Gideon Levy: Difference between revisions
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== Criticism == |
== Criticism == |
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Gideon Levy's approach to Palestinian issues has aroused strong criticism. He is on record as |
Gideon Levy's approach to Palestinian issues has aroused strong criticism. He is on record as saying that somewhere in Haaretz's newsroom there exists a thick file of notifications by regular readers cancelling their subscriptions after reading his articles.<ref name="The Nation" /> Israeli novelist [[Irit Linur]], in announcing the cancellation of her own subscription, argued that the newspaper had become compromised by a radical anti-Zionist,<ref name="IritLetter"/><sup>-[a]</sup> pro-Palestinian agenda, and she cited Levy's work and ideology as an example.<ref name="IritLetter"/><sup>-[b]</sup> Haaretz's publisher Amos Schocken expressed puzzlement at the accusation, describing his newspaper as "exceedingly Zionist" and suggesting Levy's reports should be "read mainly as a description to the effect of the Israeli occupation in the territories".<ref name="IritLetter">[http://www.nfc.co.il/archive/0019-D-1068-00.html?tag=14-23-47#PTEXT1597 Irit Linur's letter (quotation)] News First Class {{he icon}}<br><sup>[a]</sup>Translation: ''it is a person's right to be a radical leftist, and publish a newspaper in accordance to his world view... However "Haaretz" reached a stage where its anti-Zionism turns too frequently to silly and mean journalism.'' Original:<br>''{{rtl-para|he|זכותו של אדם להיות שמאלני-רדיקלי, ולהוציא עיתון בהתאם להשקפת עולמו... אבל "הארץ" הגיע לשלב בו האנטי-ציונות שלו הופכת לעתים קרובות מדי לעיתונות מטופשת ומרושעת.}}''<sup>[b]</sup>Translation: ''When Gideon Levy accuses Israel of turning [[Marwan Barghouti]] from a peace seeker to an [[impresario]] of suicide bombings, it is as logical an interpretation, just as the claim that the wave of [[September 11, 2001 attacks|attacks on the September 11]] were a plot by the [[Mossad]]. In a private conversation with him, he told me one time that he would not travel a hundred meters to save the life of a [[settler]], and it seems to me that his loves and hates have been long tainting his heart-rending reports from the occupied Palestinian territories.'' Original:<br>''{{rtl-para|he|כשגדעון לוי מאשים את ישראל בהפיכתו של מרואן ברגותי משוחר שלום לאמרגן פיגועי התאבדות, זו פרשנות הגיונית, ממש כמו הטענה שגל הפיגועים ב-11 בספטמבר הוא מזימה של המוסד. בשיחה פרטית איתו, אמר לי פעם שהוא לא היה נוסע מאה מטר כדי להציל את חייו של מתנחל, ונראה לי שאהבותיו ושנאותיו מכתימות כבר מזמן את דיווחיו הנוגעים ללב מהשטחים הפלשתינים הכבושים.}}''</ref> |
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[[Shmuel Rosner]] of [[The New Republic]] describes Levy as "far left".<ref name="Rosner">[http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=34335ed2-4f28-476b-98ec-c34dcf01d5e5&p=2 Bibi's Blunders] The New Republic, 24 December 2008</ref> |
[[Shmuel Rosner]] of [[The New Republic]] describes Levy as "far left".<ref name="Rosner">[http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=34335ed2-4f28-476b-98ec-c34dcf01d5e5&p=2 Bibi's Blunders] The New Republic, 24 December 2008</ref> |
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Revision as of 19:24, 9 April 2009
Gideon Levy (Hebrew: גדעון לוי; born 1955) is an Israeli journalist for the Haaretz newspaper, where he is also an editorial board member. He is a prominent left-wing commentator.[1] He served as spokesman for Shimon Peres from 1978 until 1982.[2]
Background
Levy was born in 1955 in Tel Aviv, the son of European immigrants. He describes his adolescence as one in which he was "a full member of the nationalistic religious orgy."[1] From 1978 to 1982 he served, together with Yossi Beilin, as an aide to Shimon Peres. Since 1982 he has worked for the Israeli daily Haaretz and from 1986 has written extensively in its pages on 'the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank and Palestinian life under that occupation'.[3] In 1996 he was awarded the Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. The French newspaper Le Monde has described him as a 'thorn in Israel's flank'.[3]
Political views
Levy himself has spoken of his 'modest mission to prevent a situation in which many Israelis will be able to say, "We didn't know".'[1] A recurrent theme in his articles is what he describes as Israeli society's 'moral blindness' to the effects of its acts of war and occupation in Gaza and the West Bank. He has criticized Israel's government for refusing to stop the construction of settlements on private Palestinian land, describing the policy as 'the most criminal enterprise in [Israel's] history'.[4] He decries an attitude which reflects, he believes, Israel's systematic dehumanization of its neighbors.
During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, he shared the minority view among Israeli commentators which dismissed the idea that it was a 'just war', of the kind in which civilian casualties were both inevitable and acceptable. He is for the unilateral cession of the Occupied Palestinian Territories without asking for concessions.
