Correspondence
Correspondence UNCANDID CAMERAS IT WAS SO ENCOURAGING, FOR A CHANGE, to read an accurate, unbiased article like "Lights, Camera, Intifada" (Jan. 1/Jan. 8). It's true that bits and pieces of the...
...Rather than condemn the Palestinians or journalists, Gutmann should castigate the Israeli government for continuing to permit new home construction in disputed territory, and playing into Arafat's hands with heavy-handed military responses and political assassinations...
...It's true that bits and pieces of the information contained in the article surface from time to time in other media, but Stephanie Gutmann has done truthful reporting a good turn, and I commend her and The Weekly Standard for printing her article in full...
...Not even the embattled Israelis who should be pulling a few more press passes for such egregious behavior...
...Sure, keeping true to campaign pledges didn't garner much political capital for Newt Gingrich and the Contract With America, but following through on campaign promises can be both politically advantageous and the right thing to do...
...In fact, lyrics and melody can be analyzed separately...
...JIM DOWNS Los Angeles, CA WHERE'S THE BEEF...
...It is pathetic that the very people who feel proud of being society's truth-tellers are so cowed that they cannot even report on how they are cowed...
...No one, whether in the field or in the home office, can ever admit that reporters work with guns to their heads...
...Public opinion is their most powerful weapon...
...I believe people with a short attention span who are used to receiving news via sound bites and sensational pictures plastered on the front pages of newspapers truly believe that Arab children are bravely standing alone and defying armed and murderous Israeli soldiers...
...I agree with Gutmann that the Palestinian leadership is using the media to its advantage...
...If they had nothing to hide, they wouldn't take such extreme measures to suppress journalists and photographers...
...This article about the effects of Palestinian Authority intimidation on journalists and their stories and photos is a breath of fresh air in the midst of stagnant, one-sided stories written by writers obviously afraid of offending the Palestinians...
...RUTH ROSENFELD Northbrook, IL STEPHANIE GUTMANN'S "Lights,Camera, Intifada" exposes a raw nerve in the news industry...
...WALT SEARS Pleasanton, CA STEPHANIE GUTMANN'S "Lights, Camera, Intifada" was a much-needed expose of how Palestinian media intimidation badly skews the news the public gets from the scene...
...And if, heaven forbid, there were another gruesome lynching of a Jew, every reporter on the scene would feel the need to run for his life...
...Given this situation, the public will never have the opportunity to see film portraying such fundamental truths as Palestinian "rage" being mass produced in schools, Palestinian Authority ambulances bringing arms and rocks to the front lines, or rock-throwing Palestinian kids being used as shields...
...If we in the West seem to see more pictures of Palestinians wounded and dead, maybe it's because the Israeli government has provided more of them for us to see...
...They are two components that work together, and the weakness of one will affect the song as a whole...
...Though I consider myself fairly balanced on the issue, I find it hard to condemn people for bleeding after being shot, and condemn cameras and journalists for recording these events (unless, of course, Israel can furnish evidence that these people's injuries were not caused by either the Israeli Defense Force or Israeli settlers...
...But to say that he is the only artist ever produced by what Long calls "pop music" is crossing the line between praise and hyperbolic fawning...
...I daresay that Dylan himself would disagree with the designation...
...The battle is being fought in the court of public opinion for the hearts and minds of the world...
...Yet every reporter in Israel knows what he or she can and cannot write or show without serious risk to life and limb...
...JAY SAGE Newton Center, MA I READ WITH GREAT AMUSEMENT Stephanie Gutmann's article condemning the media's role in publicizing the Palestinian side of the current Mideast conflict...
...Long concedes that Dylan's compositions are not lyrical masterpieces, but then attempts to justify them by saying that in pop music, lyrics cannot be analyzed apart from melody...
...I DISAGREE with Michael Long's assessment of Bob Dylan's artistic contributions ("What Good Came From the Sixties...
...Not the journalists avidly pursuing career advancement...
...PHILLIP H. WATERS Arvada, CO A PROMISE TO KEEP I VERY MUCH AGREED with Fred Barnes's lucid editorial "The Bush Tax Cut: Now More Than Ever" (Jan...
...I fully sympathize with journalists who put themselves in dangerous situations, but I wish I could believe that they are similarly brave in making sure that the truth as they capture it in their camera lenses is reported to the world at large...
...Perhaps they did not get enough radio play to meet Long's criteria...
...Dylan may be considered great, but he is not alone...
...BRIDGET ROCHEFORD Seattle, WA...
...The Palestinians are an occupied people without a homeland, a modern standing army, or recognized political sovereignty—strikingly similar to pre-1948 Israel...
...Captain Beefheart...
...No one comes off looking very good in this...
...I hope the article will shame some of them into doing something about it...
...But I want to add one more reason why Bush should keep to his tax cut plan: How about the concept of actually doing what he said he would do in the campaign...
...A song with poor lyrics is not necessarily redeemed by melody, just as brilliant lyrics cannot necessarily save a melodic disaster...
...The examples Gutmann writes about show the true nature of the people who are engaged in the Intifada...
...How many bother to read the "fine print," or for that matter, believe the Israelis when they speak of armed snipers and armed fighters in the midst of these reckless children...
...Ultimately, Long does Dylan a disservice by singling him out as the only true artist of pop...
...When we place his music in the context of the American folk tradition from which it springs, he is not even particularly original...
...Dylan is certainly a talented musician—a conclusion I reach despite my disagreements with his sociopolitical leanings...
...He is simply one of many who have been able to capture the sentiments of their times and to deliver a message people wanted to hear...
...RICHARD D. WILKINS Syracuse, NY I HAVE JUST READ Stephanie Gutmann's article "Lights, Camera, Intifada" and wish to commend her on a well-written and much needed piece of journalism...
...I suspect he knows whose shoulders he stands upon...
...Since the beginning of the Al Aksa Intifada, I have seen only two honestly written articles that bring out the truth of this intimidation by Palestinian officials, intelligence officers, and front-line fighters...
...But this is to be expected...
...Has Long ever heard of Frank Zappa...
...Not the major news organizations that should be protesting loudly...
...I recognize the publication of this piece is an act of bravery on Gutmann's part, considering the potential for retaliation by Palestinians unhappy with the damning details it contains...
...Gutmann's efforts restored my faith in at least a part of the journalistic community...
...Robert Fripp...
Vol. 6 • January 2001 • No. 18
