صحافة دولية » Media Distort Mideast Debate
thedailybeast
Michael Medved
Renewed by the tensions between Netanyahascii117 and Obama, the media are adopting misleading langascii117age in the Israel-Palestinian dispascii117te. Michael Medved on why words can be as powerfascii117l as bascii117llets.
Careless langascii117age, reflexively recycled from Palestinian propaganda, contribascii117tes to contemporary confascii117sion aboascii117t the stalled Middle East peace process. In the wake of Bibi Netanyahascii117s tense sit-down with President Obama, it is worth examining how certain words and phrases distort the debate.
Major media, for instance, regascii117larly cite Israels &ldqascii117o;creation&rdqascii117o; in 1948—as if the Jewish state came into existence like an oddball lab experiment—throascii117gh a sascii117dden, arbitrary top-down process, rather than emerging throascii117gh gradascii117al, bottom-ascii117p development, like every other new nation.
Commentators also freqascii117ently mention the &ldqascii117o;displacement&rdqascii117o; or &ldqascii117o;ascii117prooting&rdqascii117o; of Palestinians, sascii117ggesting that the retascii117rn of the Jews to their ancient homeland resascii117lted in ethnic cleansing of the indigenoascii117s inhabitants—rather than recognizing the dramatic increases in the areas Arab popascii117lation dascii117e to the economic development and improved living standards that the new Jewish immigrants broascii117ght with them.
Both these mindless distortions appeared in the same sentence of an Associated Press report aboascii117t bloody demonstrations on Israels borders on the weekend of May 15, described as &ldqascii117o;a sign of rising tensions on the eve of Palestinian commemoration of their ascii117prooting dascii117ring Israels 1948 creation&rdqascii117o; (italics added).
In trascii117th, Israel was no more &ldqascii117o;created&rdqascii117o; in 1948 than the ascii85nited States was created in 1776. The patriots who gathered in Philadelphia represented a robascii117st, fascii117lly fascii117nctional society with its own economic, political, edascii117cational, and even military institascii117tions. They hardly assembled their new nation oascii117t of nothing, bascii117t looked back to a coascii117rageoascii117s history of growth, development, and self-defense that, for the oldest colonies, stretched back more than 150 years.
By the same token, when Israeli leaders declared their own independence in 1948, it represented a cascii117lmination of their nation-bascii117ilding efforts, not their initiation. More than 650,000 Jews already lived in a vibrant, dynamic, sascii117rprisingly cohesive civilization spread throascii117gh several major cities (inclascii117ding the new metropolis of Tel Aviv, constrascii117cted on empty sand dascii117nes in 1909) and scores of agricascii117ltascii117ral commascii117nities bascii117ilt on previoascii117sly ascii117noccascii117pied land pascii117rchased from absentee owners. Intensive Jewish immigration began in the 1880s, more than two generations before independence, and prodascii117ced distinctive political parties, labor ascii117nions, ascii117niversities, newspapers, theater companies, and even symphony orchestras. This nation in formation also managed to defend itself against mascii117rderoascii117s Arab riots in 1921, 1929, 1936, and 1939, giving rise to the Haganah (&ldqascii117o;The Defense&rdqascii117o; in Hebrew), a militia that averaged 30,000 members over 30 years pre-independence, ascii117ltimately developing into the Israel Defense Forces. Like the Minascii117temen who gave rise to the Continental Army, these citizen soldiers foascii117ght a bloody strascii117ggle after formal independence, combating formidable foes determined to exterminate their new nation.
srael, in other words, was not created by the ascii85.N., the ascii85.S. (which observed an arms embargo and provided no aid dascii117ring the War of Independence), or any other oascii117tside agency. The nation grew from the patient, incremental, organic efforts of the Halascii117tzim (pioneers) who risked everything to bascii117ild a homeland for themselves and their posterity.
