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.
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.
The political cartoonist Pat Oliphant's cartoons rely on classic images: Democrat as donkey; Republican as elephant. Recently, however, he evoked a more distrurbing image—one more commonly associated with Nazi propaganda or anti-Semitic rants of extremist Islamist clerics, in his portrayal of Jews as dogs.
"Jews who fled Arab lands now press their cause" by Chronicle Staff Writer Jack Epstein, highlights the much overlooked plight of Jewish refugees from Arab lands. At a time when Palestinian activists are renewing their demand that Palestinian refugees and their descendants "return" to Israel — often a thinly veiled call for dissolution of the Jewish state — articles on the plight of Jewish refugees offer essential context and help provide balance to the media's general Mideast coverage.