I have been documenting the gradual change in American discourse toward the state of Israel.

Supporters of Israel have built up entire organizations dedicated toward monitoring the media and intimidating the media whenever critical reporting took place toward Israel. The intention was to silence criticism of Israel found otherwise in the international press.

It worked. The American media become incredibly tame when it came to Israel failing to report on the brutality of its military occupation in the West Bank. The 1980s saw the formation of several groups dedicated toward monitoring the media and reporting on “bias” against Israel. CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America), COMA (The Committee on Media Accountability) and FLAME (Facts and Logic About the Middle East) were all started for such a purpose and once reporting on a alleged “bias” against Israel, the message to supporters was clear: flood the newsroom with letter and phone complaints, threaten to cut off service and threaten a boycott if such “bias” continues. Sometimes demonstrations in front of news offices would ensue. These act of intimidation are very effective in taming coverage of brutal Israeli policies in the Occupied Territories.

But Israel’s attack on Gaza - which killed over 900 civilians of whom over 400 were children - may be a turning point for the U.S. media. The media may be developing more critical coverage of Israel. There have been some examples of that and now the L.A. Times provides a breakthrough in allowing an Israeli writer to call his country an “apartheid state” on the editorial page:

The most accurate way to describe Israel today is as an apartheid state. For more than 42 years, Israel has controlled the land between the Jordan Valley and the Mediterranean Sea. Within this region about 6 million Jews and close to 5 million Palestinians reside. Out of this population, 3.5 million Palestinians and almost half a million Jews live in the areas Israel occupied in 1967, and yet while these two groups live in the same area, they are subjected to totally different legal systems. The Palestinians are stateless and lack many of the most basic human rights. By sharp contrast, all Jews — whether they live in the occupied territories or in Israel — are citizens of the state of Israel.

The Israel lobby is still very powerful and most American still overwhelmingly favor Israel over the Palestinians, but such writings if they continue - if not suppressed - and become more numerous may in the longer run build a strong pro-Palestinian community in America. It may not be the majority, but still strong enough to, say, limit U.S. aid and diplomatic support for Israel.

The L.A. Times is a pioneer in this regard.