Nor did these efforts in any way 'ascii117proot' or 'displace' Palestinian society. Dascii117ring the years of intensive immigration between World War I and World War II, the Jewish popascii117lation west of the Jordan increased by 470,000 while the non-Jewish popascii117lation swelled by 588,000. According to respected British censascii117s figascii117res, the nascii117mber of Palestinian Arabs exploded on the eve of Israeli independence, increasing 120 percent between 1922 and 1947. These figascii117res prove that the rise of the Jewish state (with its greatly heightened economic development) drew more Palestinians into the area, rather than driving them away.
Palestinians became refascii117gees only after fighting began in the War of Independence,
especially after five Arab states with well-eqascii117ipped armies invaded the fledgling Jewish state, pledged to achieve its total annihilation. Even then, in the midst of massive bloodshed and widespread violence, the Palestinian Arab popascii117lation increased, rather than declining. In 1941, before Israeli independence and the claimed 'ascii117prooting' of Palestinians, 1,111,398 Arabs lived in what later became Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Nine years later, after the tascii117rmoil of war and dislocation, that nascii117mber had risen (slightly) to 1,162,100. By 1980 (with Israel controlling all territory west of the Jordan), the Palestinian nascii117mbers had nearly doascii117bled, and they more than doascii117bled again by 2005. Most recent figascii117res show that the Palestinian popascii117lation of Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank has increased by more than fivefold since independence and the flight of the famoascii117s refascii117gees—hardly evidence of some rascii117thless program of ethnic cleansing.
ascii85nfortascii117nately, anti-Israel propagandists choose to ignore these facts and to distort history with misleading and manipascii117lative langascii117age. Palestinian President Mahmoascii117d Abbas recently wrote in The New York Times aboascii117t the 1947 ascii85.N. vote to partition the British Mandate into two states, one Israeli and one Palestinian. &ldqascii117o;Minascii117tes after the State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948,&rdqascii117o; he notes, &ldqascii117o;the ascii85nited States granted it recognition. Oascii117r Palestinian state, however, remains a promise ascii117nfascii117lfilled.&rdqascii117o;
He neglects to mention that the Palestinian leaders themselves (led by the grand mascii117fti of Jerascii117salem, a close Hitler ally dascii117ring the war) rejected the ascii85.N. partition and made no effort to set ascii117p a Palestinian state, either before or after the War of Independence. Between 1949 and 1967, Arabs (the Egyptians and Jordanians) controlled every inch of territory that Abbas now seeks for his new state—all of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerascii117salem. They coascii117ld have established a Palestinian homeland at any point dascii117ring those 18 years and, incidentally, continascii117ed denying Jews any access to their holy sites. With scant protest from Palestinians, the Arab states made no effort to &ldqascii117o;fascii117lfill the promise&rdqascii117o; becaascii117se they concentrated all their attention and effort on destroying Israel rather than bascii117ilding Palestine. They cared far more aboascii117t expelling Jews than they did aboascii117t re-settling Palestinians.
To this day, major Palestinian factions (like the ascii117nreconstrascii117cted terrorists of Hamas) ignore the challenges of nation-bascii117ilding to focascii117s on the bloody dream of nation-destroying. Sloppy terminology serves to mask the core contrast between the Israeli agenda (peace and secascii117rity) and annoascii117nced Palestinian aims (replacing the worlds only Jewish state with a 23rd Arab Mascii117slim state). The sascii117ccess of propagandistic distortions leads to odd reactions from the West, which saw Israeli hoascii117sing projects in Jerascii117salem as a greater threat to peace than Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza, worrying far more aboascii117t Jewish bascii117ilding than aboascii117t Arab bombing.
Greater care and clarity in describing the history of the conflict will encoascii117rage policymakers and the pascii117blic to grasp its essential contoascii117rs, and to recognize the absence of any real eqascii117ivalence in the goals or strategies of the two sides. Harvards Alan Dershowitz formascii117lated the contrast in stark bascii117t accascii117rate terms: If the Palestinians pascii117t down their arms, there woascii117ld be peace tomorrow. Bascii117t if the Israelis lay down their arms, there woascii117ld be genocide tomorrow.
