During the dog days of summer, PBS aired two anti-Israel documentaries, back to back, as part of its POV series. CAMERA analyzed them in the article, “PBS Doubles Down on Anti-Israel Films.” Many letter writers and callers contacted their local PBS stations, the PBS ombudsman and the ombudsman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which administers your tax dollars for public broadcasting.

In October, CPB Ombudsman Joel Kaplan addressed viewers’ concerns:

In August I wrote about numerous complaints I received from PBS viewers who were upset that POV was running two documentaries, “5 Broken Cameras” and “The Law in These Parts” that appeared to be sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians at the expense of the Israelis. Much of the criticism was prompted from a request by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting (CAMERA)—to complain to the CPB ombudsman as well as PBS ombudsman Michael Getler.

At the time I urged those complaining to at least wait until the documentaries were broadcast before lodging any complaints.

[…]

Since I also received so many complaints I too decided to watch the documentaries and must say that I agree with many of those who, in my view, prematurely complained. I found both films to be one-sided, particularly “5 Broken Cameras.” That film doesn’t even give lip service to the Israeli point of view and its filmed interactions with the Israeli army appear to be edited to place the Israelis in the worst possible light.

In the past I have defended public broadcasting against criticisms that various reports were not objective nor balanced when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by pointing out that much of the balance comes in other news reports.

But in the case of POV, that is simply not the case. Of all its documentaries for its new season, there are two that can be portrayed to varying degrees as anti-Israel. But there are no corresponding documentaries that portray the Israeli point of view.

[…]

To select these two films given the ongoing conflict and controversy surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian relationship is only going to provoke those who already feel as though anti-Israel sentiment is the rule rather than the exception when it comes to public broadcasting. There is little to no objectivity and balance in these two films and POV should not be citing a film from three years ago about a Jewish family who travels to China to adopt a child as an example of balance.

To the extent that I was critical of those who complained before the films ran, I now say that I agree with much of that criticism.

Thank you to all the dedicated CAMERA members who made your voices heard. You are making a difference.

Keeping Pressure on Iran
Our Fellow at Cornell publishes this powerful piece in his campus paper: “The sanctions have hurt. Iran’s oil exports have fallen by about 50 percent since 2011. . . ” (in Focus)

Indy’s wild claim that Israel ‘tortures’ Palestinian kids continues to unravel
CiF Watch continues to demonstrate that the charge leveled by The Independent that Palestinian kids were tortured and “caged” by the Israeli government appears to be completely without merit. (CiF Watch)

Palestinian Kids In Cages?
How an Israeli NGO, bad fact-checking and a bad translation led to the claim that Israel was torturing Palestinian minors by holding them in cages. (Presspectiva)

Telling only half of the story
The Israeli media failed to report on the backlash to the ASA boycott (Presspectiva)

Review of Fall Semester 2013: Anat Berko at American University
CAMERA helps bring Anat Berko to American University to “increase awareness about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and challenge prevalent notions about the nature of Palestinian terrorists.” (in Focus)

BBC continues to avoid essential ‘core issues’ of Middle East talks
What isn’t the BBC telling its audiences about the peace process? (BBC Watch)

BBC Two’s ‘Newsnight’ breaches editorial guidelines, fudges on anti-Semitism
Why did the BBC fail to inform viewers of an interviewee’s Far-Right associations? (BBC Watch)

The Palestinian Authority uses European funds to promote antisemitism and the Spanish speaking press ignores it
A Palestinian youth NGO funded partly with European funds, co-produced an antisemitic video that was broadcasted in the Palestinian Authority TV channel. But none of the main Spanish speaking media reported about it. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

The Truth Behind Anti-Semitism
A fantastic article by CAMERA fellow at Alabama State University, John Wright: “Throughout the Middle East there are many who feel as though Israel doesn’t have the right to exist as a nation and the Jews who inhabit her should be eradicated from the Earth. These sentiments are echoed around the world. . .” (in Focus)

A few days ago, Snapshots drew attention to a hateful photo posted on Facebook — one that lionized Nazi violence against civilians, abused Nike’s swoosh logo and slogan, “Just Do it.” Initially, Facebook didn’t take the photo down even after receiving a number of complaints. The first response said it did not violate Facebook’s community standards. Eventually, the photo disappeared.

Today, Facebook sent out a message that stated, “We reviewed your report” and that “We revised our decision on your report of the photo in question.” A click in the email takes the reader to the message posted above.

