THE BIGOTRY OF LOWER EXPECTATIONS

James Torranto of the Wall Street Journal notes the deadly clashes and reprisals between Fatah and Hamas and comments:

"This is sort of like the Iran-Iraq war, in that you're rooting for both sides to lose. A couple of questions occur to us, though. First, weren't the people who were warning us about "civil war" if America liberated Iraq arguing instead that America should stick its nose into Palestinian affairs? Second, how come no one--not even the New York Times--refers to a "cycle of violence" unless a civilized country is involved?"

The answer, I think, is not anti-Semitism, i.e., the media judging Israel by a tougher standard because it is made up of Jews. Rather it is the bigotry of diminished expectations. The mainstream media thinks, but does not say, that violence and bloodshed are all the Arabs are capable of. It makes no greater demands on them than it would an uncivilized savage.

Think for a moment what CNN would have to say if Israeli settlers had set fire to the Knesset?

When the media starts expecting the same behavior from the Arabs as it does from Israel, we might get more balanced coverage.