C-SPAN President’s CAMERA Shy Reaction
Susan Swain, C-SPAN’s president and co-chief executive officer, hosting a November 5 broadcast of Washington Journal, shied away from a CAMERA-related question at the end of a rare call aired (at 9:58 AM) containing historically valid points about the Israeli/Arab conflict. The caller, Craig of New York City, might have been motivated as a result of the plethora of unchallenged misinformation supplied on Journal broadcasts by anti-Israel, anti-Jewish callers. Craig said:
Hi, how are you doing? I just wanted to say –- to get to the root of the Arab-Israeli conflict, one has to look at the history, and you really have to go back to before 1948, you have to go back to the 1900s, when Jews were purchasing land from the wealthiest Arab families, such as the Nashashibis, the Husaynis and other wealthy families and you also have to look at the fact that [anti-Jewish] terrorism preceded [Israeli] occupation [of the West Bank and Gaza Strip]. There was no occupation in the 1950s, there was no occupation prior to that. Also, I was wondering if you had any comment to the recent reports on CAMERA.org …
Ms. Swain’s reaction to Craig’s comments and request is an implicit reminder of C-SPAN’s tendency to stonewall public complaints regarding its tolerance of bigoted callers who defame Israel and the Jewish people. Ms. Swain, seemingly tongue-tied, said:
Craig, uh…tu…tu…uh… We have about thirty seconds left and I will take a phone call from Indianapolis to wrap up the program.
(Hat tip: Jack Wolman)
More from SNAPSHOTS
Double Standards: Boycotts and Discrimination in MassLive
May 16, 2025
Anti-Israel activists, including Harvard University’s Lara Jirmanus, a clinical instructor, seem to struggle with the concept of “discrimination.” Quoted in a May 14 MassLive article, “Harvard ‘failed to respond’ to 450 discrimination complaints. Staff hand-delivered [...]
Swarthmore Students Are Learning: It Was Never About Palestinian Rights
May 14, 2025
Students at Swarthmore College are so close to understanding the conflict. An article in the Swarthmore Phoenix details the frustrations of student activists with the college’s Students for Justice in Palestine. The gist of their criticism is [...]
AFP Arabic Stops Mislabeling Northern Israeli Communities ‘Settlements”
August 10, 2021
A view of Metulla, northern Israel (Photo by Hadar Sela)After failing to set the record straight last May when Agence France Presse's Arabic service repeatedly referred to Jewish communities in northern Israel as "settlements," the [...]
NY Times Praises Ilhan Omar’s Book While Glossing Over Her Antisemitism
August 19, 2020
A recent New York Times book review boosts Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) autobiography while glossing over her antisemitism. In the paper’s Aug. 16, 2020 edition, NYT reporter Christina Cauterucci writes: The memoir offers breathing room [...]
When TV Interviews of Ilhan Omar Constitute Journalistic Malpractice
August 11, 2020
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) documented animosity toward Jews and Israel was ignored in recent interviews by MSNBC and C-SPAN. MSNBC’s The Beat for July 23, 2020 included host Ari Melber’s 10-minute conversation at 6:16 [...]
Boston TV Station WCVB Teamed Up With Terrorist Supporter CAIR
July 7, 2020
WCVB-TV (channel 5) (Boston’s ABC network affiliate) recently misled area viewers about a matter involving antisemitic propaganda. This occurred on its local Sunday show Cityline hosted by Karen Holmes Ward who is described by the [...]
Harper’s Magazine Echoed Palestinian Propaganda Condemning Israel And America
June 2, 2020
Writing in Harper's, Kevin Baker condemns the U.S. Middle East peace plan [“The Striking Gesture,” Easy Chair, May 2020], mischaracterizing it as, “Give up all your [Palestinian] hopes and your holiest places, embark on a [...]