The episode raises a number of questions. Why wasn’t the photo taken down immediately? Who first decided the photo was OK? And how many complaints does it take for people to realize there’s a problem?

Is Facebook really serious about enforcing its community standards?

1:13 p.m. update: As it turns out, the user’s account has been deleted entirely.

St. James Church Piccadilly, in the heart of London, hosted an event called “Bethlehem Unwrapped,” December 23 – January 5. According to the Web site, “Through music, food, art, poetry, debate and more Bethlehem Unwrapped goes behind the romanticised Christmas card images of the ancient city to show what life is like for people in Bethlehem today.” Nothing wrong with that, you say?

The festival included an art installation, “The Wall,” in the courtyard of the church, which it describes as “a life-size replica section of the 8 metre high Separation Wall that surrounds Bethlehem.” Of course, the security barrier does not surround Bethlehem as the map below shows:

(This is an issue CAMERA is still pursuing with CBS News and “60 Minutes.”)

In addition, the security barrier was erected to protect civilians in the wake of the terrorist onslaught known as the second intifada. In fact, the barrier has greatly reduced terrorist attacks, saving untold numbers of lives. The church does not belabor those facts, but does “acknowledge the government position that the wall was built for security reasons.” See, that’s the Israeli government position. Yet, church leaders claim not to be “taking sides.”

The Israeli, Jewish and British press covered this “festival” but the mainstream American news media did not. That’s fine. The Gatestone Institute published a tremendous open letter to the clergy of St. James by Denis MacEoin:

Your church has constructed a mendacious wall on its premises in order to make an ignominious political point, something I would not have believed you capable of. It is mendacious because it pretends that the entire separation barrier is a wall, when the wall actually covers about 1%. It is mendacious because it does not mention the 30 or so security walls and fences that have been built by other countries, many much longer than Israel’s. It is mendacious because it carries no message to explain why it is there, when it is explicitly there to deter violent attacks from the West Bank into Israel. It is mendacious because it carries no statement alerting onlookers to the fact that the barrier has already saved thousands of lives. Or does saving lives really not matter to Christians? Or are Jewish lives not as important as the lives of suicide bombers and other terrorists? If you seek fairness — and I suspect that in a muddled way you do — why did you not contact the Israeli embassy, who could have loaned you something apposite: a bus on board which passengers died when a suicide bomber detonated himself?

And this is what few outlets cover: the feelings of terror victims.

In 2010, Kay Wilson was viciously stabbed by Palestinian Arabs in an attack that killed her friend, Kristine Luken. She wrote an open letter to St. James Church:

A true story…

“And it came to pass that in December 2010, two Palestinian shepherds left their little town near Bethlehem and set out to walk ten miles across the Judean Hills. There in the forest, they kept watch by night. The following day, at about the 6th hour (3pm) the shepherds saw two women walking along the Israel National Trail. With great fervour they took out their knives and attacked the women.

[…]

Thirteen times the shepherds thrust their knives into the women, breaking bones, tearing flesh, even impaling one to the ground. As the Jew played dead, she watched the Christian friend hacked to death before her very eyes…”

[…]

I would like to think that as Christians, you would never condone Kristine Luken’s heinous murder or the attack on myself. I suspect however that you may rationalise this savagery as an inevitable result of the “Israeli occupation.”

[…]

If your wall was scrutinised, one would see that underneath the whitewashed surface that concerns itself with Israeli policies, there are blocks of anti-Semitism. These bricks stand high.

[…]

Your wall is an affront to Kristine Luken and other victims of terror who may well have been alive today had there have been a wall erected on the other 90% of land that separates us from our Palestinian neighbours.

Your wall is an injustice to Christians living under Muslim despotism. Ironically it is the State of Israel, that you deem pariah and unjust, that is unique in the Middle East because unlike all of our neighbours, our Christian population is flourishing and our Christians have full religious rights.

Please write on your wall, under the cross, now obscured by the crescent…. “R.I.P Kristine Luken.”

Sincerely
Kay Wilson

Certainly readers, viewers and listeners can only benefit from hearing this important point of view. So… where’s the coverage?

