COMMENTARY: Distortions, bias add fuel to Mideast war

By Berl Falbaum I'll start with a confession that I frequently get angry, even infuriated, by the incompetence, bias, amateurism, and shallow thinking in the media, despite being part of the profession for many decades. However, I have never been shocked, that is, until now. And even "shocked" is too mild a word for my reaction to a couple of sentences in a column by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. Here are the sentences that blew my cynicism to bits (that won't last long) and I type them with trembling fingers: Israel has given "â?¦its Palestinian citizens more rights than most Arab nations give their citizens. Israel's courts, media freedom and civil society are models for the region, and there is something of a double standard: Critics pounce on Israeli abuses while often ignoring prolonged brutality against Muslims from Yemen to Syria, Western Sahara to Xinjiang." Wow! I could not find a stronger synonym for "wow" and this appeared in the New York Times which has had a hard time printing one favorable word about Israel since its founding in 1948. As author Jerold S. Auerbach pointed out in his 2019 book, "Print to Fit: The New York Times, Zionism and Israel:" Apprehensive lest the loyalty of American Jews to the United States be undermined by the existence of a Jewish state, [it] adopted an anti-Zionist critique that remained embedded in its editorials, on the Opinion page and in its news coverage. I hope Kristof can keep his job. Now, I have read zillions of stories and heard just as many from the broadcast media how Israel abuses Palestinians citizens. But I have never -- and I use "never" advisedly -- encountered one story anywhere that says Arab countries treat them worse, or how the 22 Arab countries have treated Jews, most of whom immigrated to Israel, fled because of persecution, or were exiled. Jews totaled 866,000 in the Arab world in 1945; they number fewer than 10,000 today. As to Israel's attitude toward Palestinians, two all too frequent words come to mind: "apartheid" and "genocide." So, let's use Kristof's observation to flesh out some gross distortions as they pertain to Israel. Is there discrimination and oppression in some quarters against Palestinians? Absolutely. Are there policies that need to be changed and/or eliminated? Absolutely. Must settlers in the West Bank be stopped from attacking neighboring Arabs? Absolutely. Does Netanyahu and his far-right cabinet need to temper their rhetoric and policies? Absolutely. A short comparison to the U.S.: Does racism exist in the U.S.? Sure, but that does not make it a racist country. In this "apartheid" state, overall Palestinians have been integrated into Israel's society. They work alongside of Israelis, attend universities, work in hospitals and, in early 2022, a Muslim man was appointed to the Supreme Court. The political party, United Arab List, has representation in the Knesset (Parliament). Furthermore, there has been continual representation of Arabs in the Knesset since 1949, a year after Israel's founding. Former President Jimmy Carter gave much credence to the apartheid charge with his book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." When Carter was challenged, in an NPR interview, on his accusation, he replied that, in the book, he explains fully how he used the word but could not do so in the title. Perhaps he should have changed the title. The following is extremely timely: A poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute after the Hamas massacre, found an increased sense of solidarity with Israel among its Arab citizenry -- indeed, the highest since the Institute began such a survey 20 years ago. When asked if they felt a part of the country, 70 percent of Arab respondents replied "yes" compared to 48 percent in June. Aya Najame, a 20-year-old living in Haifa, told CNN -- yes, that CNN -- that "We live together here, Arab people and Jewish people. We work together, we go to the same places. "Haifa is the most comfortable place. As soon as you leave Haifa you start feeling more uncomfortable, it's (a) little hard to describe it, it's just an uncomfortable feeling." Ashraf Ashkar, a 35-year-old Arab Israeli, said he has friends who serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and friends who were in areas Hamas attacked. "I speak to them all the time, I have a friend, an Arab, who joined the reserves last week," Ashkar said, adding that Israel is his home. I know these kinds of quotes are anecdotal but, to Kristof's point, Israeli Arabs are ingrained in the country's society. Which brings us to the charge of "genocide" generally defined as annihilation, murder, massacre of a particular religion, race, or ethnic group. Do the following numbers reflect genocide? With a population of roughly 2 million, Arabs are the largest ethnic minority in Israel, comprising about 21 percent of Israel's population. In 1948, when Israel declared its independence and after being attacked by five Arab nations, the Arab population stood at 156,000. That's a growth of about 1.8 million. Genocide? Further, some demographic experts predict that at present birthrates Jews may become a minority and that is why many support a two-state solution with one primarily a Jewish state. Genocide? I wish that Kristof would have expanded his point to include the issues of apartheid, genocide, and other dubious charges and outright lies leveled against Israel. As I wrote above: Israel should not be immune from criticism. I have leveled my own in many columns. But distortions, bias, exaggeration, or ignorance are not synonyms for criticism. I wish reporters covering Israel would learn the difference. -------- Berl Falbaum is a veteran journalist and author of 12 books. Published: Tue, Dec 12, 2023