MJ Rosenberg Proves Himself Right (by ignoring history)

Sometimes you see an opinion that is so correct, so convincing and so well written. That's of course if you don't know history or willfully ignore it! MJ Rosenberg set out to prove that in any historical debate the Israeli 'Peace Camp' had it right. In order to so, he molests  over 40 years of history.

Let's examine some of his claims. Of course it was the Israeli Peace Camp that could have saved Israel from the dreaded Yom Kippur War. It would have been averted if Israel merely trusted Sadat blindfoldedly. He writes:

The most egregious example of this phenomenon comes from Egypt, where in 1971 President Anwar Sadat offered to begin negotiations toward peace in exchange for a two-mile wide Israeli withdrawal from the east bank of the Suez Canal, which Israel had captured along with the rest of the Sinai Peninsula in the 1967 war.

...

The Nixon administration told the Israeli government to explore the idea because Sadat was intent on going to war if he did not get his territory back.

The peace camp in Israel and its allies here urged Israel to follow Nixon's advice and hear Sadat out. The lobby, of course, told Nixon to mind his own business.

As for the Israeli cabinet, it told Nixon's emissary, Assistant Secretary of State Joseph Sisco, that it had no interest in discussing Egypt's offer. It voted for keeping all of the Sinai Peninsula and sending Egypt a simple message: no. After all, the Egyptians had shown just four years earlier that they were no match for the IDF.

Two years later, the Egyptians attacked, and within hours all of Israel's positions along the canal were overrun and its soldiers killed. By the time the war ended, Israel had lost 3,000 soldiers and almost the state itself. And then, a few years later, it gave up the entire Sinai anyway - not just the two-mile strip Egypt had demanded in 1971. 

Demand Al Jazeera?

Apparently, Al Jazeera wants you to demand it! More specifically, they have been trying really hard to woo you with their Egypt coverage and then demand that your domestic broadcasting networks and authorities will feature their English language international broadcast. So far, they have been heavily promoting this campaign on social networking sites such as Facebook and twitter.

Since I have been following Al Jazeera's live stream closely last week, I think I should weigh in.

First of all, I was very impressed with their coverage. They had a thorough presence everywhere it seems, with constant live feed from Tahrir square, Qasr a Nile, 6th of October Bridge, etc. The studio was professional and kept the discussion alive and engaging. There is no doubt that Al Jazeera is an excellent news network.

That's of course all on the positive side. But there is a different, less benign side to Al Jazeera.