Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Middle East
May 15, 2010
NZ Listener unleashes a low blow at Israel
The Listener magazine devoted a three-page article to the misinformed views of Antony Loewenstein, an anti-Zionist Australian Jew. Not content with that, they placed a sub-headline over the article: ‘Israel is getting away with murder and Jews who find it unacceptable should say they oppose what the country stands for, says Antony Loewenstein’. The only problem is that Mr Loewenstein did not say that. His criticisms, invalid as they were, were mild compared with this vicious caption, which is all many readers see. This elicited a complaint from the KBRM chairman:
On May 12 I wrote to you on behalf of Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Middle East. I pointed out that the subheadline over the article ‘Cry the promised land’ did not reflect the views presented in the article. I also asked if, for the sake of fairness and balance, you would publish a similar three-page article that contained criticism of Palestinians. I even suggested the moving ‘Letter to Gaza’ by Nonie Darwish, an article that can be printed without copyright fee.
I have not heard back from you. If you do not wish to publish the Darwish article, I would very much like to know why not.
Perhaps you would consider a different article or an interview. There are other Arabs/Muslims who support Israel and criticise the Palestinians, whose names I could furnish.
While your magazine is, of course, free to be an advocacy outlet for an anti-Israel campaign, I would like to think that you are more fair-minded than that. I would also like to think that you would check facts before devoting three pages to Antony Loewenstein's misinformed views, but since it is an opinion article, I guess you don't have to do that.
However I don't think you have the right to place a prominent headline over the article that makes extreme anti-Israel statements not found in the article. (‘Israel is getting away with murder and Jews who find it unacceptable should say they oppose what the country stands for, says Antony Loewenstein’.) This is surely a violation of journalistic ethics and requires prompt and prominent remedial action, don't you think?
The article also produced several letters to the editor by KBRM members.
Letter to The Listener on May 11, 2010
I was absolutely amazed to read the most unbalanced demonisation of Israel (‘Cry the Promised Land’ by Joanne Black). Swallowing every generalisation, stereotype and distortion made by Antony Loewenstein, she managed over three pages to deligitimise the Jewish State and its struggle to survive the unrelenting efforts of terrorists, backed and financed by members of the United Nations, to murder and kidnap its citizens. The media, in a democratic society such as New Zealand, have a responsibility to ensure that free speech and dissent is balanced by truth and facts. This interview and article, falls well short of anything that could be called fair and balanced. As a Kiwi living in Israel I can testify that far from being the war mongering, murdererous apartheid like society portrayed, Israel is in fact a bastion of human rights for all citizens regardless of race, creed or ethnic origin. Readers should also know that after the murder of six million of their brethren and the incessant call by Iran and its paid terrorists to repeat this Holocaust, the overwhelming majority of Jewish Israelis prefer action rather than meaningless resolutions & declarations, to thwart this evil intent. If this upsets Mr. Loewenstein & friends, that's too bad. The Listener has an obligation to present the real facts and not the half baked fantasies of someone who sees everything that Israel represents as an unmitigated evil.
Letter to The Listener on May 12, 2010
What balderdash! Your three-page tirade against Israel (‘Cry the promised land’, May 15) boils down to three charges.
Yes, there is racism in Israel. There is racism in most countries, including New Zealand.
Arabs in Israel are treated far better than were Germans and Japanese in New Zealand during the wars. And any racism in Israel is infinitesimal compared to what exists in Arab countries.
Yes, there are Arab refugees who fled from (or in some cases were forced out) from the war that they had started. Israel accepted the UN partition. If the Arabs had accepted it and not tried to destroy Israel, there would be not one refugee.
Yes, Gazans have problems, but Israel withdrew completely five years ago. Any remaining actions, including the partial blockade, are because of continuing attacks on Israel from Gaza. They would end if Gaza decided to let Israel live in peace.
May I now look forward to a three-page article about what is wrong on the Palestinian side? For example, the ‘Letter to Gaza’ by Nonie Darwish (easily found by a web search) would be most illuminating.
Letter to The Listener on May 16, 2010
Antony Loewenstein claimed, ‘Israel is racist and brutal if you are unfortunate enough to be living there and not Jewish.’ (Listener, May 15-21, 2010). The Listener feature article by Joanne Black that contained this statement was strong on anti-Israeli rhetoric, but weak on facts to support such a serious charge.
Non-Jewish citizens in Israel have the same human, civil and religious rights as Jews. Their religious freedoms and sites are respected and protected by the state. Non-Jews have equal status under the law and are represented in the highest levels of Israel's judiciary and political system.
In other Middle Eastern countries, racism and brutal discrimination have become a routine experience of religious and political minorities. In Gaza and Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, Christians are harassed and intimidated by Hamas and PA officials, anti-Semitism is actively promoted and religious Jews are vilified. The persecution and ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Iraq's ancient Christian community has been widely reported, as has the brutal suppression of political dissent in Iran. In Saudi Arabia public expression of Christianity is illegal and Israelis are banned.
Ms Black and Mr Loewenstein appear unconcerned by such systematic racism and brutality perpetrated by Israel's neighbours against Jews and other minorities.
Although Israel has consistently sought peace with its neighbours, it has had to defend itself against hostile nations and political and terrorist organisations that have actively sought Israel's annihilation since before 1948. Israelis have experienced brutality and racism from their neighbours, yet Ms Black and Mr Loewenstein seem oblivious to this.
Mr Loewenstein should consider the appalling consequences of unleashing the extreme racism and brutality that are actively promoted among and by the Arab Palestinian leadership, before calling for Israel to ‘give up the concept of a Jewish state’.
The first of these letters was published the following week, along with a letter from a Jewish woman who wrote, "When the subject of Israel comes up in any conversation, my being Jewish embarrasses me." This elicited the following KBRM response:
Letter to The Listener on May 17, 2010
For readers confused by the conflicting views about Israel expressed by ____ and ____ (May 22), the reason is simple. The former, who is there, knows the facts; the latter, unfortunately, doesn't. It was the Arabs who attacked Jews in 1948 with the intent of killing or evicting them, not the other way around. Israeli forces fought back in self-defence — and yes, in the resulting war (won by Israel) there were refugees, most of them Arabs who fled voluntarily from the war they started, but some who were forced from their homes when their villages lay in strategic locations. If only the Arabs had accepted the UN partition instead of trying to eradicate Israel, there would be not one refugee today. This is a fact that can be looked up in any reputable history. If _____ knew this, and other truths about Israel, she could hold her head up high and defend Israel, instead of being embarrassed because she is Jewish.