Two recent articles by Ruth
Eglash reveal a clear bias.
The first seven paragraphs of an
article about Palestinian homes being torn down in the Jordan Valley in the
March 9 paper presents the issue purely from the Palestinian perspective.
It is not until the 8th paragraph that mention is made that the
Jordan Valley is a strategic territory for Israel. Other than saying that
it is strategic, nowhere in the article is an explanation offered as to why the
area is strategic and the security threat and challenge it presents to
Israel.
The article quotes a Palestinian
whose home was demolished, a European critical of Israel’s action, Sarit
Michaeli, an Israeli critic of Israel (several times), a B’Tselem report critical
of Israel and the head of a local Arab council. The article also cites
the charges of “activists who monitor alleged Israeli violations.” The only explanation for Israel’s position is
a quote from Interior Minister Gideon Saar who is not quoted explaining
Israel’s position, but only as saying that “Jewish settlement in the Jordan
Valley will remain and prosper for generations to come.”
This is one of the most one-sided
unfair articles I have read in the Washington Post for quite some
time. She did not even attempt to offer any meaningful context,
history, balance or explanation.
Nowhere in her dispatch the next
day of only 11 paragraphs, on page 6, about the seizure by Israel of Iranian
missiles headed for the Gaza Strip does she mention that the rockets had the
capacity to wreak serious damage upon the entire country. It was a
relatively perfunctory report, devoid of any sense of why this shipment was
such a significant act, of the gravity of the threat it presented, or of the
implications for the veracity of Iranian professions of turning away from
destructive nuclear ambitions.
Furthermore, there was no accompanying photo of the captured weapons.
I would hope that her future
articles will not reflect her personal bias, but will report the news in the
Middle East in a less subjective fashion.
Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt
Director, Israel Policy and
Advocacy
Rabbinical Assembly
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