In his “terrifying” editorial piece on al Durah, Gideon Levy, icon of the self-critical Israeli left made a remarkable statement that raises some painful questions about just how far from journalism and how deep into propaganda his work goes. Levy writes:

“As far as we can remember, there has been no other case in which Palestinians fired at the IDF and hit a Palestinian child.”

Note the presumably royal “we.” Lazar Berman, whose essay on honor-shame in the Israeli army I posted below, writes:

Apparently he does not even remember, or chooses not to remember, June 18th of this year, when Palestinian terrorists opened fire on the Israeli soldiers manning the Erez checkpoint. Their gunfire missed the soldiers, but did find Palestinian civilians. One was killed, and more than 10 were injured…including at least one child.

How do I know this?

I was there. I was commanding the troops inside of Erez, and those bullets flew over my head. The Palestinians brought their injured toward our position in the hope that we would grant them medical attention (which was ultimately granted). I saw the casualties from a distance of ten meters.

And an article on the incident appeared in Levy’s own paper, Haaretz. And this is not the only incident of such kind of event. Indeed, sacrificing children for the sake of propaganda victories — which people like Vanessa Redgrave eagerly supply — is part of Palestinian strategy.

Which brings us to our disturbing questions. Is Levy that uninformed and unaware that this kind of stuff goes on all the time, that he can make such a remark in good conscience? If so, he demonstrates not only a profound ignorance of the dynamics at work in the area of his own expertise, but an aggressive refusal to acknowledge anything of the sort. Or is it worse. Is he, like Charles Enderlin, so accustomed to lying to both himself and others, that he no longer realizes what it sounds like to an informed public… that such a statement brands him as either incompetent or dishonest?

Is he so accustomed to his audience at Ha-Aretz, who love his flagellant style so that they too don’t know inaccuracy when they see it? It’s not hard to find among the respondants to his article fawning comments like this, from Kim in Melbourne Australia:

Gideon Levy`s honest and integrity should be applauded

As usual, the only response that those who think its okay to kill close to a 1000 innocent children in the last 7 years can come up with is personal abuse. Facts speak for themselves and nothing they say or do will change this. Well done, Gideon. Keep up the wonderful work, we need more journalists like you.

How reliable can the reporting of a journalist who has already prejudged the evidence, and who flaunts his prejudices? Like Charles Enderlin, who immediately believes a fax in his office from a Palestinian hospital claiming that a child was shot by Israelis, Gideon Levy never heard a story of Israeli oppression of Palestinians he did not eagerly believe and pass on to his audience avid for dirt on Israel.

And what are the consequences of this kind of journalism? Well, for one thing, they feed some astonishing attitudes. Here’s Dutch Dirk from the Amsterdam, thanking Levy even as he prays for his annihilation:

Thank you Mr. Levy! But can you understand…

… now why Ahmadinejad and many many ordinary people would like to see Israel to be wiped of the map? Is there any such thing as: public outrage, protests by ordinary Israelis, about the mass killings of Palestinian children? No there is not and there will not be. Very strange isn`t it for a population that tends to claim more civilized than all Arab nations together. Israelis proudly claim moral superiority, though they are religeous fundamentalists and psychopaths without ANY moral standards. In my country the Netherlands, we lock up extremely dangerous pyschopaths whereas in Israel they`re allowed to run the IDF and the State of Israel. So for the sake of mankind, I sincerely hope the Arabs will develop a nuclear bomb in order to wipe Israel and the Israelis of the map, as Israel and the Israelis have lost their right to exist. I wish I could see it from a different perspective; I have to face the facts though.

Note how often “the facts” appear in these statements, as if their truth affirms my beliefs… when factuality is the last of Levy’s concerns.

Maybe the al Durah affair will have the added benefit of acting like a Shibboleth, identifying those Israeli “journalists” who do self-flagellant advocacy in the place of real reporting.