to investigate the tax deductible status of these massive contributions that have been made to settlements, including Moskowitz's own activities...." He admitted that he had personally tried to do this without much success "...but that's an area where if resources were available, it would be useful to invest."
Some Jews dedicate their philanthropic efforts to assisting Jewish communities and their people in time of need, and then there are others.... But what can we expect from a man who encouraged Yitzchak Rabin to embrace Arafat and include Hamas in an "exciting political process"?
Lustick's ventures may extend beyond the Jewish community and permeate the hallowed halls of academia. Arutz-7 reported that a faculty member and colleague of Professor Lustick's is in danger of losing his position at the University of Pennsylvania's Solomon Asch Center due to his pro-Israel, philo-Semitic and pro-Serbian views. It seems that after extensive research, Professor Francisco Gil-White's views have taken a dramatic pro-Israel turn - and that isn't going down well with certain directors at the Institute. (See the latest on this issue at http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=58314.)
I suppose these kind of activities bring to mind the actions of the Judenrat, but many Jews are discomforted with those who evoke connotations of the Nazi era. We should be unsettled by striking parallels. Yet, most prefer that any references to events that led up to disastrous historical mistakes for the Jewish People remain fixed in time.
Our Sages, the true intellectual giants, knew better. Which is why we are required to recall the phenomena of Amalek and what they did and continue to be capable of doing to us. The concept of Amalek is timeless, as every generation does battle with external, as well as internal, manifestations of the evil that is capable of ripping our society apart.
Amalek is empowered by those who deny G-d's providence in the world. And this is the common denominator that links the secular Israeli Left with the those elements in the Diaspora who empathize with and embrace Arafat while opposing Jewish national aspirations.
If Friedman and Lustick were to take an honest and reflective look in the mirror, their images would surely reveal a grossly disproportionate and very destructive share of the Amalekite that dwells in all of us. But they may never see it, as they can't get past their arrogance. If, by chance, they caught a glimpse of the damage they have caused to their people and the world, I imagine they would lose those grand minds of theirs.
If Gideon Halevy of Haaretz understood this concept, his quote may have read "a healthy society must disgorge the Amalekite from within" and his rage would be directed at the Arab terrorists who are trying to destroy his people, not at the Jewish settlers.
Fair, ethical and objective opinions are currently not in vogue - they belong to eras gone by. As Jews, we fervently pray for a day when those noble concepts will be reinstated. In the meantime, the scales of justice and journalism are tipped severely to the Left. Urgent measures to recalibrate are necessary.
I doubt the owners and directors of Haaretz plan to fold the paper (no pun intended) anytime soon. So, it is up to us, the public, to initiate change. By taking a stand and throwing our weight to the Right, we can help reestablish stability and secure our future.
We should take immediate measures to boycott a self-destructive press, while bolstering and encouraging those media outlets and institutions that have Israel's best interests in mind.
But lately, I've been perusing the English online edition of Haaretz (you don't think I'd be caught dead buying the print edition, do you?). It occurred to me that while I've spent a lot of time chastising the international media, I've neglected to look at what's happening in our own house (Pesach must be around the corner). Israel's own Haaretz may be a major catalyst behind the very ominous trend of Israel bashing and defeatism that's presently plaguing the Jewish State.
In an exchange of emails on the subject, Nissan Ratzlav-Katz, Opinion Editor for Israelnationalnews.com, sent me the following quote by the celebrated academic, writer and Middle East analyst, Ian Lustick:
"[But] when I talk to people and distribute information, I never use reports in the American press, because the reports in the American press are too slanted toward a pro-Israel position. I only use Israeli newspaper accounts, Jewish Israeli Hebrew accounts. If those were published in the United States and known, that's all the information you need." [http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people2/Lustick.]
Professor Lustick (Jewish, of course) is no shlumper. It seems his respected opinions on issues regarding this region are held in high regard by U.S. presidents, congressional committees, the State Department, the Defense Department and the CIA. Not only does the renowned professor hang-out with the movers and shakers of the political, diplomatic and defense arena, he also wields untold power in academic circles.
Lustick is the Associate Director of the University of Pennsylvania's Solomon Asch Center for the study of Enthopolitical Conflict . This means that up-and-coming young minds are deeply influenced by the words and stature of this intellectual icon. And this is what the highly celebrated and cerebral Ian Lustick reads over his morning cup of coffee:
"All the settlers are tainted. If the Israeli society's sense of justice were more developed, the settlers would have long since been condemned and ostracized. A healthy society must disgorge its immoral elements." (Gideon Levy, Haaretz, February 8, 2004)
"It's not the armed, warmongering settlers who need protection, but the thousands of helpless Palestinians. Politically and morally, Israel cannot allow itself to turn a blind eye and even cooperate with gangs of hooligans who claim to be acting in the name of God as they force people out of their homes and expropriate their properties." (Lead editorial, Haaretz, February 17, 2004)
Last week, I inferred that if the AP writers bothered to look in the mirror, they would see a snickering image of PA Chairman Arafat in the reflection. But the staff at Haaretz might see a rather odd-looking rogue with plastered hair, wild eyes, and a little square of a mustache, glaring back at them (and I'm not referring to Charlie Chaplin).
The above statement may cause a furor (or fuhrer?) when read by the more genteel among us, but one has to wonder why so many of the Left seem so very anxious to apply their version of the Nuremberg laws to those Jews living in the communities of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. At the same time, we have to question the motives behind the Jewish intellectuals in America and elsewhere in the Diaspora who base their venerated views on what may amount to nothing more than cheap, yellow journalistic tactics used to sell a bankrupt political line (and a newspaper).
