By Schmoel Yitzhak
Every once in a while -- in weak moment -- I enjoy a momentary fantasy that the New York Times will live up to its claim to be the "newspaper of record."
As far as I'm concerned, for the past decade, at least, it has been the newspaper of agenda; and when it comes to covering the Middle East, it's tilt as an anti-Israel broadsheet is blatantly evident by the month.
Sometimes this is reflected in the slanted writing of its Jerusalem-based reporters; at other times it is the manner in which it simply ignores stories that would embellish the image of Israel.
Most recently this prejudice against the Middle East's only democracy was evident in The Times' error of omission when printing a significant story would have been a blow to the Arab cause.
The key here was an admission by Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hamad that Hamas and its assorted cohorts in Gaza suffered the deaths of up to 700 of its soldiers in the Cast Lead (Israeli) invasion.
What's important to remember right here and now is that the United Nations' fallacious Goldstone Report claimed that civilian deaths in Gaza were much higher in number than those of the Hamas fighters.
As the Committee For Accuracy In Middle East Reporting In America (CAMERA) duly notes, "That (Goldstone) document indicated Israel had DELIBERATELY targeted non-combatants.
"The public, however, is unlikely to know that Hamas itself has now, in effect, refuted Goldstone, because Fathi Hamad's remarks have been largely ignored by major news organizations, including the New York Times."
If Hamas has gone public stating that its military wing -- not civilians, mind you -- suffered about 700 deaths, it refutes the Goldstone Report.
"These figures," CAMERA points out, "closely match the Israeli estimate of 709 combatant fatalities and indicate that combatants comprised around half of the Palestinian fatalities between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009, far more than the 17 percent claimed by Palestinian groups."
Why, then, wouldn't The Times -- nor the UN for that matter -- update and correct The Goldstone Report?
In terms of the newspaper, it simply is following its anti-Israel agenda.
Historically speaking, this is nothing new in terms of Times' reaction to many threats to Jews over the years. After all the Times literally buried news stories about the Nazi extermination camps 'way back in its news sections and -- worse yet -- with insignificant, short stories.
Thus, it is absolutely no surprise that the Times has been silent about the Hamas revelation.
CAMERA correctly asserts, "The Times should run a front page follow-up on this new key information, i.e., that according to the Hamas disclosure, Israel's and Hamas tally of fighters was almost exactly the same, which substantially debunks the central thesis of Goldstone's allegations."
Is such an event likely to happen? We're talking about the agenda-rife Times so don't count on it!
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FRIENDS OF ISRAEL STILL EXIST IN ENGLAND:
Just when you think that Great Britain has, in fact, become an outpost of the Islamic Empire, someone in England stands up to support Israel.
The following is an excerpt from a speech given in the House of Commons by member Andrew Roberts.
"The state of Israel has packed more history into her 62 years on the planet than many other nations have in six hundred. There are many surprising things about this tiny, feisty, brave nation the size of Wales, but the most astonishing is that she has survived at all.
"The very day after the new state was established, she was invaded by the armies of now fewer than five Arab countries, and she has been struggling for her right to life ever since.
"No people in history have needed the right to self-defense and legitimacy more than the Jews of Israel, and that is what we friends of Israel demand today."
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AND, YES, ISRAEL HAS FRIENDS IN JAPAN:
Ripping the Arab anti-Israel mantra to shreds, Yashiko Sagamori, a Japanese journalist, offers some pungent points about the Middle East. To wit:
"The truth should be obvious to everyone who wants to know it. Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying Israel; they still cherish it today.
"Having time and again failed to achieve their evil goal with military means, they decided to fight Israel by proxy. For that purpose, they created a terrorist organization, cynically called it "the Palestinian people" and installed it in Gaza, Judea and Samaria.
"How else can you explain the refusal by Jordan and Egypt to unconditionally accept back the "West Bank" and Gaza, respectively."
Truer words never were spoken!
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