Fareed Zakaria strikes again.

[Bob]

Fareed Zakaria, Mr. Harvard Ph.D, stares blankly at Erdogan while being rhetorically asked how many "Palestinians" have been killed in conflict with Israel, "...hundreds of thousands?". Erdogan rhetorically asked this question after asking how many Israelis had died, stating that he wants accurate statistics, implying that the Israeli government isn't transparent about casualties from "Palestinian bombs". Clearly, Erdogan is talking about recent violence in recent years, as the rockets typically increased greatly after the evacuation from Gaza in the summer of 2005. "Ten, twenty, a hundred, two hundred?", he asks about Israeli casualties. "On the other hand, we know that hundreds of thousands of 'Palestinians' were killed", he says with respect to the "Palestinian" casualties. Zakaria stares at him blankly, as if he also believes that hundreds of thousands of "Palestinians" have been killed in recent years.

There are a response to this idiocy after the show aired a couple of weeks ago, and Zakaria subsequently corrected the error by bringing in an outside translator. Erdogan brought his own translator, and you can see it for yourself starting around the 5:00 mark on the attached video. Apparently Erdogan had actually said, "hundreds? thousands?". Zakaria apologized for the confusion, but never apologized for his own idiocy. How is it that Mr. Harvard Ph.D, when hearing such crap, and having it translated for him in real-time by Erdogan's official translator, didn't challenge it? Less than two thousand "Palestinians" have been killed in recent years. It should also be noted that these are legitimate casualties and entirely justifiable. Zakaria should've apologized for his own ineptitude.

Less importantly, although just as unsurprisingly, Zakaria offered no challenge to Erdogan's typical anti-Semitic bullshit about Jewish people using the Holocaust as some sort of "justification" for our "crimes". We hear this bullshit from the left all the time, as if somehow the Holocaust is invoked by Jewish people in some sort of unjustifiable manner for irrelevant purposes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz_IKXFcutM

Edited October 9, 2011 by Bob

[jbg]

Fareed Zakaria, Mr. Harvard Ph.D, stares blankly at Erdogan while being rhetorically asked how many "Palestinians" have been killed in conflict with Israel, "...hundreds of thousands?".

Some people have no constraints against lying. Even though they assert they are very religious.

[Bob]

The main point I'm making here is that Fareed Zakaria is regarded as an intellectual, and he pretends to be familiar with the Israel/Arab conflict. He regularly throws around terms like "far-right wing" when describing the Likud party or Yisrael Beiteinu, talks about "East Jerusalem" and the "settlers", and all these others politicized terms as if he has some grasp of the history issues, and current happenings on the ground. Yet when faced with a blatantly false statement (although to be fair, it was a mistranslation by Erdogan's translator) about hundreds of thousands of dead "Palestinians" in recent years, he was mum!

Remember, this is the very same "intellectual" that advised us to revisit our designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist and anti-Semitic organization because they had contributed money towards the restoration of a synagogue in Beirut. Zakaria is simply today's reincarnation of rat journalists that talked about the magnificence and equality of the former Soviet Union, deriding Reagan for having dubbed it the "Evil Empire", while touting the Soviet Union's declaration of rights and carefully scripted "interviews" with Russian residents about the paradise and freedom that they enjoyed behind the Iron Curtain. He is, quite literally, the useful idiot that allows himself to be the propagandist for our enemies, while masquerading as an objective, knowledgeable, and "intellectual" journalist.

[Smallc]

Can I ask a serious question? Why do people care so much about what happens in Israel It's a tiny country with no people? I couldn't be less interested.

Edited October 10, 2011 by Smallc

[Bob]

Can I ask a serious question? Why do people care so much about what happens in Israel It's a tiny country with no people? I couldn't be less interested.

Because there are a LOT of Muslims in this world, and a LOT of leftists who sympathize with their "cause" reflexively. Perhaps more importantly, the Arab/Muslim collective does a fantastic job placing this issue on the forefront of whatever they can, whether it be the UN, their media (virtually all media in the Arab/Muslim world is state-owned), and their foreign policy. You don't think Israel isn't the number one agenda item when foreign representatives from Arab/Muslim countries communicate with the USA? Don't think the Arab/Muslim world doesn't have a lot of influence, given their control of much of the world's oil supply and control over massive swathes of land.

