A reader writes:
You've recently posted several quotes by Gideon Levy of Haaretz. I'm an Israeli leftist, operate a leftist blog, participated in the Bil'in demonstrations, and I can tell you that most leftists won't touch Levy with a ten foot pole. He's our equivalent of Michael Moore; mostly he interviews Palestinians about the horrors they go through.
Having served in the territories, I can testify to some horrors - but Levy, who spent some 20 years in the territories and has a weekly spot about this, does not speak Arabic. Somehow he never bothered to learn it. He gets his information via translators, many of whom are employed by the Palestinian Authority. Now, the IDF has a penchant for lying, but it's got nothing on the Palestinians when it comes to deception. Levi, for all practical purposes, is a Palestinian fellow-traveler and useful idiot. He has basically zero credibility or influence among Israeli Jews, even leftist ones. His columns should be viewed in that light.