Israelis, Palestinians show how to manipulate press

By TOM HUNDLEY, Chicago Tribune

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Transcribed from the clipping

MADRID, Spain — The peace conference is high theater, and the actors are playing their parts before the audience of world opinion. Shortly after the Syrian foreign minister finished his speech Wednesday — a stinging attack on Israel — Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ready with his lines.

Taking the stage at the conference’s press center, Netanyahu launched a counterattack that reached its dramatic climax when he dug into his breast pocket and produced a copy of the PLO covenent, a document that calls for the destruction of Israel.

Waving the paper before the TV cameras, his voice choked with emotion, he called on Israel’s enemies to “tear up the paper of hate and sign the paper of peace.” For years, Netanyahu, a marquee-handsome former paratrooper, has been one of the masters of this stage.

Known in Israel simply as Bibi, he is the darling of hard-liners both at home and in the American Jewish community. It was no surprise when Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir made him the spokesman for Israel’s delegation. But in Madrid, the Palestinians have come up with a leading lady who can hold her own.

To the chagrin of the Israelis, Hanan Ashrawi, a telegenic university professor and mother of two, has replaced Yasser Arafat as the voice and image of the Palestinian cause. In sharp contrast with Arafat, whose trademark is the peasant kaffiyah draped over his head, the three-day stubble on his chin and his ever-present revolver, Mrs.

Ashrawi comes packaged in smart business suits and sensible shoes. Her English is flawless, her demeanor cool and analytical. Unlike the aggressive and hard-edged Netanyahu, whose specialty is putting the Arabs on the defensive, Mrs. Ashrawi scores points by appearing open and reasonable.

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Cite this clipping

"Israelis, Palestinians show how to manipulate press," The Buffalo News, 1 November 1991. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1991-036. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1991-036