Edited October 10, 2011 by Bob

[Smallc]

That doesn't answer my question at all. Israel gets a hugely disproportionate share of attention. Israel, in the grand scheme of things, isn't really all that special.

Edited October 10, 2011 by Smallc

[Bob]

That doesn't answer my question at all. Israel gets a hugely disproportionate share of attention. Israel, in the grand scheme of things, isn't really all that special.

I just explained to you why is gets a huge amount of attention. Can you not read? It is an issue the Arab/Muslim world is obsessed with, and considering how big and important the Arab/Muslim world is in many ways, Israel gets pushed to the forefront of our attention via our media and politics.

[Smallc]

I'm sorry, but those things don't really connect. Sure, maybe the Arab world pays Israel a great deal of attention, but I'm still not sure why we care to the level that we do. Frankly, I get tired of hearing about Israel.

Edited October 10, 2011 by Smallc

[Scotty]

Can I ask a serious question? Why do people care so much about what happens in Israel It's a tiny country with no people? I couldn't be less interested.

Television likes blood and violence. There's lots of it in and around Israel. Of course, there's lots of it in a lot of places. But Israel is unique in that it is an almost perfectly save environment from which to observe and report such things, with a government which is not going to take revenge on journalists for reporting nasty things about it, even if untrue. Also, it is a modern city with 5 star restaurants and hotels, and all the comforts of home.

Would it have been a great story to get video of the Russians bombarding Chechnian cities? Sure. But it would also have been extremely dangerous. The Russians were known to be targeting journalists. Even if you tried to report on it from Moscow, far from the fighting, you would likely have had your visa cancelled and been deported. Likewise reporting on riots in China would have gotten you deported. Trying to report on wars and violence in other parts of the world lands you in hot, bug-ridden hell-holes with no modern conveniences and the possibility of being kidnapped or killed. Not to mention being arrested by the local government.

Israel is almost perfect for the media, and so it gets on TV ALL THE TIME. And because it's on TV ALL THE TIME there is immense interest in what is going on, much like other popular television shows...

[Bob]

Although this is more speculative, I think the Israel/Arab conflict appeals to people as it touches on many concepts that are at the core of varying worldviews. It appeals to armchair intellectuals as it's a multifaceted conflict. I think this plays a small role in explaining why Israel is so obsessed over in Western public discourse.

Still, the primary driving force behind Israel being pushed to the forefront of national dialogue is the massive global Muslim population, who are obsessed with this issue and generally hold a warped, dishonest, and sickening view of the entire conflict, as well as the massive influence of Islamism in global affairs via their control of massive oil reserves and swathes of land.

[Moonlight Graham]

That doesn't answer my question at all. Israel gets a hugely disproportionate share of attention. Israel, in the grand scheme of things, isn't really all that special.

I agree. If you compare the media coverage of ie: war in & around the DRC, it pales in comparison to Israel-Palestinian conflict coverage during the same time-frame even though the death tolls aren't even close to being comparable.

Reasons for the attention, IMO:

- Security interests, since what happens in the Middle East has long been important to the West due to oil politics, which draws us into its conflicts. Also, obvious importance of Middle East politics since 9/11.

- The powerful Israel lobby makes issues in Israel disproportionally important to leaders, especially in the US.

- A lot of Western media is run by Jewish people.

- The holocaust, which still has a large legacy in the west, and maybe Western guilt over it has something to do with our interest in the Israel-Palestinian conflict & the rights of Jews there. But mainly I think it's the 1st 3 reasons.

[Smallc]

Bill Maher has a theory that it has a great deal to do with religion and bible literalism. At this point, I'm doubting he's wrong.

[Smallc]

I agree. If you compare the media coverage of ie: war in & around the DRC,

Excellent point, and one that I didn't even think of.

