* A Financial Times columnist perceives change in Israel’s portrayal in the media:
there was no rush in the international media to blame Israel’s government or society for [the Natan-Zada murders], of the sort one would have expected during the “second intifada” that began in 2000.
This is a sea change. On Mr Sharon’s watch, without anyone really noticing, Israel has become more firmly anchored in the good graces of world opinion than at any time this decade. As Mr Sharon sought to stem the Palestinian suicide-bombing campaign in the spring of 2002, he was not merely condemned for excesses or derided as a crafty operator. What has changed?
We’re not so sure a ‘sea change’ has occurred…
* Chicago Tribune editorial:
In the Middle East, narrative can be destiny. The Palestinian narrative speaks of victimhood, of oppression at the hands of the Israeli occupier. The Israeli narrative is one of stirring triumph against all odds, of unlikely victory against sworn enemies on all sides.
Both sides know that the narrative–who controls it, which of the two competing versions the world perceives to be more true–shapes the reality on the ground and any prospective peace deal in profound ways.
But what if one of those narratives is actually true?
* Danny Rubenstein in Haaretz:
in Gaza it is possible to receive a salary from the Palestinian Authority and to engage in acts of terror. Security officers do not dare deprive individuals who participate in important national missions in the battle against the occupation of their salaries. Insurrection actually erupted in the few locations where the PA attempted to block payment of such salaries.
The internecine Palestinian fighting has received some foreign coverage, but this aspect of the Palestinian ‘security forces’ has not.
* Mortimer B. Zuckerman in U.S. News and World Report:
The Palestinian Authority and its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, have, once and for all, given in to the gunmen. Abbas pledged to establish “one authority, one law, and one gun.” He has failed on all counts.
When radicals threatened to break the cease-fire several weeks ago, he caved, freeing nine of their jailed gunmen. He caved again when the radicals threatened to kill Fatah supporters unless he released another terrorist who had been firing rockets in Gaza. When Israel gave the PA the names of militants involved in a February suicide bombing in a Tel Aviv nightclub, he caved yet again, arresting several, then releasing them.
