On Carl Bernstein’s Revealing Freudian Slip

Recently the Times of Israel commented on the following Freudian slip by famed jewish journalist Carl Bernstein at an international conference in Jerusalem.

I quote:

‘But the most dramatic pronouncement on the opening evening of the Jerusalem Press Club’s international conference on the Freedom of the Press came from keynote speaker Carl Bernstein, he of Watergate fame, who declared Israel to be the current “epicenter,” no less, of world events — “ground zero for today’s geopolitics.”

Any serious reporter, any would-be TV news anchor, whether from the US, UK or anywhere else, Bernstein declared, needs to spend quality time in Israel and its immediate surroundings, and really understand what is happening here, if they want to understand the world.’ (1)

The article continues by placing this comment in its necessary context as follows:

‘To that end, rather unexpectedly, he declared that any senior reporter who wants to understand the world today needs to come to Israel and internalize what is happening here. “I do not understand how anyone who covers the White House,” he said, or wants to be a news anchor, “can do that without coming here and understanding what is happening here and within a 100 mile radius of here.”

Acknowledging, nonetheless, that this was his first visit since 1982, when he covered the Lebanon War, Bernstein — who revealed good-humoredly that he was a regional president in the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization in his teens — said he had always followed what was happening in Israel but that was no substitute for being here.

What was unfolding in the Muslim world, internally and externally, was impacted by developments here. And any reporter who wanted to understand our world — be it DC, Europe, terrorism, or developments in the Muslim world — needed to connect to Israel, he repeated.

Asked during the session what exactly he meant, Bernstein spoke of having gone to Ramallah, witnessed Israel’s demographic transformation, and recognized Israel’s social changes. “This is the epicenter,” he said. “This is ground zero for today’s geopolitics.”

Pushed after the session by this reporter for some specifics, Bernstein reiterated that “it’s a general impression I have: We don’t know enough about what emanates from here.”

Was he referring to the Palestinian conflict, Israel’s grappling with Islamic extremism, its internal relations with its Arab minority, or perhaps its internal religious frictions? “All of the above,” Bernstein said, “but also because of the changes in this country that are not perceived outside this county.”’ (2)

Now think about this for a moment.

Bernstein is saying one or both of the following things:

A) Israel is the principle source of problems in the Middle East.

B) Israel is the principle geopolitical centre of the world rather than say the United States, Russia or China.

Think about what a confirmed jewish nationalist – being a part of the B’nai Brith means this is almost de rigueur- might really mean when he says that his country – which has a substantial lobby and amen corner in most Western countries – is the centre of the world’s politics.

Is he saying Israel effectively runs the world?

You decide.

References

(1)http://www.timesofisrael.com/carl-bernstein-calls-israel-the-epicenter-of-todays-geopolitics/

(2) Ibid.