Israel is not being asked "to give" anything to the Palestinians; it is only being asked to return - to return their stolen land and restore their trampled self-respect, along with their fundamental human rights and humanity. This is the primary core issue, the only one worthy of the title, and no one talks about it anymore. No one is talking about morality anymore. Justice is also an archaic concept, a taboo that has deliberately been erased from all negotiations. Two and a half million people - farmers, merchants, lawyers, drivers, daydreaming teenage girls, love-smitten men, old people, women, children and combatants using violent means for a just cause - have all been living under a brutal boot for 40 years. Meanwhile, in our cafes and living rooms the conversation is over giving or not giving. . . Just as a thief cannot present demands - neither preconditions nor any other terms - to the owner of the property he has robbed, Israel cannot present demands to the other side as long as the situation remains as it is.[5]
While working in Gaza in early 2007 with a French film crew that was making a documentary about him, Levy declared on camera that the Gazans' plight made him ashamed to be an Israeli.[6]
Criticism
Gideon Levy's approach to Palestinian issues has aroused strong criticism. He is on record as saying that somewhere in Haaretz's newsroom there exists a thick file of notifications by regular readers cancelling their subscriptions after reading his articles.[6] Israeli novelist Irit Linur, in announcing the cancellation of her own subscription, argued that the newspaper had become compromised by a radical anti-Zionist,[7]-[a] pro-Palestinian agenda, and she cited Levy's work and ideology as an example.[7]-[b] Haaretz's publisher Amos Schocken expressed puzzlement at the accusation, describing his newspaper as "exceedingly Zionist" and suggesting Levy's reports should be "read mainly as a description to the effect of the Israeli occupation in the territories".[7]
Shmuel Rosner of The New Republic describes Levy as "far left".[8]
Levy has also been accused by polemicist Steven Plaut of 'celebrating the victory of Hamas'. Former deputy Minister of Internal Security, Gideon Ezra, an Israeli politician, suggested that the General Security Services monitor Levy and supervise his reports and stated that Levy is treading on the borderline of someone having anti-Israeli interests.[9]
References
- ^ a b c Six Day War prompts reflection in Middle East ABC, 11 June 2007
- ^ Gideon Levy The Israel Speakers Center
- ^ a b Gideon Lévy : une épine dans le flanc d'Israël Le Monde, 4 September 2006 Template:Fr icon
- ^ What do you mean when you say 'no'? Haaretz, 18 November 2007
- ^ Gideon Levy, ‘Demands of a thief,’ Ha’aretz 25/11/2007
- ^ a b Ha'aretz, Israel's Liberal Beacon The Nation, 6 September 2007
- ^ a b c Irit Linur's letter (quotation) News First Class Template:He icon
[a]Translation: it is a person's right to be a radical leftist, and publish a newspaper in accordance to his world view... However "Haaretz" reached a stage where its anti-Zionism turns too frequently to silly and mean journalism. Original:זכותו של אדם להיות שמאלני-רדיקלי, ולהוציא עיתון בהתאם להשקפת עולמו... אבל "הארץ" הגיע לשלב בו האנטי-ציונות שלו הופכת לעתים קרובות מדי לעיתונות מטופשת ומרושעת.[b]Translation: When Gideon Levy accuses Israel of turning Marwan Barghouti from a peace seeker to an impresario of suicide bombings, it is as logical an interpretation, just as the claim that the wave of attacks on the September 11 were a plot by the Mossad. In a private conversation with him, he told me one time that he would not travel a hundred meters to save the life of a settler, and it seems to me that his loves and hates have been long tainting his heart-rending reports from the occupied Palestinian territories. Original:כשגדעון לוי מאשים את ישראל בהפיכתו של מרואן ברגותי משוחר שלום לאמרגן פיגועי התאבדות, זו פרשנות הגיונית, ממש כמו הטענה שגל הפיגועים ב-11 בספטמבר הוא מזימה של המוסד. בשיחה פרטית איתו, אמר לי פעם שהוא לא היה נוסע מאה מטר כדי להציל את חייו של מתנחל, ונראה לי שאהבותיו ושנאותיו מכתימות כבר מזמן את דיווחיו הנוגעים ללב מהשטחים הפלשתינים הכבושים. - ^ Bibi's Blunders The New Republic, 24 December 2008
- ^ אירועי תקשורת Israel Democracy Institute Template:He icon
External links
- Interview with Levy on PBS (2003)
- Articles on Iran: 'Days of darkness' by Gideon Levy
- Selection of articles by Levy
- Article about Levy in the French daily Le Monde September 2006
- Gideon Levy's Official Lecturer Page
- Author: Gideon Levy (voltairenet.org)
- Twilight Zone 'We saw death a thousand times'
- Gideon Levy, ‘One swift kick’, Haaretz 6/6/2008
- Gideon Levy, 'The neighborhood bully strikes again ', Haaretz 12/28/2008
- An open letter to Gideon Levy By A.B. Yehoshua, Haaretz 16/01/2009
- [1]An open response to A.B. Yehoshua, By Gideon Levy