Locted at www.amchacjc.org 1-888-48-AMCHA for up to the minute information... |
|
| |
 |
 
 |
Hebrew Institute of Riverdale
is a proud member of the
Orthodox Union.
3700 Henry Hudson Parkway
Bronx, New York 10463
(718) 796-4730
URGE ALL TO ATTEND WHICHEVER NY EVENTS THEY CAN
* ISRAEL NEEDS YOUR HELP NOW *
|
SUBSCRIPTIONS PLACE ANNOUNCEMENTS, OBITS AND ADVERTISEMENTS ELSEWHERE THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, a paper with a consistent editorial policy of supporting Israel in its fight against terrorism, is now offering a free, four-week trial period for new subscribers (call 1-800-568-7625). Between it, The New York Sun, and other Big Apple dailies, substitutes for the Times certainly exist. The four-week gift subscriptions to THE NEW YORK SUN readers are now enjoying will expire on May 14th. If you wish to continue as a paying subscriber beyond the 14th, you must contact the paper's distributor (1-866-692-7861) to issue appropriate instructions. Otherwise, your gift subscription will automatically come to an end on the 14th and you will not be billed for, nor will you receive, future deliveries. THE NEW YORK TIMES: NO LONGER THE PAPER OF RECORD by Rabbi Avi Weiss This past Friday night and Saturday morning I told my congregants that I was no longer buying the New York Times. For me, the final straw was the Times' failure to cover the massive pro-Israeli prayer rally that drew 40,000 Orthodox Jewish demonstrators on April 21, in support of Israel. Would the Times have failed to cover that prayer service if it was a Muslim service in support of the Palestinians? The Times' uneven reporting has been well documented by an independent media watch organization - CAMERA. They recently issued a study of the Times' coverage of the Middle East coverage from March 28, to April 11. The reporting of "the paper of record" is an outright disgrace. For example, only three of ten terrorist attacks targeted against Israel received front-page coverage. In contrast, fourteen news stories about Israel's Operation Defensive Shield were carried on the front page. The result of this bias is that thanks to the Times the world naturally sees Israel as the aggressor and not the defender. CAMERA also reports serious photographic bias. A total of eighteen photographs were sympathetic to Israel - two appearing on the front page. On the other hand forty-five photographs were sympathetic to Palestinians, eleven of which appeared on the front page. Often photographs include captions, which lack context. For example: under an April 4th front page picture the Times wrote - "Israeli guards at a border checkpoint beat a peace activist yesterday during a demonstration in Jerusalem." No information is given about what the "peace activist" was doing before being subdued. In a similar vein, the term "peace activist" pre-judges the motives of these anti-Israel demonstrators. The bias does not only extend to reporting. It also goes towards the paper's willingness to give space to a variety of voices. During the same period of time there were seven guest op-ed pieces sympathetic to the Palestinian cause or critical of the Sharon government. Yet, there was not one guest op-ed supportive of the present Israeli government's policies. The CAMERA study reveals that overall the coverage of this highly respected paper has been grossly slanted. Moreover, bias also appears in the very language that the Times adopts on a regular basis. In countless different articles those who attacked the USS Cole are appropriately labeled terrorists. When during that very period two Israelis were murdered in a terrorist attack, the Times thought it more appropriate to term the perpetrators as gunmen and militants. The examples continue. The Times has run long sympathetic profiles on Palestinian terrorists including Ayat-Al Akhras, the Palestinian woman who murdered Rachel Levy. Such sympathetic stories leave the reader with the impression that there is parity between a terrorist and the victims of terror. Indeed, the Times consistently draws a moral equivalency between a terrorist and those who defend themselves against terrorism. Why is the Times' coverage uneven? Perhaps history can offer some perspective on this issue. During World War II, the Times relegated the Holocaust to its back pages. Max Frankel, a former executive of the Times has indicated that the Times downplayed early news of the Holocaust not because the paper did not believe it, but because it was afraid it would be called a Jewish paper and be seen as advocating a Jewish cause. Does this same concern of being viewed as overly Jewish exist to this day? This possible concern combines with a long time affinity with the anti-Zionist cause. In the 1940's the Times supported the American Council for Judaism, an anti-Zionist organization, and opposed the establishment of a Jewish state. Professor Laurel Leff of Northeastern University suggests that this relates to the Times' alignment with the anti-nationalist tenets of classic Reform Judaism. Reform Judaism has reversed itself and now publicly supports the Zionist cause. Has the Times ever shed its blatantly anti-Zionist roots? In the world of politics people express their upset with politicians at the ballot box. In the world of media it is our right to express disapproval by no longer subscribing. Our plan is to first encourage people to stop buying the Times. Second, we are encouraging synagogues and Jewish organizations to no longer take out obituaries in the Times. Third, we plan on approaching advertisers with this evidence in the hope that they too will curtail support for the Times. The Times must be accountable. We must call a halt to the culture that if it's in the Times it's news, and if it's not in the Times it's not news. There are many other outlets to obtain news. We should not subsidize those who are defaming Israel. Rabbi Avi Weiss is the senior rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale and the national president of AMCHA - Coalition for Jewish Concerns. *********************************************** ******************** WWW.THEPETITIONSITE.COM Please go to the above link and sign the petition to urge the federal government to declare the PLO a terrorist organization formally. Please pass this link onto all on your lists as well. ********************************** ************************************** JTA - 5/6 PLO gets new D.C. home The United Arab Emirates lent a townhouse in Washington to the Palestine Liberation Organization. The new office replaces an office suite the PLO was forced to vacate after the landlord said the group was late in paying rent. PLO officials say the landlord discriminated against them for political reasons. ******************************** ******************************* BRITISH JEWRY RALLY FOR ISRAEL Tens of thousands of Israel supporters held a solidarity rally in London's Trafalgar Square Monday afternoon. Police said that approximately 50,000 people attended the rally, where demonstrators waved Israeli and British flags and carried banners saying "Yes to Peace, No to Terror," and "Suicide bombers kill people and peace." British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, who noted that the gathering was the largest in the history of British Jewry, said "Israel will not stand alone." The rally was also addressed by former Labor Party minister Peter Mandelson, and Conservative Party deputy leader and shadow foreign minister Michael Ancram. "The peace process in Northern Ireland," Ancram told the crowd, "taught us that peace cannot be imposed." |
For details on more Social Action Programs
It is so important that all people of
conscience are standing up and speaking out for Israel
during this difficult time.
Israel's war on terrorism IS
America's war on terrorism.
Israel has every right to defend herself
against terrorism.
Please bring your friends and family,
signs and flags as well.
PLEASE HELP OUR EFFORTS BY FORWARDING
THIS ALERT ONTO ALL THOSE ON YOUR LISTS.
© Hebrew Institute of Riverdale.All rights reserved 2001-06/5766
Comments to webmaster