Here’s the latest installment in our ongoing series of posts highlighting BDS Fails.
BDS is failing – a continuing series (Dec. 2016)
UKMW prompts Times of London headline correction to improper reference to ‘Jews’
We contacted Times of London editors to ask if they typically use the word “Jews” (in their headlines) as a synonym for “Israel”, “Israelis” or “Israeli MKs”.
UKMW prompts Economist correction – retracts false claim on ‘Arabic song ban’
Yesterday, we posted about an article titled: ‘The Economist Explains: The status of Arabic speakers in Israel‘, included the bizarre claim that “Arabic songs were banned from Israeli radio for several decades.” We contacted the editor responsible for the article, who promptly responded to inform us that they upheld our complaint and removed the sentence in question.
The Economist bizarrely alleges ‘decades-long Israeli ban on Arabic songs’ (UPDATE)
A Nov. 27th article in The Economist titled ‘The Economist Explains: The status of Arabic speakers in Israel’, included the claim that “Arabic songs were banned from Israeli radio for several decades.” However, evidence suggests there couldn’t possibly have been such a ban (“for several decades”) on Arabic songs.
Guardian columnist takes swipe at Israel in story focusing on noise at Heathrow.
Our point isn’t to debate the merits of the Knesset’s muezzin bill, but to question why Fraser highlighted only Israeli efforts to limit noise from mosque loudspeakers – in a column focused on noise from a British airport – when he could have used similar examples from anywhere in the world.
Why Are Palestinian Refugees Different From All Other Refugeess?
Arab leaders have always treated Palestinian refugees as a political, rather than a humanitarian issue, and have placed political attacks against Israel above the welfare of the Palestinian people.
These stats will help put the troubling spike in anti-Muslim hate crimes in context.
As the Jerusalem Post noted, the most recent FBI hate crime stats for 2015 showed that a shocking 53.3 percent of the religiously motivated hate crimes (or 664 incidents) were directed at Jews, who make up less than 2 percent of the population.
British Media ‘Fake News’ Alert – on “Israeli Apartheid” in Hebron.
By uncritically repeating such toxic canards, and fail to make a serious effort to separate facts from anti-Zionist fiction, the Indy may increasingly be viewed by many within the British Jewish community as something akin to a purveyor of fake news about the Jewish state.
British magazine collaborates with Palestine Solidarity Campaign to produce ‘news’ about Israel (Update)
Though the PSC (whose Patrons include Jenny Tonge and Caryl Churchill) has every right to spread this kind of propaganda, the New Statesman – which, despite it’s hostility to Israel, fancies itself a serious news magazine guided by “scepticism” and “free thinking” – owes its readers more than to amplify, license and legitimise such one-sided, intellectually unserious hyperbole.
21 Questions for Anti-Israel Activist Ben White
Cross posted from the blog of the Zionist Federation Prolific anti-Israel campaigner Ben White has announced the publication of his latest book: “The 2014 Gaza War: 21 Questions And Answers.” Given that […]
7 things you should know about the Guardian’s coverage of Israel
At times we take our collective memory of Guardian coverage of Israel for granted, so we’ve decided to provide a list of some egregious examples of bias and over the years – information helpful in contextualizing our ongoing analysis of the ‘liberal’ British newspaper.
The Independent misleads with photo illustrating Naftali Bennett’s 2-state comments
The goal of journalism is to report the facts and inform the reader. When the Independent chose to mislead with a photo of Netanyahu, they were not engaging in journalism, but were involved in polemic and slander.
Why doesn’t the Guardian’s hate crime coverage mention Christian victims?
In the Guardian mentality, you cannot carry a story of an ex-muslim persecuted for his apostasy for fear of inspiring hate against muslims. Thus a genuine case of hate crime is ignored on the grounds it could lead to other, imagined hate crimes.
Apologise for the Balfour Declaration? You are having a laugh
The British do need to “reflect on a painful legacy”. Balfour was written in 1917. By 1922 the Mandate was in place. If the British had swiftly finished the job they had been given international license to carry out, just how many Jewish lives could have been saved?
No to antisemitic discourse in British Parliament!
At present there is no approval process for booking rooms in Parliament. This is clearly unsatisfactory. I hope people will write to their MPs to support the implementation of such a process — so that extremist meetings like that hosted by Tonge will never again be held in Parliament.
Indy snapshot of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israeli grave robbing and shooting kids
Indy readers interested in learning about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict are informed that Israel destroys Muslim graves, shoots innocent Palestinian children, breaches Palestinian rights to development and violates the academic freedom of pro-Palestinian Britons.
UK Media Watch interview with Dave Rich, author of ‘The Left’s Jewish Problem’.
“When you look at the events at UCL…the intention of the protestors was the same as in the 1970s when Jewish Societies were banned: to declare Zionism outside the boundaries of the democratic community of a Students’ Union. This inevitably places most Jewish students outside that boundary and restricts their rights and activities in comparison to other students on campus.”
