Monday, June 23, 2008

Educating the NYT Readers

Ethan Bronner of the NYT seems to be stationed in Israel again. I don't always follow these things, but I remember that he was here* some years ago and then he wasn't, but it looks like he's back. Anyway, he's got this piece on how Israelis don't think that the present calm with Hamas will lead to Peace in Our Time. The part that caught my eye was this one:

Sasson Sara, a 57-year-old grocery store owner in Sderot, the town in southern Israel that should be happiest that the Hamas rockets have been stopped, seemed to confirm this contempt for the leadership when the truce with Hamas was announced. “To me, this is an agreement of surrender, like Chamberlain,” he said, referring to British appeasement of Hitler in the 1930s.

Interesting, huh? Sasson Sara, a 57-year-old grocery store owner in Sderot is probably not an intellectual, I'll bet he doesn't have a Masters degree from anywhere not even Cambridge, and I'm reasonably certain he doesn't spend his spare time reading the NYT or the Guardian or even Haaretz on the Web. But he's got his Chamberlain down pat. Bronner's not certain the readers of the NYT do, however, so he helpfully explains the allusion.


* "here" on this blog generally relates to Israel, where Bronner now is. Me, I'm not "here" at the moment, I'm there, in faraway Australia. Tho in reality, it's not far away at all, it's right here. I can see it out of the window.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

FROM CAROL HERMAN

"Calm is good." YOu don't need the NY Times to look through their glasses to see what's up. And, what's not.

Heck, even in Irak, these are looking better and better. Doesn't mean that you're gonna see great things from the arabs. I wouldn't go and buy tickets to a tourist attraction over there, yet.

And, you've still got the Olmert soap opera playing out. Now that Ehud Barak just called Olmert "chicken." Because, "yes he can vote for new elections, right away. Or not."

Lots of stuff from the pundits come out half baked. Maybe, that's why the Internet remains a place to go. And, even better, when you can throw in two-cents worth of comments.

If you notice, some screwy headline writer said "Israel's secret exercise" with Greece is out in the open. But the iranians don't care.

Why should they care?

And, what was so secret, anyway, with 100 jets flying in the air; Refueling occuring in the air. And, those helecopters, going in and out and practicing "rescues." It's probably (IF ANYTHING HAPPENS, OF COURSE), going to be multi-staged. With missiles flying out of the ocean, first. And, then?

Geez. I think journalists did terrible in geography. SO they don't even know what sits in front of Iran. (Irak. Where, "guess who" owns the air space.) It's not as if Ahma-dama-ding-dong can "wipe Israel off the map with spit."

And, the exercise? Which didn't sound like a secret; is what the Israelis have to measure "afta" ... The consequences of when Nasrallah and gazoo begin lobbing missiles, again. And, then?

Well, IF there's gonna be a battle, it's not quite like Israel wanting to go in to occupy all the marijuana farms, ya know? It's gotta be disruptive on a pretty grand scale.

And, after that? WHen all the smoke clears. And, the yelling begins, again? How much is a screaming UN character worth?

While Sarkozy is sure making nice to Israel. And, visiting.

Only the journalists, and the crazy Likud, manage to miss what Olmert's accomplishing.

While the soap opera continues.

As to the NY Times, their readership is so way off they're dying by quarters.

Not that I care.

And, living in Sderot is Amir Peretz. Can the Labor Party really get along without him?

How come Ehud Barak remains unpopular? He needs votes to survive. And, don't let him fool ya. Olmert's in charge of Kadima. And, all the numbers you hear about lost seats? Wait till people vote.

You think there'll be new elections in 2009? How so? Olmert's a very skilled politician. His "lease runs out in 2010. And, what if by then instead of Bush, you're dealing with McCain (most likely). Or Obama. Where I weigh in as "less likely."

Time will tell. Until then? All of us only guess. And, journalists, who spent too much ink of non-events, like Jenin, hardly have what it takes to guess the future on a scale that matters.

Oh, the other thing. The NY Times became a skinny newspaper. Skinny. Good for people who want modelling careers. Not so good when you need advertising dollars to stay alive.

HA! You think Obama's gonna make the NY Times more readable ahead?

Why? Cause I don't think so. I think the NY Times is no longer in its element.

While the "other benefit" to those living in gazoo? They're getting in shipments that got held up because they opted to terrorize Sderot. So? Well, instead of "bang for their buck, they got to live with raw sewage." I'm telling you, it's not yet a tourist trap, over there.

Stinkers can't even make beachfront property work. And, Beirut's not paris, either!

amicus said...

Ethan Bronner also revealed the assinations by HAMAS in Shifa hospital.

I think the NTY reporting has been way above that of the English press.

I would like your/reader opinion of the in depth interview he gave on Fresh Air to d-y (Tuesday, Jan.27) on National Public Radio. I thought it was pretty even-handed.

Thanks for your commentary