Ha'aretz: preliminary thought

Ha'aretz is an Israeli daily that I often resort to for fast-breaking Nile-to-Euphrates news. Ha'aretz currently offers its English readers biting political and social commentary from what is often referred to as a "leftist" or "moderate" perspective (thereby adding to the meaninglessness of these terms in English language news-speak). Published in both English and Hebrew, I understand that its input on cultural matters is significant.

Ha'aretz' editorial staff presents to its readers a pragmatic (guilty?) Zionist perspective. A dinasaur of Israeli media, the prestigious (if not so popular) organization has well-placed journalists, informers and contributers. It probably has a team of fluent Arabic-speaking personnel, giving the product real insight into domestic and foreign matters affecting Israel. In any case, it is certainly a perspective worthy of praise in many journalistic respects (although not all) when compared to other newspapers from the region that address similar issues.

Ha'aretz is my current Israeli news source and has been for some time. I would like to read Ma'ariv, although I think it is only available in Hebrew. Yedioth Ahronot seems a bit like USA Today.

From Ha'aretz article today:

"When Senator John Kerry visited the [Gaza] Strip, he learned that many trucks loaded with pasta were not permitted in. When the chairman of the [US] Senate Foreign Affairs Committee inquired as to the reason for the delay, he was told by United Nations aid officials that "Israel does not define pasta as part of humanitarian aid - only rice shipments."

Kerry asked [Ehud] Barak about the logic behind this restriction, and only after the senior U.S. official's intervention did the defense minister allow the pasta into the Strip...

A senior source dealing with humanitarian aid issues on the Israeli side said... 'This is outrageous. Why should a senior American official issue a protest on pasta in order for us to recognize that we need to allow it into the Gaza Strip?'"