[Bob]

I agree. If you compare the media coverage of ie: war in & around the DRC, it pales in comparison to Israel-Palestinian conflict coverage during the same time-frame even though the death tolls aren't even close to being comparable.

Reasons for the attention, IMO:

- Security interests, since what happens in the Middle East has long been important to the West due to oil politics, which draws us into its conflicts. Also, obvious importance of Middle East politics since 9/11.

- The powerful Israel lobby makes issues in Israel disproportionally important to leaders, especially in the US.

- A lot of Western media is run by Jewish people.

- The holocaust, which still has a large legacy in the west, and maybe Western guilt over it has something to do with our interest in the Israel-Palestinian conflict & the rights of Jews there. But mainly I think it's the 1st 3 reasons.

Ah, you're always dependeable for one thing - parroting the typical leftist mythologies. The "powerful Israel lobby", eh? I guess there's no powerful Arab/Muslim lobby out there that pushes this issue to the forefront? Somehow fifteen million Jews around the world have more influence that one and a half billion Muslims.

"A lot of Western media is run by Jewish people", excuse me? First of all, Jewish people are overrepresented in most high-paying professions. We're overrepresented in high-level medical, legal, engineering, research, political, and entertainment. Why do you think that is? Perhaps someone gave these roles to us on a silver platter? Of course, if "a lot of Western media" that is "run by Jewish people" is the reason why Israel is so disgustingly and ignorantly obsessed over by the leftist media, what about the media outlets that aren't "run by Jewish people"?

If your argument had any validity, and it certainly does not, please provide some examples of Western media that is "run by Jewish people", and then compare this media to other Western media that isn't "run by Jewish people" and show us that the "Jewish run media" focuses more heavily on Israel than the media non-"Jewish run media".

[Bob]

Smallc obviously has reading comprehension issues, as I've clearly explained major reasons why Israel is so heavily focuses on in the media, while ignoring much more important stories. Consider that the vandalism of a mosque (arson) in Israel recently made the news in international media (CNN, CBC, BBC, Al-Jazeera), as if that is somehow important. Meanwhile, desecrations of Jewish properties, such as Jewish schools, cemeteries, and synagogues around the world are ignored. You think the recent vandalism of a Jewish cemetery in Ottawa a couple of years ago made it to CNN's World News section?

[Smallc]

You've explained why you see it being that way, but I don't agree. It's a religious thing, and yes, it does have to do with the Israeli lobby. I'm not one of those people that thinks that Israel shouldn't exist, but I question it's relevance to public policy creation in North America.

[Bob]

Yeah, the oh-so-powerful Israeli lobby, just another manifestation of the age-old perception of excessive influence of Jewish people on our societies. The Arab/Muslim lobby, however, claiming to represent a global population one thousand times larger, isn't what's driving Israel to the front page of our newspapers.

Don't forget, the Jews also control the media. And since all Jews think alike (in reality, North American Jews are largely left-wing), they must be operating in some sort of cohesive framework to frame the narrative of Western media's coverage of Israel in a "pro-Israel" manner. Have I got that right?

[Smallc]

Yeah, the oh-so-powerful Israeli lobby, just another manifestation of the age-old perception of excessive influence of Jewish people on our societies.

Not Jewish people, but the Jewish state certainly seems to. I do have problem with the idea of Israel being a religious state, now that I think of it.

The Arab/Muslim lobby, however, claiming to represent a global population one thousand times larger, isn't what's driving Israel to the front page of our newspapers.

And yet, they seem to get far less positive attention.

Don't forget, the Jews also control the media. And since all Jews think alike (in reality, North American Jews are largely left-wing), they must be operating in some sort of cohesive framework to frame the narrative of Western media's coverage of Israel in a "pro-Israel" manner. Have I got that right?

You haven't got much of anything right.

[jbg]

Although this is more speculative, I think the Israel/Arab conflict appeals to people as it touches on many concepts that are at the core of varying worldviews. It appeals to armchair intellectuals as it's a multifaceted conflict. I think this plays a small role in explaining why Israel is so obsessed over in Western public discourse.

I think it has more to do with millenia-old doubts that Judaism is a legitimate or desirable force in the world.