Israel-Bashing Op-Eds (Trudy Rubin)

 
by Michael Goldblatt 

        No matter how many concessions Israel makes to the Arabs, the
Philadelphia Inquirer's Trudy Rubin never seems satisfied.  Despite Israel's
recent surrender of most of Hebron, its release of 33 imprisoned female Arab
terrorists, its voluntary freeze on the construction of new Jewish towns in
Judea-Samaria, and its plan to hand over another 9% of Judea-Samaria to the
PLO, Rubin authored three long Israel-bashing editorials in a single 4-week period
in March and April.

        Rubin's latest barrage began on the op-ed page of the Inquirer on
March 14.  Blame for the absence of peace in the Middle East is largely the fault
of "the hawkish Netanyahu," Rubin declared.  His "style," she wrote, "seems to
rule out any genuine partnership with Arab leaders."  Rubin falsely accused
Netanyahu of "opening a new exit from a controversial tunnel near Jerusalem's holiest
Muslim site," when in reality, the tunnel is not close to the Al Aksa mosque
or any other Muslim religious site.  The fact that Netanyahu has voluntarily
frozen the construction of new Jewish town in Judea-Samaria (limiting Jewish
building to existing towns) did not impress Rubin; she blasted the Israeli leader for
having "failed to forewarn" Jordanian King Hussein that Israel intended to
construct homes within existing Jewish towns in the territories.

        Rubin likewise attacked Israel for what she called "building a new
Jewish settlement in mainly Arab East Jerusalem" --that's Rubinese for Israel's
construction of a Jewish neighborhood, on land that is owned mostly by Jews,
in a southern (not eastern) section of Jerusalem, a part of the city which has a
Jewish majority.

        If "stones are thrown in the West Bank, or terrorists strike," Rubin
wrote, it will be because "the frustrations of Palestinians will explode" in
response to Israel's behavior.  Thus Rubin provided a handy rationalization
for Arab terrorists, with the victims (Israel) blamed for the actions of their
killers.

        Rubin continued her anti-Israel barrage in the April 4 Inquirer,
with a plea to the Clinton administration to start "knocking heads" to get some
progress in the Israel-PLO negotiating process.  In her column, Rubin first
made it sound as if she was being even-handed, asserting that "the heads that need
knocking, in my view, belong to Netanyahu and to Arafat."  But when she
reached the point of listing the concessions she expects Israel and the PLO to make,
it became apparent that Rubin was more interested in seeing Netanyahu's head
"knocked" than Arafat's.  In Rubin's view, Israel should be making specific
concrete concessions: "freeze all building of settlements" in
Judea-Samaria-Gaza, and halt construction of the Har Homa neighborhood in
Jerusalem (or in "mainly Arab East Jerusalem," has she falsely put it again).

        And what does Rubin expect the PLO leader to do?  "Arafat would
have to pledge to do his utmost against terrorism and be held accountable."  So, once
again, it would be tangible Israeli concessions in exchange for a "pledge" by
Arafat.  Rubin forgot to mention that Arafat has already repeatedly made that
pledge, and repeatedly broken it.  In Oslo I (September 1993), in the
Gaza-Jericho Self-Rule accord (May 1994), in Oslo II (September 1995), and in
the Hebron accord (January 1997), Arafat pledged to "discipline" (punish)
terrorist groups, disarm terrorists, extradite terrorists to Israel, and
more.  He never did any of that.  Why should Israel trust yet another of his worthless promises?

        As for "holding Arafat accountable," Rubin gave no indication as
to how that might be done.  The most obvious method would be for the Clinton
administration to put some financial pressure on Arafat by reducing or
suspending its $500-million aid package to the PLO.  But when Congressman Jim
Saxton of New Jersey spearheaded a Congressional effort in 1995 to do just
that, Trudy Rubin loudly condemned him on the op-ed page of the Inquirer.

        In addition to her signed op-eds, Rubin is widely regarded as the
author of many of the Inquirer's unsigned editorials that concern the Arab-Israeli
conflict.   The Inquirer's April 9 editorial sounded remarkably like Rubin's
op-ed of five days earlier.  It demanded a halt to Jewish construction in
Jerusalem, in exchange for a "commitment" by Arafat to fight terrorism.  The
editorial urged President Clinton to insist that Netanyahu agree to such
terms.  "If he doesn't, Mr. Clinton should say bluntly that America is pulling of its
mediating role," and "he should then explain to the U.S. public who is to
blame."

        In any case there was any doubt as to whom Trudy Rubin and the
Inquirer would want President Clinton to blame, the April 9 editorial was accompanied
by yet another vicious anti-Israel cartoon from the pen of Inquirer staff
cartoonist Tony Auth: a huge bulldozer, with a large Jewish star as its
emblem, pushing a mountain of dirt onto the White House, with an aide telling the
President, "Prime Minister Netanyahu has arrived with his thoughts on the
peace
process..."

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