Reuters Pretends That History Is What Reuters Would Like History To Be
We just can't understand why these people are allowed to publish:
After decades of battling to win foreign support for its two-fisted policies against Arab foes, Israel is trying a new approach with a campaign aimed at creating a less warlike and more welcoming national image. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who has argued that the protracted conflict with the Palestinians is sapping Israel's international legitimacy, this week convened diplomats and PR executives to come up with ways of "rebranding" the country.
We don't know what Dan Williams is trying to say with "two-fisted" (which we've only heard in the context of drinking, but we're pretty sure in this case is a hackneyed allusion to boxing), but we do know that this is a perfect example of mainstream journalists pretending that history is whatever it is that their ideology would predict that history is. If we're reading this correctly (and, let's be honest, we are), then what Williams is trying to say is that Israel has been making war on the Palestinians for decades and now is trying to project a new image.
Except Israel hasn't been making war on the Palestinians for decades. In fact, there was almost an entire decade - the one that just finished - in which Israel desperately tried to make peace with the Palestinians. During that decade, Israel put 98% of the Palestinian population under Palestinian control and effectively withdrew from almost all of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The Palestinian response was to make war on Israel, which is why Israel had to return to those territories... in 2002!
But hey, wouldn't it be nice if Israel really WAS a warlike country through and through? That would certainly make journalism easier. If only it wasn't for those pesky "fact" things. Oh well - if the Israeli/Arab conflict teaches us anything, it's that if you repeat an anti-Israel lie enough times it will become common, academically and publicly accepted wisdom.
[Cross-posted at IsraPundit]
After decades of battling to win foreign support for its two-fisted policies against Arab foes, Israel is trying a new approach with a campaign aimed at creating a less warlike and more welcoming national image. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who has argued that the protracted conflict with the Palestinians is sapping Israel's international legitimacy, this week convened diplomats and PR executives to come up with ways of "rebranding" the country.
We don't know what Dan Williams is trying to say with "two-fisted" (which we've only heard in the context of drinking, but we're pretty sure in this case is a hackneyed allusion to boxing), but we do know that this is a perfect example of mainstream journalists pretending that history is whatever it is that their ideology would predict that history is. If we're reading this correctly (and, let's be honest, we are), then what Williams is trying to say is that Israel has been making war on the Palestinians for decades and now is trying to project a new image.
Except Israel hasn't been making war on the Palestinians for decades. In fact, there was almost an entire decade - the one that just finished - in which Israel desperately tried to make peace with the Palestinians. During that decade, Israel put 98% of the Palestinian population under Palestinian control and effectively withdrew from almost all of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The Palestinian response was to make war on Israel, which is why Israel had to return to those territories... in 2002!
But hey, wouldn't it be nice if Israel really WAS a warlike country through and through? That would certainly make journalism easier. If only it wasn't for those pesky "fact" things. Oh well - if the Israeli/Arab conflict teaches us anything, it's that if you repeat an anti-Israel lie enough times it will become common, academically and publicly accepted wisdom.
[Cross-posted at IsraPundit]
