In a column published by the New London Day ("Arafat's Legacy", Nov 7) and the Philadelphia Inquirer ("Arafat's reign", Nov. 3), syndicated columnist Gwynne Dyer included serious factual errors, as well as an implied endorsement of Arafat's terror.
Most major print media outlets covered the Hague's court ruling in front page articles, but did not accord the same attention to the subsequent Palestinian terrorist attacks--the reason for Israel's security barrier. The major newspapers varied in the amount of context given and in the emphasis of articles about the Palestinian attack. Some portrayed the bombing as an excuse for Israeli Prime Minister Sharon's to defy international law.
In recent months, many Americans have been dismayed to see mainstream media outlets publishing cartoons with anti-Israel and anti-Semitic images reminiscent of Nazi-era propaganda. The latest such drawing is one by syndicated cartoonist Tony Auth of United Press Syndicate in which a Star of David fences off Palestinians. Not only is the message about the purpose and impact of the fence completely inaccurate, its use of a Jewish religious symbol to excoriate the Jewish state evokes anti-Semitic cartoons popular in Nazi Germany and in the Arab press.
Newspaper headlines about the Hamas terrorist bombing in Jerusalem — for which the death tally has now reached 17 — and Israel's strike against Hamas in Gaza that killed four members of that organization and five bystanders have very often failed to represent events clearly.