Friday, February 23, 2007

Being an Apologist for the Demonizers of Israel is not a Jewish Value

Throughout it's relatively short life, JVP's blog, Muzzlewatch, has made a point of defending people who constantly vilify Israel and/or the Jewish People including Norman Finkelstein and Jimmy Carter. Most recently, Muzzlewatch has begun a multi-post kvetch about how NPR is apparently too scared to talk about Israel despite ample evidence to the contrary. If there had been such fear within the NPR to discuss Israel, then clearly there would have been no issue in the first place for an anti-Israel bias investigation. Part 1 of this feature, which I suggest you read for it's obvious comedic value, has multiple contradictions within itself:
One of the most revealing moments in the On the Media NPR segment was the announcer’s introductory statement that “We’re about to go where many American news organizations prefer not to go.” NPR should know. They have long been public enemy number one of the almost comically hawkish media watchdog group CAMERA, which once called for congressional investigation of the respected news outlet for their “anti-Israel bias”.
I for one, am confused. I thought the article was about how NPR, along with apparently the entire mainstream media, is muzzled in their reporting about Israel. Yet within this paragraph, they showcase NPR's apparent bravery to approach the Israel-Palestine issue from what they consider an unbiased perspective. Even an attempt at an explanation of their contradictory sludge is both tedious and baffling in its complexity.

Continuing on their insipid rant, Muzzlewatch writes in the very next paragraph:
A few years ago, the station manager of an NPR affiliate admitted in a room full of people that she simply didn’t want to touch the Israel-Palestine conflict and risk losing one penny.
In a piece from earlier on in their history about how Emory University has enacted a policy of not allowing speakers about the Israel-Palestine debate, Muzzlewatch's far left, and to the general Jewish community, extremist politics shine through. In an incredible act of what they would consider "defiance," and what we would consider "stupidity" or "despicable behavior," they describe the Israel demonizer Norman Finkelstein as a "Holocaust Industry critic and Alan Dershowitz gadfly." It is nearly impossible to succinctly explain how ludicrously this statement underplays Finkelstein's anti-Israel agenda. I would suggest you read this CAMERA article about his fraudulent scholarship.

Simply put, no matter what they say, Muzzlewatch is committed both to demonizing every pro-Israel organization in existence, and to protecting and supporting the demonizers of the Jewish state. Don't fall into their trap, as being an apologists for the demonizers of Israel is not a Jewish value.

2 comments:

  1. I also read this piece on Muzzlewatch and I was surprised at how thin the material was.

    In particular, "On the Media" routinely expresses extreme left positions, so their self contratulatory "bravery" at criticizing Israel was a transparent attempt to pretend it takes some kind of great courage to criticize Israel.

    On the Left it would take courage to criticize the Palestinian leadership!

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  2. In a 1996 meeting with Arab leaders in Stockholm Yassar Arafar declared "We of the PLO will now concentrate all our efforts on splitting Israel psychologically into two camps."

    It seems that "Jewish Voice for Peace" is the realization of Arafat's dream. You can dress it up in its Sunday best, give it a pretty name and an honorary degree, but in the end, JVP is a wolf in sheeps clothing. Beware of false peace movements

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