It's harvest time for olives in the West Bank and, as usual, there are clashes between Israeli and Palestinian farmers. Olive trees get damaged and vandalized on both sides. It's a reprehensible state of affairs, no doubt. But this is not exactly how the New York Times reports it. As far as Jerusalem bureau chief Jodi Rudoren is concerned, it's just another opportunity to bash Israelis, while glossing over Palestinian miscreants. ("In a Harvest, Palestinians Cast a Light on Hardship" Oct. 23, page A11). Right from the start, Rudoren shows where her sympathy lies, focusing rhapsodically on a Palestinian farmer "who has picked olives each autumn with his family, the women and girls cooking a hot meal in the fields as the men and boys topped ladders to fell the black and green fruit onto large tarps. The olive harvest has been a beloved ritual for Palestinians for hundreds of years, as important to the culture as to the economy." Well, you get the picture, including Rudoren falsifying...(Read Full Post)