There’s a piece called “Lost in Jerusalem” on the front page of the NYT Travel section. The author is travel writer Matt Gross, who says as a Jew he regarded Israel as “a politically iffy burden” and therefore did not visit it till last fall, when a Jewish friend challenged him and he felt life “calling my bluff.” And then the iffiness gave way to splendiferousness. A reader writes:
The Old City of Jerusalem is made out to be in Israel. There is only the vaguest reference to Arab East Jerusalem. He describes the wall as separating Israel from the West Bank–a clear error.
The low beige buildings of Arab East Jerusalem covered the hills in the near distance, and on clear days I could see the sinuous, ominous wall separating Israel from the West Bank.
The New York Times describes this wall as separating Israel and the West Bank.In fact it separates occupied East Jerusalem from other portions of occupied East Jerusalem
He talks about coming out of Yad Vashem and seeing “a picture-perfect valley, a white-washed village clinging to the far slope. I stared at it a long time before I could move on.” This is presumably where the ethnically-cleansed village of Deir Yassin was.
The shallowness of his visit is repeatedly established, perhaps one consequence of his determination to see the place “without benefit of map or guidebook.” Israeli security measures are described as “fascinating.” I can’t see that word springing to mind for Palestinians subjected to them.
But leave I did, often well after 1 a.m., late enough that the Israeli guards in the Old City would interrogate and search me on my way back to the guesthouse. As an occasional experience, the security measures were fascinating, much more thorough and intelligent than the cursory T.S.A. sweeps I’m used to. I could also sense the tension they created, and again found myself amazed at what true believers will do, and submit to, in the name of their faith.
And oh, there’s one reference to 1967:
The transition from Old City to new was striking. Exiting through one of the 16th-century gates that still control access — touristy Jaffa Gate, busy Damascus Gate, historic Zion Gate, where Israeli soldiers entered in 1967 — I leapt forward into a distinctly modern world of crosswalks and traffic lights, 19th-century buildings and chunky apartment towers, green parks and municipal offices, falafel joints, cellphone stores and a brand-new light-rail system.
The word Palestine does not appear in the piece. Palestinian appears twice:
I passed Palestinian women selling bundles of sage near Damascus Gate…
I bellied up, ordered the excellent Palestinian “upside-down” chicken-and-rice dish, and quizzed the bartender
This is the Israelification of America. Israeli security is sold to audiences in the US as a marvel of modern technology and of Israeli ingenuity, sophistication and efficiency.
In that respect — among others like the author’s treatment of Deir Yassin — the NYT article is insidious and disgusting. Hogwash is what it is.
Thanks Avi. I agree. It is hard to summon the feeling of seeing this sort of article in the American press. And yes I think it has to do with the demographics of the NYT’s audience, which includes a lot of advertisers and readers who will identify with this “seeker’s” path to Jerusalem
It had the feel of a conversion narrative of sorts–I used to fear going to Israel and wanted to keep my distance, but when I went there it was wonderful. Hallelujah. No blinding light on the way to Damascus or child’s voice saying “Take up and read” (wrong religion), just a secular guy finding that Jerusalem has some really cool sites to visit. A conversion narrative for the Travel section of the NYT.
He never made it clear what had caused his earlier distancing or why the touristy stuff would change his view.
He is on a different planet.
Here’s another one. A non-Jew from Australia who went to Israel and learned that things there are considerably better than the media had led him to believe.
http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2012/01/12/territorial_compromise_loses_ground_in_arab_spring.html
It’s possible the Israelis have the power to blind their visitors. It’s also possible that the reality is actually not what the readership of this website believes it to be.