UK Media Watch prompts Indy correction to claim Western Wall is Judaism’s holiest site
On Friday, we spotted the following error in an Independent article written by Matt Broomfield titled “Israel: Prayer protesters in violent Western Wall clash with ultra-conservative Orthodox Jews”. False claim @Independent. No, the […]
Indy falsely charges that Israel ‘destroyed graves’ in Muslim cemetery (Update)
What the Indy sold to readers as the wanton destruction by Israeli officials, who “stormed” a historic cemetery to destroy Muslim “graves”, can more accurately be characterized as a cynical public relations stunt within a long pattern of Palestinian efforts to destroy Temple Mount antiquities and erase Jewish history.
Guardian letter calls ’56 Suez War an ‘unprovoked’ Israeli attack and a ‘war crime’
There are many reasonable criticisms of British and French involvement in the war, but to characterize the military action to end an illegal blockade of Israeli ships as an “unprovoked” attack is just absurd.
Why has the Guardian ignored the violent intimidation of Jewish students at UCL?
Mazzig and Jewish attendees were repeatedly intimidated and harassed and eventually had to be evacuated by police. The incident prompted a chorus of criticism from MPs and Jewish organizations, which led to an announcement by the university that an official investigation would be launched. UK news outlets reporting the incident include the Times of London, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Independent, the Express, the Evening Standard, Channel 4 News and LBC. Yet, the ‘anti-racism’ campaigners at the Guardian have thus far completely ignored the story.
BDS is failing – a continuing series (Nov. 2016)
Here’s the latest installment in our ongoing series of posts detailing BDS fails: Political BDS Fails British Jewish Groups Welcome Suspension of UK Funding to Palestinian Authority as International Concerns Over Terror […]
No ‘safe spaces’ for Jews? First hand account of hatred at Hen Mazzig event in London
I tried dialogue pointing out the carnage taking place across the Islamic world and asked why they were indifferent to the slaughter of their co-religionists in industrial numbers but they were not interested. Nothing could placate them. Israel was the focus of their universe and the fount of all evil with Hen as the object of their mania.
Indy blurs victim and perpetrator in bullying of gay, Jewish pro-peace activist of Mid-East origin
As we’ve argued repeatedly, the Indy – which facies itself a progressive voice whose aim is to ‘comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, and to ‘speaks truth to power’ – has demonstrated its shameful moral confusion when covering acts of violence and intimidation against Jews by activists who are illiberal, anti-democratic and, more often than not, outright antisemitic.
Guardian story on Habima & settlements omits facts which undermine narrative
Beyond a few outspoken voices within the artistic community (and the editors at Haaretz), it’s difficult to find evidence of “a growing chorus of criticism” within the country over the national theatre company’s decision to perform in a community across the green line.
Jews blamed for the Holocaust at British Parliament event hosted by Jenny Tonge
As first reported by blogger David Collier last night, and picked up by Times of London today, a Palestine Return Centre meeting at the House of Lords hosted by Baroness Jenny Tonge included the accusation that world Jewry was responsible for inciting Adolf Hitler to launch the Holocaust.
The Indy, Ben White and charges of Israeli racism towards….Babylonians and Ancient Romans?
Beyond the truly risible charge that Israel is guilty of ‘perpetuating’ racist stereotypes towards ancient communities within extinct empires, the Indy op-ed again demonstrates how Jews’ historically undeniable connection to Israel is seen by activists like White as necessarily undermining the anti-Zionist agitprop which lies at the very core of pro-Palestinian movement.
UK Media Watch prompts Indy correction to Palestinian ‘news outlet’ Facebook ‘ban’ claim
The Indy failed to note that the “news organizations” in question (Quds News Network and Shehab News Agency) are both reportedly affiliated with terror groups, and neglected to tell readers that the “journalists” had their Facebook accounts reinstated within a day of the suspension. A Facebook spokesperson apologized, saying the suspensions had been “accidental”.
Debunking the UNESCO/media myth that Israel is trying to destroy al-Aqsa
In a new essay at Tablet, Shany Mor argues that though UNESCO was rightly criticized for passing a resolution omitting Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, what their resolution affirmed about the ‘connection’ between al-Aqsa Mosque and violence is much more troubling.
Video: Dave Rich examines ‘The Left’s Jewish problem’
The following is a clip of Rich talking at a Fathom Forum on Oct. 20th on: antisemitism and Labour: where has this crisis come from, how has it impacted the UK Jewish community, what must the party do now to put things right?
Antisemitism or anti-Zionism, ten questions for the Dean of Lichfield
This antisemitism has infested Labour; it is infesting the church too. Those institutions infected will not be rid of it until they cleanse the anti-Zionist myths from within.
When Jesus ‘stormed the al-Aqsa mosque’
As far as UNESCO is concerned, the site where once the Jewish temples stood – and where the Christian Bible situates important events in the life of Jesus – should rightly be known as the Muslim “Holy Site Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif.”
Guardian revises misleading headline on UNESCO Temple Mount resolution
The Guardian headline accompanying an article by Harriet Sherwood on UNESCO’s resolution denying Jewish connection to the Temple Mount represented a classic example of burrying the lead, which we pointed in a tweet.
Guardian parrots Palestinian propaganda on Israeli settlement football club row
Anti-Israel propagandists, no matter how ludicrous their accusation, can always expect a fair hearing and ample publicity from the Guardian – especially as it involves BDS.
