A Dec. 12 CiF commentary, in praise of Turkish political ascendancy in the Middle East, “Can Turkey show Arab states the way?”, by Marco Vicenzino is a curious piece of writing. Its less than subtle praise of the Turkish Prime Minister contains some passages which read as if they were written by the Turkish foreign office or Mr. Erdogan’s official biographer. The first paragraph sets the tone:
Although Palestinian survival has been largely sustained by Arab countries, it is the Turkish government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan that has emerged as the Palestinians’ most resolute spokesman. By backing its rhetoric with diplomatic muscle, Turkey most recently influenced Brazil and Argentina to recognise an independent Palestine. Other Latin American countries will soon follow. In addition, Turkey is actively harnessing international support to end the Israeli blockade of Gaza
Of course the assertion that Palestinian survival has been sustained by Arab countries is patently absurd to anyone willing to peek beneath the surface of Arab leaders’ platitudes – uttered repeatedly, as if by rote – about the “rights” of Palestinians.
Indeed, the culture of Palestinian victimhood, as well as their continued statelessness, are dynamics which are cynically maintained by the Arab world to use as a moral bludgeon in their continuing war to delegitimize Israel, and as a way to divert attention away from their own continuing political, social, and economic failures.
This is a theme advanced by a the following commenter:
And, then:
The commenter doesn’t engage in an ad hominem attack against the writer or fellow commenters; there’s nothing that’s racist or inflammatory; it’s certainly not off-topic. It’s merely a rebuttal of one out of many highly dubious claims made by the author.
“Why was this deleted” is a staple at CiF Watch as such posts serve as concrete illustrations of CiF moderator bias. While the fairness, or lack thereof, of at least some moderator decisions are admittedly open for debate, the decision to delete this comment by DrDelaney is just baffling.