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Diatribe Denigrates Democrats

The political cartoon is striking and pointed. "Dr. Olmert" pulls the switch and the Frankenstein-like monster labeled "coalition" comes alive. Which anti-Israel, anti-Jewish publication would publish such a terrible cartoon? The Jewish Exponent did on 4 May 2006. This vile anti-coalition "cartoon" speaks for itself.

The biases of the Exponent continue, nonetheless, week in and week out. In the 15 June 2006 issue Tobin mentions "...the far left Nation magazine." Leiter in his column sets up a straw man of "...the Democratic Party and its move to the far-left reaches of the political spectrum..." in his diatribe against an article from The Nation which deals with "The New Face of the Campus Left" and not the Democratic Party at all.

Attack "the left," or what you label that, again and again. No mention of the vicious Ann Coulter who feels that widows of men killed in the 911 attack are happy at their husbands? deaths. No mention of the 2500 and counting dead Americans killed so far in Iraq. No mention of the over 18,000 Americans injured, permanently in many cases, in Iraq. No mention of Abramoff, DeLay, Duke Cunningham, Katrina, etc."failures of the current group which controls all three branches of our government.

Attack "the left" and you do not need to even mention the failures coming from Washington.
For shame.

-- Ted Tapper, Merion PA.

Peace Advocates Not Out To Get AIPAC

The Jewish Exponent's coverage of the advocacy by different Jewish groups -- both for and against HR 4861 -- made it appear that peace advocates (Americans for Peace Now, and Brit Tzedek v'Shalom) were lobbying Congress -- not because of their own policy advocacy, but just to oppose the well-funded professional American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Jewish Telegraphic Agency's analyst Ron Kampeas (Exponent, 6/8) took one quote -- that APN would not shy away from AIPAC's opposing position -- as if this were Tarver vs. Hopkins, two equally experienced fighters with winning records and championship belts to wave at one another. It goes without saying that the Jewish peace groups would do their best against the heavily over-funded AIPAC. Peace activism is their raison d'être. 

Kampeas characterized the efforts of virtually unfunded peace organizations with no K-Street connections as an embarrassing failure, as if the Reading Phillies had a real chance against the Boston Red Sox. The important thing for the peace movement was to show that the AIPAC position was not the unilateral position of the Jewish community: in this they succeeded. That they made little headway in a Republican Washington -- obsessed with walls and terror to the abandonment of American constitutional principles, and whose corrupt actions have undercut the moral and financial leadership of the United States as a power in the world -- was hardly a loss. Kampeas left unsaid the unsavory connections that AIPAC has made with the Franklin spy case. Kampeas left unspoken AIPAC's less than full support for Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak. By misrepresenting the "toe-to-toe" conflict, by omitting AIPAC's moral compromises, by refusing to acknowledge AIPAC's lack of consistent commitment to Israel, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and the Jewish Exponent have presented neither a fair nor balanced view of this week's news. 

-- Ben Burrows, Elkins Park, PA

Inquirer Attacks Israel

I am writing to you in response to an article by Steven Erlanger of the New York Times news service, entitled "Hamas launches rockets at Israel after Gaza deaths." For two consecutive days, the Philadelphia Inquirer has featured articles condemning the accidental shelling of a Gaza beach killing seven Palestinians. Although this is clearly a terrible accident, I have never seen such detailed coverage (concerning details of the affected families for example) of the more than 250 innocent Israelis murdered by intentional Palestinian terrorists and suicide bombers during the Intifadas. Not only does this article by Erlanger unfairly position Israel in negative light, it also leaves out the other side of the story. No where in the article does it mention that seventeen Hamas rockets fired into Israel Saturday night into Sunday morning hit a school (with innocent children) in the southern town of Sderot. It also fails to mention that a man present at the school was hit by shrapnel and is now struggling to hang onto his life and schools in town have been temporarily shut down in response to the rocket fire. In contrast, these other parts of the story were featured by ABC. Finally, the article fails to mention that Hamas plans to murder innocent civilians and its intention of turning Sderot into a "ghost town," as reported by several news agencies. All of this clearly shows anti-Israel pro-Arab biased reporting, which is clearly a violation
of the basic principles of journalism. Additionally, the Philadelphia Inquirer condones anti-Semitism through this type of journalism. Critical thinking involves looking at all possible sides of an issue. This article clearly violates this principle. 

-- Erica Klazmer, Cherry Hill, NJ

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Editor-in-chief Adena Potok editor @ pjvoice.com.