@@ New York Times censorship: Why Dr. Khodr's letter is not published? @@
Arash
December 25, 2005
NSA Snooping And Israeli Connection
Year Ends With NSA Snooping Issue while Reader Questions New York Times Censorship
And Biased Reporting, Relating It To Protecting And Favoring Israeli Interests Over
U.S. And The Rest Of The World
Dr. Mohamed Khodr writes letter to New York Times that hasn't been published, raising
questions as to fair and honest coverage. Is the Times protecting Israeli interests
to the detriment of America, leading to censorship of important stories like the
motives behind the Iraqi War, 9/11, the Patriot Act and NSA snooping on Americans.
By Greg Szymanski
The year is ending with a flurry of concern over President Bush’s direct order to spy
on Americans, using the Pentagon and National Security Agency
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA) spooks to ration out the government’s dirty work
on mostly innocent and unsuspecting Americans.
The story recently broke in the mainstream press as the heated debate to renew the
highly controversial Patriot Act (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act) took
center stage in the Senate, ending last Friday as lawmakers agreed to a February 3,
2006, extension before any real action is taken.
For years, critics of the Patriot Act have been screaming about its direct
infringement on cherished constitutional privacy and speech rights, but without much
luck in getting any significant changes.
In fact, the NSA snooping story is directly related to the Patriot Act’s illegality
since it gives spooks an unbridled power to wiretap and eavesdrop on “suspected
domestic terrorists”, using mere suspicion, without a warrant, as the legal thresh
hold instead of showing probable cause a crime is being committed.
Relaxing the legal standard from probable cause to mere suspicion has most
fair-minded legal scholars up in arms. But academia provides little consolation for
the millions of Americans now living under the umbrella of a fascist state, since
newspaper follow-up reports recently pointed out the 18,000 people on the Bush spy
list in the recent NSA story is only the “tip of the iceberg”.
The extent and sheer numbers of those being spied on by the NSA without
court-approved warrants based on probable cause – not mere suspicion – is now thought
to be much, much larger.
And even The New York Times, who sat on the story for 18 months as a favor to the
Bush administration, reported this fact in a Saturday follow-up to the original NBC
story.
However, media critics complain both new agencies are out to lunch and “a day late
and a dollar short” with their reporting efforts since widespread NSA and Pentagon
abuse, with White House acknowledgement, has been documented by the alternative press
and civil rights activists as early as 2002.
In fact, after the New York Times was caught red-handed in suppressing the NSA
snooping story for more than 18 months, it provided just another example of the many
stories, including 9/11 and the motives behind the war in Iraq, suppressed by New
York Times management.
The year-end question arises: Why?
Many critics contend the New York Times is protecting the Bush administration and its
neo-con world order agenda. Others also contend its policies favor and protect
Israeli interests while turning a blind-eye to the U.S. and the rest of the world.
But knowing the Bush administration will step up efforts in 2006 to spy on more
Americans and the New York Times will continue to censor even more important stories,
let’s end this year with a letter sent to the New York Times, sent by Mohamed Khodr,
MD, which never was published but illustrated what Dr. Khodr feels is a “deep Israeli
bias” resulting in the censorship of many important stories, including the truth
behind the war in Iraq, 9/11, the Patriot Act, the NSA snooping story and many
others.
In an effort to hear all views, the following is the unedited letter sent by Dr.
Khodr to the publisher of the New York Times, Arthur Sulzberger, but not yet
published:
Dear Mr. Sulzberger:
Happy Hanukah:
“Just a brief note to reiterate what I've written you on several occasions,
written your editors including your letter editor, that your paper is unable to shake
the influence and hold whether ideological, financial, political or just pure fear of
confrontation of a Pro-Israel bias that has severely damaged the credibility of your
paper. The once glorious paper of record has now become a timid infotainment paper
that knows where its bread is buttered, and its not from any sense of justice or
fairness it once embodied.
“Your paper's scandals, Pro-Israel and Pro-Iraq War will continue to bleed your
credibility as the wars have bled the blood of the innocent youth of America, Iraq,
Palestine, and Israel. Your support of Israel in the long run is a losing proposition
and will only further alienate Americans and the world not only from Israel but from
the future peace and stability of Jewish grandchildren who may pay a burdensome price
for what you and the Zionist cabals have done to destroy this nation and the future
of peace in the MidEast. "Never Again" should be the standard for the suffering of
all humans not just for Jews who suffered expulsions from every European country and
principality, an Inquisition, pogroms, hate, persecution, murders, and finally a
Holocaust at the hands of Europe, not in Muslim countries and certainly not in
Palestine. It was Islam that took Jewish refugees in and protected them, in fact
placed them in honorable government positions, as was the case of RamBam (for your
letter editor's sake: that's Moses Maimonides).
