I just wanted to write a small piece about this blog rather than what I'm up to. Someone said the other day it is difficult to be objective about the situation here but one should at least be honest. I think in one sense this is true but equally I think the two are linked. I'm obviously not trying to present a textbook balanced argument about the rights and wrongs about the actions of both sides but equally I've not come across anything that has managed this successfully. I don't believe that the Palestinians have acted perfectly or anywhere near it during the conflict and I don't (nor does anyone else I know) condone suicide bombings by Palestinians which kill innocent civilians.
What I am trying to be in this blog is as honest as possible, I'm not saying it is completely correct but it is as correct and honest as I can conciously make it. Sometimes I've realised I've possibly taken things out of context without realising - this is my first attempt at anything like this. I've edited this when I have reread later. Some of the situations I find myself in have been stressful and its interesting talking to other people here who have seen exactly the same thing you have but have interpreted the same actions in very different ways.
On the note of objectivity and honesty I'd like to recommend The Great War for Civilisation - The Conquest of the Middle East by Robert Fisk who makes for interesting reading, i will put up a post linked to this at some point in the next few days
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Fisk's book has a very pro-Syrian view of the history of the region, it's riddled with bias. DO NOT treat it as a history book.
Fisk does have some interesting points about how the western media reports on events that take place in palestine and israel and how the media treat these events in terms of objectivity. I didn't say it should be treated as a history book
The 3.50 comment on december 13 is quite funny - man, (or woman) if you're replying to greg's post, then maybe you should (honestly) read it first.
From what I gathered, Greg emphasises that nobody can be perfectly objective, especially when relating an intense/controversial situation. Nobody, not a student on vacation, nor an aid worker, nor a journalist, nor even a historian.
Fisk's book, and every history book, should be treated with critical distance. Reading a book and taking it as fact, because it's got an "official history book" stamp on the cover, is naive and shows deep ignorance of how political the business of historiography can be.
However, people can strive towards objectivity, ie. be honest in their attempt, and that is what Fisk has done in his book.
As one of the few Western journalists who has been actually living in Lebanon for years, he is one of the most apt in giving honest accounts of the political developments in the country.
Post a Comment