New York Times Op-Ed Blames Shimon Peres for…Everything
The writer of an opinion piece or editorial is entitled to express personal opinions, but in the words of the famous senator, the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his…
The writer of an opinion piece or editorial is entitled to express personal opinions, but in the words of the famous senator, the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”
In her op-ed in the New York Times, Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi trashes the memory of Shimon Peres, which seems more than a little absurd at time when almost the entire world is commemorating his legacy as a visionary and peacemaker. Yet Ashrawi is entitled to her opinion, as out of touch as it may be. The problem is that she also distorts the facts, and that’s not a matter of opinion.
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The point of Ashrawi’s op-ed is quite simply this: the blame for the collapse of the Oslo peace process, for the Second Intifada, for Palestinian terror in general, and for the thousands of Israelis who died, and continue to die as a result, lies solely with Israel.
The promise of the Oslo peace process was never fulfilled, in large part because of the failures of Mr. Peres and the “peace camp” in Israel, but also
Hanan Ashrawi
thanks to the flaws in the Declaration of Principles itself. Because the declaration enabled Israel to act with impunity over destructive unilateral measures like settlement expansion— given the lack of will on the part of the United States to hold Israel to account — it was inevitable that a culture of hate and racism against the Palestinians would ensue.
(emphasis added)
The closest Ashrawi comes to placing any responsibility at all on Palestinians for their own actions is a solitary sentence:
While Palestinians certainly made mistakes, Israel, as the stronger and occupying power, held most of the cards during the Oslo process.
Mistakes?
A premeditated and intentional campaign of terror that resulted in the deaths of thousands is merely a “mistake?” Ashrawi’s statement doesn’t even make logical sense.
Contrary to Ashrawi’s fantastical claims, it is a well established historical fact that the Oslo peace process collapsed, not because of Shimon Peres, but precisely because of the very terror that Ashrawi so casually excuses. She continues excusing terrorism as she blames Israel for what she calls the “Qana massacre,” in Lebanon, with no mention of the Hezbollah terror group that put Lebanese civilians in danger in the first place.
Then there is Ashrawi’s fantasy that the Oslo peace process collapsed, and that Palestinian terror was born, due to unilateral settlement growth. Yet aside from the fact that this is blatantly untrue, there was nothing “unilateral” about settlement growth after Oslo. Ashrawi conveniently covers up that as part of the Oslo accords, the Palestinian leadership negotiated to allow settlement growth. In exchange, Israel offered what is called “land-swaps,” ensuring that a Palestinian state would remain the expected geographical size no matter what.
Yitzhak Rabin, Bill Clinton, and Yasser Arafat at the 1993 signing of the Oslo accords
Finally at the risk of stating the blindingly obvious: terror by Palestinians against Jews in the land of Israel predates Oslo, predates Israel’s control of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, and even predates Israel’s existence as a state in 1948.
How can settlements have caused something that was happening before they existed? This idea violates not only historical facts, but also the very nature of space and time. Yes, Hanan Ashrawi has technically written a work of science fiction.
This type of nonsensical logic is nothing new for Ashrawi: she heads an NGO which is openly anti-Semitic: including restating historically discredited blood libels and glorifying Palestinian suicide bombers.
Like any op-ed author, Hanan Ashrawi is entitled to her opinion, but a publisher like the New York Times has an ethical obligation to push back when any article distorts facts, even in an op-ed. In this particular case, Ashrawi has the special distinction of violating not only historical facts, but even the laws of space, time and physics.
Former CEO of HonestReporting, Daniel managed the entire organization, its staff and programming. He began his career as an attorney in the United States where he worked for high profile law firms in New York and Chicago before starting his own law practice, and later moving to Israel.
