Journalist: It’s tough to report fair in Israel

By Amy Kaufman

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If you want to read unbiased reports about Israel, don’t rely on newspapers, television or even the wire services, said Jerusalem-based journalist Judy Lash Balint, who spoke at Congregation Shaarie Torah Aug. 23.

Some 1,400 journalists stationed in Jerusalem are threatened by terrorist kidnappings, influenced by Palestinian guides and manipulated by heavily orchestrated events, she said.

In addition, she said, "There have been several situations where people actually working for European governments are also on the payroll of the Palestinian Authority. For example, Agence France-Presse also reports for the PA paper." (Agence France-Presse, Reuters and Associated Press are the three largest news agencies in the world.)

Balint named several Western reporters who have been abducted in Israel—most recently BBC reporter Alan Johnston, kidnapped in Gaza and freed by Hamas nearly four months later on July 4. She quoted Time magazine contributor Christopher Allbritton, who wrote, "The Party of God has a copy of every journalist’s passport."

"Hamas is threatening its own reporters in Gaza," Balint said. "There are no Western reporters stationed in Gaza today."

Balint said the Israeli government has recently forbidden Israeli citizens with dual citizenship to visit areas under the control of the PA. This means Western journalists must rely on Palestinian "fixers," or guides, and "this leads to reporters seeing through Palestinian eyes."

"There are countless examples of staging," she said. "Last year’s Hezbollah war proved Western journalists are compliant with this staging."

She said journalists, who carry beepers, are beeped when an event is about to be staged.

"The media coordinator of the PA in Hebron carries a clipboard with a logo of the PA," said Balint, "and she checks them off as they arrive."

She mentioned "the publication of photos in The New York Times" in which "one apparent victim got up and was seen posing in separate photos pretending to be dead."

"They were forced to issue a correction," she said, "but I don’t think it will repair the damage."

Balint even linked the recent layoffs at some American newspapers to biased reporting.

"Local papers ... are cutting back and may not have their own correspondents in Jerusalem," said Balint. "They ‘parachute’ reporters in to do a special story, or they rely on wire services like Associated Press and Reuters. ... They assume that if it comes through a wire service, it doesn’t need to be fact checked."

She added, "If you look at the bylines of [wire] stories, they are often by people with Arabic names."

Balint, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, grew up in England, lived in Portland and Seattle for many years and settled in Israel. She said she does not claim to be an objective reporter.

She said she has concluded that the best way to report on Israel is to "focus on the human story," which she has done through her two books, "Jerusalem Diaries: In Tense Times" and "Jerusalem Diaries II: What’s Really Happening in Israel." She also maintains a Web site, jerusalemdiaries.com.

Balint said she believes "the rise of alternative media—podcasts, blogs"—offers hope for more balanced reporting on the Middle East.

"Safety should never be the main concern of Jews—it never has been," said Balint. "We wouldn’t have the State of Israel today if it had been. Many American Jews are not in that frame (of mind)."

The talk was sponsored by Shaarie Torah, Congregation Kesser Israel, the Portland chapter of Hadassah and Honest Reporting.com (of Portland).