The Reader need only look at the third paragraph of this, what to name it?
On November 4th The Economist was invited by the idf to accompany troops to the front line. Over the course of several hours no civilians were seen. Officers and soldiers said they had sighted only a handful since entering Gaza city on October 27th. Around three-quarters of the 1m-strong civilian population is estimated to have heeded the idf’s warnings and fled south, away from the part of the city which Israeli troops are now encircling.
Immediately following the above paragraph is this :
But for the generals preparing the battle plans, the diplomatic clock is ticking. In horrific scenes over 10,000 Palestinians have already been killed, according to the Gaza health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas. More than 11% of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed.
Should this sentence fragment surprise the critical reader about the ‘journalistic integrity’ exercised by this ‘news’-magazine’ : ‘ according to the Gaza health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas’.
Next to appear in this melodrama masquerading as journalism, is Antony Blinken:
Where is The Reader ? This News-Magazine’s Household God is Walter Bagehot, that reflects the political/colonial romanticism of this ‘newsmagazine’. The critical reader’s strategy does not just suggest itself, but presents itself as a paragraph by paragraph evaluation, which attempts to separates the proffered reportage from the propaganda.?
Paragraph 6
Israeli generals still talk about waging a long campaign that will last up to a year. On November 7th Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told abc News that Israel would be in charge of Gaza’s security for an “indefinite period”. In practice, though, what Israeli officers call their “window of legitimacy” is probably far shorter. How fast that window closes will depend largely on America, which is supplying Israel with munitions, diplomatic support and an aid package worth perhaps $14bn. If Joe Biden wants the war to end, Israel will be hard-pressed to ignore him.
Paragraph 7.
Israeli generals still talk about waging a long campaign that will last up to a year. On November 7th Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told abc News that Israel would be in charge of Gaza’s security for an “indefinite period”. In practice, though, what Israeli officers call their “window of legitimacy” is probably far shorter. How fast that window closes will depend largely on America, which is supplying Israel with munitions, diplomatic support and an aid package worth perhaps $14bn. If Joe Biden wants the war to end, Israel will be hard-pressed to ignore him.
Paragraph 8.
Note: that this paragraph is devoted to ‘speculation’ not reportage.
So far, he does not. Although he now supports “humanitarian pauses” to allow more aid to enter Gaza, Mr Biden has rejected calls for an outright ceasefire. But administration officials have made clear, in a series of leaks, that they doubt Israel has a coherent exit strategy in Gaza. They complain that Mr Netanyahu is barely willing to discuss the topic, and say they want to put their concerns on the record now lest the war end badly.
Paragraph 9.
Note: This paragraph is an admixture of Reportage and Propaganda :
They also have concerns about Israeli tactics. Asked about the idf’s efforts to minimise civilian deaths, John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, practically tied himself in knots: “We have seen some indications that there are efforts being applied in certain scenarios to try to minimise [them],” he said. To think a war risks becoming a devastating quagmire but to support it nonetheless is an untenable position—especially when many American voters agree.
Paragraph 10.
Note: taking the temperature, and national political mood of Americans is not exactly propaganda, but the final sentence framed by ‘sources in Washington think’ , is its shadow.
An Associated Press poll found that 58% of Democrats think Israel’s response has gone too far and 44% think America is too supportive of it. A Quinnipiac survey of registered voters found that 51% of independents and 66% of people aged 18-34 disapprove of Mr Biden’s policy. His ratings have plummeted among Arab-American voters, which could hurt him next year in crucial swing states like Michigan. Sources in Washington think it will still be several more weeks before Mr Biden pivots to talk of a truce—but do not doubt that he will make such a shift.
Paragraph 11.
Note: more speculation about what if’s: a multi-front war, were acute in the days after Hamas’s massacre, the group’s leader, signalled in a speech,…
Arab states certainly hope so. Fears of a multi-front war, which were acute in the days after Hamas’s massacre, have eased. Hizbullah, a Lebanese Shia militia, is still firing rockets daily at Israel, but Hassan Nasrallah, the group’s leader, signalled in a speech on November 3rd that he was not yet keen on all-out war. The Houthis, a Shia militant group in Yemen, have lobbed drones and missiles at Israel but are too far away to pose a strategic threat.
Paragraph 12.
Note: Speculation is now The Economist mode of argument, of a kind!
Many regional autocrats would be happy to see Israel smash Hamas. But they are also nervous that the war will mobilise their subjects, many of whom are already restive about awful economic conditions. This adds to pressure on both America, which has heard their fears for weeks now, and Israel, which is keen to preserve its recent diplomatic gains in the Arab world.
Rootless cosmopolitan,down at heels intellectual;would be writer.
'Polemic is a discourse of conflict, whose effect depends on a delicate balance between the requirements of truth and the enticements of anger, the duty to argue and the zest to inflame. Its rhetoric allows, even enforces, a certain figurative licence. Like epitaphs in Johnson’s adage, it is not under oath.'
https://www.lrb.co.uk/v15/n20/perry-anderson/diary
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