Sueddeutsche Zeitung and other German dailies today - August 3rd, 2006 - reprint a dpa story on the war in Lebanon ("The unsuccessful war"). (dpa is Germany's number one press agency.)
The basic message of the story: Olmert is losing the support of the media - "reputable experts" contradict Olmert's optimistic outlook for the war - army generals criticize the military strategy - the former head of Israel's secret intelligence service even demands talks with Iran.
dpa wants Germans to believe that Israel cannot win the war against Hezbollah, and that self-doubts and critique within Israel are mounting. Since the Israelis (including the media) are virtually united behind the government's Lebanon strategy, dpa has to rely on "experts" with dubious political positions to proof its point. Take, for example, the "reputable history Professor" (dpa) Zeev Sternhell, who is extensively quoted in dpa's story. In an awfully one-sided polemic ("The most unsuccessful war") in the left-wing daily Haaretz Sternhell calls the Lebanon war a "serious blow to the government's credibility", and speaks of "cynicism being demonstrated by government spokesmen, official and otherwise, including several military correspondents, in the face of the disaster suffered by the Lebanese".
What dpa doesn't say is that Sternhell is a card-carrying member of the looney left, who - according to Wikipedia - "has long been a supporter of the Israeli peace camp and writes critically in the Israeli press about the Occupation and his government's policies toward the Palestinians". In his book "The Founding Myths of Israel: Nationalism, Socialism, and the Making of the Jewish State" Sternhell complains about the lack of socialistic vigour in Israel's labor party. Sternhell's interpretation of Israel's policies vis-a-vis the Palestinians ("colonial policing, which recalls the takeover by the white police of the poor neighbourhoods of the blacks in South Africa during the apartheid era") is approvingly quoted by none less than Noam Chomsky, another German media darling.
What we have here is another example of a "reputable" German media outlet to introduce left-wing "experts" in its reporting of foreign affairs, the same procedure that served the German media so well in its reporting on the Iraq war.
Call it "the Americanization of Israel's image in the German media". I'm sure, we will see more of it in the next couple of weeks.
Stay tuned...
Update: A must-read for our German speaking readers: Henryk M. Broder's latest article ("Sit-in blockades against Hezbollah?" - our translation) in SPON.
How is it possible that the German people, with their history, can still find it acceptable to demonize and dehumanize another group of people? Just sickening, really.
Posted by: Tom Penn | August 04, 2006 at 03:40 AM
Israel has broken the same law it broke back in the day against the NSDAP, they are too proactive and therefore too successful.
The religion of liberalism (aka Marxism)"teaches" us that we are ALL to be the SAME because anyone that could be deemed "better" at something had to get that way by stealing form the rest of "US".
Unfortunately this isnt a German problem, if it were I think the German's could be shamed into recognizing it, but its a worldwide phenomenon that is a new fashion statement not a fascist one. The enemy has gotten so entrenched into people's minds that they regulate themselves...
I do thank you for monitoring the German prensentations of this minddisease though. Jealousy matched up with a bloodlust beyond reason is driving the Islamofascists and they have basically made the choice for us.
We have to wipe them out or be wiped out. But that won't get you any love from the peoples so the empty suits in the capitols and newsrooms arent going to help us. They are all geldings and uberdikes.
Oh well, we tried to have a civilized world with laws and art, but its looking like there's going to be a widening shitstorm because all the "smart" people have their heads in the sand just like in the Weimar.
When the persians try their emp and it cuts off all the cable tv and internet for the euro masses they might wake up but theyre are too fat and happy to give up their pride. My prayer is that something happens to ring their bells but theyre so safe and stupid that it might be too late.
Posted by: playertwo | August 04, 2006 at 04:34 AM
Arguments of “disproportionate” actions by the IDF from German media and other commentators, usually made out of a relaxed beer garden atmosphere here in Germany surrounded by friendly partner states, make me sick.
The main reason Israel still exists it not because it was always 100% right and nice but because it defeated every Arab army that was attacking it. Israelis are sad for every dead Lebanese child while Hezbolla is celebrating every dead Israeli child.
The whole situation is a mess. There are various reasons for this conflict (back to King David and beyond) but at the end of the day, there are some facts we all have to deal with:
1) Israel has been unprovokedly attacked with missiles and soldiers have been killed and kidnapped.
2) 6 Million Israelis are surrounded by 350 Muslims. Some Muslims can arrange themselves with the existence of Israel, a lot want it to be destroyed. Hamas, Hezbollah and others exist not to liberate pieces of land but to kill all the Jews.
- Peace means for a lot of people in the Middle East not the absence of war but the absence of Israel.
3) If there are war crimes committed by Israeli soldiers you will see trials dealing with that. You will see no Lebanese trials dealing with Hezbollahs crimes.
4) Sometimes there is no good (meaning peaceful) solution. Maybe fighting Hezbollah makes more Muslims support Hezbollah. Not fighting Hezollah, however, would neither make Israel safe nor turn hate driven extremists to peacekeepers.
I am pro Israel because it is THE outpost of the free world in the Middle East. Compare the freedom and human rights status there with the situation in Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan …
Israel is being attacked by radikal Islamic groups/states (Hello Iran and Syria) and deserves our support in this war because its existence is at risk. Israel is also fighting for everybody who does not want to live in a Caliphate under the Sharia law. This includes, by the way, the vast majority of Muslims.
www.libertyfirst.de
Posted by: Alex | August 04, 2006 at 05:17 PM
Israel is not the only population at risk. Two unexploded suitcase bombs were found on German trains over the past week. This URL lead to the story a few minutes ago, but the host appears to be down at the moment, or the story has been moved: http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,430160,00.html.
Posted by: Tom Penn | August 05, 2006 at 05:05 AM
"Two unexploded suitcase bombs were found on German trains over the past week."
Yes, this was "breaking news" on N24 the other day. I haven't heard much about it since. I don't usually read German newspapers, so I can't say whether or not it has gotten much coverage.
Does anyone else have any more information about this?
Posted by: Scott_H | August 05, 2006 at 10:57 AM
Not all murdered children are equal. If they happen to be Jews, the editors of SPIEGEL, STERN, and SDZ no longer consider them human beings, but merely statistics. You will never see these images in the pages of such "respectable" publications.
Posted by: Helian | August 05, 2006 at 01:53 PM
More about the bombs:
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,430160,00.html
"Bush did it on the orders of the Jews."
Posted by: LouMinatti | August 05, 2006 at 05:28 PM
Look,
no matter the press coverage, there is this:
(Emphasis mine).
Bullshit, Helian.
Posted by: Ralf Goergens | August 06, 2006 at 06:39 PM
Forget about the Sueddeutsche. This newspaper has anti-american and especially anti-semitic tendencies. No question about it. My recommendation: don't buy this product. It is the typical German backseat-driver approach with a left wing touch. (I'm German from Saxony.) They enjoy freedom and democracy but they don't want to contribute.
Posted by: Calahan | August 11, 2006 at 03:26 PM