The Shi'itle Post-Intelligencer has apparently added a new member to its "editorial board" -- D. Parvaz (Her name is in the ed. board roster in the print edition, not on the online). Parvaz debuted this month with this Saturday Snark Attack:
It looks like the Israeli government is going back on its agreement to pull out of the Gaza Strip. Its Housing Ministry announced that it will build 72 new housing units in the Betar Illit area there. They say that these units were planned before the recent promise to reduce the number of settlements in the region. How convenient -- and totally reckless. Each of these units is like a bomb dropped on the roadmap to peace at this sensitive and promising time in Israeli-Palestinian relations.Sorry, D., but Betar Illit is not in Gaza, but in the West Bank only a few miles from Jerusalem; the Israeli government is moving full steam ahead with the Gaza pull out, despite fierce domestic resistance and the only actual bombs against peace are being dropped by Hamas.
Somehow, I don't think that the P-I's editorial board will be improved with the addition of yet another ignorant apologist for Palestinian terrorism. D. should stick with cooking.
UPDATE: Charles Johnson once fisked an article that Parvaz wrote that was sympathetic to an anti-Semitic Muslim rap group.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 18, 2005 11:07 AM | Email ThisIf the West Bank and Gaza are so important to the Palestinians why did Jordan and Eygpt fail to establish a Palestinian State when they controlled those areas prior to 1967 & 1972?
Posted by: JCM on August 18, 2005 11:52 AMYou're such a stickler for details. Next you'll be telling Seattle that the tooth fairy doesn't exist.
It's not the facts that matter. It's feelings that matter. Parvaz FEELS like these settlements are in Garza. So, there.
Posted by: BananaLand (aka Iguana) on August 18, 2005 11:56 AMI am inclined to think the Arab states are playing the Palestinians for chumps. They'll use them as proxies to hammer the Israelis, but since essentially all the Arab states surrounding Israel have had their butts handed to them by the Israeli Army at one time or another, they aren't anxious to clash with them directly. Better to have your puppets do it.
Posted by: Interested Observer on August 18, 2005 12:11 PMOn the subject of territorial concessions to the Palestinians; they will continue to dispute territory that includes Gaza, The West Bank and all of Israel. These concessions are just moving the eventual battle lines closer to Israel.
Build the wall high, they want it all.
Last week's Snark on Israel's plan to build 72 new units in the Betar Illit left a few readers confused, so let me clarify the geography: While Betar Illit is on the outskirts of Jerusalem, in the West Bank, and the government is pulling out settlements in the Gaza Strip, we referred to both units of land as "the region" because they are seen as one unified territory. So Israel is scaling back on one end and building on the other. And I still think that it stinks that they're building any new units when they should be focusing on maintaining the fragile semi-truce.
Unfortunately for Ms. Parvaz's attempt to revise history (or her story), she did not use the phrase "the region" until after she referred to the nonexistent promise to pull out of the Gaza Strip. While Ms. Parvaz may believe that the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are synonymous, clearly the Israelis do not.
Agreeing with the military that the West Bank and Gaza constituted one unified Occupied Territory meant that the transfer order was an order for movement within the Territory, rather than out of one Occupied Territory and into another Occupied Territory."
That thing he's quoting? It's clause 11 of the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Hope that helps.
As for the rest of the comments, well, it's always good to hear from valued readers.
D.
PS: Sorry Shark, but I'm thinking of abandoning cooking entirely in favor of commenting on Middle East policy. Full time.
As for the rest of the comments, well, it's always good to hear from valued readers.
By valued readers, D must be referring to those readers who actually pay to read the P-I. And the number of that sort of reader dwindles daily.
Posted by: Huckleberry on August 18, 2005 01:37 PMThat you can cite references that support your contention that the West Bank and the Gaza strip are considered one and the same in a certain context... big deal. Sharon's recent order did not require the removal of all settlers from all of the disputed territories - and you know it.
The fact that Israel still occupies the West Bank is not the same as saying the "Israeli government is going back on its agreement to pull out of the Gaza Strip." Your original "snark" was sloppy and there's no way to fix that now.
Snark 0, Shark 1
Posted by: Regret on August 18, 2005 01:52 PM"It looks like the Israeli government is going back on its agreement to pull out of the Gaza Strip."
The government is going ahead with the pull out! Your arguement that the buildings are in the same territory doesn't matter. Since the buildings are no where near the evacuation area the two events don't CORRELATE! Making your final dramatic statement about dropping bombs on peace completely ridiculous.
