There's supposedly big news today from the Middle East. Israel's prime minister Netanyahu said that the Golan Heights would remain in Israeli hands in the future and would not be given to Syria. But here's the question: why is that news? Why does it merit big headlines?
Think about it. For the first twenty years of Israel's existence, Syrian forces on the Golan Heights used their positions to shoot artillery and small arms fire at Israeli communities in the valleys below. Many Israelis were killed or wounded in the fire. Then in 1967, the Syrians attacked Israel in support of the Egyptians. In the Six Day War, Israel captured the Golan Heights. That ended the attacks on the Israeli communities that had been commonplace when the Syrians controlled the Golan. In 1973, the Syrians again attacked Israel and almost recaptured the Golan. The Israelis, however, prevailed and a cease fire agreement left the Golan in Israeli hands. A few years later (35 years ago), Israel formally annexed the area. Remember, only two areas captured by Israel in 1967 were annexed. The first was the eastern half of Jerusalem and the second was the Golan Heights. Everything else remained under Israeli control, but it was not formally made part of Israel. If Israel officially incorporated the Golan into Israel 35 years ago, why is it news that Netanyahu said today that Israel was going to keep that land? Would it be news if president Obama said that the USA was going to keep California which was won from Mexico 150 years ago? What if Poland said that it was going to keep the lands that it got from Germany at the end of World War II? Would that be news? How about if Vietnam announced that it was going to keep the southern half of the country which it finally took over in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War? Is that news? Of course not. And it's not newsworthy when Israel says the same sort of thing.
But there's more than just the media making something out of nothing. The story from the AP came paired with a video of Israel shooting down a Syrian jet fighter over the Golan Heights. That sounds like news. After all, it's not every day that something like that happens. So I looked more closely at the video. It's from something that happened two years ago. The story doesn't mention that. The video doesn't mention that. It was only when I did research to see when this happened that I learned it was from 2014. So the AP is pushing phony news stories to pair with the non-event of what Netanyahu said. It's really disgusting just how untruthful the media really is.
Think about it. For the first twenty years of Israel's existence, Syrian forces on the Golan Heights used their positions to shoot artillery and small arms fire at Israeli communities in the valleys below. Many Israelis were killed or wounded in the fire. Then in 1967, the Syrians attacked Israel in support of the Egyptians. In the Six Day War, Israel captured the Golan Heights. That ended the attacks on the Israeli communities that had been commonplace when the Syrians controlled the Golan. In 1973, the Syrians again attacked Israel and almost recaptured the Golan. The Israelis, however, prevailed and a cease fire agreement left the Golan in Israeli hands. A few years later (35 years ago), Israel formally annexed the area. Remember, only two areas captured by Israel in 1967 were annexed. The first was the eastern half of Jerusalem and the second was the Golan Heights. Everything else remained under Israeli control, but it was not formally made part of Israel. If Israel officially incorporated the Golan into Israel 35 years ago, why is it news that Netanyahu said today that Israel was going to keep that land? Would it be news if president Obama said that the USA was going to keep California which was won from Mexico 150 years ago? What if Poland said that it was going to keep the lands that it got from Germany at the end of World War II? Would that be news? How about if Vietnam announced that it was going to keep the southern half of the country which it finally took over in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War? Is that news? Of course not. And it's not newsworthy when Israel says the same sort of thing.
But there's more than just the media making something out of nothing. The story from the AP came paired with a video of Israel shooting down a Syrian jet fighter over the Golan Heights. That sounds like news. After all, it's not every day that something like that happens. So I looked more closely at the video. It's from something that happened two years ago. The story doesn't mention that. The video doesn't mention that. It was only when I did research to see when this happened that I learned it was from 2014. So the AP is pushing phony news stories to pair with the non-event of what Netanyahu said. It's really disgusting just how untruthful the media really is.
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