Opinion

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Editorial

Bowing To Arab Pressure

he depth of President
George W. Bush's commit-
ment to Israel has been a
source of profound disagreement
within the Jewish community.
There are those who argue that
he is among the best friends
Israel ever had in the presidency;
a firm supporter of Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon's policies
towards the Palestinians and a
stalwart ally in the fight against
Islamist terrorism. Others insist,
however, that he is more con-
cerned with maintaining good
will among the very nations that
foster such terror — especially
Saudi Arabia.
A recent flap over offers of
Israeli aid to victims of
Hurricane Katrina has made the
latter group more suspicious
than ever over the Bush adminis-
tration's ultimate goals in the
Middle East.
Israel was among the first
countries to offer relief, as it was
in the days after 9-11. According
to the Jerusalem Post, its delega-
tion was to be headed originally
by the chief medical officer of the
Israel Defense Forces, Brig. Gen.

T

Yeheskel Levy. One day after that
announcement was made, how-
ever, the delegation was down-
graded so that physicians from
the IDF were not included.
Moreover, Israel's offer of assis-
tance had been made one full
week before this official
announcement was issued; and it
came only after well-publicized
offers from various Arab states
were released.
According to sources quoted in
the article, the U.S. State
Department feared an early
announcement of Israeli aid
would make it less likely that
Arab nations would send assis-
tance. Instead, the administra-
tion told Israel that it preferred
its aid package come as "part of a
mission organized by the
American Jewish community."
This is more than a bit trou-
bling. Israel, by now, should be
used to rebuffs from the State
Department, which is heavily,
influenced by career Arabists in
its ranks. But it might have
expected better from its friends
in the White House. The sugges-
tion that its assistance should be

channeled through Jewish organ-
izations in America makes it
even worse. It is inconceivable
that another sovereign state
would have been told to do any-
thing like this.
Maintaining good relations
with strategic Arab states is an
understandable element of U.S.
foreign policy. But this sort of
petty gamesmanship is not the
sort of action befitting a great
power, especially when it is in
response to sincere offers of help
in a disaster.
If Arab esteem is so fragile
that it cannot support the
thought of IDF doctors working
amid a disaster in America, that
is a sad commentary. But not
nearly as sad as an American
policy that would condone such
an attitude and turn down help
for those who needed it.
It was to Israel's credit that it
was at the head of this line. It did
the right thing, even if others
chose to turn their heads and
pretend not to see. ❑

Dry Bones

Orl

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THE MURDER
IF WE HAD POSED
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WE NAZIS WERE.

THE WORLD
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EXCUSED OUR
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CIA

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www.drybonesproject.com

Reality Check

Blowing The Story

he New Orleans Times-
Picayune ran a remarkable
story late last month.
It assigned two of its top
reporters to investigate charges
that murder, rape and mayhem
had occurred at the Superdome
and Convention Center while
people sought refuge from
Hurricane Katrina.
These events were reported as
fact by nearly all national print
and broadcast media and
seemed to underline the near-
criminal incompetence of the
federal authorities who respond-
ed to the disaster.
But, apparently, they got it
wrong. The local reporters, who
presumably know their city bet-
ter than the national media stars
who parachuted in to cover the

T

JEN

October 13 • 2005

disaster, could substantiate none
of the horror stories.
The tales of horror turned out
to be almost entirely urban leg-
ends, based on a mixture of
racial stereotypes and an eager-
ness to paint the Bush adminis-
tration in the darkest hues.
Among the worst of the bunch
was Oprah Winfrey. I happened
to be watching her show the day
she broadcast her "report" on
events in New Orleans. She
should stick to interviewing
movie stars with addiction prob-
lems.
Winfrey repeated all these sto-
ries then went on a weepy-eyed
tour of the Superdome with the
city's mayor and police chief.
Afterwards, she faced the camera
and labeled these events a "bla-

tant disregard for
will be repeated as part
human life'
of the historical record.
I don't think she was
What actually did
blaming the mayor,
happen in New Orleans
with whom she had
was horrible enough.
just been making
The loss of life,
huggy-bear. Her con-
abandonment of help-
demnation was direct-
less nursing home
ed at the federal
patients, total failure to
George Cantor
authorities. The fact
mobilize
evacuation
Columnist
that these atrocities,
vehicles for the poor.
babies being raped and
But the Superdome
gang members run-
stories were just too
ning amok, never hap-
useful to ignore. In an
pened hasn't seemed to warrant
era of polarization, everything
a correction from her. Or from
gets politicized.
other members of the media who
The right could use the tales to
reported them.
preach about the thin veneer of
Twenty years from now, when
civilization, what happens when
stories are written about
the forces of restraint break
Katrina's blow through New
down and the need for guns to
Orleans, I am sure all those tales
protect one's self against such

barbarism.
The left could use them as
further proof of the Bush
administration's sinful
Indifference to the fate of
minorities and its selfish prior-
ities in setting policy.
Mistakes are always made in
the first hours of reporting a
story of this magnitude. That is
the nature of journalism. It is
an attempt to write history on
the run, an imperfect art form.
But ignoring the errors to
further an agenda is more than
a disservice. It is a lie.
Those who got it wrong owe
it to everyone to set the record
straight. ❑

George Cantor's e-mail address
is gcantor614@aol.com .

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