Crude stereotyping of ‘expansionist’ Israelis in BBC 3 comedy show
BBC guidelines permit national stereotyping “for comic effect” if there are “audience expectations”, but does BBC coverage of Israel in fact create such expectations? (BBC Watch)

BBC’s Knell amplifies UNRWA’s political campaigning on R4′s ‘The World Tonight’
BBC reports on the recent flooding in Gaza cite “tight restrictions” on imports of fuel which do not exist . (BBC Watch)

Guardian: Non-Jewish Israelis who live in settlements should not be called ‘settlers’
According to the Guardian’s ‘Style Guide’, the term “settler” can only be used to characterize ‘Jewish’ Israelis who live beyond the green line. So, according to this logic, a Christian or Muslim citizen of Israel living in a “settlement” in the West Bank or “East” Jerusalem would NOT be considered a “settler”. (CiF Watch)

¿Who condemns Palestinian terrorism?
In the Spanish speaking press, very few voices were given space to condemn the attack to the 240 bus line near Tel Aviv, while only a handful of papers actually published news about the incident. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

Brandeis and Penn State Harrisburg Pull Out of ASA Program in Response to Boycott
ASA takes a more extreme stance on Israel than the president of the Palestinian Authority. (in Focus)

Review of the Fall Semester 2013: Israel Awareness Week at the University of Houston
Over 70 students attend event with Israel’s highest ranking Muslim diplomat during Israel Awareness Week at the University of Houston, organized with CAMERA’s help and support. (in Focus)

Ma’ariv’s Misplaced Rage
The cause of a demonstration seems to baffle Ma’ariv (Presspectiva)

Is Israel’s Christian Population Really Declining?
A nasty Independent Op-Ed repeats a modern day slander (Presspectiva)

Middle East headlines in the Spanish speaking press
These are the weekly highlights about Israel and the Middle East in the Latin American and Spanish press. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

The Samer Issawi Test
Released Palestinian prisoner Samer Issawi is an important test case for journalists. His hunger strike continues to garner news coverage. His conviction for multiple attempts of murder, not so much. (CAMERA)

Senior Campus Coordinator at CAMERA Writes to Hampshire College President, Calling on Him to Condemn the ASA Boycott
Read her well written letter here. (in Focus)

Review of Fall Semester 2013: Gil Magen at Ohio State University Photography Under Fire event draws in many people, including adults over age 50, students from a diverse number of academic department such as Middle East Studies, photography, sociology, political science and others. (in Focus)

Review of Fall Semester 2013: Sgt. Benjamin Anthony at George Mason
About 70 students attend event designed to decrease apathy and increase awareness of Israel. Students involved in Greek life, students enrolled in ROTC and others learn about what drove Benjamin Anthony to leave all he knew in his native U.K. and enlist in the IDF. (in Focus)

Professor Rotella, Director of the American Studies Program at Boston College, Speaks Out Against the ASA Boycott of Israel
Read his letter here. So far 55 institutions have condemned the ASA boycott. (in Focus)

Ma’ariv and Makor Rishon Greatly Over report European Anti-semitism
A report on a new poll on European Anti-semitism manages to cite every figure wrong. (Presspectiva)

The Reemergence of the Green Line
Ha’aretz’s updated style guide, no longer encourages translators to avoid using the term “The Green Line”. (Presspectiva)

Who Needs To Check Facts If You Can Read Ynet?
A scathing op-ed in the “7th eye” against the Simon Weisenthal Center, was completly based on an error published in Ynet (Presspectiva)

Event Held at the University of Miami Celebrates Gay Life in Israel
About 70 students attend event at the University of Miami to learn about the rights that Israel gives gays in Israel. (in Focus)

The Failures of Sam Bahour
J-Street at Brandeis helps bring to campus a speaker that is against Israel’s existence, and that suggested that Israel is responsible for chemical weapon use in Syria. J-Street is part of Hillel on that campus. (in Focus)

CAMERA Helps Bring Jeff Jacoby to Florida
Jeff Jacoby connects Zionism to American history and covers the big lies- big truth phenomenon. Our Owls for Israel Board member at Florida Atlantic University writes about it. (in Focus)

Update: The image has been removed. See more below.

It’s OK to encourage the murder of civilians on Facebook. It is not a violation of the company’s community standards or its terms of service. Don’t believe it? Take a look at the photo above which appears on the page of a Facebook user writing in Bulgarian. The photo is taken from a massacre of Polish civilians outside the city of Bochnia during World War II. Underneath the photo is the Nike “swoosh” and the tradmark phrase, “Just Do It.” The photo can be seen here.

