The Seattle Times editorial page, which claims it doesn't have the wherewithal to endorse candidates in any of the Seattle state legislature races, somehow imagines it has unique capabilities to opine on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Yesterday's editorial grandly sneers at Israel's historic and bold plan to withdraw Jewish residents from the Gaza strip: "Sharon's lose-lose Mideast gamble" The editorial acknowledges correctly that
Beyond the zealots, public opinion polls find Sharon's calculated move is broadly popular in Israel.Nevertheless it concludes that
The false hope is that a meager ration of land will bring security, and peace with Palestinians.It's at best an insult to their readers intelligence for the Times editorial writers to assert that they understand Israel's security needs better than the Israelis who live, vote, work, pay taxes, ride buses and serve in the military in Israel.
Times readers who seek commentary on Israel would do better to ignore the Times ignorant and supercilious droolings and instead read the commentary of actual Israelis -- English-language Israeli newspapers (both left and right), some of the many Israeli bloggers, and Israeli academics.
The Times would do better to focus on local issues where it actually has a chance of adding value. That's not to say that all of the Times' editorials currently add much value, but some of them do and a sharper focus might help improve the editorial page's overall quality.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at October 30, 2004 04:55 PM | Email This