The Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports on how the English BBC and America's NPR lead the leftist media in their anti-Israel reporting:

The BBC is at the forefront of the anti-Israel media pack in Europe. It has been so effective in smearing Israel as a rogue state that in a recent poll, Europeans rated Israel as more dangerous to world peace than Saddam Hussein's Iraq or Iran or North Korea.

The American people so far remain relatively immune to the virus of anti-Western (namely anti-American) propaganda and to plain anti-Semitism masquerading as anti-Zionism. Despite the strenuous efforts of America's leftist elite (who dominate its academia and media) to promote the notion that American imperialists' designs, especially support for Israel, are the reason for all the world's troubles, Americans do not fall for this "blame America and its friends" propaganda. Especially not after 9/11. [...]

However, a majority of Americans – notably the Evangelical churches – have been supporting Israel despite the possible loss of Arab "friendship." They believe this is the moral thing to do, since Israel – like America – promotes freedom and democracy, and that in a region rife with dictatorships and oppression. More recently, many Americans came to appreciate that Israel is a valuable ally in fighting the deadly threat of terrorism directed also at "The Great Satan" – America.

IT IS to undermine this moral status of Israel, indeed its very legitimacy, that its enemies in America are striving. Leading the onslaught is National Public Radio, the BBC's ideological partner.

For a decade, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) has been meticulously documenting its charge of "false and inflammatory reporting on Israel" by NPR. CAMERA has exposed many instances of bias, fabrications, and lies employed by NPR and its correspondents (see www.camera.org).

If you haven't already done so, please stop giving money to NPR. Click here to check out an article that describes how NPR reported on an Israeli 7 year-old girl as a "settler", while the Palestinian murderer that shot her in the head is described as a "militant". Next time NPR calls asking you for your yearly/monthly pledge, just say "No".

I copy the full article below, which includes additional specific examples of NPR's bias and hate of Israel.

NPR'S anti-Israel bias
The Jerusalem Post, Feb. 11, 2004, By DANIEL DORON, Link

The BBC is at the forefront of the anti-Israel media pack in Europe. It has been so effective in smearing Israel as a rogue state that in a recent poll, Europeans rated Israel as more dangerous to world peace than Saddam Hussein's Iraq or Iran or North Korea.

The American people so far remain relatively immune to the virus of anti-Western (namely anti-American) propaganda and to plain anti-Semitism masquerading as anti-Zionism. Despite the strenuous efforts of America's leftist elite (who dominate its academia and media) to promote the notion that American imperialists' designs, especially support for Israel, are the reason for all the world's troubles, Americans do not fall for this "blame America and its friends" propaganda. Especially not after 9/11.

But this visceral popular American support for Israel could erode. The constantly repeated falsehood of Arab propagandists and their many media advocates that Israel is guilty of "stealing" "Palestinian lands" and of a gratuitous occupation is gaining credence. One hears ever louder voices among the chattering classes, even in Middle America, that the US was pushed to wage war on Iraq for the sake of Israel, and not for its own national interests.

There were always powerful pro-Arab supporters in the State Department, in the oil industry, and in some missionary churches (like the Quakers) who believed that if not for Israel's existence the Arabs would become America's best friend.

However, a majority of Americans – notably the Evangelical churches – have been supporting Israel despite the possible loss of Arab "friendship." They believe this is the moral thing to do, since Israel – like America – promotes freedom and democracy, and that in a region rife with dictatorships and oppression. More recently, many Americans came to appreciate that Israel is a valuable ally in fighting the deadly threat of terrorism directed also at "The Great Satan" – America.

IT IS to undermine this moral status of Israel, indeed its very legitimacy, that its enemies in America are striving. Leading the onslaught is National Public Radio, the BBC's ideological partner.

For a decade, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) has been meticulously documenting its charge of "false and inflammatory reporting on Israel" by NPR. CAMERA has exposed many instances of bias, fabrications, and lies employed by NPR and its correspondents (see www.camera.org).

A recent example of NPR's bias is its seven-part report on the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict "The Mideast: A Century of Conflict." This report pretends to represent a pluralistic viewpoint, a narrative woven around the views of experts. But these "experts" are anything but impartial. They were carefully selected and deployed to back up NPR's biased narrative. They include eight harsh critics of Israel – four Arab radicals, such as the late Edward Said and an unofficial spokesperson of the PLO (a fact NPR hides) Phillip Mattar, plus four extreme left-wing Israelis who want to see Israel denuded of its Jewish nature.

To create an appearance of even-handedness, the panel also includes one American, a former pro-Arab official from the State Department , and three Jews sympathetic to Israel. The researcher and moderator of the series is Mike Shuster, known for his anti-Israel reporting.

The experts' views are cleverly manipulated to fit NPR's historical viewpoint that reflects the Arab propaganda line.

Zionism is condemned as a mere by-product of European imperialist nationalism. NPR takes great pains to establish this false claim by asserting that the founder of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, was an utterly secular Jew disinterested in Judaism and in its abiding and deep historical roots in the Holy Land. This despite many explicit statements by Herzl to the contrary, especially after he had evolved from an assimilationist to a nationalist and a man of faith.

NPR insinuates that Zionism lacked any valid historical claim to the Holy Land. It portrays the Zionist settlement effort as an imperialist-sponsored land grab that violated its native population's basic rights. NPR hides the fact that the Balfour Declaration guaranteed precisely such rights.

The program also hides the fact that not only the Jewish national home was sanctioned by the League of Nations but that every Arab state came into being the same way.

In the post-WWI peace conference, the European victors and America reapportioned the Middle East territories of the disintegrated Ottoman Empire. They crafted a deal whereby the Arabs were to be granted about 99% of former Ottoman lands while a measly 1% of the territories would be returned to the Jews, who had a preceding, stronger claim according to the League of Nations. Even this tiny territory was later partitioned with more than 70% given to an Arab Kingdom of Jordan.

At first the Arabs, represented by the Emir Faisal, gladly embraced this fantastic deal that gave them such vast lands without their lifting a finger (NPR perpetuates the T.E. Lawrence bluff about an Arab army that helped liberate these lands while totally disregarding the crucial role of Jewish intelligence agents and fighters who made the conquest possible).

Faisal even welcomed the Jewish return. Imperialist machinations by British colonial administrators, practicing their notorious tactic of divide and rule, coaxed the Arab leadership to resist the Jewish return. The British appointed the terrorist Mufti of Jerusalem (who is not even mentioned in the NPR history, since his employment of total terrorism, and his partnership with Hitler, are apparently too embarrassing to the Arab cause).

The Mufti, like his successor Arafat, terrorized first his own people, killing any leader who contemplated making peace with the Jews. The British turned a bind eye to Arab terrorism meant to destroy the Jewish community in Palestine, the same way that they actively assisted them in trying to kill all Palestinian Jews in 1948.
You will find none of this in NPR's history. As usual, NPR omits and twists facts to build a case against Israel's legitimacy and to promote the position of the Palestinians.

The writer is president of The Israel Center for Social and Economic Progress, an independent pro-market policy think tank. www.icsep.org.il

Posted by David Melle
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