Israeli Democracy an Impediment to Peace?

1) "A Gaza Talk Sets Off Tempers in Davos," A6, by Katrin Bennhold
2) "Israeli Elections and Gaza Violence Complicate New U.S. Envoy's Peace Mission," A12, by Isabel Kershner
3) "Where the Still Flourishing Underground Economy Is the Only Economy," A13, by Michael Slackman

The Times publishes three poor articles on Israel today, which is pretty much par for the course.

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1) A Gaza Talk Sets Off Tempers in Davos

Beginning straight off with the article's poor title (in the print edition), the reporter attempts to create a sort of equivalence between the remarks of the President of Israel, Shimon Peres, and those of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey. There is no rationale, however, to explain Erdogan's inflammatory anti-Israel diatribe.

"Tempers" were not set off at the Davos Forum - simply the temper of Erdogan, who was probably looking to score easy political points on the 'Turkish Street.' Peres, on the other hand, was amazingly composed, given that he incredibly "called Mr. Erdogan five minutes later [after he stormed off the stage] to apologize for any misunderstanding." It was clearly Peres that was deserving of an apology.

If the reader has a keen eye, they should be able to clearly differentiate between the statesman-like behavior of Peres and the thuggish intimidation displayed by Erdogan. Among other obscene remarks directed at Peres, Ergodan said, "When it comes to killing, you know well how to kill." Well, Turkey has been amazingly efficient at killing Kurds in Turkish Kurdistan, with little of the concern for international law as distinguished with Israeli efforts to prevent civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip. In terms of sheer numbers, their have been more Kurdish deaths than Palestinian deaths in the respective conflicts of Turkey and Israel.

The presentation of this sort of information would have added much value to the article, undermining Erdogan's shallow propaganda. And back in Turkey, it is important to note, that such state-sanctioned anti-Israel propaganda has greatly increased anti-Semitic incidents against Turkey's Jewish population.

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2) Israeli Elections and Gaza Violence Complicate New U.S. Envoy's Peace Mission

Examining the framing of this article in with greater rigor, the reader should note the absurdity of its premises - that Israeli elections are a central impediment to progress on Israeli-Palestinian peace. Elections are a natural function of democracies and should not be viewed as an impediment to peace. Does the Times believe that Israel should alter its political system? President Obama took office on January 20 and Israeli elections are on February 10. Should the conflict been resolved in less than a month?

Focusing on Israeli elections corresponds with the Times obsession on Israeli actions and developments while largely ignoring those in the Palestinian arena. With regards to Palestinian 'elections,' what about the fact that there was supposed to be Palestinian elections for a new President in January, but current Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas decided to ignore such calls for fear of a Hamas victory? This internecine Fatah-Hamas struggle, coupled with the reality of Hamas' control of Gaza, seems much more of an impediment to peace than Israeli elections.

Beyond this, the Times provides an open platform to senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who sustains the falsehood that Israeli settlements are THE obstacle to peace (as is the NYT position), rather than one obstacle that needs to be resolved. He remarks that "Israel's continued settlement activity in the West Bank" is having a "devastating effect" on the peace process. He then is able to propagate a blatant untruth, saying that "Mr. Netanyahu had never expressed support for the two-state solution and possibly 'never will.'" Such propagandist statements should not be given a platform without response, but since the Times essentially supports such assertions, they can be printed without scrutiny.

An unfortunate reality.

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3) Where the Still Flourishing Underground Economy Is the Only Economy

Times reporter Michael Slackman publishes yet another poetically overwrought article that seeks to minimize the extremism within Arab society, arguing that Arabs simply want the same things we want in the West. In this light, Slackman covers the tunnels between Rafah (Gaza) and Egypt and the smugglers that operate them.

To support this position, Slackman quotes a Palestinian furniture maker: "On the other side, they want to eat. Here we want to eat, too. That’s why we have the tunnels." Many Palestinians surely want to create a viable society, but the way in which the journalist writes the story, one would think that Palestinians aren't accountable for building such a society. Slackman writes that "with every Israeli bomb just over the border, and with every increase in Egyptian security, there is less and less room for any kind of normal life."

So then, disregarding these factors, is Hamas actually interested in creating a "normal life" for Palestinians? To Times readers, it should be clear that Hamas and its legion of supporters are much less interested in creating a viable society than they are in destroying Israel. Slackman, however, refuses to accord agency to the Palestinians (a paternalistic, colonialist throwback). They are simply powerless - their fate controlled by Israel and Egypt.

One must wonder if Slackman recognizes his own 'soft racism.'