http://marcovilla.instablogs.com/ Comments - Latest Popular Stories powered by Instablogs Community. http://www.instablogs.com/site-img/insta-slogo.gif http://marcovilla.instablogs.com/ en-us Instascript 2.0 http://www.instablogs.com Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:54:43 +0000 http://greywolf.instablogs.com http://greywolf.instablogs.com Michael Davison
This is a Letter to the Editor of Ha’Aretz newspaper from the author of the book you use to condemn King Hussein so ferociously. It does not appear in the online edition (no letters to the editor do, for some reason), but it is in the printed edition that I get delivered every day.

“Remembering King Hussein for his contribution to peace”

“I would like to correct a number of points relating to my book, ‘King Hussein of Jordan,’ which appeared in Amir Oren’s article ‘Jordan’s King: LSD, fortune tellers, and Black September’ (Haaretz, March 1). Firstly, the title of the piece seems to me to miss altogether Hussein’s vital contribution during his long reign to the peace process with Isaael: what he called ‘bringing together the children of Abraham.’ In this worthy goal, he found a similarly committed peace partner during the early 1190s in Yitzhak Rabin.

“Second, I believe the article might lead your readers to misunderstand the nature of Hussein’s relations with the CIA across the decades. Ever since an article by Bob Woodward on this topic appeared in the Washington Post in February 1977, Hussein’s critics have lost no opportunity to claim that he was somehow ‘paid off by the CIA.’ But, as President Carter privately wrote to Hussein right after the Woodward article appeared, such allegations were ‘unfair’ and ‘misleading.’ As Carter put it, ‘there was nothing illegal or improper in your relationship with us.’ The implied comparison in Oren’s article with the current charges pending against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert seems to me to be wholly mistaken.

“Third, the sensationalized reference to LSD in the headline of the article, and the subsequent discussion of it might also lead readers to misunderstand the nature of the incident concerned. Hussein, like other guests at this gathering, was the victim of involuntary poisoning on the part of Ms. Christian.

“No doubt many Israelis who remember King Hussein’s moving oration at Yitzhak Rabin’s funeral or his extraordinary reaction to the appalling murder of Israeli schoolgirls at Baqura/Naharayim in March 1977, will feel that he deserves to be remembered for his contribution to peace and understanding between Arab and Israeli.”

(signed) Dr. Nigel Ashton, London School of Economics and Political Science

It’s not surprising to me that you start with a misleading headline but it is surprising that you quote an article from one of the most hard-line, anti-Palestinian Israeli journalists. I hope you do better research for your schoolwork than you do for these blogs.]]> In rebuttal:



This is a Letter to the Editor of Ha’Aretz newspaper from the author of the book you use to condemn King Hussein so ferociously. It does not appear in the online edition (no letters to the editor do, for some reason), but it is in the printed edition that I get delivered every day.



“Remembering King Hussein for his contribution to peace”



“I would like to correct a number of points relating to my book, ‘King Hussein of Jordan,’ which appeared in Amir Oren’s article ‘Jordan’s King: LSD, fortune tellers, and Black September’ (Haaretz, March 1). Firstly, the title of the piece seems to me to miss altogether Hussein’s vital contribution during his long reign to the peace process with Isaael: what he called ‘bringing together the children of Abraham.’ In this worthy goal, he found a similarly committed peace partner during the early 1190s in Yitzhak Rabin.



“Second, I believe the article might lead your readers to misunderstand the nature of Hussein’s relations with the CIA across the decades. Ever since an article by Bob Woodward on this topic appeared in the Washington Post in February 1977, Hussein’s critics have lost no opportunity to claim that he was somehow ‘paid off by the CIA.’ But, as President Carter privately wrote to Hussein right after the Woodward article appeared, such allegations were ‘unfair’ and ‘misleading.’ As Carter put it, ‘there was nothing illegal or improper in your relationship with us.’ The implied comparison in Oren’s article with the current charges pending against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert seems to me to be wholly mistaken.



“Third, the sensationalized reference to LSD in the headline of the article, and the subsequent discussion of it might also lead readers to misunderstand the nature of the incident concerned. Hussein, like other guests at this gathering, was the victim of involuntary poisoning on the part of Ms. Christian.



“No doubt many Israelis who remember King Hussein’s moving oration at Yitzhak Rabin’s funeral or his extraordinary reaction to the appalling murder of Israeli schoolgirls at Baqura/Naharayim in March 1977, will feel that he deserves to be remembered for his contribution to peace and understanding between Arab and Israeli.”



(signed) Dr. Nigel Ashton, London School of Economics and Political Science



It’s not surprising to me that you start with a misleading headline but it is surprising that you quote an article from one of the most hard-line, anti-Palestinian Israeli journalists. I hope you do better research for your schoolwork than you do for these blogs.

]]> Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000