Tamar Sternthal

The Los Angeles Times and the Palestinian-Israeli Crisis

In the critical period of late March through early April, the most striking findings concerning the Los Angeles Times coverage of Palestinian terrorist attacks and the Israeli response concerned headlines and photographs.

Opposition to Terror?

An April 5 Los Angeles Times editorial claims that most Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza oppose terror ("Mideast's New Road Map"). In fact, a recent poll by the Beit Sahour-based Palestinian Center for Public Opinion indicates that 64.3 percent of Palestinians support suicide attacks against Israelis inside Israel (March 6, 2002).

Questions About Hass’s Accuracy Overlooked

In her March 15 feature on Israeli journalist Amira Hass, Marjorie Miller does a good job defining the controversy surrounding Hass's point of view and ideology ("Voice for Israel's Enemy"). However, Miller unfortunately neglects to mention lingering questions about Hass's accuracy.

Los Angeles Times Publishes Conspiracy Theory

On Sunday, Feb. 17, the Los Angeles Times ran an oped by UCLA professor emerita of history Nikki Keddie entitled "Why Reward Iran's Zealots? Reformers have no choice but to join the anti-American chorus." Aside from downplaying the threat which Iran poses for the U.S. and Israel, in the third paragraph, Keddie completely dismisses Iran's role in providing the Palestinians with illegal arms by way of the Karine-A ship.

Critical Thinking: Can You Trust Everything You Read?

Current Events, a mini-magazine for middle school students which describes itself as "a leader in the educational field," carried a Special Report entitled "Will Violence Engulf the Middle East," which included many serious factual errors and distortions.

Peace Process Unraveled?

Tracy Wilkinson reports in a July 20 news story that the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish extremist "may have set in motion the ultimate unraveling of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process" ("Clemency Decree in Rabin Case Divides Israelis").