Changing the subject

Former ALP Minister Barry Cohen has hit the nail right on the head with his article published in today's Australian Newspaper - Seriously, some of my best friends are anti-Semites. It exemplifies some of the most scurrilous features of media reporting these days, particularly when it comes to reporting on Israel and the treatment of certain journalists who have Israel in their gunsights. This week's Media Watch report on Ed O'Loughlin is a perfect example - (see WATCHING MEDIA WATCH).

"As Israel repulsed attempts to destroy it, the anger of the liberal Left increased in intensity. As internationally famous lawyer Alan Dershowitz stated, 'Throughout the world, from the chambers of the UN to the campuses of universities, Israel is singled out for condemnation, disinvestment, boycott and demonisation.'

"Anti-Semitism? 'No! No!' cried Israel's critics. 'We don't hate Jews, just Israel.' For many, Israel became the pariah state. Anti-Semitism became acceptable again. The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman responded: 'Criticising Israel is not anti-Semitic and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction, out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle East, is anti-Semitic and not saying so is dishonest.'

"It's the double standards by which Israel is judged that incenses Jews and their supporters."

This is the same double standard that Media Watch employed this week. Israel was involved and Ed O'Loughlin must surely be the exemplar of truth juxtaposed against the Israel lobby (read Jewish lobby). Yet, there was no attempt to get to the truth or examine O'Loughlin's stories. This was a man who worked very hard to give the appearance of even handedness but he dropped his guard at the end with that shocking report from Sderot where he claimed the existence of an "unofficial Jewish taboo" against land sales to Arabs. Media Watch didn't care to look.

That Media Watch gave no balance to its story is not surprising. It did the same thing some years ago with the infamous Leunig cartoon about the (non-existent) Jenin Massacre of 2002 which drew a comparison between the deaths of approximately seven civilians caught up in fighting in Jenin between the IDF and Palestinian terrorists who were despatching suicide bombers to murder Jews with the horrors of the Nazis who slaughtered 6,000,000 Jews - such was Leunig and Media Watch's debauched concept of proportionality.

And the Media Watch message was all wrong in its insinuation that supporters of Israel were seeking to silence Ed O'Loughlin.

Untrue.

What we wanted was for him to do his job and speak out more, not less. He could have done this by telling his readers the truth about Palestinian terror groups and how they are causing untold harm to Arabs and Jews alike in the region with their incitement against Jews and with their avowed and written down aim to destroy Israel.

But as Barry Cohen points out, it hasn't always been easy being a Jew. Whenever we complain about the double standards employed by the usual suspects in the media we always seem to face the same retort:

"You're changing the subject. I'm talking about Jews."