I see that Ethan Bronner, the controversial Times bureau chief in Jerusalem, spoke at Brandeis today. I wonder if anyone asked about his son in the Israeli army. And he is speaking at Vassar College in NY on Wednesday afternoon. The Jewish Studies program. My question: I gather Bronner used to be something of a liberal a few years back (James North tells me). His politics have clearly changed. He’s more conservative today. How did it happen? What was Israel’s role in his shift? I wonder if he can go there…
Update: In an interview with the Brandeis Hoot, Bronner suggests that covering Palestine is dangerous. I wonder if that’s affected his coverage…
“There’s a lot of pressure [in Israel], there’s no other place quite like it, quite so powerful. Its not just the Jewish Americans who care, Israel is considered the birthplace for four billion people and three major religions, There’s absolutely no way to make everyone happy because everyone has a different view and they’re hoping you choose to pick theirs,” he said. “The way to address this is by first not being a fool when you are talking to political radicals, look at what happened to Daniel Pearl, you have to think about how far your’re going to follow a story before it becomes dangerous but you also can’t have a strong ideology because then you’re going out [ to cover a story] and you’re constantly trying to prove what you believe, it better to approach it with a ‘what’s going to happen?’ mindset ‘ How is humanity going to fix itself today?’ and let that lead you to your writing.”
