Groundbreaking Stuff (& Nonsense) at the SMH

Groundbreaking stuff! The Sydney Morning Herald's Middle East correspondent Jason Koutsoukis reveals a hitherto unknown era in Palestinian politics - the Palestinian occupation - yes, occupation - of the West Bank (1948-1967):-

"When Netanyahu's immediate predecessor, Ehud Olmert, went to Annapolis in 2007 and promised the establishment of a Palestinian state that would have included nearly 100% of the land occupied by Palestinians between 1948 and 1967, even more was on offer than at Camp David. And still Abbas was unable to accept such a deal." (Big step for PM means no turning back now, 16/6/09)

More groundbreaking stuff!! The SMH editorialist reveals for the very first time that Israelis in 1948 were, even then, not only making generous offers (a la Ehud Barak), but that hordes of Palestinians had actually accepted them! If only Arafat had known back at Camp David that his own people had set such a precedent in 1948, the entire course of the Middle East conflict would surely have been different:-

"Palestinians are asked to renounce the right of return to homes from which they were forced or induced to flee in 1948 and 1967..." (16/6/09)

Even more groundbreaking stuff!!! The SMH editorialist discovers that Israel isn't yet a Jewish state. Currently, it's apparently just a "homeland for Jews, mostly" meaning Balfour was right and Herzl was wrong:-

"As part of this [Netanyahu's generous offer], the Palestinians are asked to recognise Israel as a Jewish state, though what this means is unclear. Is Israeli [sic] going to be Jewish, in the sense that Iran is Islamic, or a homeland for Jews, mostly?" (16/6/09)

Yet more groundbreaking stuff!!!! The SMH editorialist has discovered that, contrary to long established historical and political fact, Israel has actually had a constitution now for around 6 decades (but hasn't yet got around to road-testing it):-

"For a country still working on its constitution, 60 [sic] years after its foundation..." (16/6/09)

It's cutting edge, investigative journalism and informed opinion such as this that make the SMH the quality broadsheet we all know and love.