When Even the Retraction is Dodgy

When writers to the letters pages of The Australian Jewish News start criticising Greg Sheridan, (The Australian's Foreign Editor, the "most influential foreign affairs analyst in Australian journalism," according to The Australian's website, and recipient of the World Zionist Organization's Jerusalem Prize for services to guess what...), you know something's up (1/2/08). Sheridan's hymn of praise to Israel, Deep inside the plucky country (The Australian, 19/1/08), was their target (see my post, Gullible's Travels, on same).

"...riddled with errors."/"...more factual errors per page than Robert Fisk..."/"...we need accurate reporting, not flattery," said Sol Salbe, Maidstone, Vic

"Israeli Propaganda" was the header for the letter of Michael Brull, Bellevue Hill, NSW

Greg Sheridan? Under attack? In the AJN? Amazing!

Having said that, AJN's editorialist was quite taken with Sheridan's PR. As was letter writer, Dr Danny Lamm, President, State Zionist Council of Victoria, who wrote: "On behalf of the Zionist community of Victoria, I thank Greg Sheridan for his continued strong and affirmative support of Israel and its people and I commend The Australian for its pluck in showing the real Israel." (I hasten to add, of course, that Dr Lamm's defence of Sheridan couldn't possibly have had anything to do with the latter's receipt of the State Zionist Council of NSW/World Zionist Organization/Zionist Federation of Australia- sponsored Jerusalem Prize.)

Other letter writers, however, were in a flap over Fairfax. The Sydney Morning Herald should be called the "Syrian Morning Herald," because of Ed O'Loughlin's "vitriolic attacks on Israel," wrote Mervyn Sacks, Brookvale, NSW, before cancelling his subscription to same.

Michael Burd, Toorak, Vic, revealed that "Fairfax crossed the line between anti-Zionism/anti-Israel bias and anti-Semitism, according to a well-known high profile (non-Jewish) blogger." Anti-Semitism? My God, what precisely had the SMH done? Why, according to virulent Palestine basher and regular pro-Israel letter writer, Michael Burd, it had published a letter from "virulent Israel basher and regular pro-Palestinian letter writer Zaid Khan, who compared the Palestinians in Gaza to the Jews in Warsaw under Nazi occupation...," and then gone on next day to publish "five different versions of the letter agreeing with Khan..." [See my posts, We Remember Warsaw & WRW: The Sequel] Zounds! However, while Mr Burd was not prepared to go quite as far as said blogger (whom he went on to name as Andrew Landeryou), he did get the following off his much beaten and decidedly hairy chest: "While many may argue anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism, Fairfax's constant vilification of Israel...is indirectly increasing anti-Semitism in Australia."

But back to Sheridan. In the next day's Australian (2/2/08) emerged a delicate demurral (Horror on flipside of the fence) from Greg's Deep inside the plucky country of 19/1/08. What a curious piece it was, as though the author, one Kylie Baxter (described as "a researcher at the National Centre for [sic] Excellence of [sic] Islamic Sudies at the University of Melbourne."), was in such a sweat over offending Sheridan and/or having The Australian reject her article that she barely landed a punch. Her limp approach was summed up in the following disclaimer: "Sadly, the Israeli-Palestinian issue is one in which Western observers are forced to come down in one camp or the other. Professionally, I have actively attempted to avoid this, perhaps foolishly believing that my status as an Australian offered me to think about, teach and write on this complex issue with a shred of objectivity and even-handedness." Ah, faulty syntax and moral vacuousness!

Far more interesting than Kylie's fluff, however, was an appended retraction from the great man himself: "Greg Sheridan writes: In my article referred to above, I suggested that at the height of this decade's Intifada, terrorists had killed 1500 Israelis in a single year. That figure is mistaken. From September 2000 to the end of 2005, Palestinian terrorists killed 1100 Israelis." No, Mr Sheridan, you did not say "in a single year." You said, "Israel was more reported a few years ago, when terrorists were murdering 1500 of its citizens a year."

As for "1100 Israelis," Sheridan is pulling a swifty (and presumably hoping no one will notice). It has to be remembered that the premise of Deep inside the plucky country was that the international media unfairly focused on the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, but ignored Israel proper: "...it is seldom images of Israel that attract attention. It is images instead of the Palestinian territories. These are indeed compelling...They deserve attention. But here's something else...a much under-reported but fascinating and unique country. It's called Israel." He even went on to claim that "the world media makes a mistake by using the same reporters to cover the Palestinian territories as well as Israel." They "omit from the equation Israel and the Israelis." He then goes on to say that "It is ever the fate of stable, democratic countries...to be under-reported. Israel was more reported a few years ago, when terrorists were murdering 1500 of its citizens a year." In other words, 1500 Israeli citizens were murdered by Palestinian terrorists, aka suicide bombers, in Israel, year after year.

Now he has massively revised those thousands of alleged deaths down to "1100 Israelis," killed by "Palestinian terrorists" from "September 2000 to the end of 2005." The only problem is that, in doing so, he has shifted the goalposts, presenting a figure for all Israelis killed, whether in Israel or the occupied Palestinian territories, whether civilians or soldiers, whether by by bullet or bomb.

Let's look at the data:

a) The UN figure for all Israeli deaths from September 2000 until July 2007 is 1,024, while the number of Israeli civilian deaths in Israel proper is 460. ["Israeli civilians, who died within Israel, have primarily been the victims of suicide bombings perpetrated by Palestinian militant groups. At least 402 Israeli civilians (and 58 security forces personnel) have died inside Israel as a result of suicide bombs."] Israeli-Palestinian Fatalities Since 2000 - Key Trends UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 31/8/07

b) The BBC's figure for all Israeli deaths (citing Israeli human rights group, B'tselem) from September 2000 until January 2005 is 950, while the number of Israelis killed by Palestinians in Israel is 514 (431 civilians/83 security forces). [Intifada toll 2000-2005, BBC News] If we add to that the BBC's figure for Israelis killed by suicide bombings in 2005 (23) [Analysis: Palestinian suicide attacks, BBC News] the total becomes 537.

The relevant data, therefore, reveals that between 460-537 Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinians in Israel from 2000 until 2005, a far cry from Sheridan's figure of 1100.

Deep inside the plucky country was dodgy. So too is the retraction.