A complaint was filed with Facebook and received the following response, which can be seen below the jump.
(more…)

On dozens of occasions, we have noted instances of “Ha’aretz, Lost in Translation,” in which misinformation finds its way into the English edition of Ha’aretz, while the corresponding, original Hebrew item is correct.

Our latest case, a Jan. 2 photo caption on page 2 of the English print edition, is a variation on the theme that we previously saw a couple of months ago: the original source, the Associated Press, is in English. Yet, the Ha’aretz English edition still gets it wrong. Ha’aretz‘s caption for the AP photo states:

Palestinians near Jericho protesting the announcement by Israel that it had voted to extend Israeli law over parts of the Jordan Valley

Except, Israel never announced “that it had voted to extend Israeli law over parts of the Jordan Valley,” because it never voted to do so. Rather, as recently reported by Ha’aretz itself, the bill passed a vote in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, but it is far from becoming law:

Following the vote, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Science and Technology Minister Jacob Perry appealed the vote. Now, this hot potato will return to Netanyahu, who will have to find a way to freeze the bill and prevent it from reaching the Knesset plenum, where the government would vote on the issue.

The original caption sent out by the Associated Press was factually accurate, citing a “proposed Israeli bill seeking to annex the Jordan valley”:

While Ha’aretz‘s English staff had trouble with the English caption, the Hebrew staff managed just fine. The Hebrew edition ran a similar photograph from the Agence-France Press and is got the caption right, noting that the vote legislation to annex the Jordan Bill was no more than a bill:

It reads (CAMERA’s translation):

Palestinians and foreigners demonstrate against the Israeli bill to annex the Jordan Valley settlements, yesterday near Jericho

The shortcomings in Noah Browning’s Dec. 20, 2013 article (“In bleak Arab hinterland, hints of Jerusalem’s partition“) are piling up.

Browning reported that Shuafat residents:

pay municipal taxes which bring some health care and insurance benefits, but enjoy few city services, which means locals must burn their trash and dig their own sewers.

He does not bother to inform readers, however, that the municipality and UNRWA have an agreement in which the UN refugee organization provides services to the Shuafat refugee camp, and that UNRWA recently suspended these services due to a labor dispute. Ha’aretz‘s Nir Hasson reported:

A month-long strike by employees of a United Nations refugee agency has resulted in pileups of garbage and clogged sewers in the Shoafat refugee camp in Jerusalem and left some 51,000 Palestinian children out of school.

The work stoppage by UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, has also closed down dozens of health clinics in the West Bank.

The Shoafat refugee camp is part of the Jerusalem municipality, which is responsible for its basic services. The camp is located on the Palestinian side of the separation barrier, however, where the municipality, like all other Israeli service providers, does not operate. According to long-held understandings between UNRWA and the municipality, the UN agency collects the trash in the camp and provides some of the education and health care services for the camp residents.

Since a labor dispute erupted between the agency and its workers a month ago, about 3,000 children in the camp have had no school, UN health clinics have closed and trash collection has ceased. Residents have set fire to piles causing significant air pollution and a stench throughout the camp.

(more…)

On November 14, 2013 National Public Radio’s On Point news discussion program hosted a discussion about the proposed agreement with Iran over its nuclear program that was worked out in Geneva. Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, an opponent of the agreement, warned that any relaxation in sanctions would result in a stream of Western companies rushing in to do business with Iran. But the other participants in the program supported the plan. Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institute scoffed at Dubowitz’s warning, calling it “an absurd assertion.” NPR host Tom Ashbrook shared Maloney’s assessment and was noticeably annoyed by Dubowitz’s skepticism about the proposed accord, interrupting him several times.

On Jan. 2, the German news magazine, Der Spiegel, weighed in with a long piece,” ‘Chance of a Century’: International Investors Flock to Tehran“, reporting that “droves of Western business people are already flocking to Tehran.” The article’s author, Suzanne Koelbl, repeats what the head of the German-Iranian Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Tehran told her:

Not a single top European official came to President Rohani’s inauguration, as agreed by the EU member states’ representatives in Brussels. But the very next day the government in Rome sent a high-ranking emissary to personally congratulate the new Iranian head of state. Now the planes from Europe are “full of Italians” …

In a deal worth billions, the French are about to renew their licensing contract for supplying Peugeot conponents to Iranian carmaker Iran Khodro. “And the Americans are already here with ExxonMobil, Chevron Corporation and other US companies”…

The German chamber of commerce official admits, “This here is not a matter of good and evil, or perhaps even the nuclear deal. It’s really about a great deal of money.”