By Philip R. Scheier, , Shoreline
The fact that your lead story in the July 24 issue, headlined, “A prophet for peace or a wedge between peacemakers?” ends with a question mark is not the only question mark on this overlong two-and-a-half-column agonizing on the guest speaker’s true intentions toward Israel. The fact that the Anglican canon, identified as Naim Ateek, was described as “an activist for Palestinian independence,” eliminated the need for any question mark in the headline. What this extensive report did was to provide the obviously anti-Israel speaker with the JTNews platform.
Since the sponsor of the talk was the Kadima Reconstructionist Community, that certainly, to this reader, made a mockery of the question mark.
Kadima, while claiming to be so very, very sincere in its lengthy efforts for a Mideast peace, down through the years has yet to show understanding of the facts, or even understand, or comprehend a basic fact of Israeli survival. Somehow it seems to bemoan (kvetch) that Israel insists on defending itself against killers sworn to eradicate the Jewish State. If not against Israel, then against each other. Nowhere does Kadima ever come up with balanced facts of ongoing rocket barrages or suicide bombing attacks against Israelis. It’s always Israel’s fault.
And in a strange outburst of being factual, the Kadima program director reportedly said, “We’re not in the business of trying to defend him.” Gee, thanks. Hence the puzzlement of the huge amount of space and page 1 placement on this nothing story.