Wednesday, May 05, 2010

BAD ANALYSIS

This opinion piece by Fairfax Middle East correspondent Jason Koutsoukis appears in today's Melbourne Age under the heading "Analysis" - Israel, Palestinians set for new talks but gap is a gulf.

A cursory read of this piece will tell you that it is not analysis but rather, the journalist's view and a jaundiced one at that.

Despite the fact that the Palestinians are not prepared to meet the Israelis face to face in peace talks unless the the Jewish State rolls over on what have always been final status issues, Koutsoukis ignores all else (including well documented official Palestinian incitement against Jews and Abbas' refusal to recognise Israel as a Jewish State while demanding a Palestinian State of his own minus any Jews) and concludes that because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set out a position on certain issues these are supposedly "preconditions" (which they are not) and Netanyahu is therefore the unreasonable party.

No mention is made of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' "preconditions" to peace talks, his inability to get Hamas to the peace table (or to even stop talking about destroying Israel and killing Jews) or his party's celebration of a Palestinian mass murderer and other examples of incitement, details of which usually never see the light of day in this newspaper.

Shameful journalism at its very worst.

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