Letter to The Washington Post

From: Dr. Michael Berenhaus [mailto:mberenhaus@comcast.net]
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 10:40 AMTo: 'letters@washpost.com'
Subject: letter to the editor

Dear Editor,

Martha Baine (Free for all March 15, 2008) complains that the lack of equal mention in The Washington Post of Israel's military strike which killed 5 Gazans, which garnered no coverage, and the story of the Palestinian "gunman" who murdered eight youths, which received front page coverage, is indication of coverage that is not balanced. Ms. Baine doesn't mention that the 5 Gazans who were killed were not ordinary noncombatants but terrorists shooting rockets at Israeli civilians, a recognized war crime. Is it that Ms. Baine can't tell the difference between students killed while going to school and the killing of terrorists who seek to murder Jewish women and children by firing rockets indiscriminately? Or is it that she feels that these are legally and morally equivalent?

The Washington Post chose to publish Baine's letter as balance to Yaffa Klugerman, who criticized the Post for saying that the murder of eight Jewish students "was reminiscent of a 1994 attack by Baruch Goldstein, a Jew who shot a group of Palestinians at prayer." The Goldstein murders were an aberration for Israeli/Jewish society. The seminary massacre was in keeping with 'normal' Palestinian practice, as seen in the hundreds of attacks (and thousands of aborted attempts) since the start of the Oslo "peace process" in '93, that have murdered more than 1,100 Israelis and wounded, often grievously, thousands more. There is no comparison.

The Post placement of Baine's propaganda piece relying on the glaring omission of the identity of the Gazans killed shows that false balance is a poor substitute for accuracy.

Michael Berenhaus

Letter to The Washington Post

From: Dr. Michael Berenhaus [mailto:mberenhaus@comcast.net]
Sent: Saturday, March 08, 2008 4:15 PM
To: 'letters@washpost.com'; 'ombudsman@washpost.com'Cc: 'witteg@washpost.com'
Subject: Correction Requested

Dear Editor/Ombudsman,

"Gunmen Kills Eight at Seminary in Jerusalem” (March 7, 2008) refers to "Israel's seizure of Palestinian territories in 1967." But Israel won the West Bank from Jordan. Please correct this.

And "Israel's seizure?" Israel won it only after being attacked (by Jordan).

Thank you,

Michael Berenhaus

Letter to The Washington Post

Sent: Friday, March 07, 2008 4:49 PM
To: letters@washpost.com; ombudsman@washpost.com
Subject: West Bank Barriers Keep Rising Despite Promises of Relief (March 6, 2008)

Dear Washington Post Staff:

How many articles can The Washington Post publish from the view of Arabs (Israeli or Palestinian) while next to nothing on the Israeli side? The Washington Post parrots the UN, Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas criticizing Israel for their so-called disproportionate force, in the form of articles and news. This is the company that you are keeping. It is the Post that is using disproportionate coverage – giving one-sided reports. And now another piece – “West Bank Barriers Keep Rising Despite Promises of Relief” (March 6, 2008) on the same day that Israel suffers a terrorist attack – maiming and murdering children. The Post is wrong in their reporting: wrong, unfair, and inaccurate.

I would welcome a change. I only wish that you would realize that there is no justification for Palestinian violence over border disputes and politics. Israel has every right to defend itself: when it tries non-violence, the Post writes critical articles; when it uses force – it is portrayed as disproportionate. The Post has Israel boxed in – where does this come from?

Letter to my email list

Friends,

On the same day that The Washington Post printed another in their continuous series of profiles of Palestinians inconvenienced by Israel’s defensive barrier, Israel suffered a major attack on its civilians ( 8 dead, many maimed in Jerusalem attack)- proof of why the security barrier is so necessary.

I have written quite a few letters as you know but what would really be helpful is if we all wrote letters, even short ones, showing outrage at the Post’s anti-Israel bias as exhibited by out-of-context articles – the same day of the horrendous murders and maiming of Israeli youth. The Post needs to hear from more voices - the cause for Israel is truly a fight of public and world opinion as is disseminated in newspapers and other news sources. When they hear from the same voices over and over it is easy to filter us out. There are several hundred people on this email list – we all need to write a letter – have your friends write one, too. I would be glad to help.

Main strategies:
-be concise
-be clear
-be cordial (despite how hard it might be)

They need to be held accountable for their bias. They are complicit in shaping world opinion.

Regards,

Michael

From: Dr. Michael Berenhaus [mailto:mberenhaus@comcast.net]
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 9:46 AM
To: 'letters@washpost.com'Subject: letter to the editor

Dear Editor,

In “Palestinian President Suspends Peace Talks” (March 3, 2008), the President of the European Union criticized Israel for its use of military force against the Palestinians. Where was he when the rockets were going the other way?

Michael Berenhaus