Hear No Evil, Report No Evil

As a Gesture to Abbas, Israel Says It Will Release About 150 Palestinian Prisoners
A12, 8/7/08
By Ethan Bronner

Ethan Bronner had a two angles to play: the supposed boost to Abbas; who are some of these fellas being released?

Outside of reporting hard facts, Bronner didn't have much room to spare. In the opening paragraph, he highlights that "prominent ones" may be included among the 150 released. Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, declined to offer details. Saeb Erekat, however, briefed reporters.

As an aside for those unfamiliar with Erekat, his bullshit artistry was on full display during the height of the bombing campaign against Israel's civilians earlier this decade, aka "the Second Intifada". Scores of interviews on network TV -- often after a suicide bombing -- gave voice to Erekat's pretend heartfelt plea, 'end the occupation, and you end the violence'.

Erekat's recent pow-wow with reporters gave Bronner a few details, such as the release date (August 25) and some of the names the Palestinian Authority had requested be released. Bronner listed them as:

"Ahmed Saadat, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Abdel Aziz Dweik, the speaker of the Palestinian Parliament, who is from the Islamist Hamas movement, and Said Atabeh of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who has been in prison since 1977, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner in Israel."

What would motivate Israel to lock up Palestinian leaders, including a speaker of parliament? The reader is not told.

It's of course possible that these distinguished gentlemen are imprisoned for committing some sort of dastardly deed. But the reader would not know it and may not assume it. According to the Times, all readers need to know is that Israel imprisons lots of Palestinians. By not detailing their crimes, Bronner leaves readers to assume Israel is holding captive future Palestinian leaders just for the sake of fragmenting Palestinian society and to claim they have no moderates to talk to.

The most "prominent" -- the rock star -- of the prisoners that the Palestinians are requesting is Marwan Barghouti, Bronner reports. He states that Barghouti is "widely viewed as a likely successor to Mr. Abbas as well as one of the masterminds of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000."

So, Mr. Barghouti masterminded something. Actually, we can't confirm that. What we do know is that he's "widely viewed as" having masterminded something. So, what was it that he masterminded? An uprising? Can't an uprising be a positive thing? An enriching experience. Kids -- occupied kids -- shaking off oppression by throwing stones at soldiers. It's not like Barghouti directed some sort of bombing campaign against innocent civilians. Murder. Why, that sort of behavior might warrant a mention. Bronner took the opportunity to report Mr. Barghouti's hopeful political future, but not why he's serving five life sentences.

While we're on these Palestinians' extra-curricular activities, in what way did Mr. Atabeh choose to protest Israeli occupation? Breaking the Guiness record as the longest serving Palestinian prisoner in Israel, one would guess, doesn't exactly come from sitting on your ass. What about Hamas politician Dweik? When he wasn't legislating, what exactly did he do?

Whether or not these characters committed heinous crimes, Bronner reports that there is a good deal of sense in Israel's releasing them. It will "boost (Abbas') troubled political standing". When it comes to how the Palestinians view their politicians working with Israel -- even if it's to release jailed loved ones -- one word comes to mind: collaborator.

Have previous prisoner releases been a boon to the PA? How is such a boost in political standing even measured? Don't these releases, though approved of by the Palestinian public, do little to change the view of Abbas and the PA as being in the pockets of Israel and the US? Is Fatah truly committed to the peace process? If not, why does Israel feel it needs to placate Fatah? Asking even one of these critical questions would challenge the "boost the moderate" myth and whether or not they've ever occurred to Bronner, they go unasked.

Finally, Bronner tell us Israel is firm on not releasing Barghouti. "What on earth," a reader might ask, "did Barghouti do that was so horrible?" Readers of the New York Times would do well to look for this information elsewhere.

DB