I have always found Gary Rosenblatt’s columns to be informative, well reasoned and sound. Unfortunately, his Dec. 10 column, “Why I Don’t Share Beinart’s Pessimism,” is a disappointment in that it leaves out the horrendous details of Israel’s occupation.
The pro-Israel American community and decades of Israeli propaganda have set very narrow parameters of what the American media can report on Israel.
Although Israeli newspapers report on the occupation in detail, the American media self-censors itself to avoid news that might upset our view of Israel.
In public, successive presidents and congresses have done the same.
Neve Gordon’s “Israel’s Occupation,” which appeared in 2008, provides a troubling history of the Israeli presence in Gaza and the West Bank since 1967. [Gordon teaches politics and government at Ben-Gurion University.]
The Israel of 2010 is radically different from the Israel founded on idealistic hopes in 1948. It pursues policies that are decidedly not in its own interest, those of the United States, and above all the interests of the American Jewish community.
New York, NY
