Another foolish Baltimore Sun editorial
Baltimore Sun editorials on Arab-Israeli matters tend to be superficial, illogical and therefore foolish. The latest, “Louder than words,” in the February 27 edition, is no exception. It:
* Decries Israel’s recent counter-terrorism raid in Nablus, but fails to mention that the action uncovered three bomb-making laboratories, resulted in the arrest of five suspected Islamic Jihad terrorists, that in 2006 most attempted suicide bombings originated in the Nablus area, or that just a few days before the raid Israeli authorities disrupted an Islamic Jihad plot to bomb a shopping center in Tel Aviv. The Sun offers no substitute strategy for Israeli self-defense.
* Acknowledges that diplomacy can’t progress unless the Palestinian Authority’s Hamas-led government “recognizes Israel and renounces terrorism — its leaders have done neither,” yet laments Washington’s “uncompromising stand ….” So the United States should compromise, even though Hamas does not?
* Complains — this is Sun editorialists on autopilot — of “the Bush administration’s apparent lack of interest in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian crisis” and says “actions speak louder than words.” But this latest visit just added to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s lengthy Arab-Israeli frequent flyer log. The Sun, acknowledging Hamas’ obstructions, nevertheless insists on blaming President Bush and Rice for the absence of a “two-state solution.” And,
* Repeats conventional news media wisdom that “loss of millions in international aid” “has devastated the [Palestinian] economy.” But, as a CAMERA study has shown, international subsidies have risen, not declined. A bloated public sector, inefficiency, corruption, crime and internecine fighting, not a redirection of aid from the Hamas government to non-governmental agencies, has hurt the Palestinian economy.
“Louder than words” is a jumble of contradictory observations. It provides nothing remotely resembling an analysis. It leads to no useful insight or recommendation. Like most Sun Arab-Israeli editorials, it wastes the paper’s space and readers’ time.
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