The New York Times has published an obituary for a settler rabbi: “Moshe Levinger, Contentious Leader of Jewish Settlers in Hebron, Dies at 80.” Isabel Kershner’s lead:
Jerusalem– Moshe Levinger, a firebrand rabbi who spearheaded the modern Jewish settlement in the heart of the ancient and predominantly Palestinian city of Hebron, and who helped spread settlements in the territories Israel conquered in the 1967 war, died here on Friday. He was 80.
Contentious and firebrand both have positive implications. But in the fourth paragraph we get this information:
The Israeli authorities arrested Rabbi Levinger many times. In September 1988, after Palestinians threw stones at his car in Hebron, he opened fire, shooting randomly toward shops and killing a Palestinian shopkeeper. In a plea bargain, Rabbi Levinger was convicted of death by negligence. He served three months of a five-month prison sentence.
If it weren’t Israel, Levinger would have served more than three months in prison.
If it weren’t the New York Times, the fact that the rabbi killed a Palestinian shopkeeper in cold blood would have been in the first sentence.
P.S. Notice that my colleague Allison Deger knew how to write this news article.
Touchy, touchy! NYT obits are often politically altered, trimmed, adjusted, modified, prettied.
Example: when Richard Arens died, NYT wrote up a lovely obit, just lovely ( http://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/28/obituaries/prof-richard-arens-law-school-teacher-wrote-on-procedure.html ) except that it neglected to mention that Arens (brother of Moshe Arens, an Israeli Defense Minister) was an ardent proponent of Palestinian rights and for a time a member and official of a group that I was media chairman of, called: SEARCH for Justice and Equality in Palestine/Israel.
Careless of mother NYT! But you cannot include every good thing in an obit, can you?
After much consternation it seems the Israeli hasbara machine solved their perennial PR problems: just hire the NYT staff.
Actually, that’s too generous. The NYT staff aren’t paid a dime by the Israeli authorities. These people are zealots, true believers. They do this for free.
But you could be forgiven for thinking that they are paid, because the stuff they write is indistinguishable from that of paid shills.
P.S. Actually, the NYT is pumping out so much gross propaganda that we are literally having “what kind of smelly shit did the NYT publish today in defence of Apartheid?” every single day. It’s astounding how low that paper has sunk. Using the word “Pravda” is so overdone(just next to “Orwellian”) but this is one of those rare moments when it applies 100%.
“Contentious and firebrand both have positive implications.”
Yes they do. But hey, he was only a murderer and advocate of genocide…
Compare and contrast with Kershner’s bosom buddy Rudoren’s characterization of “Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian leader among the throngs who fulminated over Ms. Shaked’s new role, said it “is not only a threat to peace and security, but generates a culture of hate and lawlessness.”
https://mondoweiss.net/2015/05/times-rudoren-selma
Perhaps he served so little time for the killing because he showed what would be considered sufficient humility before the Israeli court. Jeffrey Goldberg explained about Levinger: He told me once, “I’m not happy when any living creature dies—an Arab, a fly, a donkey.” That should be sufficient in most Israeli courts.
Note the NYT obituary did not allow comments as it did when Gunter Grass died.
On another matter it would be helpful if people who like to write would help us in CT. Last week two young men tried to read a three paragraph statement in a synagogue in Westport. They were stopped and someone FALSELY said they had a gun. Police swarmed and nearby schools were put on lock-down. The two were arrested and charged with Criminal Trespass in the 1st degree and are denounced as “thugs”, “violent” and “terrorists” in the local media. Comments and letters are needed to change the terms of the debate. See http://www.thestruggle.org/westport%202.htm