David Harris, presidente dell'American Jewish Comitee, ha rilasciato, sulle dichiarazioni di Massimo D'Alema, un intervista all'UNITA' da noi commentata a questo link.

Una nostra lettrice, italiana residente in Texas, ha inviato ad Harris una lettera.
La pubblichiamo di seguito, insieme alla replica di Harris e alla controreplica della lettrice.

Ci sembra interessanti per far capire come spesso osservatori americani anche molto qualificati, ebrei e non ebrei, non abbiano una chiara percezione della vicende italiane. A differenza di chi, come la nostra lettrice, pur vivendo in America le segue quotidianamente.

Questo aumenta i rischi di strumentalizzazioni e distorsioni, dei quali si deve tenere conto quando si leggono sui nostri quotidiani certi titoli e certe distorte interpretazioni.

Ecco i testi ,in inglese:

Dear Mr. Harris, I am afraid that you just played in the hands of the Italian extreme left and you don't even know it.
Beware of L' Unita', because the Unita' will use your good name and the AJC to show that it is not biased against Israel (all the while burying your interview on page 12) and they have done it before (yesterday an article by Furio Colombo critical of Foreign Affairs Minister D'Alema was put side by side with an article by Shulamit Aloni who because of her political agenda internal to Israel, instead praised D'Alema as if to say that Furio Colombo's just criticism is neutralized by Shulamit Aloni's praises and therefore it does not deserve attention). L' Unita' is not just "left of Center" l' Unita' is read by those who go demonstrate in Italian streets dressed in mock suicide bomber outfits and burn Israeli and American flags, and then claim that they are "equidistanti", or "equally distant from the Israeli or Palestinian positions". L' Unita' will say they are not responsible for their readership, but when you spend 20 plus years feeding anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic propaganda to the masses, can you really be surprised if they start burning Israeli flags? They are obviously responsible for the hate they spew on a daily basis As I said, the article was hidden on page 12 and there was no mention of it on the first page. The title is dangerous to say the least: "Not true that Jews don't support those who seek peace", read by L' Unita' readers will only confirm their biases against Jews who support Israel, i.e. the bad Jews. In the Unita' today an article by Gabriel Bertinetto stated "troppi ebrei italiani in questa fase non manifestano un atteggiamento critico verso il governo Olmert" or "Too many Italian Jews in this period do not express criticism of the Olmert Government", as if it was a duty of Italian Jews to condemn Israel no matter what! On the Repubblica the former "civil" head of the Italian Jewish Communities Tullia Zevi was asked in an interview by Carmelo Lopapa: "Il richiamo del ministro degli Esteri agli ebrei democratici è risultato particolarmente sgradito alle Comunità. Una distinzione tra ebrei buoni e cattivi, è stata la contestazione." or "the admonition by the Foreign Affairs Ministry to Jews with democratic values did not go well with the [Jewish] Community". They contested that he was making a distinction between good and bad Jews" to which she preferred not to answer and changed subject. Don't just take my word for it: I know you understand some Italian from the time you worked in Rome on behalf of Russian Jews. Please visit and sign up for the newsletter of www.informazionecorretta.com the Italian counterpart of HonestReporting.com. They too read your article on the Unita' and they analyzed it here in its Italian contest http://www.informazionecorretta.it/main.php?mediaId=999920&sez=110&id=18320 and in fact, I just pretty much limited myself to borrowing from it. By the way, those of InformazioneCorretta.com could use some support from a fellow Jewish organization of international importance. The sad truth is that in Italy there is a dangerous and malicious debate by the leftists on who is a good Jew and who is not: the solution the left is endorsing is that good Jews are those who condemn Israel and dissociate themselves from Israel and the bad Jews those who support Israel and see its reasons in wanting to stay alive and protect its citizens in an all out war for Israel's destruction. The Italian Foreign Minister is fueling the fire. I am an Italian Jew and the phrase "the only good Jew is a dead Jew" is ringing in my ears even if I am so many miles removed. I am copying our friends of Informazionecorretta.com with this e-mail. Your friend Emanuela Prister Toth
Dallas Texas

Dear Ms. Prister,

Thank you very much for writing. I appreciate your candor and constructive critique.

Having dealt with Europe and its media, including the Italian press, for a number of years, I am aware of at least some of the minefields and pitfalls. In the end, as you know, these can be tough judgment calls--and I understand that there can be more than one way of looking at them.

Either we avoid media outlets like l'Unita for the reasons you articulate, or we engage their readership with the risks such an approach entails. We obviously chose the latter course. We couldn't ensure the headline or placement--that's clear--but the printed text of my comments was exactly what I said, nothing more, nothing less. Needless to say, our hope, which some might consider naive, was that it might offer an alternative voice to those too often heard in the paper and its surrounding intellectual/political circles. We'll see.

In any case, again, I appreciate your writing to me and your commitment. As an aside, I wonder if we have met at some point. Something tells me that we have.

With best wishes,

David Harris
American Jewish Committee (AJC)