Mr Dabashi's factual errors

Submitted by J Schamroth (Israel), Dec 7, 2004 at 06:09

I do not wish to comment on the political sentiment expressed in Hamid Dabashi's article, but rather on points of accuracy and truth. It is clear that Mr Dabashi is not particular when it comes to matters of truth. A few examples will suffice:

1) He writes: "We entered Jerusalem about 5:00 am". He then describes how he prayed, drove to his hotel, checked in to the hotel, checked his emails, composed and sent some emails, entered his hotel room, washed, brushed his teeth, and then walked a few blocks to the Harm al-Sharif. After all these activities, he unbelievably writes "It was now almost 5 am".

2) He describes his trip along the Ben Gurion airport - Jerusalem highway in the early hours of the morning. He writes that "The highway was completely deserted". Any Israeli would know that this highway is a hive of activity at any time of the day... even in the early hours of the morning! It is never deserted and thousands of cars per hour constantly travel in both directions.

3) His driver "also showed me an apartment building that was built on the site of Deir Yassin -- a Palestinian village...". The Jerusalem suburb of Har Nof now lies where Deir Yassin once stood. However, the location of the original village cannot be seen from the Tel Aviv - Jerusalem highway ...it is obscured (and overbuilt) by numerous apartment buildings. In other words, from the highway, one cannot point out "an apartment building that was built on the site of Deir Yassin"

4) He writes "We entered Jerusalem about 5:00 am, as the sun was rising on the Dome of the Rock". After going through the motions described in point 1) above, he writes "Then I saw two teenage Israeli soldiers with flashy sunglasses... Their sunglasses were not necessary. The sun was not yet up." Either the sun was up or it wasn't. He can't have it both ways!

5) He describes that he saw, at Ben Gurion Airport, a family whose "children were each eating a Mac Donald's hamburger". There is no Mac Donalds at the airport!

These are just a few examples of his fertile imagination. There are many, many other errors in the remaining text of his article... too many to describe within the context of this email.

Clearly, Mr Dabashi is one whose writings should not be considered as accurate or truthful.

J Schamroth
(Jerusalem)

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