Here’s what we’re up against in the left. KPFT is Pacifica radio in Houston area. There are five Pacifica sister stations in the U.S.; the network was started by a pacifist during the Cold War. My Pacifica outlet is the great WBAI in New York. Pacifica airs Democracy Now, Amy Goodman, the best show on radio.
Well, here’s what KPFT is committed to doing:
On December 14, KPFT launched a new series of programs led by the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest. The Voice of Peace is a biweekly program aimed at sharing a perspective not heard enough on KPFT: that of people speaking on Israel’s diverse society….
The Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest is a natural choice to produce The Voice of Peace. It has undoubtedly the broadest and most diverse connections with the Jewish community in our region. It has the resources to offer with authority a glimpse of Israeli life as few legitimately can. With a constituency spanning five U.S. states, the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest organizes scores of cultural, interfaith, media and community events annually.
…KPFT management believes the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest and voices from the community of which it is engaged have a right to be on the air. Their programming makes us a stronger radio station. Excluding, marginalizing or silencing communities from the airwaves sets a dangerous precedent.
Oh my. KPFT is getting flak for the decision. Mais bien sur. Here is Ernesto Aguilar, a manager at KPFT using youtube to explain that after the Rick Sanchez/CNN firing, some KPFT callers on a call-in said that Jews control the media, “off-color” remarks, “very prejudiced remarks,” and that the Israeli Consulate then reached out to KPFT in concern…
“We need to address anti-Jewish bias…” and– humanize Israelis. Aguilar says KPFT is “expressing a dialogue” about a country that few of our listeners have a positive image of. People used to call the station KPLO. “We are seeking to create this dialogue with a community that we haven’t had very much contact with in many years.” Sometimes building understanding means hearing someone you dont want to hear…
It’s a controversy in Houston. Here’s a cool guy, Robinson Block, who’s written for this site, saying how he read about this in a Jewish newspaper. “Really really blew me away, because it’s very contrary to the mission of Pacifica.” Think about the international context, he says, of BDS. Block links the decision to the station’s fundraising efforts. “‘We’re going to establish a working relationship with the Israeli government’… It’s really unacceptable.” He’s not going to give more money to the station.
Part 2 of Aguilar is here. He says that during anti-apartheid activism, no one would have tried to silence the media putting people from South Africa on air. I doubt that, actually. And this is about a leftwing station airing propaganda. What kind of choice are they making?
Now here’s what I think. This whole flap grew out of an uncomfortable moment — Rick Sanchez saying that Jon Stewart was wired because there are so many Jews in media ownership, and Sanchez getting fired for same– that contained some truth. The callers, some of whom may well have been anti-Semitic, who said whatever they said to KPFT were also reflecting a modern reality. As I have said when Helen Thomas declared recently that Zionists control the media (thereby getting to the top of ADL’s list of antisemitic comments) and when Sanchez got axed, there is a legitimate news question here, involving the Jewish presence in the establishment and Jewish identity being built around Zionism, that people have a right to talk about without resorting to discrimination let alone violence. Leftwing callers seem to have echoed these questions. The issue for me here is whether the news media can even address these questions. What does it mean that Wolf Blitzer worked for AIPAC? What does it mean that Jeff Zucker said he didn’t want Palestinians on NBC? I have faith in American democracy/discourse to be able to handle this conversation. I don’t see what the heck it has to do with diversity in Israel.
And yes the KPFT move plays into the very problem it sought to address: some listeners will conclude that this is a matter of Jews wielding power behind the scenes…
One last point. When I married into my wife’s Christian family some years ago, I sniffed prejudice here and there in her ancestors. I remember saying once, with some outrage, So-and-so said something anti-Semitic. And my wife said to me, They were all anti-Semitic in that generation. I.e., the world of the Gentleman’s Agreement was a real one. My wife would have been infused with anti-Semitism if she was born 30 years before she was. As it is she married a Jew, there’s a menorah on the pie safe, near the Christmas tree and if she hates us, well she keeps a beautiful house and abides me. And everyone was a racist in colonial America, just about. People change. Attitudes change. People learn.
