An anonymous Mondo reader writes in with an annotated version of a recent Jeffrey Goldberg blog post. Annotations are in caps:
The Lucrative Business of Israel-Bashing
22 Sep 2009 08:18 am
The MacArthur genius grants are to be officially announced today, and along with deserving recipients such as Jerry Mitchell, a very brave journalist I know from my work on Preacher Killen, and Lynsey Addario, a very brave photographer, the documentary maker James Longley shows up on the list. I’m somewhat familiar with his work on Gaza, and, alas, it’s no surprise he’s on the list. Longley’s anti-Israel propaganda isn’t particularly clever (though it’s well-shot, if memory serves). In fact, it’s entirely typical of the genre. Here’s a statement from his website about his understanding of Gaza:
To my great relief, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip turned out to be people like everyone else. It’s the situation they find themselves in that is extraordinary: The Gaza Strip is essentially an open-air prison for Palestinian refugees, guarded on all sides by the Israeli military. Barely 28 miles long and 4 miles wide, it contains more than 1,200,000 Palestinians – over one third of them living in squalid refugee camps built in 1948 to hold the people forced out of their homes by the creation of modern-day Israel. It is one of the most densely populated places on the planet. Nobody can pass through its borders without the permission of the Israeli soldiers. Like the West Bank, the Gaza Strip has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967. Most people living in the Gaza Strip have never known a single day of real freedom.
Okay, one by one: "Palestinians in the Gaza Strip turned out to be people like everyone else." Essentially true — I make much the same argument in my book on the subject. Except that some residents of Gaza are, in fact, members of a suicide terrorist organization who seek out their enemy’s children to kill. This is fairly unusual. Only the Tamils in Sri Lanka have constructed a similar cult. So this would be worth mentioning.
"The Gaza Strip is essentially an open-air prison for Palestinian refugees, guarded on all sides by the Israeli military." No, not true. The Strip shares a border with Egypt, an Arab state. HOLD ON A SEC. JAMES LONGLEY IS TALKING HERE ABOUT THE PERIOD BEFORE THE PULLOUT. JEFFREY GOLDBERG IS TRYING TOO HARD FOR A TAKEDOWN AND MISSES OBVIOUS CONTEXT. HE SURELY OUGHT TO RECALL THAT THE IDF WAS PATROLLING BETWEEN GAZA AND EGYPT.
"[I]t contains more than 1,200,000 Palestinians – over one third of them living in squalid refugee camps built in 1948 to hold the people forced out of their homes by the creation of modern-day Israel." There are very few refugees left in Gaza. The children and grandchildren of these refugees are not, according to international law, refugees. They are only considered "refugees" because the Arab states have refused to resettle them or build them permanent housing. Also, not all Palestinians who fled Israel in 1948 were "driven out." Some fled areas of fighting, some were expelled by Jewish forces, and some left of their own accord. AS FAR AS I KNOW, UNRWA HAS A DIFFERENT CLASSIFICATION. IT WOULD BE GRACIOUS OF GOLDBERG, THOUGH MOST UNEXPECTED, TO NOTE THAT ISRAEL HAS NEVER ABIDED BY UNGA RESOLUTION 194. CURIOUS HOW GOLDBERG PICKS AND CHOOSES ON INTERNATIONAL LAW. ANYWAY, THE UN HAS A UNIQUE RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD PALESTINIANS AS IT WAS SO CULPABLE IN THEIR DISPOSSESSION.
"It is one of the most densely populated places on the planet." Not true. Most cities in the world are more densely populated than Gaza. Manhattan, for instance, is more densely populated than Gaza. Also, Cairo. And many suburbs of major cities, as well. I BOUGHT THIS LINE TOO WHEN I FIRST HEARD IT FROM MICHAEL OREN. I WAS COMPLETELY TAKEN ABACK. BUT THEN A FRIEND IN GAZA SAID IT WAS COMPARING APPLES AND ORANGES. LOOK, HE SAID AT HOW DENSELY POPULATED GAZA CITY IS NOT THE GAZA STRIP AS A WHOLE. THE GAZA STRIP AS A WHOLE WOULD BE BETTER COMPARED TO A COUNTRY, PROVINCE OR STATE.
"Nobody can pass through its borders without the permission of the Israeli soldiers." Not true. The Egyptians could lift their blockade of Gaza, which would allow easy passage. SAME MISTAKE AS ABOVE. THIS IS PRE-2005.
"Like the West Bank, the Gaza Strip has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967." Not true. During the 1990s, most parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip were under the control of the Palestinian Authority. In 2005, Israel withdrew its soldiers and settlers from Gaza and turned over control of the entire area to the Palestinian Authority. PLEASE. DOES HE REALLY THINK THAT PALESTINIANS IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA WEREN’T UNDER OCCUPATION? IN ANY EVENT, PALESTINIANS NEVER CONTROLLED MOST PARTS OF THE WEST BANK. AT MOST IT WAS 40 PERCENT. I REMEMBER TRAVELING FROM GAZA CITY SOUTH IN 1997 AND 2000 AND THE ISRAELI CHECKPOINTS WERE RIGHT OUT ON THE ROAD. AND CERTAINLY THE ISRAELI MILITARY WAS RIGHT IN GAZA CITY IN 1993 AND FOR SOME TIME THEREAFTER BECAUSE I REMEMBER FLEEING TEAR GAS THERE AND SEEING KIDS BEATEN IN THE STREETS BY THE IDF.
"Most people living in the Gaza Strip have never known a single day of real freedom." See above. This is partially true, though Gaza knew no freedom when it was occupied by the Egyptian military until 1967. And of course, "real freedom" is not a prevailing condition in most of the Arab Middle East. But Longley is not interested in the complications of life in the Arab world, or in Israel, and God knows, he could make honest films that still expose various Israeli sins. But he doesn’t seem to be someone who closely adheres to the truth. He seems mainly interested, in the Middle East context, in libeling Israel. Which, of course, is good for business, as we see this week. LONGLEY IS RIGHT. ONLY AN IDEOLOGUE WOULD STOOP TO LABELING THE ASSERTION A PARTIAL TRUTH.
GOLDBERG IS A BRILLIANT WRITER, BUT TOO OFTEN HE USES HIS SKILL TO MISINFORM ABOUT THE OCCUPATION. PERHAPS THIS IS BECAUSE HE WAS THE JAILER AND NOT THE JAILED. HE IS MISSING SOME FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS. SO COMMITTED IS HE TO ADVANCING THE ISRAELI NARRATIVE THAT HE FAILS TO APPREHEND WHAT PALESTINIANS LIVE. HE OWES HIS READERS AN APOLOGY FOR MISREPRESENTING WHAT LONGLEY HAS WRITTEN AND FOR GETTING SO MANY OF HIS FACTS WRONG.
