	Bob Hostetler > Writing

Misinformation in the Middle East

by Bob Hostetler

I returned last week from ten days in Israel. As always, it was a marvelous time-a time filled not only with spiritual inspiration but also with political revelation.

Israel is an energetic, diverse, thriving democracy, and during our sojourn there we felt as safe as we would in Paris or New York (safer, perhaps, given Israel's experience and expertise in security-which Americans, if we were not so pampered, would do well to learn from. For example, having now seen Israel's controversial "security barrier" firsthand, I sure do wish we would learn from their example and erect our own security barrier along our porous borders, south AND north.

We were guided by an Israeli and driven by an Arab, the course de rigeur with our tour company. While these two men were not best buddies, they were far from enemies. They alternately joked and argued with each other, and sat down to eat with each other--and with us. In fact, while our Israeli guide was not at liberty to go everywhere we went (he was not permitted, as an Israeli citizen, to accompany us into Bethlehem and Jericho), our Arab driver was. The only occasion we saw our driver encounter any difficulty was on our last morning in Israel, when we reached the entrance to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport; his I.D. was closely scrutinized, until our guide intervened and vehemently vouched for him. Of course, that is not to say that everything is coming up roses in Israel. As Americans we were treated rudely on a couple occasions by Arabs, but were never-not even once-afraid. All in all, our reception by Arab and Israeli alike was far better than we might expect in Paris or Brussels.

Mind you, that experience-like our previous experiences-was 180 degrees removed from the picture most Americans (especially those who rely on the mainstream media for their news and perspective) have. Israel is not a war zone. The progress there since our last tour (four years ago) is remarkable. The holy sites are of course as moving and memorable as ever, but they are virtually unchanged in eighteen years (with the exception of the archaeological site of Jericho, which is shamefully unkempt compared to 1987, the last time I saw it, before it was under Palestinian control). But other changes to the land are impressive: new four-lane and two-lane highways, traffic tunnels, public works, and a new billion-dollar Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv. If Israel were a stock, I'd be buying.

The West Bank, on the other hand, is much the same (except for an empty casino in Jericho and a cable car ride to the ancient monastery on Jericho's cliffs). To be fair, no one wants to invest in a land that will be owned and controlled by who-knows-who in coming years. But now, with a new Palestinian administration-and Sharon's government in a position to make decisions that bear the of promise both security and peace in the future-the people (both Arab and Jew) I have talked to seem cautiously (very cautiously) optimistic that progress is at last possible and better times are ahead.

Still, while in Bethlehem, I asked a guide about the hostage situation a few years ago in the Church of the Nativity, when Palestinian terrorists took control of the church. He looked all around us and told me that though things are better now, there are still some questions better not asked where others might hear. So there is still plenty of fear in the territories-and not fear of Israel only.

But all in all, I'm amazed at how hardy these people-Jew and Arab-are....almost as amazed as I am at how people in the U.S. and Europe have no concept of how things are there (how close, for example, the Golan Height, where Syrian batteries used to be mounted, are to population centers like Tiberias, or how stark the contrast is between the economy-and therefore the job market-of Jerusalem and, just eight miles away, Bethlehem).

But such misconceptions go both ways. While our guide (who, like most Israelis, loves to talk politics) pleaded with us not to believe the CNN perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian situation, he himself reflected the perspective of someone who learns about America (and the Bush administration) primarily from CNN/BBC/New York Times, because those are his primary conduits to western media (the only English-language newscasts available in our top-flight hotels, frequented not only by international tourists but also by Arabs on holiday and Jewish sabbath-observers, was CNN International and BBC News). Just as Americans are spoon-fed cynicism and liberalism through many mainstream news sources, so are Israelis and Arabs...sometimes through those same sources.

Keep that in mind, not only when you hear news of Israelis and Arabs, but also when you see and hear the mainstream media perspective on Iraq, America, and the Bush administration. Distortion and sometimes outright misinformation is flowing both ways.

This article appeared in the April 1, 2005 (no foolin') edition of the Hamilton Journal-News.

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