U.K.'S GUARDIAN APOLOGIZES TO ISRAEL FOR JENIN SLUR

'Guardian' editor apologizes for Jenin editorial (JPost)
The editor of The Guardian newspaper had the last word at the Jewish Book Week’s closing session on Sunday night when he apologized for his publication’s controversial editorial following Israel’s incursion into the Jenin refugee camp in 2002.

Alan Rusbridger, the Guardian’s editor, was speaking together with former Haaretz editor David Landau about reporting in the Middle East to a crowd of about 600 people when he responded to a question from the audience about the Israeli incursion into Jenin in April 2002.

In response to his publication’s coverage of the operation, Rusbridger said it was unfair to blame the reporter. Following Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, the Guardian’s editorial commented in its April 17 edition that: “Israel’s actions in Jenin were every bit as repellent as Osama Bin Laden’s attack on New York on September 11.”

“I take full responsibility for the misjudgment,” Rusbridger said. And during a response to a later question, he apologized for the editorial on Jenin - unprompted.

UK GUARDIAN: PEACE DOES NOT REQUIRE END OF TERROR

The Guardian's Peace Initiative (BackSpin)
What’s missing from The Guardian’s peace initiative?

Peace is really quite simple. The Israelis have to hand over the 1967 territories, which, even with land swaps, means massive evacuations, not just trimming far-flung settlements, as well as something like half of Jerusalem. The Palestinians have to agree that no - or very, very few - refugees will go back to Israel. The Americans have to push and on occasion coerce. Otherwise the new peace process will become again what the old one was in the 90s: a means of avoiding peace rather than of achieving it.

Shouldn't the concept of peace include an end to the killing of Jews? (ED., I.E. AN END TO TERRORISM AND ROCKET ATTACKS).

GUARDIAN OP-ED BLAMES ISRAEL, APOLOGIZES FOR HAMAS

Guardian's One-Sided Analysis (HonestReporting)
Seumus Milne's op-ed blames Israel and apologizes for Hamas.

HonestReporting has previously debunked the misleading charge that Gaza is 'under siege'. Yet, The Guardian's Seumus Milne headlines his op-ed "The siege of Gaza is going to lead to a violent escalation". Milne does not take long to reveal where his sympathies lie, referring to "rockets fired by Palestinian resistance groups". Since when is the firing of Qassams from Gaza schoolyards (see video here) against civilian targets in Sderot and the surrounding region an act of resistance and not terrorism?

The piece continues in the same vein, littered with bias. Here are some examples:

• Milne refuses to hold Hamas responsible for the situtation in Gaza. Instead, in a perverse inversion, an increase in Qassam attacks is blamed on Israel. Additionally, Milne notes an increase in the ratio of Palestinian to Israeli casualties without acknowledging that the majority of those Palestinians were directly involved in terrorist activities that Israel has every right to defend itself against.
• Milne also refuses to hold Egypt responsible for restricting access to its border, stating, incorrectly, that "Israel continues to control all access to the Gaza Strip". In any case, Israel, like any other state has every right to exercise border controls, particularly when its neighbor represents a serious security threat. The border crossings have come under regular Palestinian mortar fire, thus disrupting the movement of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians themselves. Qassams continue to rain down on Sderot and terrorists regularly target the border fence and the IDF patrols that are necessary to prevent terrorist infiltrations.
• Engaging in appalling moral equivalency, Milne states: "Unless Hamas recognised Israel, renounced violence and signed up to agreements it had always opposed, the western powers insisted, the Palestinian electorate would be ignored. No such demands, needless to say, have been made of Israel." Irrespective of Hamas's 'democratic' credentials, no state is under any obligation to cooperate with a hostile terrorist organization that has even brutalized its own people.
• Again, ignoring Palestinian responsibilities and obligations, Milne states that "the Israeli government is resistant to any timetable for statehood - let alone serious negotiation on Jerusalem, refugees and final borders". This, despite increasing controversy within Israel over the concessions that Israeli government ministers have suggested may be on the table at the forthcoming Annapolis conference, particularly relating to the status of Jerusalem.

As the Annapolis conference approaches, there will be many more analyses of the current situation and the potential outcome. Some may be optimistic, others dismissive. Seumus Milne's piece, however, is too one-sided to offer any meaningful contribution to the debate.

Please send your considered comments to The Guardian - letters@guardian.co.uk

UK GUARDIAN: PALI ROCKETS NO BIGGIE

Qassam Rockets: "A Manageable Irritant" (BackSpin)
Columnist Ian Black thinks Qassam rockets are a "manageable irritant." Only someone working for The Guardian would think this way.

Palestinian rocket attacks, mostly on the Negev town of Sderot, have become a manageable irritant - 12 people have been killed in seven years.

Tell that to the "manageably irritated" families of the 13 people killed. See 1, 2, and 3.

U.K. GUARDIAN PRINTS EDITORIAL BY HAMAS

Meshaal Markets Mecca (Backspin)
Looking for legitimacy and trying to peddle the Mecca Accords to the West, Hamas and Khalid Meshaal struck gold with op-ed space in The Guardian.

The Guardian notes Meshaal's address, so send your comments to khmishal@gmail.com.

Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al: Victory Over Jews is Near (MEMRI Blog)
Hamas Political Bureau chief Khaled Mash'al said that victory over the Jews was near, and that the Israeli entity was today in its worst shape ever and its patrons were in no better shape. Regarding whether the Hamas-Fatah Mecca agreement would hold up against the challenges it faced, he said that all factions and organizations needed to show restraint. He added that patience and fortitude were called for until the siege was lifted.