In a field crowded with the likes of Christiane Amanpour, Bob Smietana, Kari Huus, Dave Weigel, Michael Kruse and so many, many others, Ayman Mohyeldin hardly stands out. “NBC News Reporter Blames U.S. For Not Recognizing Hamas And Not “˜Reigning In” Israel,” by Andrew Kirell for Mediaite, November 20:
Appearing on MSNBC”s NOW with Alex Wagner this afternoon, NBC News reporter Ayman Mohyeldin seemed to take a strong position, rather than just reporting, on the United States” role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He effectively blamed the unresolved crisis on the United States” refusal to recognize Hamas and for not doing enough to reign in Israel’s military actions.
When host Wagner asked Mohyeldin to discuss what America’s role could be in resolving the conflict, Mohyeldin began by talking about what those in the region think but then offered his own analysis:
The United States can definitely play a pivotal role. I don’t think that people in this part of the world feel it has played the role it should be playing and that comes down to two very important factors: one, the United States does not have any direct contact with the Palestinian factions which it and Israel and others label as terrorist organizations, despite the fact that Hamas did win democratic elections here, despite the fact it is a part of the fabric of Palestinian politics that cannot be ignored or isolated or marginalized. They have focused on the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. That hasn’t necessarily produced tangible results. There’s a lot of problems in terms of getting everyone on the same table.