When it comes to even the appearance of bias, the New York Times tells its reporters that they are supposed to be like Caesar’s wife — above a hint of impropriety. Even if you report on tax policy, for instance, you are not supposed to even attend a pro- (or anti-) abortion rally. But two Times writers arguably just violated their paper’s own policy.
The Anti-Defamation League, a full-fledged member of the pro-Israel lobby, held a conference this week titled “Never Is Now,” and a theme was that “anti-Zionism is antisemitism.” Some speakers urged the adoption of the IHRA antisemitism definition, which does not allow harsh criticism of Israel. Others said the present danger for Jews is the left’s alleged denial of Jewish peoplehood, or denial of Jewish historical suffering, or denial of the Jewish right to self-determination in Israel.
“Antisemitism on the left is intensifying like climate change,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the ADL, told the conference, per Haaretz: “[T]oo often people choose to ignore the signs and deny that there is a pattern, that anything is changing. But, by all measures, the metaphorical temperature is climbing, the conditions worsening, and this situation threatens to upend life as we know it.”
Two New York Times staffers, opinion writer Kara Swisher and tech reporter Sheera Frenkel, also appeared at the ADL conference, leading a discussion of Facebook’s role in the spread of hate speech, antisemitism, and anti-vaccination/rightwing/antisemitic conspiracy theories in social media. Neither mentioned Israel/Palestine. But their comments were an implicit endorsement of the pro-Israel lobby’s view of antisemitism.
They spoke right after Yair Lapid, Israel’s Foreign Minister and the new shining knight for the more liberal wing of the pro-Israel lobby, had railed against the growing influence of social media’s portrayals of Israel. Lapid spoke of a picture of a bloodied child that social media circulated during the last Israeli assault on Gaza, in May, and said that the picture was truly “heartbreaking” and every decent person who saw it was “angry at the state of Israel.” But it was from Syria not Gaza; “Hamas put out fake news,” Lapid said.
Lapid was right in this instance. But Israeli human rights violations are no invention; he failed to acknowledge that Israel killed more than 280 Palestinians over 11 days of bombing in May (12 people in Israel were killed), many of them children. Or that Israel killed more than 500 Gazan children over seven weeks of attacks in summer 2014 — another onslaught publicized by social media.
Lapid was pushing a long-standing, ugly Hasbara Central trope — that Israeli atrocities against Palestinians are often staged or made up. Israel’s supporters sometimes use the word “Pallywood” to dismiss or try and discredit the truths that human rights organizations have long confirmed.
Frenkel and Swisher should not have been at the ADL conference. Although they did not endorse the organization’s views, their presence lent the pro-Israel propaganda the New York Times imprimatur.
We messaged both Frenkel and Swisher today, seeking to speak to them about their decision to appear at the ADL event and asking, “Is such an appearance allowed under NYT rules?” So far they haven’t responded.
As is rapidly becoming evident, Israel’s greatest weakness is its utter dependence on the U.S.
“Antisemitism on the left is intensifying like climate change,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the ADL, told the conference, per Haaretz: “
Translation: Anti Israel sentiment on the left is intensifying like climate change.
Jonathan is terrified.
(cont.) children. KADAR stated he would be in the school shortly.”
Apparently, the FBI has not sought to extradite from Israel the person accused of carrying out the massive number of attacks. Press reports in Israel state that an extradition request for this man, holding both Israeli and US citizenship, would not be honored because of the “seriousness” of the charges. One would think that anti-Semitic hate-crime allegations would point toward rather than away from extradition by Israel.
Very interesting:
US Changes Vote from ‘No’ to ‘Abstention’ on UN Resolution on Palestinian Right of Return – Palestine Chronicle
“US Changes Vote from ‘No’ to ‘Abstention’ on UN Resolution on Palestinian Right of Return” The Palestine Chronicle, Nov. 10/21
“The administration of US President Joe Biden on Tuesday did not vote against a UN General Assembly Resolution affirming the right of return for Palestinian refugees, breaking the voting pattern set by his predecessor Donald Trump, the Jerusalem Post reported.
“Under Trump, all such UN texts received an automatic ‘no’ vote, while the Obama administration generally abstained on this particular reaffirmation resolution, which comes up annually before the UN General Assembly.
“’This year, the United States returns to a position of abstention on the text ‘Assistance to Palestine Refugees’, the Jerusalem Post quoted the US Deputy Ambassador Richard Mills as telling the General Assembly’s Fourth Committee on Tuesday.
“The committee gave initial approval to six draft resolutions that will come later this year before the assembly plenum for a final vote. Three of those texts affirmed the work of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which serves 5.7 million Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
“All three resolutions call for the right of return for Palestinian refugees to their home or for their receipt of compensation for the property they lost when they fled during the Nakba and since 1948.
“The text of this was passed by 160 votes to 1; only Israel voted against. The European Union supported all three draft resolutions and nine countries, including the US and Canada, abstained.”
Can these educated, literate people truly not tell the difference between anti-crime and anti-Semitism? Can they be that deeply deluded? Or are they merely corrupt?
Apparently the NYT motto is: “All the news that fits Israel’s (criminal) agenda”.