Israel appears set to withdraw from Lebanese border town Ghajar, easing tensions
If one were playing Jeopardy, the question to the headline would be: What do you get when you cross a journalist who seemingly tries to present an honest discussion of an issue in the Arab-Israel conflict with an editor who thinks only in terms of memes?
When reading the article, it is helpful to ask the following questions:
1. Why hasn’t Israel previously withdrawn completely from the northern part of Ghajar ? (Hint: you won’t find the answer until the end of the 5th paragraph)
2. Given the expressed desire of many Ghajar residents that their town not be divided, what tensions does the editor think are being “eased”? Is Hizb-allah going to finally conced that Israel has withdrawn completely from Lebanon? Will the withrdawal from northern Ghajar “ease tensions” between Israel and Lebanon? Israel and Syria?
The headline writer cannot seriously believe that to be the case. Rather, the headline is emblematic of the meme that Israel is solely to blame for all problems in the region. In such a world, tensionss are “increased” or “decreased” based solely upon Israel’s conduct, even if there is no objective reason to believe that tensions will, in fact, increase or decrease as a result. This, of course, is sheer nonsense, but the fact that this thought process is so commonplace in reoprting on the conflict largely explains why so many people fail to have a clear understanding of what is really going on.