Monthly Archive for March, 2008

In the News: AJC and Sderot

Published
by
Michael Geller
on March 24, 2008
in Israel, Middle East and war
. 0 Comments

Sderot, an Israeli town under daily rocket attack from Hamas-controlled Gaza, is the focus of efforts by AJC for international attention.

The New York Times published over the weekend a letter from AJC’s Director of Communications Kenneth Bandler:

More than 7,000 Qassam rockets have landed in Sderot since 2001. Residents have barely 15 seconds to get to the safety of an air raid shelter after the “red alarm” sounds. That can happen 20 or more times in a single day, Mayor Eli Moyal told me on a recent visit.

Infolive.tv, Israel’s first web-based television news site, featured the recent visit to Sderot by AJC’s Board of Governors. AJC President Richard J. Sideman was extensively interviewed.

From Jerusalem to Berlin

Published
by
Guest Writer
on March 17, 2008
in Israel and Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

David Bernstein

In 1989, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman published his best seller, From Beirut to

Jerusalem. A foreign correspondent initially based in the war-torn capital of Lebanon, Friedman chronicled how this once peaceful “Paris of the

Middle East” had come apart at the seams and descended into factional violence and chaos.

After spending nearly five years in Beirut, and in much need of a breather, Friedman moved to

Jerusalem, where he reported on the painful dilemmas facing a society divided along ideological, ethnic and religious lines.

The thesis of Friedman’s book was that Israelis “could end up like the Lebanese: arguing first in the parliament and then in the streets.” In other words,

Israel, too, might fall part.

Having just returned from an AJC national board mission to Israel and

Germany, I am more convinced than ever that Freidman, a commentator I greatly admire, overstated the risks of a social and political meltdown. Continue reading ‘From Jerusalem to Berlin’

Just Say No to Jewish Urban Legends

Published
by
Guest Writer
on March 6, 2008
in Jewish identity, Judaism and media coverage
. 18 Comments

David Bernstein

The internet has given rise to a powerful but precarious rumor mill. From claims that plastic wrap in microwave ovens causes cancer (untrue) to stories of finding a human finger in a bowl of chili (also untrue), misinformation spreads through the internet at viral speed and infects the public consciousness.

We Jews, unfortunately, seem especially susceptible to “e-missives”: we are inter-connected through a web of interlocking networks; we are highly educated users of the internet; and we sometimes feel unfairly targeted and, in the spirit of self-defense, are motivated to call our detractors on the carpet.

Some urban legends are told so many times by so many people that they harden into conventional wisdom. Because lies are often more compelling than truth, rarely does setting the record straight undo the damage. I still receive urban legends that were disproved more than five years ago.

That’s why it’s so imperative that people of good will do some fact checking before they hit the send button.

The presidential race has only poured fuel on the fire, spreading such falsehoods as “Barack Obama grew up a radical Muslim.”

Continue reading ‘Just Say No to Jewish Urban Legends’