Sad news about a boyhood hero (who commands a big speaking fee), from the Gainesville Sun, Clare Lennon reporting:
The journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize at The Washington Post for uncovering the Watergate scandal was guest speaker of the Florida Loves Israel convention for college students. He addressed a group of about 120 students and members of the general public at the University of Florida Hillel.
Bernstein, 69, discussed media and politics, particularly as they relate to Israel. He self-identified as a secular Jew and said American Jews should be educated and active supporters of Israel….
About 120 college students from across Florida registered for the conference, [Alyssa Baron, student director of Florida Loves Israel convention] said. Accent Speakers Bureau chairman and UF senior Josh Holtzman confirmed that the student group contributed $15,000 to UF Hillel to bring Bernstein to the convention.
I believe this is generational, and these attitudes are dying among journalists. But that’s hopeful.
Why does Florida have to ‘love’ Israel? What a bizarre notion. Does Florida love the USA too, and are there not some contradictions between the two statements? Does Florida love France and Thailand and Peru and Mozambique? I think we should be told.
Incidentally, who funded this absurd love-in, and how much was Bernstein paid? Is every state now going to have to go through these ridiculous hoops, or be accused of being ‘ant-semitic’? What a farce.
I don’t have a problem with his giving this speech. I am not a supporter of Israel but i certainly support free speech. Since Mr. Bernstein is a self-identified secular Jew and believes “American Jews should be educated and active supporters of Israel,” and he is a journalist, I feel that in the essence of fairness and transparency should he cover Israel and topics related to Israel and the Middle East he is obligated to tell his audience that he is writing as a Jew and a supporter of Israel. He and others in the media who are Jewish and supporters of Israel ought to give a disclaimer so the television, or newspaper audience can put their statements in the proper context: This may not be objective journalism, but advocacy journalism or simply a personal political opinion.
I can only imagine the cries of antisemitism should we loudly, and on other forums insist these “journalists” do that.
Terrorist group MEK paid Bernstein $12K last year to have him give a speech. It appears the wages of shilling for dubious causes is increasing.
Israel’s long running epic, “When religion goes to war.”
The report in Gainesville Sun is so inane that I am quite puzzled what really happened.
Berstein informed listeners that he is Jewish, secular and loves Israel. Not exactly newsworthy, but by the same token, not strange. Then he informed the audience that in 50 years of journalistic experience he learned to have multiple data sources. Wow! Whaa! Did it take 40 years to figure it out? Then he dropped a bomb: he is not relying exclusively on pamphlets received from AIPAC. This turned out to be controversial: “An audience member spoke out during the question-and-answer session, objecting to Bernstein’s characterization of AIPAC.” The idea that one may want to compare an AIPAC pamphlet with other sources (like Emergency Committee on Israel?) is hard to swallow. Thus Bernstein “stirred controversy”, as he promised when he was invited.
Anyway, I learned a few new things today. (1) AIPAC is producing and distributing pamphlets. (2) Some people view them as Holy Writ. (3) Berstein does not, but he loves Israel so much that he does not ply his audience with memorable anecdotes on dubious AIPAC pamphlets.
Following Bernstein advised, I checked other reports about his speech. The Independent Florida Alligators informs that the audience of 150 consisted of students and elderly men (does the student reporter Julia Glum edit unsightly old women from her field of vision?). While I am convinced that Julia had to skip this or that for the sake of brevity, she provided two lengthy quotes. First one:
Bonfire of inanities.