Never underestimate the stupidity of politicians. The Israeli public, at least, seems to have learned the lessons of the last Lebanon war, as polls indicate the majority of Israelis favor negotiation over confrontation with Hamas. But Israeli politicians seem hell-bent on going to war. For anyone who has any illusions about the efficacy of that approach, read my “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions” series (see right side bar). While some of it is specific to the Lebanon war, the gist applies to the conflict with Hamas as well.
As always, seeing the mainstream U.S. press presentation of events in Israel/Palestine is fascinating. Take this gem, presenting David Vilnai’s statement that the Palestinians face a “Shoah” if they continue with their rocket bombing:
“On Friday, using the Hebrew word for the holocaust, which also means catastrophe, Mr. Vilnai warned Palestinians that they faced catastrophe if the rocket firing continued.”
In Israel, and as a result for Jews who know Hebrew all over the world, the word Shoah now has one and only one meaning: it refers to the genocide against the Jews by the Nazis. According to the Yad Vashem site, this has been true since the 1940s. While it literally may mean catastrophe no person today, and I mean no one, ever uses it that way. Realizing the utter stupidity of Vilnai’s statement, Israeli press propagandists tried to cover up for his mistake. There is no reason for the New York Times to collaborate with this whitewash. At best, they might mention that Israeli sources claim Vilnai meant “catastrophe” and not “genocide.” But to blatantly state that as a fact, is just printing pure lies.
Of course, every line of the article reeks of “balance” trying to portray Israel’s overwhelming air fire power as somehow equivalent to the feeble missiles Palestinian militants use. The real balance of force here is obvious from the fact that 60 Palestinians are killed against one Israeli over the past four days.
Whlle hardly a source of humor, this article had one laugh out loud line:
” A major Israeli operation would likely put a crimp in American-sponsored peace talks between Mr. Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel.”
This sounds like something right out of Monty Python. “Likely put a crimp?” As if these “peace talks” have any meaning at all.
Tags: Israeli Army, War Crimes