The NYT outdoes even itself this morning in the anonymous sources department – is this what they learn for fifty grand a year at J school? – with Steven Erlanger’s U.S. and Israelis Are Said to Talk of Hamas Ouster. It’s hard to count the unnamed sources in the article, who are listed variously as Israeli, US and “Western” officials. [Arnold Schwarzenegger?-ed. Who knows?] No one speaks for attribution, other than a Hamas spokesman.
The piece, which, needless to say, is not listed in the paper as opinion, is much talked about in the blogosphere this morning, but it’s hard to say why. Besides it’s meretricious journalistic techniques, it has nothing to add that has not been written about a hundred times. Everyone knows it’s being debated how much aid money to pass to Hamas. Everyone knows it’s being linked to Hamas’ behavior. So nothing is new in this article other than the usual anonymous sources (hello, State Department!) grinding their usual axes in the pages of the ever cooperative New York Times. [That’s not new either.-ed. No it’s not.]
UPDATE: Far more interestingly (and factually) MEMRI has published a new full translation of the Hamas Convenant. Here’s an excerpt:
The Islamic Resistance Movement maintains that the land of Palestine is Waqf land given as endowment for all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection. One should not neglect it or [even] a part of it, nor should one relinquish it or [even] a part of it. No Arab state, or [even] all of the Arab states [together], have [the right] to do this; no king or president has this right nor all the kings and presidents together; no organization, or all the organizations together – be they Palestinian or Arab – [have the right to do this] because Palestine is Islamic Waqf land given to all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection.
This is the legal status of the land of Palestine according to Islamic law. In this respect, it is like any other land that the Muslims have conquered by force, because the Muslims consecrated it at the time of the conquest as religious endowment for all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection…
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