NYT'S LOVE LETTER TO ARAFAT AND ABBAS
"Charismatic" Arafat? (TimesWatch)
Wednesday's front-page features pro-Palestinian reporter Steven Erlanger's preview of the first Palestinian legislative elections in a decade. But while profiling Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Erlanger still finds time to drop some flattering terms on the legacy of the Palestinian terrorist leader Yasir Arafat.
First, on Abbas: "Long Mr. Arafat's No. 2, Mr. Abbas was an obvious successor, but not a natural one. He is a man of logic, not passion; a negotiator, not a politician; a man who wears a business suit, not a military uniform; a man who condemns violence, not incites it; a man who despises personality cults and refuses to put his face up in every office; a touchy man of dark moods, who often threatens to quit, as he quit as prime minister after four months in 2003 when Mr. Arafat did not allow him enough power.
"A pragmatist, Mr. Abbas is a refugee, born in what is now the Israeli town of Safed, which he fled with his family at the age of 13, in 1948. But he is considered by Israelis to be a man of principle who believes that the armed intifada is counterproductive, negotiates fairly and wants two states to live side by side."
Again, the Times ignores the other side of Abbas the logical, pacifist "pragmatist" -- his Holocaust denial.
The Times also has a bad habit of flattering late Palestinian terrorist leader Yasir Arafat, extolling his "charisma" without mentioning the killings he ordered. In this case, the Times even lets a Palestinian economist cast Arafat's murderous era as positive: "Mr. Abbas was elected little more than a year ago to fill the vacancy left by the death of Mr. Arafat, the complicated, charismatic leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, of the Fatah faction and of the Palestinian Authority. "The Arafat era was three things: to pay, to appoint and to kill," said Mr. Hadi, the economist. "But Abu Mazen doesn't have this character. We don't need this kind of leader, and he is trying to deliver rule of law in stages.""
Wednesday's front-page features pro-Palestinian reporter Steven Erlanger's preview of the first Palestinian legislative elections in a decade. But while profiling Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Erlanger still finds time to drop some flattering terms on the legacy of the Palestinian terrorist leader Yasir Arafat.
First, on Abbas: "Long Mr. Arafat's No. 2, Mr. Abbas was an obvious successor, but not a natural one. He is a man of logic, not passion; a negotiator, not a politician; a man who wears a business suit, not a military uniform; a man who condemns violence, not incites it; a man who despises personality cults and refuses to put his face up in every office; a touchy man of dark moods, who often threatens to quit, as he quit as prime minister after four months in 2003 when Mr. Arafat did not allow him enough power.
"A pragmatist, Mr. Abbas is a refugee, born in what is now the Israeli town of Safed, which he fled with his family at the age of 13, in 1948. But he is considered by Israelis to be a man of principle who believes that the armed intifada is counterproductive, negotiates fairly and wants two states to live side by side."
Again, the Times ignores the other side of Abbas the logical, pacifist "pragmatist" -- his Holocaust denial.
The Times also has a bad habit of flattering late Palestinian terrorist leader Yasir Arafat, extolling his "charisma" without mentioning the killings he ordered. In this case, the Times even lets a Palestinian economist cast Arafat's murderous era as positive: "Mr. Abbas was elected little more than a year ago to fill the vacancy left by the death of Mr. Arafat, the complicated, charismatic leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, of the Fatah faction and of the Palestinian Authority. "The Arafat era was three things: to pay, to appoint and to kill," said Mr. Hadi, the economist. "But Abu Mazen doesn't have this character. We don't need this kind of leader, and he is trying to deliver rule of law in stages.""
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