The Middle East Media Sampler 5/23/2012: Tom Friedman Has Nothing New To Say To Israel

From DG:

Column without purpose

Thomas Friedman's latest, Power with purpose, exhorts Prime Minister Netanyahu to engage in "constructive unilateralism" as proposed in a recent op-ed Peace without Partners by Ami Ayalon, Orni Petruschka and Gilead Sher. The problem is that, as with the earlier op-ed, the onus for peacemaking falls strictly on Israel.

Here's the impetus for Friedman's suggestion:

I’m keeping an open mind, but the temptation for Bibi to do nothing will be enormous. The Palestinians are divided between Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and both populations are tired.

Video: Tom Friedman's Breakfast With Hezbollah

“Israel doesn’t have to worry about me,” Friedman had stressed early in the interview. “At the end of the day, Israel will have my support — it had me at hello.”
Tom Friedman, quoted in Bibi, Tom Friedman, and U.S. Jews divesting from Israel

The Algemeiner notes Thomas Friedman’s Hezbollah Breakfast?:

The main dining room of New York’s Loews Regency hotel located on the corner of 61st Street and Park Avenue is well know as the favorite breakfast venue of the rich and influential.

Last Friday, an Algemeiner reader captured this photo and video of beleaguered New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman with Lebanese Ambassador to the United Nations Nawaf Salam breakfasting at the hot spot.

Salam, who has held his position since 2007 is well know for his key role in forwarding the Unilateral Deceleration of Palestinian Arab Statehood at the United Nations, a move that was vigorously opposed by the United States.

Anne Bayefsky, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and editor of Eye on the UN, commented on Salam’s position as a representative of the Hezbollah dominated Lebanese government, saying, “He is essentially Hezbollah’s representative in the United Nations.” The group, listed as a terror organization by the United States, has dominated Lebanese politics since 2009.

Here is the video:

David Gerstman: Tom Friedman vs. Israel

I sure hope that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, understands that the standing ovation he got in Congress this year was not for his politics. That ovation was bought and paid for by the Israel lobby.
Tom Friedman, Newt, Mitt, Bibi and Vladimir, December 13, 2011

When Tom Friedman used antisemitic imagery of Israel owning Congress, many saw this as Friedman crossing the line--and there were those who came to his defense that though a critique of Israel, Tom Friedman is a friend of Israel.

But, as David Gerstman documents in Tom Friedman vs Israel--over the years Friedman has criticized Israel in a way that has consistently shown a lack of balance.