Loading ...‘NYT’ finally mentions ‘Goliath’ — in rightwing ad smearing Max Blumenthal
James North and Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Today the New York Times printed a full-page ad telling Hillary Clinton she has to reject her adviser Sidney Blumenthal and his allegedly anti-semitic son Max, because of Max Blumenthal’s tremendous book on Israel’s militant rightwing political culture, Goliath. The ad on page A7 was paid for by Shmuley Boteach, who has gotten tons of money from Sheldon Adelson. It concludes that Clinton is
asking friends of Israel to count on her support for the always-vulnerable Jewish State. If she won’t dissociate herself from her discredited advisor Sid Blumenthal and his rabid, Israel-hating son Max how can we?
The ad distorts and caricatures Goliath as a work that paints Israelis as Nazis. It falsely attributes a famous quote by Yeshayahu Leibowitz– Judeo Nazis– to Blumenthal. It includes this patent lie:
Max even calls for the end of Jewish life in Israel.
The saddest thing about this ad is that it is the first time that Goliath has been mentioned in the paper of record. The book came out in 2013, cementing a new understanding about Israel that Shmuley Boteach feels a great need to combat, yet it has never been reviewed; Max Blumenthal has never been profiled in the newspaper’s pages; the controversy the book unleashed never reported. In short, Times readers were never introduced to this important book in a neutral way. The only time Times readers have read about Goliath is in a full-page ad that rightwing Israel supporters spent tens of thousands of dollars on, in order to smear Max Blumenthal. (Does the Times allow false and defamatory ads?)
The Times has fallen down on its job to convey important news on crucial matters. And it has done so for pro-Israel reasons; because it wishes to deny the grim realities of modern Israel to the American establishment.
Source: mondoweiss.net