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Thomas Friedman on Hardball

Last night, Tom Friedman was Chris Matthews' guest on Hardball, and displayed his typical intellectual dishonesty.

Friedman described the Geneva Accord and Ehud Olmert's call for a unilateral partial withdrawal as revolutionary, a sign that Israelis were fed up with Sharon. Friedman particularly attacked Sharon for including several settlements within the security fence (Friedman calls it a wall, even though only 5 percent of it is a wall).

What Friedman did not mention is that Olmert expressed total opposition to Geneva and strongly criticized Colin Powell and the State Department for meeting Yossi Beilin. Olmert also supports the fence.

According to Friedman, Israelis have decided that Sharon is a failure, because he has not implemented something similar to Geneva. Yet today's Haaretz published a survey in which 57 percent of Israelis answered that Sharon has not missed any opportunities for peace. The poll also shows that 69 percent view Sharon's policy toward the Palestinians as "too moderate" or "appropriate", 78 percent oppose the evacuation of West Bank settlements other than those which are "remote and isolated", and 61 percent oppose dividing Jerusalem.

UPDATE - 12/11: Friedman's column this morning states that as a result of the Iraq war, Israelis are calling for unilateral withdrawal, even from the Jordan Valley. His proof? That Ehud Olmert called for a (partial) unilateral withdrawal. Just one problem, though: Olmert's motivation is the demographic issue, and he prefers to keep the Jordan Valley, which is virtually empty and therefore irrelevant to the demographics.

An interview with Olmert is supposed to appear in tomorrow's Jerusalem Post. I'll then analyze the Friedman/Olmert issue in more detail.
posted on 12/10/2003