The Week in Review section of today's New York Times carries an article about the editor of an English-language Saudi Arabian newspaper called Arab News. The article is promoted on the front page of the Times Week in Review section with the phrase "One Saudi's war against hate -- American hate." The headline inside says "Temper, Temper," and continues, "From bin Laden's Native Land, a Voice to Calm the Angry American."
The Times article begins "Khaled Al-Maeena, the editor in chief of the English-language Saudi newspaper Arab News, is an unabashed America-lover. He studied in the United States, sent four of his five children to American colleges and, with a tiny budget, built a newspaper staff of young Saudi men and women who are required to speak flawless English. So when dozens of Americans who read his newspaper on the Internet began to send him e-mail after Sept. 11, he fought back -- with deliberately moderate words."
So, according to the New York Times, Mr. Al-Maeena is the "moderate" lover of America, and his American correspondents are the angry ones full of hate.
Well, to gauge the accuracy of that assessment, check out the following article, which ran in Mr. Al-Maeena's newspaper under the headline "US media dancing to Zionist tune," and which is still available on the newspaper's Web site at http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=10309 :
"Since the US began to cobble together an international alliance to combat terrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks, the US media are unleashing a campaign against Muslims and Arabs without any distinction. . . . Interestingly, the US media attacks on Saudi Arabia and Egypt run counter to the daily statements of the US president or his secretary of state. Both have been praising the credible support and sincere efforts demonstrated by the Kingdom and Egypt. Then why this media onslaught? A study would reveal their motives. Thomas Friedman, a Jew, accuses Saudi Arabia and Egypt of not being with the US in its war on Afghanistan. The Washington Post even questions the legitimacy of the government in Egypt by saying that the elections were not fair, that freedom of expression is suppressed and that the political situation is in peril."
The Arab News article continues, "There is no doubt that after World War II, the world Jewry has been trying to be as close as possible to the decision-making processes in the West in general and the US in particular -- Congress, the Senate and the Pentagon. Zionism convinced the Western world that communism was their enemy No. 1 with Islam occupying the second position. As communism is no longer a threat, Islam is the No. 1 enemy and such a canard is unfortunately believed by many Westerners. Moreover, as Zionism is surviving on lies, it exploits every opportunity to target Islam and this is evident following the September attacks on the US. Therefore, the US media that are controlled or dominated by Zionists continue attacking Islam, Muslims and Arabs taking advantage of the fact that the prime suspects in the attacks are Arab or Muslim."
The Arab News article continues, "The enmity between the West and Islam is growing due to the lies spread by Zionism. Zionists claim that Arabs and Muslims are against Israel. They choose to ignore the fact that Israel is an alien outpost in the Arab world. It was Jews who occupied Palestine and displaced its original people. . . . So, it is not surprising that the Zionist media tried to equate the September attacks on the US with the legitimate struggle of the Palestinians against Israel and call the Palestinians terrorists. Zionists are trying to poison Arab-US relations to further their own interests."
This article -- citing "Thomas Friedman, a Jew" as an example of "the US media that are controlled or dominated by Zionists" -- is a prime example of what appears in the newspaper whose editor in chief today's New York Times describes as "an unabashed America-lover" who is fighting "a war against hate."
Mr. Friedman at least deserves an apology from his colleagues at the Times. But that is an internal matter. More importantly, the readers of the New York Times deserve better than news articles and headlines that bill a publisher of anti-Jewish propaganda as "an unabashed America-lover" who is fighting "a war against hate."