Posted by: Joe on August 18, 2005 02:26 PMSecond, as others have pointed out, the issue we have with your original "snark" are the first two sentences. You say that the "Israeli government is going back on its agreement to pull out of the Gaza Strip. Its Housing Ministry announced that it will build 72 new housing units in the Betar Illit area there. "
Structurally, the first sentence is an opinion and the second sentence is intended to support that opinion. The problem that Stefan pointed out is that your fact doesn't support your opinion. This is indisputable.
Your follow up "snark" essentially tries to argue that you were "close enough." That's why we're poking fun at you. If you are aware that the Betar Illit housing is being built outside of the Gaza Strip, it's certainly not something you should expect all of your readers to know; and further, since the whole point of your first "snark" was that Israel was "going back on [an] agreement," the distinction between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are important - close isn't good enough.
Posted by: Regret on August 18, 2005 02:44 PMKind of sucks when your called out by Stephan and then further humiliated by many of the posters on this site. It's tough to face people that are intellegent and well informed, (and believe me, I'm out of my element among these bright folks) instead of the koolaid drinking Seattle liberals that will rally behind any PI writer (hack) that hates America and Israel.
Posted by: Jeffro on August 18, 2005 03:50 PMWhy are the housing units "bomb dropped on the roadmap to peace " when the Palestinians have walked away from statehood 5 times?
Posted by: JCM on August 18, 2005 03:53 PMAs far as your comments on Israel Stefan,
Amen.
The message to the terrorists has been: Terror Works, keep it up.
And what makes anyone think that the terrorists, who have all made life long careers in the business of terror will give it up now, or that they won't continue in their fanatical quest to rid the world of all Jews and Infidel Americans.
Give them an inch, and they'll take a mile.
Posted by: Jeff B. on August 18, 2005 04:31 PMMy understanding is that there was no agreement - which is a deal between two parties. There was only a unilateral declaration on the part of the Israeli government.
Posted by: Dave B on August 18, 2005 04:39 PMThe media is covering the outrageous forced eviction of the Israeli Settlers....while at the same time, showing the Palestinian terrorists dancing in the streets! With their RPG's and faces masked...pretty much as they did as our towers fell in New York on 911!
Palestine is not a country, race or culture...the people are muts and misfits - rejected by surrounding arab states. They don't want the Gaza Strip - they want ALL of Israel! And - they will tell you this very plainly..
Bombs are their only means of diplomacy...that's why our darling poster *D* made the comment of Bombs on the Road Map.....that's all these people are taught from childhood.
I don't care to be politically correct about Palestinian terror or culture - they are one in the same. I am not a Jew, but I stand with them against what's happening over in Israel!
For the PI to give these terrorists a voice is just what I'd expect from a failing media company...
Posted by: Deborah on August 18, 2005 05:02 PM“Dorothy Parvaz and Ruth Schubert, both P-I reporters, warned that economic conditions at the newspaper already were driving good employees away.”
D, I think you’ve proved your point, and ours.
I appreciate your take on the Sharon/Bush strategy - but the trauma inflicted on the Israeli's (Settlers and others)- along with this sense of victory given to the PA terrorists seems like an extreme measure for something as simple as a set-up.
The media - CNN and MSNBC - were quick to refer to the Israeli Settlers as *Extremists* and *Insurgents*!! As though they were cut from the same cloth as those in Iraq - beheading innocent civilians!!
The Palestinians don't care that these people have had to give up their homes and communities for them! The PA terror organizations such as Hammas - usually reward Israeli concessions with a string of suicide bombings to show their appreciation! I'm sure they will be *rewarding* Israel big time for this *gift*!....
They are a sick group. I hope you are correct about the exodus of the settlers being for the sake of their safety in the *likely* event that the Palestinians do not keep their word...
What is happening over there is just wrong.
Posted by: Deborah on August 18, 2005 09:42 PMThe Zinni mission and Palestinian reaction got little to no coverage in the MSM.
I would love for D. to explain the Palestinian respone to the Zinni proposal.
Posted by: JCM on August 19, 2005 10:10 AM"What we are seeing this week in the withdrawal from Gaza of 8,000 Israeli citizens is as noble an act on behalf of peace as has been recorded in modern history. No peace demonstration on record has involved so much personal sacrifice. Nor has any peace demonstration involved so much trust." from a Spectator article .
via Will Franklin (http://www.willisms.com/)
Posted by: Regret on August 19, 2005 05:33 PM