Ben White in his blindness

This is a guest post from Margie in Tel Aviv from the Olive Branch
When I am reminded that Ben White lived for some time in Brazil I remember for some reason that Mengele’s bones are buried there.  However he now has his own claims to antisemitic fame with his admission that he understands why people are antisemetic, with his young thugs’ primer: Apartheid: a beginner’s guide and his spirited defence of Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust denial. I suppose we could call him a reliable hack to call on when you have nothing to say but want it to be against the Jews anyway.
Ben White has to see Israel’s enemies positively no matter what the facts and this was clearly on display in his latest piece Fatah and Hamas set for surface unity. He is convinced that Hamas and Fatah will get together but nothing he advances lights the bulb of logic for us since we have all been there and done that before. He counts Egypt’s pressure (not Jews, get it?) as a positive force but a glance at local newspapers will show how ardently Egypt courts Hamas’  good opinion: the answer is, not at all

Gaza – Ma’an – Dozens of Gazan students on Saturday appealed to the Egyptian government to open the Rafah crossing so they could attend their universities in Egypt.

Several students told Ma’an that the school year had already begun at Egyptian universities, and added that they appealed to the Egyptian government to open its crossing so they could join their classes already in progress.

Abbas has preferred to cooperate with the US rather than press for the Goldstone report to be forwarded to the UN General Assembly. This White ignores since it shows Abbas in the wrong light.
White blinded by his own need to idealise those who oppose the Israelis is forced to see that

the issues of substance that until now have divided the two parties, [are] elections, security forces, detainees, and a way of overseeing the implementation of the deal

instead of the hatred and the violence that underlie their every contact. It takes a strong stomach to read the Amnesty report that covers human rights abuses perpetrated by Hamas forces and militias against its political opponents and you cannot blame Ben White from shying from these issues, unless you actually have a need to face the truth.
He ignores past history and does not admit, as he should, that the many ceasefires and agreements between Fatah and Hamas have splintered often within hours, and completely without reference to Israel, just because they find it impossible to agree.
At least this time Ben White wasn’t able to make much impact with his limp article registering just 33 comments in part because the CifEditor was all in a tizz.

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