Vaccines, Racists, and the Discriminatory Standard
Some politicians are saying some things about vaccines and the role the government plays in public health. And here’s what The Wall Street Journal stated yesterday on that subject:
Government doesn’t “force” parents to vaccinate children. The states impose penalties (such as barring attendance in public schools) on those who pose a risk to public health by refusing vaccinations against infectious diseases.
Yes, in the United States, government often penalizes those who don’t vaccinate their children. It’s been that way for a long time. Why, then, hasn’t US immunization policy been described as racist in the pages of major newspapers? You see, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have both relayed the absurd charge that Israel’s policy penalizing families that don’t immunize children amounts to anti-Arab discrimination.
Again and again, The Times has treated as credible the comically absurd list of supposedly discriminatory laws promulgated by the anti-Israel advocacy group Adalah. Israel has “50 discriminatory Israeli laws,” a recent Op-Ed claimed, citing Adalah. Same thing on the news pages. Wall Street Journal fact-checkers also gave a pass to the same charge.
But even a cursory examination of the charge would show that Adalah’s list includes, along with other completely innocuous statutes, Israel’s law that withholds certain benefits from families (of any ethnicity or religion) that don’t immunize their children. (You can read more about those charges here.)
Discriminatory? Of course not. And it’s safe to say that no other country is slurred in this way for policy meant to ensure immunizations. Israel is singled out with rhetorical abuse for rather mundane public health policy. Editors at major newspapers are playing along. How’s that for discriminatory?
More from SNAPSHOTS
American Lutheran In Jerusalem Affirms that IDF Soldiers Are “Stormtroopers,” Backtracks
December 19, 2018
Rev. Carrie Ballenger Smith is a pastor at the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem. She ministers to the English-speaking congregation that meets at the Lutheran church, which is located in the Old City of [...]
The Washington Post Ignores Antisemitic Attack in Los Angeles
November 29, 2018
The Washington Post has warned about a “rising tide of antisemitism.” But as CAMERA has highlighted, The Post’s coverage of antisemitism has frequently been selective and is often politicized. More recently, the newspaper even ignored [...]
Think Tank: Iran Was Closer to Building a Bomb Than Previously Thought
November 23, 2018
A Nov. 20, 2018 report by a Washington D.C.-based think tank, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) argues that Iran’s illegal nuclear weapons program was “more advanced than Western intelligence agencies and the [...]
AFP Headline Casts Palestinian Assailant as Victim
November 21, 2018
Agence France Presse yesterday published a throwback headline, bringing us back to the period almost two years ago in which media outlets serially produced headlines which depicted Palestinian attackers as the victims. The wire agency's [...]
More Hypocrisy and Anti-Semitism From Linda Sarsour
November 19, 2018
In an earlier CAMERA exposé, we pointed out the self-serving allegiances and disgraceful hypocrisy of Linda Sarsour (of Women's March fame). We demonstrated how she poses as a universal activist who embraces all marginalized people [...]
Small Steps: Improved NY Times Language on Target of Hamas Rockets
November 15, 2018
Earlier this week, we pointed out how a New York Times article about fighting between Israel and Hamas neglected to inform readers that Palestinian rockets were fired indiscriminately toward civilians in Israeli towns and cities. [...]
AP Avoids Calling Farrakhan Comments “Anti-Semitic”
November 9, 2018
For some mysterious reason, the Associated Press felt Louis Farrakhan's mutterings on international relations deserve close attention. "Louis Farrakhan, in Iran, warns Trump a Mideast war possible," a Associated Press headline announced, as if the [...]