Lonely Planet Founder Bashes Israel

By Published On: October 3, 2006

lonely planet.gif

A few years ago, a CAMERA review of the Lonely Planet guidebook on Israel found in that book “a generally disagreeable attitude toward Israel and its Jewish inhabitants.”

“The legacy of Israel given in the ‘Facts about the Country’ section reflects the traditional Arab version of events almost from start to finish,” the review noted.

It wasn’t such a surprise, then, to come across statement by Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler’s statement on the Israel-Hezbollah war that didn’t so much reflect the traditional Arab version of events, but the version of events held by the most extreme Arab leaders.

In a feature in last Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle, Wheeler discussed how previously safe places can quickly become dangerous. Lebanon, he said, has recently become “dangerous” not because the Lebanese government lacked the will or strenght to assert its sovereignty over the whole of Lebanon, and not because Hezbollah provoked a war with Israel with its deadly cross-border kidnapping raid, but because Israel, seemingly for no reason in Wheeler’s mind, behaves like an unruly gorilla:

Lebanon wasn’t a dangerous place a few weeks ago, then Israel starts smashing the place up and it’s very dangerous.

We expose the anti-Israel lies so you don't have to. But we can't do it without your help. Join the fight -- Donate now
CAMERA logo
Tell the World – Share Now!

More from SNAPSHOTS

  • More BDS Falsehoods in The Toronto Star

    September 11, 2016

    Linda McQuiag claims BDS success, ignoring massive increase in foreign investments during last decade since the launch of the campaign The anti-Israel BDS movement (boycott, movement and divest) campaign has long used misinformation to garner [...]

  • UCC Peacemakers Promote Antisemitic Organization

    September 8, 2016

    A so-called “peacemaking” document produced for worship leaders in the United Church of Christ promotes the work of If Americans Knew, an organization led by Alison Weir, who has been condemned by both the Anti-Defamation [...]

  • NYT’s Peter Baker: Word Choices and Attitudes

    September 8, 2016

    NYT Jerusalem Bureau Chief Peter BakerFollowing Peter Baker's debut as the New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief, CAMERA noted that his first article was disappointing to readers looking for informative and balanced pieces from the [...]

  • New York Times Covers Anti-Coptic Violence Admirably

    September 6, 2016

    Rod Nordland speaking at the National Press Club earlier this year. (YouTube screenshot.) The New York Times offered its readers some excellent reporting about anti-Christian violence in Egypt. In a piece by Rod Nordland published [...]

  • AFP Misleads Again, This Time About World Vision

    September 5, 2016

    In an article today about doubts in Gaza regarding Israel's case against World Vision's Mohammed al-Halabi, charged with diverting tens of millions of dollars in aide to Hamas, Agence France Presse claims ("Gazans, NGO question [...]

  • AFP Misleads on Gaza ‘Food Shortages’

    September 5, 2016

    An Agence France Presse article yesterday about a dog shelter in the Gaza Strip begins: In an impoverished and war-battered territory suffering food shortages and a scarcity of jobs, Saeed al-Ar knew it was a [...]

  • Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust: UN Hosts anti-Semitic, anti-Israel Hate Groups

    August 31, 2016

    A shocking new report by Prof. Anne Bayefsky and Sarah Willig of Human Rights Voices and the Touro Institute for Human Rights and the Holocaust exposes how blatant antisemitism and incitement to violence is being [...]

  • The Intensifying War in Syria – How is the Media Covering It?

    August 31, 2016

    The Daily Mail on Aug. 30, 2016 carried a large detailed expose of Iran's "covert war" in Syria. The article describes a not so hidden escalation of Iranian involvement in Syria. According to the Daily [...]

  • USA Today Report Shines Light on Terrorist Motivations, Israeli Responses

    August 26, 2016

    In only 487-words, a USA Today report (“Attack lull ends as Israeli is stabbed by Palestinian,” Aug. 12, 2016) on a Palestinian terrorist attack in Jerusalem provided readers with information frequently omitted by major U.S. [...]

  • Palestinian Journalists Targeted by Hamas and Palestinian Authority, Media Silent

    August 25, 2016

    PA President Mahmoud Abbas Palestinian journalists are being targeted by Palestinian officials ahead of local and municipal elections in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and the Gaza Strip scheduled for Oct. 8, 2016. Yet, [...]