The earthquake in Israel is manifest on more than one plane. The tremors that occur when the brazen sabra rubs shoulders with the groveling Jew in exile reverberate around the world. In a sickening exhibition of elite Israeli intellectual bravado, it appears that the Landaus and Levys of Haaretz try their best to "one-up" and allure their illustrious counterparts in the Diaspora. Ian Lustick and Tom Friedman are most impressed and buy the Israeli Left's line lock, stock and barrel. They then adorn the deceptive reasoning with scholarly finesse and sell the entire bill of goods to the U.S. government, academic circles and media. The general public is usually perplexed, but too embarrassed to ask thoughtful questions, because that would indicate that they are perhaps lacking in intellectual acumen. "Duh, I dunno what was just reported, but the experts look like they know what they're talking about."
I'm not exactly sure what it is that the Israeli Left exports to the Jewish American liberals either, as it lacks any substance, ideology or truth - other than unadulterated hatred. But it's this very nothingness that is so dangerous. The match made in Hell between secular irreverence on this side of the world and the galut mentality prevalent among American Jewish thinkers spells disaster for all of us. The bankrupt Jewish mind run amuck has nothing left to do other than berate those Jews who still possess beating hearts and souls attached to their land, heritage and G-d. The damage being done by those bereft of anything but cold-blooded intellect and ego is incalculable.
In his New York Times column on February 5, 2004, Friedman wrote that Israel's Prime Minister "has had George Bush under house arrest in the Oval Office. Mr. Sharon has Mr. Arafat surrounded by tanks, and Mr. Bush surrounded by Jewish and Christian pro-Israel lobbyists, by a vice president, Dick Cheney, who's ready to do whatever Mr. Sharon dictates, and by political handlers telling the president not to put any pressure on Israel in an election year all conspiring to make sure the president does nothing."
I received a communique last week from MidEastTruth.com in which they juxtaposed the Friedman quote alongside the now infamous statement by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, in which he said, "Today the Jews rule this world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them." Mohamad's words sound almost mild next to Friedman's.
Friedman, and subsequently the New York Times, has a problem. The star writer of the progressive publication has staked a good part of his professional credibility on a Middle East peace process and a worldview that lacked validity from the start. The Oslo process will eventually breathe its last, followed by the total demise of the Israeli Left. When this occurs, Tom Friedman will be exposed as a sham of an analyst and journalist. But Mr. Friedman won't go down easily. Rather than admit a humbling defeat, he'd prefer to take Israel and the Jewish world right down the tubes with him.
Professor Lustick is so brimming with self-loathing that he would sic the U.S. authorities on fellow Jews who hold opposing opinions to his own. At a Brit Tzedek v'Shalom event that took place in June 2003, Lustick suggested that, as a "serious avenue of attack," people actively try "to get the IRS or the FBI to investigate the tax deductible status of these massive contributions that have been made to settlements, including Moskowitz's own activities...." He admitted that he had personally tried to do this without much success "...but that's an area where if resources were available, it would be useful to invest."
Some Jews dedicate their philanthropic efforts to assisting Jewish communities and their people in time of need, and then there are others.... But what can we expect from a man who encouraged Yitzchak Rabin to embrace Arafat and include Hamas in an "exciting political process"?
Lustick's ventures may extend beyond the Jewish community and permeate the hallowed halls of academia. Arutz-7 reported that a faculty member and colleague of Professor Lustick's is in danger of losing his position at the University of Pennsylvania's Solomon Asch Center due to his pro-Israel, philo-Semitic and pro-Serbian views. It seems that after extensive research, Professor Francisco Gil-White's views have taken a dramatic pro-Israel turn - and that isn't going down well with certain directors at the Institute. (See the latest on this issue at http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=58314.)
I suppose these kind of activities bring to mind the actions of the Judenrat, but many Jews are discomforted with those who evoke connotations of the Nazi era. We should be unsettled by striking parallels. Yet, most prefer that any references to events that led up to disastrous historical mistakes for the Jewish People remain fixed in time.
Our Sages, the true intellectual giants, knew better. Which is why we are required to recall the phenomena of Amalek and what they did and continue to be capable of doing to us. The concept of Amalek is timeless, as every generation does battle with external, as well as internal, manifestations of the evil that is capable of ripping our society apart.
Amalek is empowered by those who deny G-d's providence in the world. And this is the common denominator that links the secular Israeli Left with the those elements in the Diaspora who empathize with and embrace Arafat while opposing Jewish national aspirations.
If Friedman and Lustick were to take an honest and reflective look in the mirror, their images would surely reveal a grossly disproportionate and very destructive share of the Amalekite that dwells in all of us. But they may never see it, as they can't get past their arrogance. If, by chance, they caught a glimpse of the damage they have caused to their people and the world, I imagine they would lose those grand minds of theirs.
If Gideon Halevy of Haaretz understood this concept, his quote may have read "a healthy society must disgorge the Amalekite from within" and his rage would be directed at the Arab terrorists who are trying to destroy his people, not at the Jewish settlers.
Fair, ethical and objective opinions are currently not in vogue - they belong to eras gone by. As Jews, we fervently pray for a day when those noble concepts will be reinstated. In the meantime, the scales of justice and journalism are tipped severely to the Left. Urgent measures to recalibrate are necessary.
I doubt the owners and directors of Haaretz plan to fold the paper (no pun intended) anytime soon. So, it is up to us, the public, to initiate change. By taking a stand and throwing our weight to the Right, we can help reestablish stability and secure our future.
We should take immediate measures to boycott a self-destructive press, while bolstering and encouraging those media outlets and institutions that have Israel's best interests in mind.