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May 4, 2001/Iyar 11, 5761, Vol. 53, No.31
The truth about Israel
BARRY COHEN
Editor
"Why isn't the Jewish News reporting the truth about Israel?" Many readers have asked me that question.
Every time it happens, I feel frustrated. After all, what is "the truth"?
This isn't a matter of mental gymnastics, arguing that we can never know "the truth."
Rather, I am frustrated about the difficulty of reporting the truth - especially about Israel. Is the truth disclosed by participants returning from community solidarity missions, who meet with representatives of the Israeli government and the Israel Defense Force? Is the truth revealed by Morton Klein, director of the Zionist Organization of America? Is the truth discerned from reports of Parents of North American Israelis, whose children and grandchildren live in Israel? Is the truth presented by the political left, such as advocates of Peace Now?
And then there is the media: The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post; the Associated Press and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency; Time, Newsweek, the National Review and the New Republic; and international sources such as the BBC and the Economist.
And we can't forget the Internet. Umpteen search engines generate links to as many Web sites as we have patience to point and click.
Further, there is e-mail. There is an ever-expanding source of e-mail exchanged in cyberspace claiming what is really going on.
In an ideal world, with a limitless budget, Jewish News would have a correspondent team in Israel digging for nuanced reality and reporting first-hand accounts of whom they have interviewed and what they have witnessed.
In the real world, Jewish News depends primarily upon the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, an international Jewish wire service with reporters and photographers in Israel.
To assess what is going on in Israel, readers must consult a variety of sources, not depending solely upon a handful of readily-available Western sources.
Also, in attempting to understand Israel's ongoing struggle for peace and security, readers are well advised to cultivate a healthy sense of skepticism. What we want to believe to be true often clouds our understanding of what is true.
For starters, read the Jerusalem Report, Ha'aretz and the Jerusalem Post, all of which have online editions. Two other excellent resources are Mifgash, www. mifgash.com, and MEMRI, the Middle East Media and Research Institute, www.memri.org.
Mifgash - Hebrew for "meeting" - is a resource for Israelis in the United States; it includes Hebrew and English Israeli news sources, with information about Israel's politics, business and culture. It offers links to Israeli radio and jumps to Israeli consulates across the United States. MEMRI is an independent, nonprofit organization providing translations of the Arab media and analysis on developments in the Middle East.
Then there is the Jewish Institute for National Security, www.jinsa.org, which describes itself as an educational organization addressing the security and strategic needs of Israel and the United States.
In addition, I welcome readers to call and write, and if you visit Israel, to share your experience. Let's keep open a healthy exchange and dialogue, with Jewish News as one of the sources, in an ongoing effort of reporting the truth of events in Israel.
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