“Unfortunately your editor is of a lightweight intellect doing his "kosher" duty
rather than seeking enlightenment on Zionism and Israel's history. I'm sure he's not
read any part of the Babylonian Talmud (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud) nor of
any United Nations report on Israel's terrorism--The Ralph Bunche Report
(http://www.doublestandards.org/unbunche.html) to better understand why most
Europeans think Israel is the main threat to world peace. Keeping such knowledge out
of your paper will only further allow the Internet to exponentially expose the
machinations of the media's silence when non-kosher blood is spilled as was the case
when your front page plastered a huge photo of a suicide bomber's aftermath of an
exploding bus with a young Israeli girl dead at the window.
“I've lived through the hell of Sharon's cluster bombs, napalm, and white
phosphorus bombs along with asphyxiating unknown chemical gas in 1982 Beirut, his
raiding of hospitals to take the wounded out and kill them, his destruction of entire
buildings based on a "rumor" that Arafat maybe in it, his cutting off of water, food,
and medicines from entire cities and villages, his supportive massacre for 3 days of
2000 Palestinian civilians in two refugee camps. I don't see Bill Keller clamoring
for the paper to publish a photo of such murders today for a historical context of
Palestinian dead.
"Incidentally, the United Nations Security Council (with U.S. support) passed
several Resolutions just during the summer of 1982 "urging" Israel to withdraw, stop
the massacred, and allow food, water, and medicines into Beirut, but as usual Israel
can tell the world to go to hell for all it cares. Compare that with one UN Security
Council Resolution against Syria to withdraw from Lebanon which it did, thus it seems
the UN implements Israel's wishes but is impotent to even tell Israel "NO".
“I see your paper took issue with the Congress cutting $40 Billion of spending
from America's poor over the next five years. Given that's about $8 Billion a year
from America's children, your paper "forgot" to mention that this amount is what
Israel receives almost annually from the American taxpayer when all funding from so
many hidden "amendments" in the federal budget is accounted for. So Congress and your
paper obviously support starving America's children but more than willing to pay for
Israel's illegal squatters to leave their U.S. subsidized homes from Gaza.
“Thus the question here is: Who decides America's priorities? It's obviously not
the silent majority of Americans who are kept in the dark by the media, such as
yours, as to who's alienating this grand nation from the world and why are its
children paying for the benefit of a rich nation, Israel, the 16th richest nations in
the world and a nation who takes America's taxes and gives loans to other governments
and entities, thus reaping aid and interest from the American taxpayer who can't pay
for his or her drugs.
“Perhaps your editors can answer this simple question: what conference was held
in 1949 in Europe on the Palestinian issue and what was its result?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lausanne_Conference,_1949
“It's tragic that you as the publisher worry more about your bottom line than
about the foundation of peace for Israel. Your hiring of such a biased editor who
publishes TWO letters supporting Israel--to be fair he doesn't dare deny an Israeli
counsel or an Abe Foxman (http://www.ihr.org/webpics/abe_foxman.jpg) letter which are
published on an auto-pilot basis--and only ONE letter supporting Palestinian
democracy is an outrage and a slap to the face of the editorial page, especially a
page that helped launch a war based on known lies. America was pushed into war by
your paper and others, by JUDITH MILLER
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Miller_%28journalist%29), LEWIS LIBBY
(http://judicial-inc.biz/lewis_libby_aka_Irving%20Lewis%20Liebowitz.htm), RICHARD
PERLE (http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1315), PAUL WOLFOWITZ
(http://rightweb.irc-online.org/ind/wolfowitz/wolfowitz.php), DOUGLAS FEITH
(http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1146), DOV ZAKHEIM
(http://judicial-inc.biz/Dov_zakheim.htm), ELLIOT ABRAMS
(http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/969) et al., none of whom are Muslim.
“Do remove the "all the news that FIT to print". It's hypocritical and
unbecoming given that men like your letter editor decide what's "FIT" to print.
Obviously your public editor whom I've written on several occasions is unable to deal
with this issue or is supportive of the letter editor's bias.
"Human beings are dying overseas while you and your staff enjoy your peaceful
and well paid life. As I've told you previously, your Grandfather was an
"Anti-Zionist" who loathed the pressure placed on him by the Zionists".
Happy Hanukah and Merry Christmas to your Editors and Staff.
Mohamed Khodr M.D.
http://www.arcticbeacon.com/articles/article/1518131/39659.htm