Spot on Editorial intended to promote common sense and intelligent thought:
Don’t call the Israeli-Palestinian dispute the ‘Middle East conflict’
I heard a TV news anchor say over the weekend that when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes to Washington this week he will discuss a path to resolving the “Middle East Conflict” with the new American president.
That reminded me: I recently received a review copy of “The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict.” It looked like a fine book, but that subtitle vexed me. I literally pulled it out of the envelope as the news on TV described some horrible slaughter in Syria. But the Syrian Civil War isn’t called the “Middle East conflict.”
The term has always been a misnomer, making it sound like were it not for*the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, the Middle East would be all peace and harmony. The Economist once ran “A Chronology of the Middle East Conflict” that was all about Israel and Palestine. It began in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration and ended with the election — apparently for life — of Mahmoud Abbas to the presidency of the Palestinian Authority in 2005.*During that time there were dozens of conflicts in the region — cross-border wars, civil wars, rebellions, revolutions, massacres, etc. — that had nothing to do with Israel.
The rest of the story:
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-goldberg-bibi-visit-mid-east-conflict-20170214-story.html
Don’t call the Israeli-Palestinian dispute the ‘Middle East conflict’
I heard a TV news anchor say over the weekend that when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes to Washington this week he will discuss a path to resolving the “Middle East Conflict” with the new American president.
That reminded me: I recently received a review copy of “The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict.” It looked like a fine book, but that subtitle vexed me. I literally pulled it out of the envelope as the news on TV described some horrible slaughter in Syria. But the Syrian Civil War isn’t called the “Middle East conflict.”
The term has always been a misnomer, making it sound like were it not for*the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, the Middle East would be all peace and harmony. The Economist once ran “A Chronology of the Middle East Conflict” that was all about Israel and Palestine. It began in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration and ended with the election — apparently for life — of Mahmoud Abbas to the presidency of the Palestinian Authority in 2005.*During that time there were dozens of conflicts in the region — cross-border wars, civil wars, rebellions, revolutions, massacres, etc. — that had nothing to do with Israel.
The rest of the story:
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-goldberg-bibi-visit-mid-east-conflict-20170214-story.html
