WSJ Rage Over Kerry's Israel/Palestine Speech

by Stephen Lendman

WSJ editorials and opinion columns diverge greatly from its news coverage, the former largely reflecting owner Rupert Murdoch's corrosive effect on legitimate journalism.

Responding to Kerry's Wednesday speech, its editors headlined "Kerry's Rage Against Israel," calling it a "verbal assault (divorced from) reality (in Israel) he shows no evidence of comprehending."

Fact: Longstanding brutal occupation harshness reflects "reality" in Palestine, along with Israeli Arab citizens denied rights afforded solely to Jews.

WSJ: Kerry made "Israeli-Palestinian peace a major goal of his tenure," blaming its failure on Palestinians, at the same time disgracefully calling Hamas a "terrorist group sworn to Israel's destruction," responsible for "start(ing) wars with Israel."

Fact: Washington's idea of peaceful conflict resolution is unconditional Palestinian surrender to Israeli demands, leaving millions terrorized under brutal occupation harshness in perpetuity - their land stolen, their fundamental rights denied.

Fact: Israel waged three preemptive wars of aggression on Gaza since December 2008 - Palestinian victims blamed for its high crimes.

WSJ: "In 2000 then-President Bill Clinton brought Israeli and Palestinian leaders to Camp David to negotiate a final peace agreement, only to watch Palestinians walk away from an offer that would have granted them a state on nearly all of Gaza and the West Bank. That failure was followed by another Palestinian terror campaign."

Fact: In July 2000, Clinton hosted Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat. Barak insisted Arafat sign a "final agreement" and declare an "end of conflict." 

Agreeing would have renounced any legal claim to Palestine land. Nothing was put in writing. No documents or maps were presented. 

Barak wanted Palestinian land divided into four isolated bantustans, surrounded by expanding settlements and other Israeli controlled territory. 

He offered terms no responsible leader would accept, demanding unconditional surrender to Israel's ultimatum. Arafat refused and was unfairly blamed. 

It likely led to his November 2004 death, murdered by Ariel Sharon to install a subservient Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas anointed in May 2005.

WSJ: Israeli leaders "made repeated peace overtures to the Palestinians only to be met with violence and rejection."

Fact: Throughout its sordid history, Israel rejected peaceful conflict resolution, demanding Palestinian subservience to its interests - brutalizing an entire population into submission in flagrant violation of core international laws.

WSJ: "…Jewish settlements are not the main obstacle to peace. If they were, Gaza would be on its way to becoming the Costa Rica of the Mediterranean. The obstacle is Palestinian rejection of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state in any borders."

Fact: Utter rubbish! Palestinians have been brutalized viciously for nearly seven decades. Israel blockaded Gaza for political, not security reasons, suffocating its two million residents, creating a humanitarian disaster, turning the Strip into the world's largest open-air prison, waging wars of aggression at its discretion. 

Fact: Hamas' January 2006 election victory affirmed it as Palestine's legitimate government - not the Israeli controlled PA.

Fact: Its leadership justifiably seeks Palestinian statehood within pre-June 1967 borders. It rejects Israel's "right" to brutalize Palestinians unaccountably.

Journal editors like their scoundrel media counterparts consistently blame Palestinians for decades of Israeli high crimes. So have US administrations and most congressional members since Israel's 1948 creation.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

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