jonathan-cook | Why is writing about Israel so difficult at the Guardian? There are several reasons.
The
first, as I have regularly observed in my blog, is related to the
general structure of the corporate media system, including the Guardian.
It is designed to exclude almost all deeply critical voices, those that
might encourage readers to question the ideological basis of the
western societies in which they live and alert them to the true role of
the corporations that run those societies and their media.
Israel,
as an intimate ally of the US, is therefore protected from profoundly
critical scrutiny, much as the US and its western allies are. It is okay
to criticise individual western policies as flawed, especially if done
so respectfully, but not to suggest that the whole direction of western
foreign policy is flawed, that it is intended to maintain a system of
control over, and exploitation of, weaker nations. Policies can be
dubious, but not our leaders’ moral character.
The problem with
Israel is that its place in the global order – alongside the US –
depends on it being a very sophisticated gun for hire. It keeps order
and disorder in the Middle East at Washington’s behest and in return it
gets to plunder the Palestinian territories and ethnically cleanse the
native population. It’s a simple story but not one you can state
anywhere in the mainstream because it questions not just a policy (the
occupation) but Israel’s very nature and role as a colonial settler
state.
Beyond this, however, special factors pertain in the
Guardian’s case. As Ahmed notes, in part this is related to the
Guardian’s pivotal role in bringing to fruition the ultimate colonial
document, the Balfour Declaration. For this reason, the Guardian has
always had a strong following among liberal Jews, and that is reflected
in its selection of staff at senior ranks.
In this sense, the
editorial “mood” at the Guardian resembles that of an indulgent parent
towards a wayward grown-up child. Yes, Israel does some very bad things
(the occupation) but, for all its faults, its heart is in the right
place (as a Jewish, colonial settler state practising apartheid).
