Shelter Rock Jewish Center

Trying to maintain a sense of intellectual integrity becomes more and more difficult as we grow older and, if we are fortunate, wiser and blessed with a wider, more thoughtful perspective on things. That thought can probably be applied to a lot of things in life, but I've been thinking lately specifically about the way the world views Jewish people in general and, more specifically, Israel. As you all know, Israel plays a huge role in my self-conception both as Jew and as an American. I generally find myself unable to consider as personal friends-let alone as friends of the Jewish people-individuals who speak disparagingly, let alone with real hostility, towards Israel. There is almost no aspect of a candidate's voting record about which I inform myself with greater care and effort than that individual's record on Israel. And I regularly find myself reading articles in the press, especially non-editorial news articles, and finding them biased against Israel. But, and here I return to my first thought, I ask myself, and with more and more frequency, if it is the articles that are biased, or whether it is I myself who am...and whether I am starting off thinking about Israel's place in the world roughly in the same way a loving parent invariably supposes the other kid started the fight, or that the vice principal must have.

It was, therefore, with special interest that I recently discovered the website called www.honestreporting.com. Its history is interesting too: it was begun by a few British university students in 2000 shortly after the second Intifada began. The British media, they felt, were wholly biased in favor of the Palestinians. But instead of just grumbling (like most of us would probably have done) or cancelling our subscriptions (as the truly bold among us might have dared), they decided to act decisively. And the result is, actually, quite amazing: seven years later, they have bases in the U.K., in the United States and in Canada, and a website that is available daily in English, Portuguese and Italian. Nor is this just a website for focused whining: the research available is stunning, at least to me. I just read their analysis of the BBC's reporting on Israel and feel vindicated: I too often listen to the BBC World Report on NPR and am regularly shocked by what appears to me to be an openly pursued policy of saying nothing nice, ever, about Israel and almost invariably reporting the Palestinian narrative as though it were the simple truth any reporter should be pleased convey. You can read it too at http://www.bbcwatch.co.uk/july04.html , which study only covers two years of reporting (from 2002 to 2004). But there are other studies available there too, and I encourage you to read through them. And they've gotten some amazing results. I've been following their dialogue with CNN for several weeks now-you can read some of the story summarized at http://www.honestreporting.com/a/case_studies.asp , where you can also find (there are tabs at the top of the screen that you can choose to read about a specific media organization) their ruthless analysis of anti-Israel bias at Reuters, the international news agency that countless smaller newspapers rely on almost totally for their international news coverage.

In its own category is the section of the website devoted to the group's Dishonest Reporting Awards, which have been awarded, so to speak, since 2001. I just finished reading all seven screens, covering all seven years. It was a long read. I recommend it highly. (You can see it at http://www.honestreporting.com/a/dishonest.asp . Just start at 2001 and keep reading.) Some of what's there may seem a bit picayune, but there is also hair-raising stuff there, material that you can hardly believe. Especially, this concerns the British media-and especially the BBC, the Independent, and the Manchester Guardian-but there are also awards given out to individuals who publish in the International Herald Tribune, in Harper's, and in the Washington Post.

Like I said, this is not a website for whiners devoted to claiming bias whenever Israel is depicted negatively. Indeed, not one of the stories I've just now finished reading complains about the kind of honest, serious analysis of Israeli policy that is featured in reputable news media, including in Israeli newspapers and on Israeli television and radio stations. Israel should not be immune to criticism, but to translate that thought into the notion that important news outlets can simply report the Palestinian take on major news stories as the simple truth without being considered guilty of unworthy prejudice is a perversion of journalistic ethics and, yes, more often than not a translation of the reporter's basic antipathy towards Israel and Jews into a more "acceptable" (and far more publishable) version than would otherwise be the case.

You don't have to take my word for it. Check out the site and tell me if you agree. You can also subscribe to a weekly e-mail update that will bring instances of anti-Israel bias in the media to your attention. I've subscribed, and I suggest that you do too-it's a little shocking to read sometimes, but it's also very satisfying to know that, at least sometimes, it is possible for just a few highly-motivated people working in concert to effect real change for good in the world. I'm impressed...and I think you all will be too.

Sincerely yours,

Rabbi Martin S. Cohen