From an email I sent yesterday to the Corrections desk at The New York Times (cc'ing Books and Standards) regarding a recent review (by Jennifer Szalai) of Omer Bartov's new book
"I write with concern about the way this review—which came to my attention via the Books desk's latest newsletter—defines 'nakba.'
Szalai writes: 'Bartov discusses the Nakba, the violent displacement of Palestinians in 1948.'
'The very word catastrophe means the catastrophe of the Arab world’s failure to destroy Israel. That’s the real catastrophe that they’re mourning. And there’s actually historic evidence for that. If you go back and see how the word nakba was first used by the first Arab journalists responding to 1948, it was the catastrophe of the Arab world’s defeat, their military defeat, even before they even spoke about the refugee issue.'
I hope that the Times will agree that professional standards require far more care in conveying the meaning of such a powerful word, one which carries so much weight historically and within contemporary discourse. Thank you for your consideration."
As of this writing: no acknowledgment or response.
Yes and see too Haviv Rettig Gur’s podcasts with Dan Sheuftan and discussion of naqba, revenge and the refusal of the Arabs to look inwards and realise they have to reform .
I retract my comment about Jack White of The White Stripes. Confused him with another artist. I'm not aware of White commenting one way or the other about Israel or the war in Gaza, Lebanon, or Iran.
From an email I sent yesterday to the Corrections desk at The New York Times (cc'ing Books and Standards) regarding a recent review (by Jennifer Szalai) of Omer Bartov's new book
"I write with concern about the way this review—which came to my attention via the Books desk's latest newsletter—defines 'nakba.'
Szalai writes: 'Bartov discusses the Nakba, the violent displacement of Palestinians in 1948.'
As author and educator Yossi Klein Halevi (https://www.hartman.org.il/person/yossi-klein-halevi/) has explained about the word 'nakba' ('catastrophe')(https://www.hartman.org.il/can-zionists-speak-about-the-nakba-transcript/):
'The very word catastrophe means the catastrophe of the Arab world’s failure to destroy Israel. That’s the real catastrophe that they’re mourning. And there’s actually historic evidence for that. If you go back and see how the word nakba was first used by the first Arab journalists responding to 1948, it was the catastrophe of the Arab world’s defeat, their military defeat, even before they even spoke about the refugee issue.'
See also this research paper on the website of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. (https://besacenter.org/nakba-false-narrative/)
I hope that the Times will agree that professional standards require far more care in conveying the meaning of such a powerful word, one which carries so much weight historically and within contemporary discourse. Thank you for your consideration."
As of this writing: no acknowledgment or response.
Of course not….:(
Yes and see too Haviv Rettig Gur’s podcasts with Dan Sheuftan and discussion of naqba, revenge and the refusal of the Arabs to look inwards and realise they have to reform .
This is fascinating
It sounds like Zurayk is pretty much a Zionist, as in Alana Newhouse’s “Zionism for Everyone”
No shortage of irony in this one. With that said, i was unaware that they’d got jack white too.
It’s terrible, finding out how many incredible artists have succumbed to the mind virus
I retract my comment about Jack White of The White Stripes. Confused him with another artist. I'm not aware of White commenting one way or the other about Israel or the war in Gaza, Lebanon, or Iran.