Amos Schocken is Israel’s equivalent of the latest Sulzberger to inherit control of the New York Times. Schocken, in his mid-70s, is the third generation of his family to run Haaretz, the most respected newspaper in Israel, and he speaks out regularly in columns and on social media.
Just the other day, Schocken called Israel “an apartheid state.” He was indignantly responding to a right-wing member of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament. Here’s the full quotation:
The product of Zionism, the State of Israel, is not a Jewish and democratic state, but has instead become an apartheid state, plain and simple.
Haaretz continues to be indispensable to understanding the vital truths about Israel/Palestine, truths the New York Times ignores and covers up. The latest example: yesterday’s Times has an analysis of the differences between the U.S. and Israel over the re-negotiations of the Iran nuclear deal. The article could have been ghost-written by hawks in the Israeli government. Its overall tone is sympathy with Israel, and a sense that American policymakers are naive. The report euphemistically mentions Israeli “covert strikes” and “sabotage operations” against Iran, but doesn’t give more details. Only in the final paragraph (the 23rd), does the Times acknowledge that the American CIA director, William Burns, says the U.S. “continues to believe that Iran has not made a decision to weaponize its nuclear program.”
Let’s turn to Haaretz. Start with its respected national security reporter, Amos Harel. He’s no radical, but he does know how to report and tell the full story, and he obviously has reliable sources within the Israeli military. He starts by raising doubts that Israel is even capable of a successful attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities, an angle the Times ignored:
Realistically, an Israeli airstrike on Iran — an inherent topic of fierce professional debate — might have been possible a decade ago. Now, with the Israel Defense Forces only beginning to refresh the operational plans, it will probably take years before that option is given serious consideration.
Harel goes on to warn that an Israeli raid would risk dangerous consequences across the Mideast, another angle the Times missed:
[There is a] risk that the attack will unleash a regional war in which the Israeli home front suffers an unprecedented onslaught by Hezbollah [Iran’s ally, the political/military movement in Lebanon]. In other words, the pistol Israel is brandishing has almost no ammunition at the moment.
Harel has the good reporter’s concern for specifics and a healthy disdain for euphemism. What the Times article called “sabotage operations” against Iran turn out to be “assassinations of nuclear scientists, explosions at nuclear sites, cyberattacks, attacks on Iranian ships, extensive airstrikes against pro-Iranian militias in Syria, and a systematic assault on convoys smuggling arms from Iran to Hezbollah. . .”
Haaretz’s truth-telling didn’t stop there. A lead editorial upbraided two top Israeli security officials for “parading a stream of arrogant, boastful threats against Iran in recent days,” and warned that the current discussion should not focus on Israel’s saber-rattling but instead on “an Iran-Israel war that could erupt following such a dangerous attack.”
A decade ago, the New Yorker’s top editor, David Remnick, published an inspiring long report about Haaretz and its publisher, Amos Schocken. Remnick quoted at length from an article Schocken himself wrote back then, which argued that “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem, should be changed because “its lyrics are about only Jewish aspirations.” Schocken said:
How can an Arab citizen identify with such an anthem? Hasn’t the time come to recognize that the establishment of Israel is not just the story of the Jewish people, of Zionism, of the heroism of the Israel Defense Forces and of bereavement? That it is also the story of the reflection of Zionism and the heroism of the IDF soldiers in the lives of the Arabs: the Nakba — the Palestinian “Catastrophe” as the Arabs call the events of 1948 — the loss, the families that were split up, the disruption of lives, the property that was taken away, the life under military government and other elements of the history shared by Jews and Arabs, which are presented on Independence Day, and now only on that day, in an entirely one-sided way.
Haaretz seems to be the only news source that seems to have the spine to report facts, criticize the actions of the country, and not keep running with government propaganda, like all other Israeli media does. In fact hats off to Haaretz for being brave enough to criticize Israel, far more than the cowardly US media does. Good job.
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America is now comprehending the ugly racism and horror of Zionism. The writing is on the wall!!
US support for Palestinian rights has shifted ‘across the board’, experts say | Middle East Eye
Middle East Eye, December 10/21
“‘US support for Palestinian rights has shifted ‘across the board’, experts say.
Palestinian voices are now being heard within the US, but policy has yet to change.”
EXCERPT:
“The change has been reflected both in public opinion, demonstrated by a recent poll showing most Americans opposed unrestricted aid to Israel, as well as in Congress, where a growing number of Democrats have called for supporting Palestinian rights.
“Speaking during a virtual panel discussion hosted by the Middle East Institute on Thursday, Shibley Telhami, a Palestinian American professor at the University of Maryland, said the shift existed beyond just a handful of vocal members of US Congress.
“‘This is not progressive Democrats – I’m sorry – this is Democrats. This is much broader than people assume,’ Telhami said.
“‘I’m not talking about Congress; the shift in Congress is separate. But if you’re looking at public opinion, then the shift is far bigger than people assume, it transcends this progressive-moderate divide among Democrats.’
“In August, the University of Maryland released a poll that found only eight percent of Democratic voters blamed Palestinians for Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip in May.
“An annual Gallup poll released in March found the majority of Democrats felt the US should be putting more pressure on the Israeli government than the Palestinian leadership.
“The past few years have also seen unprecedented moves in Congress, with critical demands coming from Capitol Hill, including the condemnation of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians during the Covid-19 pandemic, and a handful of lawmakers voicing support for applying conditions on US aid to Israel.
“A shift has also been seen within human rights groups, activists and the media – earlier this year, Human Rights Watch published a report saying Israel was committing crimes of apartheid against Palestinians in the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem.
“This year also saw Palestinian activists, including siblings Muna and Mohammed el-Kurd, being listed on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People of 2021. (cont’d)
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“Peter Beinart, a prominent Jewish-American political commentator, said the shift towards promoting the plight of the Palestinians comes as the US grapples with high profile cases of racial inequality.
“‘There was a new kind of embarrassment in the media about the way in which certain groups tended to be talked about, but not heard from,’ he said during the panel.
“‘That created a new awareness about the fact that so often Palestinians have been talked about but not heard from. And I think that led people to to look and be more open to Palestinian voices than they had before.’
Bravo !!! Ha’aretz !!!!
Most of us here know Israel is an Apartheid regime and brutal colonising land thief that daily commits war crimes.
But it is good to have someone like Haaretz to remind those naysayers and defenders of said Apartheid regime.