When Israel opposes some diplomatic initiative, it never fails: headlines label Israel as rejectionist, obstructionist, moving the goal posts, etc. So when Mahmoud Abbas rejected international diplomacy in his UN speech, what was the BBC’s headline? Contrast that with AP: So which headline’s more accurate? We put together word clouds of the Abbas and Netanyahu speeches…
Palestinian Statehood: Fear and Loathing in Ramallah and the Diaspora
As Mahmoud Abbas pushes forward with his statehood gambit in the UN, there’s a growing unease among Palestinians that the effort will ultimately be a big setback. Commentaries by Khaled Abu Toameh and Mehdi Hasan reflect the anxiety that is prompting Abbas to deliver a speech in the coming days explaining his political strategy. Toameh is particularly…
A Digest of Weekend Articles
• Columnist Faisal Al Qasim says the Arab regimes are are more brutal than the Zionists: But is the Arab media still able to satirise Israeli barbarism with the same vigour after it has witnessed what Arab dictators have done to their own people? Isn’t it a bit silly to bombard the Israelis with criticism…
Abbas: Footloose With Facts
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas engages in some historical revisionism in a NY Times op-ed.
5 Myths of Palestinian Unity
Five myths about Palestinian unity to watch for in the media.
Newsweek Starstruck by Abbas
Dan Ephron’s report on Mahmoud Abbas reads like a tribute to the PA leader, not the work of a professional journalist.
February 20 Links
• Just read that executive editor Amir Mizroch resigned from the JPost for health reasons. For some reason, the simple Hebrew expression, refuah shlaymah, (you should have a complete recovery) sounds more appropo than anything else I can think of in English. • I’m glad to see this Washington Post telling off Abbas for choosing…
NYT Slams Door on PaliLeaks Thesis
While we were all distracted by Egypt, the NY Times Magazine published an in-depth look at the Abbas-Olmert peace talks. Before the publication of the Palestine papers, Israeli journalist Bernard Avishai interviewed the principle players, Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert independently; both confirmed they were remarkably close to a peace deal. THE ISSUES THAT were supposed to be…
Abbas and the Jordanian Passport Affair
The problem: You’re a Jordanian official who likes to keep the kingdom’s Palestinians “in their place” till they can one day return to the western side of the Jordan River. You read the PaliLeaks, and you’re utterly convinced the PA and Fatah are going hopeless soft on the right of return. You don’t want to be stuck…
Palileaks and The Guardian’s Agenda Journalism
An overview of some of the issues generated by The Guardian’s publication of thousands of leaked Palestinian documents.