Ricki Hollander

March 30, 2005

How Israel Lost: Flippant Book by Former Reporter Aims Darts at Israel

How Israel Lost: The Four Questions
By Richard Ben Cramer
Simon & Schuster, 2004
Richard Ben Cramer's latest book disappoints on all counts. Far from changing the boundaries of discussion, it contains neither an original thesis nor trenchant argument. Instead, the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian situation are reduced to the hackneyed superficialities of Israel's detractors.
January 16, 2005

The New York Times’ Knee-Jerk Editorial Bias

“A precipitous Israeli overreaction” is what a January 15, 2005 New York Times editorial labelled Israel’s decision to end all contact with the Palestinian Authority (PA) until it begins to take action against the type of terrorism unleashed against Israel on January 13.

December 15, 2004

The New York Times; Too Little, Too Late on Incitement

The New York Times has finally found space on its pages to expose one of the foremost obstacles to peace — the chronic anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incitement that has flooded Palestinian public television and radio since 2000. Why now? To inform readers that the current PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has asked for the incitement to stop. The Times is apparently unable to expose Palestinian incitement for what it is, however, without suggesting that Israel has done something similar. But this is simply not true.

October 13, 2004

NPR’s Derogates Israel and Religious Jews

On June 12, 2004, NPR's Scott Simon interviewed Richard Ben Cramer on the topic of the latter's newly released book How Israel Lost: The Four Questions. Though panned by numerous critics who faulted its deceptive depiction of Israel's security needs, Simon chatted appreciatively with the author, urging him to repeat from his book an anecdote about religious Jews that was evidently apocryphal and meant solely to ridicule the religious establishment in Israel. Simon did not stop there. He concluded with a remarkable question posed to the guest that may be a window on NPR attitudes about Israel.

September 24, 2004

UPDATED: September 27, 2004–Reuters: News Agency or PR Firm for Terrorists?

September 27 update follows. Ever since Reuter's notorious editorial decision not to call terrorists "terrorists" was affirmed following the 9/11 attacks, the news agency has zealously adhered to a policy of softening the face of terrorism. In reporting on the September 22 suicide bombing in Jerusalem's French Hill, it has gone a step further.

September 8, 2004

Public Health News Turns to ISM Activist for Article on Palestinian Health

“Public Health News” is a British weekly print and online journal distributed free of charge to British public health professionals, with a circulation of over 14,000. A collaborative project of such eminent professional organizations as the Royal Institute of Public Health, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, the Faculty of Public Health, and others, it provides news and features on the latest issues in this medically-related field. It is puzzling and disturbing that such a publication would turn – not to a health professional – but to an anti-Israel activist for an article on health issues in the West Bank and Gaza. The author, Sarah Irving, is part of the notorious International Solidarity Movement, a group that justifies terrorism and supports “armed struggle” against Israel.
September 2, 2004

Providing a Platform for Propaganda

After carrying out double suicide bombings which killed 16 and wounded over 100, Hamas distributed leaflets calling the attacks a message to Israel that her military efforts against the organization have failed. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Reuters provided a platform for the terrorist group's propaganda, blindly disseminating Hamas' bravado as fact.

July 28, 2004

AP Misleads on Judaism’s Holiest Site

A July 27, 2004 Associated Press article by Dan Waldman about the blocked attempt of an extreme Jewish group to enter the Har Habayit (Temple Mount) on Tisha B'av, a holiday which commemorates the destruction of the two Jewish temples which stood on that site, misled readers both about the mount's significance and its history in Judaism.