TABITHA KOROL: HA’ARETZ SUPPORTS DISTORTIONS
How absurd for Haaretz to be so named for the Land of Israel when it is quite unworthy of the title. Through the years, Haaretz has been known to produce “news” that has been called “unconscionable,” “unacceptable,” and “slanderous,” yet the editors fail to properly correct serious factual errors. They employ journalists who, with malicious intent, villify and cast Israel as racist, oppressive and unjust to its Arab population. Gideon Levy is a pathetic example of a Jew who is afflicted with pathological tenderness or traumatic bonding, a form of Oslo Syndrome, as he cringes at Israel’s successes and defines himself by reproaching his own people and aligning himself with their enemy. It is also ludicrous to realize that if Israel were what Levy and Haaretz claim her to be – unjust, unfair, and totalitarian in nature – the paper would have long been closed down. It exists and Levy continues his lies and invectives precisely because Israel is a democracy.
The name Levy comes from the Hebrew word “joining,” yet ironically he is a pariah. Considered one of Israel’s severest opponents as a journalist in Haaretz and to foreign audiences, he assists those who condemn Israel as an apartheid state and who promote boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel to bring about the country’s destruction. In a recent speaking engagement in Britain, where Levy promoted his book, “The Punishment of Gaza,” he was sponsored by radical anti-Israel organizations.
In a calculated misinterpretation of the results of a poll conducted by a public-opinion firm, Dialog, Levy distorts and Haaretz supports the premise that Israelis practice apartheid against Palestinians, and other bloodthirsty journalists, many avowed anti-Semites, are only too eager to reproduce the news for all the world to see – The Guardian, The Independent, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Telegraph, The Globe and Mail, Agence-France Presse, Christian Science Monitor, Calgary Herald, Al Jazeera, Mondoweiss and 972 Magazine. This time, Levy claimed that the poll proved that Israelis openly defined themselves as nationalistic racists but, in fact, his interpretation was a distortion. His intent is to defame Israel in any way he can, and he distorted the available poll to corroborate his canard that Israeli Jews would support an apartheid regime in Israel.
In response to Presspectiva’s detailed criticism and corrections, Haaretz provided an insufficient and flawed correction five days later, on page five, and Levy’s “apology” could not have been more disingenuous. He thrives on not getting caught before he succeeds in creating havoc in his long history of bashing Israel to satisfy his severe personality defect.
Haaretz changed the headline to “Survey: Most Israeli Jews wouldn’t give Palestinians vote if West Bank was annexed,” and the following:
CLARIFICATION: The original headline for this piece, ‘Most Israelis support an apartheid regime in Israel,’ did not accurately reflect the findings of the Dialog poll. The question to which most respondents answered in the negative did not relate to the current situation, but to a hypothetical situation in the future: ‘If Israel annexes territories in Judea and Samaria, should 2.5 million Palestinians be given the right to vote for the Knesset?’
This was neither a correction nor an apology. Gideon’s propaganda is allowed to fester after he excuses himself for missing a point, or alibis with a publication deadline, and blames those who rebuke him. He invariably sidetracks and uses a propaganda technique of deflection to somewhat mollify his confused readers with a lame excuse. Haaretz, recognizing the twisted facts, published Yehuda Ben Meir’s opinion piece that drew different conclusions about the poll and faulted Levy’s article as an injustice to the State of Israel, the Jewish people and the truth. This somehow placated the readers and pardoned Levy so he could continue his treachery – and Haaretz continues to publish its preposterous headlines and commentary about Israel.
Levy has often condemned Israel as apartheid, claiming certain roads in Judea and Samaria are designated for “Jews only.” Although untrue, these statements incite condemnation against the Jewish state. The roads referenced in the West Bank are Israeli, and they are for use by Israelis – Jews and non-Jews, as well as Arab and Muslim foreigners. Palestinians were once able to drive on them but not since the second intifada, when suicide bombers used them to penetrate Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in order to massacre the residents. Israeli citizens of any religion and ethnicity have equal travel rights on the restricted roads and, to respond to the accusation of another BDS adherent, there are no Jew-only buses and highways.
There are Palestinian roads in the West Bank that Israelis cannot use, and there are restricted roads in Israel reserved for vehicles with Israeli plates (Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs) and other roads restricted for vehicles with Palestinian plates. If the Palestinians were a non-violent, peaceful people, there would be no restrictions. The West Bank and Gaza are no longer part of the State of Israel, and it is routine for bordering countries to restrict free entry from one to another, particularly from a neighbor that announces its singleminded plan of death and destruction.
During Levy’s long, unsavory career, he has accused Israel of killing a much larger number of Palestinians than the U.N. reports, but remains silent or reports a far smaller number to diminish their importance when Israelis are killed by terrorists. He claimed West Bank Palestinians had but one swimming pool when there are many. He has written that Israel abducted Lebanese civilians (2006) when they were operatives and terrorists. He claimed Israel received $30 billion in aid from the US when the true amount was $2.5 billion. He has accused Israel of violating a cease fire with Hamas (2008) when Hamas fired dozens of rockets first. He wrote that flotillas had the right to sail to Gaza when international law permits Israel to stop any such vessel. His lies and errors and exclusions abound.
It has long been time to remove Levy from his deleterious position, and time to hold Haaretz answerable for what they print. By deliberately disenfranchising himself from the Jewish people, writing and speaking to benefit Israel’s sworn enemies, Levy is a traitor and should be judged and penalized accordingly. The same may be said of Haaretz. I fail to understand why they have been permitted to continue along their disreputable courses without appropriate legal action. It is time to take a stand against such subversion. They must be held accountable.
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