Saturday, September 26, 2009

Advocate of Israeli terrorism in the US

Of course, when it comes to Israel and its propagandists you expect fawning reviews and coverage in the New York Times. But with this piece on Oren, the New York Times has reached a new low. I mean, the paper would never cover an American official with this uncritical, fawning coverage. Impossible. And look at this passage: "His book on the 1967 war drew on formerly classified documents from Israeli and Arab archives, and while it revealed blunders on both sides, scholars say it does not have a political bias. “I would not call his work ideological,” said Robert J. Lieber, a professor of government at Georgetown who recruited Mr. Oren. “He’s a fine scholar who lets the scholarship lead him.” First, the book does NOT draw on ANY Arab sources, unless you count his conversation with a Jordanian official as "classified documents". Second, to maintain that he has no bias, they need an outside view. So who did they choose? Robert Lieber. The man has no training in or on the Middle East, and has no knowledge of the Middle East, but he is one of many fanatic Zionists who write and comment on the Middle East because they feel strongly about their Israel. Thirdly, Oren's book on 1967 is one of the most biased books on the Middle East. Read it and judge for yourself. But I will tell you this: his first book was at least well-written, when his second book (Power, Faith, and Fantasy) was a mess and had nothing new whatsoever. I reviewed both books here on the site.