Mysterious decision at Time magazine changed focus of issue from Palestinians to Israel

According to unconfirmed reports, this was an early draft of Time Magazine’s now infamous cover for September 13, 2010 issue.

Originally the issue was supposed to focus on:

Abbas telling Jackson Diehl:

Instead, he says, he will remain passive. “I will wait for Hamas to accept international commitments. I will wait for Israel to freeze settlements,” he said. “Until then, in the West Bank we have a good reality . . . the people are living a normal life.” In the Obama administration, so far, it’s easy being Palestinian.

The sway extremists hold over Fatah:

And in addition, while Dahlan and Rajoub are presented as young, fresh faces–and they are by no means radical in the context of Palestinian politics, you could even call them pragmatists in that framework, we are talking here about militia leaders, not civic reformers. Dahlan, for example, said just before the congress that Fatah had never recognized Israel and would never ask Hamas to do so either.
There are five real extremists: Muhammad Ghaneim, Salim al-Zanoun, Abbas Zaki, Sultan Abu al-Aynain, and Nasser Kidra. Zanoun is the former head of the Palestine National Council who rejected changing the Charter to accept Israel’s existence; Zaki is an old-style Arab nationalist. Kidra is seen as representing the legacy of his uncle Yasir Arafat. Aynain is a traditional PLO type.

A new Fatah charter that doesn’t liberalize the organization in any way:

And yet offered an opportunity to become a parliamentary political party, a movement clearly dedicated to peaceful politicking and a diplomatic solution, despite massive Western financial subsidies and frequent expressions of support for a Palestinian state from President Barack Obama, Fatah has chosen to remain a revolutionary organization. Indeed, there is no word more used in this charter than “revolutionary.”
“Let us train ourselves to be patient and to face ordeals, bear calamities, sacrifice our souls, blood, time and effort,” says the charter. “All these are the weapons of revolutionaries.
“You must know that determination, patience, secrecy, confidentiality, adherence to the principles and goals of the revolution, keep us from stumbling and shorten the path to liberation.
“Go forward to revolution. Long live Palestine, free and Arab!”

The continued incitement of the Palestinian Authority against Israel:

Speaking about Jerusalem, and with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in the audience, PA Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash in his Friday sermon threatened that “Jerusalem can ignite a thousand and one wars” and that unless Jerusalem “returns” to the Palestinians, “its owners,” and unless it becomes the capital of the Palestinian people, “there is no peace.”

And the continued glorification of terrorists.

Those were the words of the Palestinian Authority’s Minister for Prisoners’ Affairs, Issa Karake, when he honored a Palestinian woman by awarding her “the Shield of Resoluteness and Giving.”
The Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs, Karake, honors mother of 4 terrorists with PA Shield. [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 28, 2010]
She received this honor because she is the mother of four sons who are serving a total of 18 life sentences in Israeli prisons. They all killed Israeli civilians in terror attacks.

According to these unconfirmed reports, no reason was give for the editorial decision to change the focus on why Palestinians don’t want peace to why Israel doesn’t want peace.

UPDATE: I cajoled Elder of Ziyon into doing a better mockup of the imaginary Time cover. As you can see above, he did a much better job. If you like the image feel free to republish with a credit to Elder of Ziyon for his excellent work.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.