Not so groundbreaking, Dr. Pipes

Submitted by There is NO Santa Claus (United States), Mar 30, 2013 at 12:57

Media coverage of the War Against Israel is very biased and skewed. They have ignored President O'Bama's comment for a long time. Israel's supporters have too.

A few years back (maybe that 2011 occasion) you mentioned) President O'Bama addressed the AIPAC conference and made a big splash for trying to "jump start the peace process". It was either that or some other major speech on the subject.

The media slobbered when they (and Israel's supporters) heard the words describing an Israel at peace: "... with borders based on the 1948 lines with mutually agreeable swaps..." The pro-Israel community went into its predictable frenzy. The news media covered it. The news media worshipped and bowed to the President for making a "bold move to jump start the peace process". etc. etc. blah blah blah.

What the media and pro-Israel activists did NOT seem to hear were the President's words: "... a Jewish State with borders..." I knew these words would clearly anger the Arabs and that the President's proposal was a non-starter for that reason. Every time the President utters these magic words, the so-called "peace process" (as the news media likes to call it) is stagnated and the President knows it.

Because the news media was slobbering over the response of the pro-Israel community, the PA was carefully quiet. The news media ran story after story until it finally ran out of momentum because the PA was not going to recognize a "Jewish State with borders"; just as the President had proposed. Rather than reject the otherwise anti-Israel President's proposal, they wisely stated something to the effect that: "It's a constructive starting point." Like we don't know what that meant.

The PA went on to reject almost, if not all public requests to meet directly with Israel and negotiate a peace agreement. Had they done otherwise in response to the President, it would have appeared as though they accepted "a Jewish State with borders...." The stagnation in peace negotiations continued.

This stagnation in "the peace process" WILL continue as long as the President refers to Israel as "a Jewish State". You know it, Dr. Pipes. I know it. Your readers know it.

The news media will play this quite differently as will the President and the State Department. After all, they don't refer to Israel as "a Jewish State that Americans love so dearly". One gets the idea from this President that there is plenty of disdain for Israel.

Yet, if the President and the State Department ever publicly criticised the PA for their manifest policy of anti-Semitism, I think that the general perception of Israel's supporters about this President would change substantially in his favor. I doubt the President has the courage to do it. He is waiting for Israel to take "the next step". As a supporter of Israel, I am waiting for the President to take the next step.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".