Dishonest Reporter Award 2009

Our annual recognition of the most skewed and biased coverage of the Mideast conflict.

This year, a four-letter word dominated coverage of Israel on a near-daily basis.

Gaza.

The war — which began at the end of December in response to increased Palestinian rocket fire — ended on the 20th day of the year.

The media war was dizzying. A prominent Greek weekly called Jews “Christ killers.” Hamas terror leaders got soapboxes in prominent US and British papers. BBC Arabic hosted a wonk who justified the death of Israeli kids. Canadian and Aussie reporters had close calls with Qassams; Israel restricted media access to Gaza in large part because of the Hamas “CNN strategy.” Al-Aqsa TV writers killed off Assud the Rabbit. And when Hamas fired a rocket from a foreign press building, an Al-Arabiya journalist’s delighted reaction was caught on camera for YouTube posterity.

Perhaps the most definitive example of the spin games Israel confronted in the mainstream media was from South African editor Mondli Makhanya and his pernicious portrayal of Israel:

More at Honest Reporting.

STATE OF THE EPICENTER: Where does the Israel-Iran conflict stand at the end of 2009?

Yesterday, I met with another evangelical leader to discuss how we could work together to mobilize more Christian support for the Jewish State. He asked me what I thought would happen next between Israel and Iran. I began my answer by conceding, “I don’t know. As I keep saying, I’m praying for peace, but preparing for war.”

That said, here’s where I think we are at the moment:

More at Joel Rosenberg’s blog here.

CANADIAN BOYCOTT OF ISRAELI PRODUCTS FAILS!

ISRAELI PRODUCTS SELL LIKE HOT CAKES, AS CANADIAN BOYCOTT FAILS!
(Israel Today News)

Anti-Israel groups in Canada tried to organize a major national boycott against a leading hiking and sporting goods store chain because it sells Israeli-made products. The effort failed miserably, and in fact had the opposite of the desired effect, reports Israel National News.

The groups had hoped to have thousands show up to two boycott demonstrations in Toronto and Vancouver, but in the end only a handful of people showed up. And they were dwarfed by the hundreds and even thousands of pro-Israel Canadians alerted by Bnai Brith and the Canada-Israel Committee.

The pro-Israel counter-demonstrators went on to purchase just about every Israeli product carried by the numerous stores in the nationwide Mountain Equipment Co-op chain, resulting in much higher than normal sales for the company.

Source:

http://hftm.org/blog/?p=876

Obama administration ‘assures Jewish evacuation’
PA official says U.S. won’t counter proposal giving Temple Mount to Palestinians
By Aaron Klein

JERUSALEM – Members of the Obama administration recently assured the Palestinian Authority that most Jewish communities in the strategic West Bank will be evacuated, a top PA official told WND yesterday.

The official also said Obama will soon offer the Palestinians a public pledge that a Palestinian state will encompass most of the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem with the exception of what is known as the three main settlement blocs – Ariel, Gush Etzion and Maale Adumim. The pledge will likely be oral and not in the form of a letter, said the PA official.

More here:

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=118495

Shock, outrage at Auschwitz sign theft
Dec. 18, 2009
THE JERUSALEM POST

Lawmakers, officials and Holocaust survivors expressed their profound shock and outrage on Friday after the infamous iron sign over the gate to the Auschwitz memorial site with the cynical phrase “Arbeit Macht Frei” – German for “Work Sets You Free” – was stolen.

Police spokeswoman Katarzyna Padlo said police believe it was stolen between 3:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. Friday morning, when museum guards noticed that it was missing and alerted police.

More here:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1260930896719&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter

Lieberman: Modern anti-Semitism denies Israel’s existence

Speaking at Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism in Jerusalem, foreign minister says phenomenon supported by Iranian funding and radical Islamic elements in order to inflame hatred against Jews and delegitimize State. Goldstone Report encouraged protest, he adds…

More here:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3820836,00.html

Related:

Anti-Semitism The Pipeline of Hatred
-slideshow

Activists planning Temple Mount ascent

A group of activists dedicated to bringing Jews to the Temple Mount told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that they were hoping to see hundreds of participants take part in a planned “mass pilgrimage” to the site scheduled for Thursday morning in honor of Hannuka, which celebrates the rededication of the SecondTemple after it was recovered from Hellenist Greeks more than 2,000 years ago.

More here:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1260930874302&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Guardian Ed: “In Israel They Murder Each Other a Great Deal”
15 December 2009

“The Israeli Defense Forces murder people because they don’t like their political style…”

What does the IDF have to do with the recent assault on Italian PM Sylvio Berlusconi? Absolutely nothing. But that didn’t stop The Guardian’s Associate Editor Michael White from making the following comment during a discussion on BBC Radio London’s Breakfast Show concerning the physical vulnerability of political leaders:

In Israel they murder each other a great deal. The Israeli Defense Forces murder people because they don’t like their political style and what they’ve got to say and it only means that people more extreme come in and take their place.

More here:

http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/new/Guardian_Ed_In_Israel_They_Murder_Each_Other_a_Great_Deal.asp

“Arab identity is not determined by religion. Most Arabs are Muslims, but not all; and all Muslims are certainly not Arabs.

Arab identity is determined by ethnic heritage. And the amazing thing is that all Arabs — like all Jews — are descended from the family of Abraham! That means the Arab-Israeli conflict is a family dispute — the longest running and most intense family squabble in history.”

-Dr. David R. Reagan
The Arabs in Prophecy
Fated for hope or despair?
http://www.lamblion.com/articles/articles_issues2.php

White House Hanukkah Party Spawns Anger

At the White House, as the Obama administration is learning all too well, a party is never a simple affair. (Just ask the Salahi-stricken Secret Service.)

The latest kerfuffle, the New York Times reports, involves the Obama administration’s first Hanukkah party.

One bone of contention has been the guest list: Administration officials say they are inviting 550 people, just 50 less than President Bush invited to his White House Hanukkah parties. But reports in the Israeli press spawned fast-spreading rumors that the Obama White House was only inviting 400 – and that the Bush White House had actually invited twice that number.

It was, some suggested, a snub – and one that critics said should not come as a surprise.

More here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/12/11/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5967024.shtml