Abbas: Footloose With Facts
May 17, 2011 14:55 by Pesach BensonGet a load of this historical revisionism from 
Mahmoud Abbas — in a NY Times op-ed no less:
It is important to note that the last time the question of Palestinian statehood took center stage at the General Assembly, the question posed to the international community was whether our homeland should be partitioned into two states. In November 1947, the General Assembly made its recommendation and answered in the affirmative. Shortly thereafter, Zionist forces expelled Palestinian Arabs to ensure a decisive Jewish majority in the future state of Israel, and Arab armies intervened. War and further expulsions ensued.
Abbas disingenuously fails to mention that the Jews accepted the UN partition, but the Arabs rejected it and went straight to war. No Arab olive branches in 1948.
At least Abbas spared NYT readers his Holocaust revisionism. That’s been made into West Bank curriculum.
UPDATE May 18: The fallout continues.
Jeffrey Goldberg says Abbas’ description of fleeing Safed doesn’t square with previous accounts. Is Abbas revising his own family history too?
The op-ed will trigger some diplomatic ripples too. Haaretz quoted Prime Minister Netanyahu fisking Abbas, accusing the PA chairman of “blatantly distorting known historical facts.” And David Harris called the op-ed a slap in the face to the US diplomatic efforts, which are based on a negotiated settlement.
People are entitled to express their views, but even opinions have to be based on honest facts. Does the NY Times even have a protocol for fact checking op-eds written by leaders like Abbas?
Israel PM Netanyahu Coverage: One Speech, Multiple Stories (Video of Speech) | The Conservative Papers
8:07 pm
May 26, 2011
[...] How can Federman claim that his editorializing is “the facts” while maintaining any semblance of journalistic integrity? And when was the last time the AP and Federman took apart any Palestinian speech or statement? After all, only recently, an op-ed in the New York Times by PA President Abbas was exposed as full of holes. [...]
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