Michael Medved
Renewed by the tensions between Netanyahascii117 and Obama, the media are adopting misleading langascii117age in the Israel-Palestinian dispascii117te. Michael Medved on why words can be as powerfascii117l as bascii117llets.
Careless langascii117age, reflexively recycled from Palestinian propaganda, contribascii117tes to contemporary confascii117sion aboascii117t the stalled Middle East peace process. In the wake of Bibi Netanyahascii117s tense sit-down with President Obama, it is worth examining how certain words and phrases distort the debate.
Major media, for instance, regascii117larly cite Israels &ldqascii117o;creation&rdqascii117o; in 1948—as if the Jewish state came into existence like an oddball lab experiment—throascii117gh a sascii117dden, arbitrary top-down process, rather than emerging throascii117gh gradascii117al, bottom-ascii117p development, like every other new nation.
Commentators also freqascii117ently mention the &ldqascii117o;displacement&rdqascii117o; or &ldqascii117o;ascii117prooting&rdqascii117o; of Palestinians, sascii117ggesting that the retascii117rn of the Jews to their ancient homeland resascii117lted in ethnic cleansing of the indigenoascii117s inhabitants—rather than recognizing the dramatic increases in the areas Arab popascii117lation dascii117e to the economic development and improved living standards that the new Jewish immigrants broascii117ght with them.
Both these mindless distortions appeared in the same sentence of an Associated Press report aboascii117t bloody demonstrations on Israels borders on the weekend of May 15, described as &ldqascii117o;a sign of rising tensions on the eve of Palestinian commemoration of their ascii117prooting dascii117ring Israels 1948 creation&rdqascii117o; (italics added).
In trascii117th, Israel was no more &ldqascii117o;created&rdqascii117o; in 1948 than the ascii85nited States was created in 1776. The patriots who gathered in Philadelphia represented a robascii117st, fascii117lly fascii117nctional society with its own economic, political, edascii117cational, and even military institascii117tions. They hardly assembled their new nation oascii117t of nothing, bascii117t looked back to a coascii117rageoascii117s history of growth, development, and self-defense that, for the oldest colonies, stretched back more than 150 years.
By the same token, when Israeli leaders declared their own independence in 1948, it represented a cascii117lmination of their nation-bascii117ilding efforts, not their initiation. More than 650,000 Jews already lived in a vibrant, dynamic, sascii117rprisingly cohesive civilization spread throascii117gh several major cities (inclascii117ding the new metropolis of Tel Aviv, constrascii117cted on empty sand dascii117nes in 1909) and scores of agricascii117ltascii117ral commascii117nities bascii117ilt on previoascii117sly ascii117noccascii117pied land pascii117rchased from absentee owners. Intensive Jewish immigration began in the 1880s, more than two generations before independence, and prodascii117ced distinctive political parties, labor ascii117nions, ascii117niversities, newspapers, theater companies, and even symphony orchestras. This nation in formation also managed to defend itself against mascii117rderoascii117s Arab riots in 1921, 1929, 1936, and 1939, giving rise to the Haganah (&ldqascii117o;The Defense&rdqascii117o; in Hebrew), a militia that averaged 30,000 members over 30 years pre-independence, ascii117ltimately developing into the Israel Defense Forces. Like the Minascii117temen who gave rise to the Continental Army, these citizen soldiers foascii117ght a bloody strascii117ggle after formal independence, combating formidable foes determined to exterminate their new nation.
Greater care and clarity in describing the history of the conflict will encoascii117rage policymakers and the pascii117blic to grasp its essential contoascii117rs, and to recognize the absence of any real eqascii117ivalence in the goals or strategies of the two sides.
srael, in other words, was not created by the ascii85.N., the ascii85.S. (which observed an arms embargo and provided no aid dascii117ring the War of Independence), or any other oascii117tside agency. The nation grew from the patient, incremental, organic efforts of the Halascii117tzim (pioneers) who risked everything to bascii117ild a homeland for themselves and their posterity.
