February 8, 2006

Ignoring Hamas Hate-Indoctrination

A familiar quality of unreality pervades much of the news and commentary about the ascendance of Hamas in recent Palestinian elections. Note is endlessly made of the fact that Hamas, with its clinics and other welfare operations, is less "corrupt" than the old-guard Fatah chieftains. But as to why Palestinians en masse are comfortable choosing a leadership engaged in the defamation and murder of innocent Jews -- including children, teenagers and the elderly -- very little is said.
February 7, 2006

Cartoon Double Standard at the Independent

Contrast comments from The Independent criticizing the publication of cartoons depicting Mohammed that are deemed offensive to Islam with the newspaper's defense of a cartoon it published showing Ariel Sharon eating a Palestinian child.
January 4, 2006

Munich and the Kushner Connection

Word of playwright Tony Kushner's involvement in Steven Spielberg's Munich set off alarms among those familiar with his extreme anti-Israel positions and indifference to facts about the Arab-Israeli conflict. A glance at his statements and affiliations suggests why.
November 11, 2005

Michigan Muslim Leader Defends Iranian President’s Call to Wipe Out Israel

The Detroit News carried an op-ed by Mohammad Elahi, Imam of a large mosque in Dearborn Heights, that defends and attempts to justify Iranian President Ahmedinejad's call to wipe out Israel. Imam Elahi's column is laced with outright falsehoods and unsubstantiated accusations against Israel and compares the Iranian President's words to the American Declaration of Independence.
October 30, 2005

UPDATED: Student Editors Apologize for Anti-Semitic Column

Editors at Portland State University's campus paper have apologized for an Oct. 18 column by staff member Caelan MacTavish which blamed the Jews themselves for anti-Semitism, disparaged the Jewish people, and included a number of absurd factual errors about Judaism and Israel.

October 25, 2005

Chicago Tribune Public Editor Lauds Sabeel

In his October 20th column, Chicago Tribune public editor Don Wycliff weighed in on the debate surrounding Sabeel, a Jerusalem-based Palestinian Christian organization which is accused of reviving the anti-Semitic "teaching of contempt" dogma long repudiated by most of the Christian world. Wycliff stated that the organization does "classy work."
October 10, 2005

Norman Finkelstein’s Fraudulent Scholarship

Campus anti-Israel activists copy many of their arguments from Norman Finkelstein, a DePaul University political science professor who never forgets to mention that his parents were Holocaust survivors. Despite his trappings of scholarshop, Finkelstein's work has been marred by grave factual inaccuracies, omissions, and extreme bias.
September 1, 2005

The Times’ Compromised Coverage of the Columbia Controversy

Since the release last fall of the documentary film Columbia Unbecoming in which students accused professors in the Middle East studies department of academic intimidation, Columbia University has been embroiled in a controversy which garnered international headlines.
July 15, 2005

Beware of Apparent Hoax E-mail from “Hasidic Jew” Celebrating London Bombings

An e-mail message celebrating the London terror bombings from a self-described "hasidic Jew," has been sent to members of the British Parliament and was also cited on the blog of the left-wing British newspaper, The Guardian. While the e-mail seems to be a hoax, it is important to note that even if it turns out to be genuine, the writer speaks only for himself, and in no way represents any segment of the Jewish community of the United States or Britain.

July 6, 2005

Updated: Letters and Limitations

Letters with provocative ideas that threaten the status quo may be inflammatory, but thay are an entirely appropriate part of civil discourse. Such ideas should–and will–be published as letters to the editor in mainstream papers. There is, however, a line that most decent publications understand should not be crossed.