Daily Alert Archives

Why Condemn Israel for Fighting Back?

(Toronto Sun) Peter Worthington - • In the late 1950s and 1960s I spent a fair amount of time covering crises and wars in the Middle East - Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria - always from the Arab (Muslim) side. To this day, I've never been to Israel. In those days, our media were mostly sympathetic with Israel and against the Arabs. But today, CBC [state-funded Canadian Broadcasting] reporters who cover the Middle East often seems hostile to Israel when commenting on suicide bombings and Israel's inevitable military response. •CBC's, in fact, much of the media's coverage - and certainly the UN's attitude - is more hostile to Israel than to Palestinian terrorists (which is what suicide bombers are). Today's suicide bombers are a product of indoctrination of the young in Palestinian schools. In the old days, it would have been called brainwashing. A generation of youths has probably been so corrupted to hate it is now incurable. •What's puzzling in media coverage of the Middle East - and more puzzling in governments that should know better - is how Israel is blamed for retaliating against terrorism. Israel is always scolded or condemned for fighting back - Palestinian terrorism is rarely held accountable. Be it terrorist acts by Hizballah, Islamic Jihad, or Hamas, excuses are always made. Historically, Canada has been reluctant to criticize Hizballah or Hamas without also urging restraints on Israel. •Many fair-minded people who criticize Israel don't seem to understand it doesn't initiate violence, it reacts to violence. We know the instigator. When Arafat rejected 95% of the West Bank for a sovereign Palestinian state, it became irrefutable that the goal was not peace, but the elimination of Israel. One gets the feeling this is also the goal of some at the CBC.
2003-11-18 00:00:00
Full Article