Ayoon wa Azan (The worst people on earth)

Last Monday, on October 14, the International Herald Tribune, the international publication of the New York Times, published its last issue. The newspaper was first issued in Paris in 1887. Its name then changed several times before it became jointly owned by the New York Times and the Washington Post in 1967. Then, the former bought the latter’s share in 2003. Since that time, the newspaper has been issued as the Herald Tribune until this October 15, when it became the International New York Times. The New York Times and the Washington Post are my two favorite newspapers published in English, despite the fact that some columnists and editorialists are pro-Likud. When I read these two newspapers, I trust that the news is correct and that there are two sources, rather than one, for every piece of news, one being independent from the other. I also read the International Herald Tribune considering that it is an extension of the former two newspapers. The above is a preface, because I decided to write a piece on the modification of the historic newspaper’s name. I started to collect information and to refresh my memory with some reporters, especially those reporters whom I worked with in Beirut when I used to head a shift at Reuters. Most of the reporters in international newspapers used our offices back then to dispatch news. I however changed my mind since, on the day following the newspaper’s issuance under its new name on October 16, an opinion piece was featured under the headline, “How Palestinian Hate Prevents Peace” by Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli Minister of Intelligence and International Affairs. I did not read this piece, because I despise the writer and I believe that his government is a Fascist one, practicing apartheid against the Palestinians, killing people, destroying and occupying lands and expanding the settlements all the while claiming that it supports peace. I hereby have, in front of me, a piece of news published a day after the Steinitz, the man from the intelligence, published his article. This piece appeared in the Los Angeles Times, and mentioned that settlement in the Palestinian lands has tremendously increased this year compared to the last year whereby the rate increased by 70 percent compared to 2012. The Israeli government is one of terrorism; and the entire land, from the sea to the river, belongs to Palestine. The myths of the torah do not make history. The Jews and their kings have nothing to do with Palestine (or Egypt). The Temple Mount is a lie. The only real thing is the Haram al-Sharif with its well-known and undisputed history. Two days ago, Jews invaded this sanctuary, danced in its arenas and brandished the Israeli flag. But then, the honorable Steinitz dares to claim that “the Palestinian hate prevents peace.” What does he want? Does he want the radical Israeli government to occupy the Palestinians’ lands, steal their homes, kill and displace them and then have the Palestinians throw flowers and rice at it like they do in the West? The Israeli governments, especially those headed by war criminals and neo-Nazis like Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir, Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu, are the first and last reason for the new wave of anti Semitism around the world. The actions of the Israeli cabinets stir animosity against the Israelis and the Jews around the world, although the majority of the Jews aspire for peace and the Jewish peace groups are among the most active groups in the world. Around the same time, I read a piece in the New York Times under the headline, “More American Jewish Students Take Up Study of the Arab World” in their quest to learn the challenges facing Israel and the USA. There is no need to study this. Israel is occupying the Palestinian lands. The Palestinians accepted to establish a state on 22 percent of their land but Israel refused that. The only problem that the USA is facing in our region is Israel. Supporting Israel - through the Israeli lobby, the neo-conservatives, the pro-Likud Americans and the other traitors - is the only reason behind the crisis of the American-Arab relations. Everything else is a mere torah myth. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arab Today.