Jerusalem Post reporter Khaled Abu Toameh, who has spoken in Winnipeg a number of times,  is one of two winners of Israel’s Media Watch [IMW]’s 2011 award for media criticism, the organization announced recently.

I had an opportunity to meet  Abu Toameh and interview him in May 2009, during which time he said he had briefed President Obama not long after Obama was first elected.

According to IMW, “Abu Toameh publishes articles and gives lectures which are typified by a very critical stance on the Israeli and the foreign media, which, he says, does not understand its role or the Palestinian issues which it reports on.”

The IMW noted that Abu Toameh has “a refreshing approach to news” and “doesn’t hesitate to touch nerves” in the field he covers.

According to IMW’s website, the organization’s goal is “strengthening and realizing Israel’s democracy by informing the Israeli public about various media outlets and the extent to which they abide by the media codes of ethics, decency and objectivity in reporting.”

IMW says it does so through “systematic research and surveillance of the media and exposure of political and cultural media bias,” and by deepening public and institutional involvement in upholding the media codes of ethics, and defending the private citizen against the increasing power of the media against him or her.”

The award has been given out for the past 11 years, each time to two individuals or organizations that “made courageous, meaningful, and quality contributions to the criticism of the media in Israel.

Abu Toameh was chosen by a committee of judges appointed by IMW and willl receive a $5,000 cash prize for his award, which will be presented at a ceremony to be held by IMW in February 2011

What follow is the article I wrote in May 2009 , on interviewing Abu Toameh which  rings as true today as it did then.  (see below):

KHALED ABU TOAMEH- THERE IS NO PALESTINIAN PARTNER: ONLY REALISTIC COURSE IS CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

By Rhonda Spivak , May 2009

When prominent Israeli Arab journalist Khalid Abu Toameh recently briefed President Obama for two hours in Chicago, he says that he told Obama, that when the West gives money to the Palestinians, it shouldn’t be without strings.

“Before you give money to [PA Leader Mahmoud] Abbas, you need to hold him accountable-why not demand that he should show you a  free press.,  [or change what’s on Palestinian T.V], dismantle terror groups …even if  you  get 10% of it, we’ve made progress,” he said in an interview.

If  I were Netanyahu, I  wouldn’t give one inch of land to  the PA’s Mahmoud Abbas-because anything you give him would end up in  the hands of Hamas.

Abu Toameh clarified that  ideologically, he thinks Palestinians are entitled to statehood, but  he says that “neither Hamas nor Fatah are partners” with whom  Israel  can now negotiate a peace agreement.

“There is a two state solution –The Palestinians now have two states-one in Gaza and  one in  the West Bank”, he said, noting that at this time the only realistic course of action is “conflict-management.”

“In Gaza, we have a mini Islamic republic funded by  Iran. And in  the West Bank we have a powerless, corrupt leadership made up of Yassir Arafat chronies who have no credibility because they never initiated any  political reforms,” says  Abu Toameh.

Abu Toameh’s father is an Israeli Arab and his mother is  a West Bank Palestinian, so you can say “I am an  Israeli Arab Moslem Palestinian.” He started his career working for  a PLO run newspaper in East Jerusalem,  while also going to the Hebrew university, and then went on to work with international media. 

In 2000, Israeli journalists stopped going to  the  Palestinian territories  due to justifiable fear,  such that  Abu Toameh  was approached  by for the Jerusalem Post to cover  the area.  “So you see I started out as a journalist for the PLO and ended up at the Jerusalem Post,” he said.

 Abu Toameh said that if elections were held in the West Bank today, Hamas would win.

“ I am concerned the  rise of  radical Islam in the region, there may be a Tsunami… In local  elections 3 years ago, Hamas won in Nablus, in Ramallah-the capital of  Palestinian secularism, and even Bethlehem…Hamas would win because Fatah has blocked internal reforms-they have not changed their list off candidates… Mahmoud Abbas  hasn’t gone to a Palestinian refugee camp since he came to power… He’s afraid of his own people… Also, international sanctions on Hamas seem to have a boomerang effect…”

FAILURES OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY-WHY HAMAS WON ELECTIONS

In his talk, Abu Toameh gave a cogent analysis of the series of mistakes that he says “the U.S. and international community made in implementing the Oslo accords” which  gave rise to Hamas taking over  in Gaza.

The first mistake was allowing Arafat to embezzle money that  ought to have gone towards building a Palestinian state.

