Article is hypocritical

Tuesday’s article, “Editor: U.S. media favors Israel,” which aimed to present faulty media coverage, was hypocritical. This hypocrisy not only stems from the fact that the article presented skewed facts (8 Israeli soldiers, not 3), but also from the presentation of what I believed was a very balanced and intellectually stimulating lecture given by Rami Khouri.

Khouri never meant to release Hezbollah from blame in the war; he simply wanted to show that both sides should be held equally accountable for the war crimes they committed. Furthermore, his discussion of Hezbollah as more than just a terrorist organization did not simply point to the social services they provide, but to the political significance of a group that was able to withstand war with Israel longer than any other in the region. His aim was not to show that unbalanced media coverage has led to the situation as it is now, but that it has not shown the implications of what he believes really happened.

The central message of Khouri’s discussion of the war was that its implications cannot be ignored and that there is an urgent need for political resolution. His claim was that all actors in the region have equal rights and responsibilities. This article, published on the front page of The Daily, is a demonstration of how journalism used for personal political aims simply prolongs and feeds the cycle of anger and blame that has made the situation seem as hopeless as it does.

Shira Chaia Beery

Sophomore

Response to Hezbollah

In today’s Letters to the Editor, Asya Karchemskiy (“A closer look at Hezbollah”) utilizes the Israeli apologists’ most famous and widespread tool of propaganda: fabricating history. She states that in “1974, Hezbollah terrorists infiltrated an Israeli town of Kiryat Shmonah and killed 16 civilians, mainly women and children. The following month, they attacked a school in Maalot and killed 20 teenagers in cold blood...” An interesting point worth considering is that Hezbollah was formed in 1985, 11 years after this alleged event took place. Once again, an Israeli apologist manipulates history in order to justify Israeli aggression.

Very few critics of Israel defend the actions of Hezbollah and support the targeting of innocent Israeli civilians. Yet apologists for Israel, like Karchemskiy, consistently make excuses for Israeli aggression and atrocities, and lay all the blame on others. If peace and justice is what we really want in the Middle East, not Israeli domination and subjugation of the Palestinians, then we must all be willing to admit that both parties have committed and continue to commit grave errors and terrible atrocities. Only if we recognize the humanity of both parties can we even begin to talk about how to achieve peace. Until then, reducing entire cities to rubble and leaving over 100,000 cluster bombs scattered throughout civilian lands will be justified in the name of “self-defense.”

Zaid Adhami

Freshman