Not that long ago, New York Times Jerusalem Bureau Chief Jodi Rudoren stepped up to corroborate Editorial Page Editor Andrew Rosenthal’s denial of claims that he is anti-Israel:
Yesterday, an unsigned New York Times editorial titled “Mr. Netanyahu’s Holocaust Blunder” began,
The claim by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel that a Palestinian persuaded Adolf Hitler to exterminate the Jews of Europe is outrageous.
Outrageous. Funny, I don’t recall a similar Editorial Board condemnation of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s statement, five weeks ago, that
Every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem is pure, every shahid will reach paradise, and every injured person will be rewarded by God.
In fact, the first reference that I found to those comments in the Times was almost a month after they were made, in the 19th paragraph of an AP article reprinted in the “news” section.
Yesterday’s editorial condemning Netanyahu continued by adopting the incorrect assumption that the current violence is caused by the “occupation,” and not by Abbas’s incitement, and certainly not by “longstanding hatred of the Jews.” The Editorial Board then goes on to criticize Netanyahu for trying to “drive home the idea that the current wave of violence has been incited by Palestinian leaders.” I suppose it is difficult for these arbiters of truth to understand the connection between Abbas’s comments and the violence, when they are trying so hard to pretend that those comments were never made.
This comes, of course, after many editorials over the years calling for the end of Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, including, most infamously, one by Qaddafi, as well as the Board’s somewhat fluid definition of “truth.”
Yet, the editorial page editor of the New York Times does not understand why he is criticized for being anti-Israel.