“When I told by my foreign media colleagues about this corruption , I was asked if I worked for the Jewish lobby…I wasn’t, but foreign journalists chose to ignore the story…editors said don’t give us this...Arafat is committed to peace, don’t report that.  Other  foreign journalists said maybe these claims are true, but we have to be able to go back to  the West Bank or Gaza, we can’t report it because they’ll kill us there…”  said Abu Toameh.

The result of “ turning a blind eye” to Arafat’s corruption is that “Palestinians said we don’t see the  fruits of peace.” (No  hospitals, schools, etc).  This resulted in Palestinians turning towards Hamas.

Abu Toameh believes things would have been different “had the international community  gone back to Arafat and said  stop misusing our funds and go and get ready for a state,”

 According to Abu Toameh, another significant factor was that Arafat got money “to run media, which he used to incite hatred against  Israel.

“Arafat needed to insure that the people were hating some one else-the  Jews [so they wouldn’t hate  him for  his failure to deliver benefits to them].  When you tell people day and night that … Israel is bad , then people wake up and say, so we’ [might as well] vote Hamas.”

Additionally,  when the international community gave Arafat guns to fight terror,  he used it instead to  suppress reform and real leadership.  “When 27 Palestinian professors signed a petition calling for reform in 1997, most were shot, beaten, or had to leave…This was ignored by mainstream media,”  Abu Toameh noted.

Once the PA was in power, the area was flooded with weapons and militias, which meant Israel  had to protect itself by restricting Palestinian movement, erecting checkpoints.  “Palestinians said what kind of peace is this?”

These factors combined radicalized Palestinian society, which is why, according to Abu Toameh, Palestinians voted for  Hamas not the PA in  2006.

President Bush’s made the mistake of “pushing for democratic elections ‘[ ignoring Fatah leaders, and Israel who didn’t want them held].  Abu Toameh said that before holding the  elections, “Bush should have put conditions  on  Hamas before they were allowed to run  in the elections [i.e. he should have demanded  they  recognizing Israel’s right to exist, abandon terror].”

Abu Toameh said “the real question is why the American’s didn’t know what every Palestinian child knew-that Hamas would win the elections.”
 
In Abu Toameh’s view, after Hamas won the elections, “ it was O.K to boycott Hamas,” , but “the American’s  did more than that-they interfered in internal Palestinian politics. 

“The Americans went running to the losers of the elections and said and started arming them  so they could try to take back power”,  said  Abu Toameh.  He  believes that the American’s  ought not to have done this,  because “there was  then a  high probability that Palestinians would have revolted on their own, and if they  hadn’t, it’s their problem.”

“The Hamas got more support… when the Palestinians  saw the U.S. arming and training Fatah, he said.

Abu Toameh said that he does not think Palestinians are currently ready for a state today- as they need to end lawlessness and anarchy.  “ A Palestinian state is something you earn by establishing  good  [democratic ]institutions and building it.”

THE MESSAGE AND THE MEDIA- FATAH AND HAMAS

 Abu Toameh also said that in the Western media, Fatah says it supports a two state solution.

“But in   Arabic you hear conflicting voices among Fatah— one Fatah  leader  [Dahlan] recently say that Fatah never recognized Israel…Sometimes Fatah’s message in  Arabic contradicts the message in English….For Hamas, the  message is the  same in  English and Arabic-they don’t recognize Israel.

When asked if there is a difference in the content of Television under Fatah or Hamas, Abu Toameh said “ In Arabic they are both bad…There is very little difference  between the two…”  

He noted that a child watching “5 minutes” of that T.V. would learn to hate Jews and Israel.

WARNINGS  OF A THIRD INTIFADA

Abu Toameh is critical of   Israel’s treatment of  its Arab population, and  said that 
“The overwhelming majority of us [Israeli Arabs] are fighting for equal rights as citizens  -we want to live in Israel not in Palestine.”

He said Israel must have a bigger plan to give Arab citizens better employment, housing and  other opportunities, so they can feel they are “full” citizens.

He  noted that there is an Arab judge on the Supreme Court, some Arab diplomats in the Foreign Ministry and there was  an Arab minister in the government, and some Arabs in the high-tech industry.  However, he said  more had to be done to  ensure Arab citizens   feel they are  treated as  full citizens.

“I have been warning the Israeli establishment that it needs to wake up--the 3rd intifada will be in the streets of Akko, Jaffa and other centres of the Arab  Israeli population,” unless Israel develops “a bigger plan.”

Abu Toameh, was clear, however that Israel ought not be labeled an apartheid state. “That is a wild exaggeration.”