Dr Ginosar Recalls

Tom Friedman is an excellent writer and also a biased writer. At least as far as Israel goes. He has not change his views over the decades of the Israeli/Arab situation no matter how solid, repetitive facts proved him wrong numerous times.

We also must realize that because some one writes well, we are inclined to have an aura around them and believe they are right. There is a drastic difference between writing well and the validity of the writer’s views. But we are by nature, inclined to associate the two. The same way we associate a tall attractive man with knowledge and capabilities, even before we know a thing about him.

Most Israeli top leaders made mistakes, some of them serious misjudgments about the willingness of the Palestinians to live in peace with Israel. But Israel is not the sole obstacle to peace as Tom Friedman often asserts. He has great difficulty seeing the rocket attacks on Israelis civilians from Gaza, for example. Many Israeli decisions that he opposed were necessary to reduce the casualties of Israeli citizens and communities. But Freidman’s views do not take this into account.

He can not do it any other way. He is willingly stuck in a position that gives him fame and power and thus economic success. How? By being Jewish and finding Israel wrong in almost all cases. His notoriety is based on his continuous criticism of Israel despite being Jewish. If he would have wrote in favor of Israeli positions he would lose his so called “objectivity.” After all he is Jewish and you expect him to be pro Israel. By being Jewish and continuously finding faults in the actions of all Israeli governments and telling Israel to give more land and more freedom of movement to terrorists, he is standing, in the unaware reader’s mind, for what is “right” and “supports peace.”

He is boxed in; he can not make unbiased observations about Israel since his trademark is finding faults with most Israeli actions.

Next time you read Tom Friedman’s article criticizing Israeli policies, look carefully for the anti-Israeli terms he often uses bordering on prejudice, or more. And understand why he writes the way he does.

Matania

6/12

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