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Detroit Free Press
Distorts Israeli Dispatch
ARTHUR J. MAGIDA
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32
FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1989
ournalists are often ac-
cused of taking facts
out of context. This
either twists them into the
service of the writer or makes
' them so unrecognizable they
bear no resemblance to their
original shape. A recent case
in point is the Detroit Free
Press editing of a news story
it picked up from the wires of
the New York Times.
The story, which was writ-
ten by Times correspondent,
Joel Brinkley, was about an
Israeli court's indictment of
Rabbi Moshe Levinger for
allegedly killing a Palesti-
nian and wounding another
last fall. Rabbi Levinger is
the leader of the movement of
the Jewish settlers on the
West Bank.
As it appeared on the Times
front page, Brinkley's
dispatch included these
paragraphs:
The [Israeli] army gives
West Bank settlers firearms
that they are to use only in
self-defense; they are not per-
mitted to shoot at anyone
unless their lives are in im-
mediate danger.
"But Israeli soldiers who
patrol the territories have
routinely called the settlers
`cowboys' because of their pro-
pensity to shoot with the
slightest excuse. One night
last fall, a Jewish settler
opened fire on shadowy
figures approaching him in
the dark and ended up woun-
ding two Israeli soldiers."
The Detroit Free Press not
only trimmed Brinkley's
story from 21 paragraphs to a
meager five, it also collapsed
the above two paragraphs in-
to two terse sentences:
"The army gives West Bank
settlers firearms for self-
defense. But they often shoot
with the slightest excuse."
By deleting the caveats
with which firearms are
distributed to settlers and the
army's open disdain for these
Israelis, the Free Press subtly
made it appear that the Is-
raeli military condones the
settlers' use of these weapons.
In editorials, at least two
Israeli newspapers are en-
couraged that Yitzhak
Shamir's plan for elections
among Palestinians in the
West Bank and Gaza may of-
fer an opportunity to resolve
the Israeli-Palestinian
deadlock.
Editors at Yediot Ahronot
put Shamir's proposal in the
context of a recent New York
j
,
Times poll which indicated
that a majority of Israelis are
deeply suspicious of the Pales-
tine Liberation Organization.
By "expressing' viewpoints
supported by the majority of
Israelis," stated the
newspaper, "the United
States, a truly democratic
country, will not be able to be
heavy-handed with a public
emissary loyal to his consti-
tuents."
And Ha'aretz stated on its
editorial page that Shamir's
pledge to hold elections "is
likely to improve its situation
in the international arena,
and will weaken" pressure on
Israel to attend an interna-
tional conference to settle the
Palestinian issue. Noting that
PLO head Yassir Arafat has
rejected elections, the editors
cautioned that the PLO "will
have to carefully consider"
whether it is worthwhile to
continue insisting that Israel
depart from the territories
"and to endanger the con-
tinuation of the 'substantive
dialogue' with the United
States, which has committed
itself toward holding elec-
tions."
To show that Israel "sin-
cerely aspires to give a chance
to the launching of a political
process," the editors advised
that Israel continue to release
Palestinian prisoners in the
West Bank and Gaza.
Israeli Press
Backs Elections
In West Bank
In a three-page interview in
Time magazine, Israel's
former defense minister, Ariel
Sharon, asserted that Israel's
government has ineptly han-
dled the Palestinian intifada.
One of Israel's "major
mistakes," he said, is not
making "the same clear-cut
distinction" regarding those
active in the intifada as
Sharon had, when as military
commander he suppressed a
revolt in the Gaza strip in
1971. Then, he said Israel
distinguished "between the
terrorists acting against us or
supporters of terror and the
other people who did not par-
ticipate, even if they hated us.
The terrorists were
eliminated. All their sup-
porters were put in prison."
Reaction to the 16-month-
old Palestinian uprising by
the press, diplomats and
Israeli liberals have only en-
couraged its continuation,
said Sharon. All have given
the Palestinians the "wrong
impression that sooner or
•
.44
I
ago
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