Israel Matzav

Rudoren the romantic

Jodi Rudoren hasn't been here very long, and she's already drawing criticism for lack of balance in her reporting. Here's Barry Rubin.

What is most impressive about Rudoren’s record so far is that there is no attempt to give the faintest appearance of balance. She probably doesn’t understand what that concept means. And she certainly knows that the editors and ombudsman won’t hold her accountable.

We in Israel have grown used to media prejudice and, given our low expectations, probably accept more of it without complaint than anyone else in the world.

Yet the following lead was the absolute last straw for me, in an article titled “Palestinians Go Hungry to Make Their Voices Heard“:

The newest heroes of the Palestinian cause are not burly young men hurling stones or wielding automatic weapons. They are gaunt adults, wrists in chains, starving themselves inside Israeli prisons.

This is not news coverage but revolutionary romanticism.

Adam Kredo says that Rudoren is playing to her base.

Vociferous Israel critic Richard Silverstein quickly took to Twitter to praise Rudoren’s coverage of the huger strikers, who she described as the “newest heroes of the Palestinian cause.”

“Holy shit!” Silverstein exclaimed. “Jodi Rudoren covers story [former correspondent Ethan] Bronner [wouldn’t have] touched w 10′ pole.”

Holy shit!Jodi Rudoren covers story Bronner wudn’t hv touched w 10′ pole:Palestinian Resistance Shifts 2 Hunger Strikes nytimes.com/2012/05/04/wor…

— Tikun Olam (@richards1052) May 3, 2012

The tweet was retweeted by, among others, M.J. Rosenberg, who recently quit his job at Media Matters for America following criticism of his routine use of borderline anti-Semitic barbs.

Mondoweiss, an online portal that is known to traffic in Israel-bashing, published a post praising Rudoren for her courage.

“Jodi Rudoren, distingushing [sic] herself in the New York Times,” wrote Phillip Weiss, the site’s founder and co-editor. “Great to see that word in a Times headline! Notice that Rudoren is not piping this story from Jerusalem, she goes out to the village.”

Weiss also celebrates Rudoren for the “honor she gives this movement.”

What's most notable about Rudoren's article is the almost total lack of any Israeli response. There's one sentence buried a bit more than halfway down:

Sivan Weizman, a spokeswoman for the Israeli Prison Service, said that a team was working to address the requests and would meet again with the prisoners’ leaders within a few days.

But the romanticism may soon be gone from the 'prisoners' strike.' Rudoren's article contains two explicit threats:

Khader Habib, the leader of Islamic Jihad, warned that “the martyrdom of Bilal Diab or Thaer Halahleh or any other prisoner will put an end to the calm, and the occupation will be held responsible for the consequences.”

...

“This is the last weapon,” the elder Mr. Halahleh said of the strike. “If any of the prisoners will lose their life, Israel or the Palestinian Authority could not stop the Palestinian people.”

And on Friday afternoon, there was another threat, this time from Hamas.

A Hamas leader warned Friday that Israel would face "unexpected" consequences if any of the approximately 1,550 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails currently on hunger strike were to die.

“You must realize that the hunger strike isn’t a party, and we could be surprised by the death of some of them,” AFP quoted Khalil al-Haya as saying at a solidarity tent for the strikers in Gaza City. “If that happens, you can expect both the expected and the unexpected from us,” he added.

...

“We are summoned to ready armies to free our prisoners... We have the means to mobilize and for combat,” Haya was quoted as saying by Hamas on Friday. Rival Gaza Islamist movement, Islamic Jihad, has threatened to break an informal truce with Israel if one of the hunger strikers dies.

That would bring an end to the 'Palestinian' facade of non-violence. Not that their supporters in the West or at the Times would particularly care.

Labels: anti-Israel media bias, Jodi Rudoren, New York Times, Palestinian prisoners

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:22 AM