Jordanian daily now lambastes all Zionists, not just Netanyahu
Newspaper had falsely claimed PM celebrated deaths of Palestinian children in bus accident
Elhanan Miller is the former Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
A day after falsely accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of gloating at the death of six Palestinian children in a bus crash last week, the Jordanian establishment daily A-Dustour widened its scope to charge all Zionists with intent to annihilate the Palestinian people.
In an editorial titled “The true face of the Zionist entity” published on Sunday, the daily wrote: “The state of happiness and gloating that was expressed in the position of Netanyahu and the majority of Israeli society towards the car accident … exemplifies the true nature of the Zionist entity.”
“It is a racist, fascist, hostile entity which refuses to coexist with the other. It insists on denying the Palestinian people its homeland and insists on annihilating it. This poses a threat to all of humanity.”
On Saturday, the same newspaper had carried the headline “Netanyahu: I wish death to all the Arabs,” misquoting an article in the Israeli daily Haaretz which reported on comments expressing joy at the deaths of the Palestinian children.
“Netanyahu expressed satisfaction at the fact that all victims were Palestinian and wished death to all the Arabs,” the daily wrote. “He wondered why assistance was extended to them.”
The offensive comments were actually responses to Netanyahu’s expression of condolence, and were quickly removed from his page.
But the A-Dustour article was picked up by other major Arab publications such as Kuwaiti daily Al-Anba and Hezbollah’s news station Al-Manar as well as many smaller news agencies in Jordan.
Although privately owned, the Jordanian daily usually toes the government line on domestic issues. It is among widest circulated newspapers in the country.
Assaf David, a Jordan researcher at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, said Monday that A-Dustour has intensified its tone against Israel in the past two years.
“A-Dustour is consistently antisemitic, and I don’t use that term lightly,” David told the Times of Israel. “When it comes to Israel, a newspaper’s editorial board can be as extreme as it wants without anyone from above saying ‘enough’.”
David noted, however, that A-Dustour’s attitude does not necessarily represent an official government position on Israel.
Jordan is still considered by many as Israel’s friendliest neighbor, signing a peace accord with it in 1994.
The Times of Israel Community.