It is NOT the media's point/counterpoint caricature.

Context is critical to judgement. The accusation is that Chomsky, Judt, Finkelstein MISREPRESENT in their selective presentations, that they ignore what is inconvenient to a demonizing prejudicial judgement of Israel as a whole.

I agree with that assessment of Chomsky's mode of argument often. (I managed an archive library of his lectures during the late 80's – early 90's, so I've heard a great deal of his work and approach.) Others can certainly form different opinions.

A criticism of a policy is a different beast than a defamation.

I don't know CAMERA well, nor have any idea what they will present.

I do know that hating "context" speaks very badly for you.

I've read your book, and context is critical to the meaning. In all other analysis that you cited, "context" is a highly used term, rightly so.

You can't speak of the idiocy of announcing the proposed excavation of a portion of land amounting to an expropriation, a week before a critical diplomatic initiative, without speaking about the context of the settlement and annexation strategy.

Why would you ever give any credibility to the renunciation of judgement, by disavowing the importance of context?

When "context" is added in pursuit of knowledge, of veracity, that is known as research.

Tony Judt, Noam Chomsky–they are researchers. Not attempting to construct a narrative that is favorable to any particular party, but that which actually happened. In addition they advocate, separately, their positions based on their knowledge and elemental notions of what is ethical.

Richard Witty, CAMERA–advocates first and foremost, not legitimate researchers. They are trying to estabilish a narrative favorable to their material and emotional interests. The "context" they wish to add is solidly intended to obfuscate what history and observation every day reveal on the ground in "Jewish"-mandate Palestine.

There are those wishing to illuminate, to investigate honestly, with courageous skepticism when belief would be so much easier, and then there are those wishing to obfuscate, to accept convenient "truths" and explain away any evidence to the contrary. But the intelligent reader can clearly see who is whom.

I was appalled at the repitition of false propaganda during the Hezbollah War last year. For example, many followed the lead of Juan Cole, who repeated the false assertion by Nasrallah, that the abductions had occurred in Lebanon and not intentionally orchestrated in Israel per the UNIFIL report.

Also, too many ignored the UNIFIL and NY Times reports that described the conflict initiating by more than incidental shelling of civilian towns in Northern Israel as a diversion from the long-planned abduction.

I heard a thousand times that the Israeli war was in response to "only" an abduction.

I now agree that the Israeli response was excessive, but the unanimity of support for the defense of the Israeli border was startling, for its consent from Israeli left and right alike.

And you're free to do it. To your heart's content.

But we, as U.S. citizens with no blood relatives in Israel, who wish to have a fact-based discourse on this subject, would just ask you distort and suppress the facts–I'm sorry, "provide context," somewhere else, somewhere the focus is propaganda, which is your interest in this.

It was not planned in the same meaning of the term as Hezbollah planned its abduction.

And, some of the conservative myths have been debunked, AND some of the left's myths have been debunked.

That doesn' stop propagandists from repeating them anyway, knowingly or generously unknowingly.

Most stories that I've heard have multiple tellings.

Deir Yassin is NOT a hero story even in Israelis eyes. The only Jewish heroes in it were the orthodox neighbors who confronted the Irgun from falsely justifying their slaughter.

And, Deir Yassin was a small portion of the opportunism of the Irgun.

We need MORE context, if we wish to see clearly, not a rationalization for a leftist propaganda, over a rightist.

That said, I generally agree with Phil and M-W.