In this handwringing piece in the Week in Review section of the New York Times, Ethan Bronner speaks of the agony of being the "despised" Greek chorus in the Gaza battle, when there are two contending narratives, neither of which is all right. He brings up the anti-Zionist narrative: "a country born in sin, Israel has built up an
aggressive military with help from Washington in the grips of a
powerful Jewish lobby" (notice the conflation of moral melodrama, sin, with the factual), then writes:
story — when, for example, I examine Israel’s goals in its Gaza war
without implicitly condemning it as a massacre, or write about Israel
in ways that do not call into question its legitimacy — I have revealed
my affiliation and can no longer be trusted as a reporter.
I wonder: Have you ever reported stuff that calls into question Israel's legitimacy (as this Jew has)? Is that an accurate claim on your part? Have you ever written about the lobby with any real depth? And what do you mean by your "affiliation"? Well, you are Jewish, but don't tell your reader that. And what does that mean–I'm not sure. What does it mean that you are married to an Israeli (as I have reported, but I don't think you ever have)? Do you really– an intelligent man in your mid-50s, obviously earnestly struggling to maintain professional "objectivity," but with some kind of Jewish life–lack an interior narrative on these questions? Somehow I doubt it. Why not be open? (Phil Weiss)
