Los Angeles Times Ignores Israel's 60th Anniversary Except for Article Discussing Its Demise

The Los Angeles metropolitan area boasts the second largest Jewish community in the United States, and probably the second largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel. The Los Angeles Times is the paper of record for the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Yet today's Los Angeles Times had no stories about the raucous celebrations in Israel of the 60th anniversary of its independence. It had no stories about the accomplishments of Israel over the past six decades in creating a prosperous, democratic nation. It had no stories about Israel's surprising contributions, with a population of only 7 million, to science and technology.

The only story in today's Los Angeles Times relevant to Israel's 60th birthday is entitled, "For some Palestinians, one state with Israel is better than none." Its topic is a supposed emerging new trend among Palestinians, to abandon the so-called "two-state solution" and the concept of a Palestinian State living peacefully alongside Israel, in favor of a single binational Jewish-Arab state, covering all of pre-1967 Israel, Gaza, Judea and Samaria (the latter two areas being commonly called "the West Bank" in American media).

The story is either an incredible display of historical ignorance or a fraud. There is nothing new about the concept of a single state in Palestine. The supposed emerging trend is nothing more than the traditional pre-Oslo program of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, which called for a "secular, democratic state" covering all of the territory of the former British mandate in Palestine. Indeed, there is little doubt, based on statements made by Yassir Arafat (may his name be erased) and other PLO leaders after the Oslo Accords (but only in Arabic outside of the hearing of gullible American and European diplomats and media), that the elimination of Israel, in favor of an Arab-dominated state, remained the program of the PLO and the Palestinian Authority in the post-Oslo era as well. The Oslo Accords were simply a tactical move to achieve that objective.

How secular or democratic such a state would be has been amply demonstrated by conditions prevailing in areas that have come under Palestinian Arab control since Oslo. Such a state would quickly become yet another Arab and Islamic, "juden-rein" (Jew free) authoritarian state.

One should read the Los Angeles Times only to keep abreast of the latest thinking among the anti-Israel "progressives" in the United States media elites.

UPDATE, Monday, May 12:

The Los Angeles Times, always in character, doubled down in its Sunday, May 11 Opinion section. It published two articles on the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence. The first, entitled "Forget the Two-State Solution," is by UCLA Professor Saree Makdisi, author of a new book entitled "Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation." Although not so identified by the Times, he is the son of a Lebanese father and a Palestinian mother, and is a nephew of the late, virulently anti-Zionist Palestinian Professor Edward Said. Professor Makdisi's column was in effect the ideological justification for the May 8 Times feature article entitled "For some Palestinians, one state with Israel is better than none," arguing with fallacious assertions of supposed fact that Israel has made a two-state solution impossible, leaving one binational state as the only practical solution.

Then comes what passes in the Los Angeles Times for balance, an article by Benny Morris, entitled "Israel's Unhappy Birthday," which gloomily begins, "Israel at 60 is a sad place. It is sad despite the prosperity that is apparent at every turn." True, Morris notes, there have been some achievements:

"By most Western political and economic standards, the country is a phenomenal success story. It is one of the few states created after World War II to have emerged and remained a functioning, indeed vibrant, democracy; its citizens, including its Arab citizens (1.3 million out of a total population of almost 7 million), enjoy civil rights and the benefits of a legal system that is as free and honest as any in the West, and a social welfare basket that assures the survival of the poorest. It is a powerhouse in terms of economic, scientific and cultural creativity, with substantial high-tech accomplishments, a handful of Nobel Prize winners and a host of internationally successful writers to prove it."

But forget all that, Morris continues. When not distracted by their Independence Day picnics, angst-filled Israelis joylessly contemplate their impending doom.

Happy Birthday right back at you, Los Angeles Times. With your declining circulation and revenues, Israel will probably outlast you.