At least, I think incompetence is the word—but add a possible dash of ideology, a politically-induced conflation, and a bit of nostalgia to the pot.
There’s a legitimate story here, of course: John Baird seems to be at odds with what has been reportedly been Stephen Harper’s position on Israel at the recent G8. But what do we make of this?
Politicians in North America have also steered clear of references to the 1967 borders, wary of upsetting the Israeli community.
The Israeli community? The writer has here managed to achieve what both dyed-in-the-wool anti-Semites and conservative Zionists embrace: the notion that “Jewish” and “Israeli” are interchangeable. One wonders what was in his mind—and how it slipped past his editor.
Then we have the two-paragraph conclusion: comments from Bob Rae:
Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae, who has an interest in foreign affairs, demonstrated his knowledge of the issue with a casual reference to [UN Resolution] 242.
“Go back to President Nixon, Mr. Kissinger, all that, all the efforts, the Madrid process, the Oslo process, all the events, the Annapolis process, more recently the effort that President Obama began. All these efforts since what, 40 years, are based on 242.”
Nothing particularly wrong with the statement, but where is Paul Dewar, the Official Opposition foreign affairs critic? Why interview a member of the third party, as though May 2 never happened?
Somebody give the Globe editors a pinch, OK? Time to wake up.