Ha’aretz makes up the news

Posted on 09/18/2005 by Meryl Yourish

This article in Ha’aretz, titled “U.S. voices disapproval of PM’s warnings on Hamas,” has absolutely no accreditation to the lead paragraph:

The United States announced Saturday that it disapproves of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s statement that Israel will not allow Palestinian elections to take place in the West Bank if Hamas participates in them.

If anyone can find a cite for this, I’d appreciate it. Because right now, it’s an utterly misleading headline. The article is about Sharon insisting that Israel will not help Hamas get elected.

Watch for the world to say, “How dare you stop the election of an organization that wants to destroy you?”

The palestinians already are:

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said any Israeli interference would only hurt Abbas and strengthen Hamas.

“I urge the Israelis to stay out of our elections and our internal affairs, and not to put their noses in this,” Erekat said. “Our election … will be a turning point toward political pluralism and toward maintaining law and order.”

Mohammed Ghazal, a Hamas leader in the West Bank, accused Israel of acting in an undemocratic fashion.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Undemocratic. Not like, say, rousting out “collaborators” and executing them in the streets, right?

Uh-huh.

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4 Responses to Ha’aretz makes up the news

  1. Rajan Rishyakaran says:
    09/19/2005 at 7:58 am

    Funny how Israel is making an issue with Hamas. What? Fatah isn’t running in the election? Doesn’t the PLO charter still calls for the destruction of Israel? In fact, what major “party” isn’t for the destruction of Israel?

    I guess it is ingrained in palestinian political culture, “Social Security reform, better unemployment benefits, lower taxes and, oh, DEATH TO ISRAEL!”

  2. Joel says:
    09/19/2005 at 3:30 pm

    I never believe anything written in Ha’artez aka El Ard (THe Land).

  3. LynnB says:
    09/20/2005 at 10:06 am

    I think this article backs up Meryl’s contention about “U.S. disapproval.”

    Sharon’s vow, which he has privately repeated to President Bush and other world leaders attending the U.N. General Assembly this week, appears to conflict with the U.S. position that the Palestinian Authority should decide who can participate in its elections. But U.S. officials declined to comment specifically on Sharon’s remarks.

  4. Omri says:
    09/20/2005 at 7:45 pm

    Never underestimate the irrationality of the US when it comes to the Israeli-Arab situation:

    Frederick Jones, spokesman for the National Security Council, emphasized the US view that Hamas is a terror organization, but made clear that it is only up to the Palestinian Authority to decide who will take part in the elections.
    “The decision as to who can participate in the elections is obviously up to the Palestinian Authority”, said Jones, but he added that “we do not believe that a democratic state can be built when parties or candidates seek power not through ballot boxes but through terrorist activity as well”. The official US view, as expressed many times before Sharon’s statement, is that Hamas must disarm before entering the political system. Yet the US has never endorsed a policy of interrupting the election process if Hamas takes part in it.

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