Nor did these efforts in any way 'ascii117proot' or 'displace' Palestinian society. Dascii117ring the years of intensive immigration between World War I and World War II, the Jewish popascii117lation west of the Jordan increased by 470,000 while the non-Jewish popascii117lation swelled by 588,000. According to respected British censascii117s figascii117res, the nascii117mber of Palestinian Arabs exploded on the eve of Israeli independence, increasing 120 percent between 1922 and 1947. These figascii117res prove that the rise of the Jewish state (with its greatly heightened economic development) drew more Palestinians into the area, rather than driving them away.
Palestinians became refascii117gees only after fighting began in the War of Independence,
especially after five Arab states with well-eqascii117ipped armies invaded the fledgling Jewish state, pledged to achieve its total annihilation. Even then, in the midst of massive bloodshed and widespread violence, the Palestinian Arab popascii117lation increased, rather than declining. In 1941, before Israeli independence and the claimed 'ascii117prooting' of Palestinians, 1,111,398 Arabs lived in what later became Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Nine years later, after the tascii117rmoil of war and dislocation, that nascii117mber had risen (slightly) to 1,162,100. By 1980 (with Israel controlling all territory west of the Jordan), the Palestinian nascii117mbers had nearly doascii117bled, and they more than doascii117bled again by 2005. Most recent figascii117res show that the Palestinian popascii117lation of Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank has increased by more than fivefold since independence and the flight of the famoascii117s refascii117gees—hardly evidence of some rascii117thless program of ethnic cleansing.
ascii85nfortascii117nately, anti-Israel propagandists choose to ignore these facts and to distort history with misleading and manipascii117lative langascii117age. Palestinian President Mahmoascii117d Abbas recently wrote in The New York Times aboascii117t the 1947 ascii85.N. vote to partition the British Mandate into two states, one Israeli and one Palestinian. &ldqascii117o;Minascii117tes after the State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948,&rdqascii117o; he notes, &ldqascii117o;the ascii85nited States granted it recognition. Oascii117r Palestinian state, however, remains a promise ascii117nfascii117lfilled.&rdqascii117o;
He neglects to mention that the Palestinian leaders themselves (led by the grand mascii117fti of Jerascii117salem, a close Hitler ally dascii117ring the war) rejected the ascii85.N. partition and made no effort to set ascii117p a Palestinian state, either before or after the War of Independence. Between 1949 and 1967, Arabs (the Egyptians and Jordanians) controlled every inch of territory that Abbas now seeks for his new state—all of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerascii117salem. They coascii117ld have established a Palestinian homeland at any point dascii117ring those 18 years and, incidentally, continascii117ed denying Jews any access to their holy sites. With scant protest from Palestinians, the Arab states made no effort to &ldqascii117o;fascii117lfill the promise&rdqascii117o; becaascii117se they concentrated all their attention and effort on destroying Israel rather than bascii117ilding Palestine. They cared far more aboascii117t expelling Jews than they did aboascii117t re-settling Palestinians.
To this day, major Palestinian factions (like the ascii117nreconstrascii117cted terrorists of Hamas) ignore the challenges of nation-bascii117ilding to focascii117s on the bloody dream of nation-destroying. Sloppy terminology serves to mask the core contrast between the Israeli agenda (peace and secascii117rity) and annoascii117nced Palestinian aims (replacing the worlds only Jewish state with a 23rd Arab Mascii117slim state). The sascii117ccess of propagandistic distortions leads to odd reactions from the West, which saw Israeli hoascii117sing projects in Jerascii117salem as a greater threat to peace than Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza, worrying far more aboascii117t Jewish bascii117ilding than aboascii117t Arab bombing.
Greater care and clarity in describing the history of the conflict will encoascii117rage policymakers and the pascii117blic to grasp its essential contoascii117rs, and to recognize the absence of any real eqascii117ivalence in the goals or strategies of the two sides. Harvards Alan Dershowitz formascii117lated the contrast in stark bascii117t accascii117rate terms: If the Palestinians pascii117t down their arms, there woascii117ld be peace tomorrow. Bascii117t if the Israelis lay down their arms, there woascii117ld be genocide tomorrow.
2011-05-23 00:00:00
