Defining the Israeli Political Center at the Guardian

Simon Plosker..
Honest Reporting Backspin..
24 January '13..



Referring to Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, the surprise success of the Israeli elections, The Guardian’s Harriet Sherwood writes:

it positioned itself in the centre of the Israeli political spectrum – which is further to the right than in most European countries.

But if The Guardian sees Israel as a “right-wing” country by European standards, then how does it refer to the Palestinians?

According to this Guardian editorial from 2011:

Israel had the most moderate Palestinian leader in Mahmoud Abbas it was ever likely to meet over a negotiating table in several generations and blew it.

Perhaps Mahmoud Abbas is relatively moderate compared with Hamas but when was the last time The Guardian pointed out to its readers that, compared to European countries, the Palestinian political spectrum runs from all the way from extreme to very extreme?

And let’s not forget that the Palestinians chose Hamas in their last ballot.

Even when Israelis start to vote in a way that could be seen as moderate, The Guardian still has to make sure that Israel is seen to be beyond the political pale by coming up with its own definition of the political center.

Link: http://honestreporting.com/the-guardian-defines-the-israeli-political-center/

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