Alex Safian, PhD

December 24, 2004

New York Times Omits Major Reason Christians are Leaving Bethlehem

A New York Times report on the exodus of Christians from Bethlehem omitted a major reason for this demographic change – official and unofficial Muslim discrimination against Arab Christians, amid a rising tide of Islamism in the Palestinian territories.

October 23, 2004

New York Times Quneitra Claims Contradicted by Times Own Reporting

The New York Times is the latest media outlet to rehash at face value false Syrian charges that Israel destroyed the town of Quneitra just before returning it to Syria. Times reporter Neil MacFarquhar (In Long Ruined City, Talk of Lifting the Clouds of War, Oct. 22, 2004) apparently made little effort to fact check the Syrian claims, by, for example, searching his own and other newspaper's archives to learn the actual history of the town.
October 22, 2004

Kudos to CNN’s Newsnight for Touching Report on Iraqi Jews

CNN's Newsnight on Oct. 20 aired a poignant segment on the rescue of elderly and destitute Iraqi Jews who had been largely forgotten by the outside world until they were visited and helped by Rachel Zelon of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.
October 14, 2004

New Questions Raised on CBS Spy Report

More than five weeks after CBS's Leslie Stahl broke the AIPAC "spy" story, not a single person has been charged, nor is it clear that any sensitive information was compromised. Moreover, one year ago on 60 Minutes it was the same Leslie Stahl who discredited the lead investigator in the AIPAC case for stubbornly targeting the wrong individual in a different spy investigation.
August 29, 2004

Spy Stories

Allegations of Israeli Spying Usually Disappear -- Eventually.
June 21, 2004

What NBC Left on the Cutting Room Floor

All too often journalists sitting across the table from Arab leaders do their utmost to avoid asking any tough questions, lest they give "offense" to people clearly unused to being challenged. But now and then an intrepid interviewer does pose the uncomfortable question to a king or potentate. NBC's Tom Brokaw, for example, in a recent interview asked the tough questions of Jordan's King Abdullah. Why did they end up on the cutting room floor? 

June 15, 2004

The New York Times covers (and covers up for) Palestinian child bombers

Why do Palestinian children become human bombs, willingly strapping on suicide belts and slipping into Israel to kill as many Jews as possible? That's the key question which the New York Times has once again failed to answer, this time in an otherwise informative story by Greg Myre ("Israel Says Children Enlist Children as Suicide Bombers", June 13, 2004).

March 29, 2004

CNN’s Terror Coverup

CNN once again obscured the reason for Palestinian terrorism by not even once mentioning the sustained campaign of hatred and incitement against Jews and Israelis that has been a staple of Palestinian newspapers, radio, television, mosques, classrooms and summer camps. Instead of exploring for viewers the horrifically effective Palestinian brainwashing campaign that has convinced so many Palestinians to kill and be killed, CNN in effect blamed Israel for the suicide bombings.

January 13, 2004

CNN’s “Palestinian Swimmer” Story Sinks

CNN recently reported the sad tale of Palestinian Olympic hopeful Raad Awisat, whose makeshift swimming pool and training facilities in his hometown are far less favorable than those he once enjoyed at Jerusalem's YMCA, which boasts a half Olympic-sized swimming pool and modern weight-room. The culprit in the story, according to reporter John Vause's clear implication, was Israel.