Israel/Palestine

New York Times's Ethan Bronner Dead Wrong on 'Failure' of Netanyahu's
May 26th, 2011 12:36 PM
New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner inaccurately portrayed on Thursday how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was greeted on his return to Israel after a lively visit to America, which included a tense meeting with President Obama and a triumphant speech to Congress. Examining the trip solely from the angle of Netanyahu's refusal to offer territorty concessions in the…

NY Mag Hits 'Xenophobic' Rand Paul for 'Protesting' Netanyahu Speech
May 25th, 2011 3:02 PM
New York Magazine apparently believes that opposing foreign aid is literally xenophobic - rooted in irrational fear of foreigners - and is willing to engage in some pretty sketchy journalistic practices to make its case. Those are a pair of lessons Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., learned on Tuesday.
Mideast Communications Chaos
May 25th, 2011 12:47 PM
The president's speech last week, which was described by the White House in advance as a speech intended to reach out to the Muslim world, will probably go down as one of the least well-understood major presidential speeches in modern memory. Confusion concerning the president's words and intent cut across the lines of Jews, Christians and Muslims, Democrats and Republicans, neocons and…

CBS Concerned ‘Palestinians Were Not Impressed’ by Netanyahu’s A
May 24th, 2011 11:27 PM
Plugging an upcoming story on Tuesday’s CBS Evening News, anchor Russ Mitchell highlighted that “Congress gives Israel's Prime Minister dozens of standing ovations but,” Mitchell warned as if it were just as relevant or surprising, “the Palestinians are not buying his peace plan.” The Palestinians haven’t yet bought into the right for Israel to even exist.
Setting up the subsequent report,…
Video and Transcript of Netanyahu's Speech to Congress
May 24th, 2011 6:53 PM
Video and full transcript follow:

Media Throw a Fit Over 'Rude' Netanyahu 'Lecturing' Obama
May 24th, 2011 3:48 PM
For many in the media Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's reaction to Barack Obama insistence that his country return to the 1967 borders was out of bounds. ABC's Christiane Amanpour declared she was "stunned" by his "public lecture" of the President and NBC's Andrea Mitchell hissed, "it was really rude," and charged he treated Obama "like a school boy." Mitchell didn't reserve her criticism to…
Open Thread: Netanyahu and Obama
May 24th, 2011 9:45 AM
After an address to AIPAC supporters yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress today to discuss the importance of continued support to Israel in attempts to create peace between Israel and Palestine. His speech at AIPAC yesterday may be something of a preview of his address to Congress today. Check out the video below the break.
Obama's Betrayal of Israel
May 24th, 2011 7:00 AM
With friends like President Obama, who needs enemies? If you're Israel, you already have quite enough of those.
On May 14, 2011, the State of Israel observed the 63rd anniversary of its independence. But if the proposals made by President Obama in his State Department speech are implemented, that observance could be its last.

NBC's Mitchell Admonishes 'Really Rude' Netanyahu Treating Obama 'Like
May 23rd, 2011 4:35 PM
At the end of Sunday's Meet the Press, NBC chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell scolded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for daring to criticize President Obama's call for Israel to return to 1967 borders: "...he criticized the President, and in such a fashion! He lectured him in the Oval Office....basically treating him like a school boy."
Mitchell went on to declare…

NY Times Reporter: Shame How Netanyahu and Conservatives Ignored Obama
May 23rd, 2011 1:16 PM
Saturday’s lead from New York Times reporter Steven Lee Myers did its best to paint Israel’s conservative, pro-security prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as being disingenuous and stubborn in the face of President Obama’s reasonable offer for Israel to give up land to the Palestinians: "Israeli Leader Rebuffs Obama On ‘67 Borders – Both Denounce Hamas – Meeting at White House Underscores…

Andrew Sullivan: 'Israelis Got U.S. Media to Spin Obama's Middle East
May 22nd, 2011 11:40 PM
You've heard the paranoid, anti-Semitic claim that Jews control the press in this country?
Well, the Daily Beast's Andrew Sullivan believes the Israelis got United States media representatives to spin President Obama's Middle East speech as an attack on the Jewish state:

Surprise! Fareed Zakaria Thinks Obama's Middle East Speech 'Fair' and
May 22nd, 2011 8:18 PM
Fareed Zakaria said Sunday the speech President Obama gave last week about conditions in the Middle East was "fair" and "balanced."
As the host of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" might have advised the current White House resident on its contents, this came as no surprise (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Mort Zuckerman: For First Time Since Their State's Founding Israelis F
May 22nd, 2011 6:18 PM
Contrary to what NBC's David Gregory said Friday, U.S. News & World Report editor Mort Zuckerman believes that in the wake of President Obama's Mideast speech, "The Israelis do not feel they have the Americans at their back for the first time since the founding of the state of Israel."
Such was said during a heated debate about the subject on PBS's "McLaughlin Group" (video follows with…
WaPo’s Greenberg Ignores Role of Arab Countries in Creating Arab Ref
May 22nd, 2011 5:00 AM
In the Washington Post article, "Israeli Troops Fire at Palestinian Protestors on Borders, Killing at Least 12, " writer Joel Greenberg recount the creation of thousands of Palestinian refugees around the time of Israel’s founding in 1948 without noting that Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq all declared war on the Jewish state, sending thousands of Palestinians from their homes.…