Unplugged Mike

Here is a letter I just discovered from the Independent that was published on August 1, 2003. The letter was written in response to another Johann Hari column, in which he claimed that the Palestinian narrative did not get a hearing in America, news to anyone who has been on a college campus recently or reads the newspaper on a regular basis. It is a common misconception that the United States is a biased party when it comes to the politics of the Middle East. Naturally anyone who is pro-Palestinian is going to find the United States biased. But I believe it is the Europeans, who have largely accepted the Palestinian narrative, and now give short shrift to the Israeli narrative, who are the biased ones.

Letter - Middle East myths.
By Michael Brenner.

Sir: Johann Hari submits that the Palestinian narrative is entirely unheard in America. This is simply untrue. It is a popular tale told at elite universities like Edward Said's Columbia and promoted by ubiquitous pro-Palestinian writers like James Zogby, Ali Abunimah, William Dalrymple and many others on the pages of major American newspapers. It seems that Mr Hari's real protest is that the Palestinian narrative has not been accepted wholesale in America as it has been by many, if not most, Europeans. It is for this reason that America remains the major arbiter in peace negotiations; rather than displaying a bias where Europe is even-handed, it is in fact even-handed where Europe is biased.

MICHAEL BRENNER

New York.

posted by Michael Brenner @ 9:49 AM