On Yom Kippur, we examine our sins, but defending Israel isn’t one of them.
As we approach Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, we highly recommend a thoughtful meditation on the Jewish culture of self-criticism by Ruth Wisse recently published in the Wall […]
Times of London print edition headline obfuscates Palestinian terror attack
Though the terrorist nature of the attack, and the nationalities of the perpetrator and victims, were never in doubt, Times of London editors chose the following vague and anodyne headline to accompany a Oct. 10th print article by Gregg Carlstrom: “Man shoots two dead in tram attack”.
Definitions of antisemitism: a quick guide
One of the more curious things said by Jackie Walker, recently suspended by the Labour Party and removed as Vice-Chair of Momentum (although retained on its Steering Committee) for comments she made at a Labour Party training event on antisemitism, was that she hasn’t “heard a definition of antisemitism that I can work with”. To aid Jackie, and for anybody else wondering about definitions of antisemitism, here is a quick guide to some of the definitions currently in use:
After UK Media Watch complaint, Independent furtively corrects false claim.
Once again, we see the lengths British media outlets will go to avoid admitting error.
In Guardian letter, Jackie Walker’s Jewish supporters mischaracterize antisemitism definition
The Working Definition makes a clear distinction – as do most campaigners against antisemitism – between criticism of Israel which crosses the line to antisemitism and that criticism (when leveled in a manner similar to criticism of any other country) which “cannot be regarded as antisemitic”.
Shana Tova!
We’d like to wish those celebrating Rosh HaShanah a happy, healthy and peaceful new year. Shana Tova!
BDS is failing: a continuing series (Oct. 2016)
Here’s the latest installment in our ongoing series documenting BDS fails.
Indy’s Robert Fisk smears Shimon Peres as a man of ‘blood and slaughter’.
The headline of the Sept. 28th piece, “Shimon Peres was no peacemaker. I’ll never forget the sight of pouring blood and burning bodies at Qana”, says it all. Don’t remember Peres, Fisk is saying, as a statesman who held every major government position during his career, or a Nobel Peace Prize Winner for his efforts to reach an agreement with the Palestinians. Rather, he suggests, the thought of Peres should rightly evoke memories of tortured humanity inflicted by Israel’s cruel machines of war – a legacy of “blood, fire and slaughter”.
UK Media Watch prompts Daily Mail correction – admits that Bibi was cheered
As Israellycool and Yair Rosenberg reported, an internet myth was reported as news by the tabloids Page Six and Daily Mail on Sept. 26th regarding the reception received by Israel’s prime minister. Both publications claimed that Netanyahu was booed as he and his wife took their seats for a performance of “Hamilton” on Saturday night at Richard Rodgers Theatre in NYC.
UK Media Watch prompts Indy correction – The Temple Mount is back in Jerusalem
We recently posted about a Sept. 12th article highlighting photos of Muslims celebrating the festival of Eid al-Adha published at Indy100 (a brand of The Independent) which placed the Dome of the Rock, […]
Two egregious omissions illustrate continued anti-Israel bias at the Independent
Once again, the Indy has shown its propensity – at least regarding their coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict – to favor propaganda over anything resembling professional journalism.
The Independent places the Temple Mount in “Palestine”
An article published earlier in the month at Indy100 (The Independent’s BuzzFeed–style website featuring ‘click bait’ and viral content) highlighting photos from around the world of Muslims celebrating the festival of Eid […]
Hinde Street Church: Now, take down that wall!
The decision-makers in Hinde Street Church have managed to erect a wall of mistrust and hurt between the Methodists and the vast majority of the Jewish Community. Israel’s security barrier is necessary to save lives. Hinde Street’s wall of hurt is entirely unnecessary.
Indy headline packs powerful propagandistic punch
Though the Indy article included information on the attempted suicide in the fifth paragraph of the article, if you were to merely read the headline and strap line, you’d be forgiven for believing that Israeli security personnel summarily executed a Palestinian child.
An Israeli Arab asks the Guardian: Why didn’t you explain the reason Israel built its “wall”?
Yesterday, we posted about a Guardian article focusing on “walls within cities” all over the world that included paragraphs on Israel’s “wall” between east Jerusalem and the West Bank, yet didn’t include any information at all on the security reasons prompting its construction. As we also noted as a point of comparison, the Guardian article did manage to explain the security concerns motivating the erection of walls in Baghdad.
Guardian writer evidently has absolutely no idea why Israel builds fences
By failing to explain why the security fence dividing Israel with the West Bank was erected in the first place, and by erroneously suggesting that Jerusalem is a racially segregated city, the Guardian once again grossly misleads readers by favouring narrative over nuanced reality in describing everyday life in the Jewish state.
British journalist: Antisemitism in Britain is alive and well.
The spread of anti-Semitism – from university campuses to the heart of Westminster – is pernicious. Many may think of anti-Semitism as being a disease of another time. I, too, shared that belief. Yet the troubling truth is that this is wrong: anti-Semitism is alive and well. It’s time to kill it off before it’s too late.
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