Media bias in Israel?

Letters

Editor: If Israel is losing the media war it is because both its state and independent broadcasting stations (Kol Israel and Arutz 2) are doing in Hebrew what the Al Jazeera Arabic network is doing in Arabic. They are isolating and demoralizing the Israeli people with programming that is more sensationalist than Zionist, and whose balance is more dictated by political considerations than factual ones.

When both my sons, who are reserve officers in Israel's army, told me that they saw nothing of the giant pro-Israel rallies in Washington and New York, the spokesmen of both networks were contacted and they sadly admitted that this was true. I informed them that this state of affairs was more deliberate than sad, and was more sinister than either one of them would care to admit. The results of a study I funded by an independent group called the Israeli Media Watch not only corroborated my allegations but magnified them.

Their report, dated Aug. 16, 2002, following two months of research, states as follows:

"During the months of April and May 2002, 25 pro-Israeli parades and demonstrations took place worldwide but during these two months the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (IBA) broadcasted only eight times dealing with pro-Israeli parades and demonstrations in France, Norway, Canada, England and the United States. Those items lasted 17:32 minutes altogether. Two items focusing on young men refusing to serve in the army were also broadcasted during that period of time and lasted 25:03 minutes.

"Furthermore, from May 1996 to May 2002, eight major rallies took place in the United States, receiving total time coverage of 12:51 minutes in the IBA."

A close look at the findings shows that almost 300 Israeli left-wing reservists who publicly stated that they would not serve in the territories received in a two-month period 25:03 minutes. In seven years, eight pro-Israel demonstrations received only 12:51 minutes in coverage despite the fact that there were more than three million participants, which is over half the Jewish population of North America. While the "refusenik" Israel reservists were extensively used by anti-Israel media outlets, the pro-Israel demonstrations were nowhere to be found, even though they were 10,000 times larger. It should also be noted that the Israel Day parade in New York on May 5 of this year was alone larger than all the anti-Israel demonstrations in Europe together.

Taking into consideration that in two months 300 Israeli left-wing reservists received twice as much coverage by the Israel Broadcasting Authority than more than three million pro-Israel American demonstrators in 84 months (seven years), the ratio shows that a left-wing reservist breaking Israel's laws got 840,000 times as much coverage as an American demonstrating on behalf of Israel's existence.

After examining this study, the only question I am left with is: Which is more dangerous to the Jewish state and damaging to the morale of the Israeli people, the broadcasting of Al Jazeera or that of the Israel Broadcasting Authority?

Daniel Levinson
Lambertville, N.J.

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