Nov 13, 2015

Israel Bashing, A Morning Call Tradition

Pray for France, but also pray for Israel, where it's Paris everyday




There's a long tradition of Israel bashing at Letters To The Editor, in The Morning Call. Over the years the writers change, but the tradition continues. Currently, most of the letters are written by Vincent Stravino, of Bethlehem. Let me share a letter exchange between myself and the current editor at the Call.

To the editor, Suffice to say that Bethlehem resident Vincent Stravino is no friend of Israel, his letters always portray that country in the most unflattering of terms. However, his letter which appeared on November 11, was something that would normally only be seen in the Arab press. Despite numerous Israeli civilians being stabbed, Stravino describes Israel response as Nazi-like. He paints Netanyahu and Israel as demanding, pretending and undeserving. Stravino letters are often signed at the end associating him with some organization that sounds sincere about peace, but in reality, are anti-Israel. After years of his letters, I know that Mr. Stravino doesn't have much use for Israel, but why does the Morning Call keep giving him space for repeating the same point of view, over and over?  Michael Molovinsky

Michael, Your letter essentially attacks Stravino and doesn't offer any counterpoints to what he said. Thus we will not publish it.
Editor, Letters Page 

I had the same exchange with the editor concerning previous letters from Mr. Stravino on Israel. Although, it is indeed normal Morning Call policy that letters should address the subject matter, and not the author, Stravino letters aren't normal, or about facts.  Instead, they intentionally invoke negative emotions about Israel and it's people,  through adjectives and stereotypes. When the paper prints the repetitive letters of someone motivated by hate, but limits replies to scant factoids,  they are inadvertently condoning that hate. Sometimes, motives do matter.

ADDENDUM: To me, the points brought up by the letter writer are just a pretense or excuse to bash Israel.  I've been reading such letters long before Netanyahu was prime minister.  I've been reading such letters before Israel gained control of the West Bank in 1967, or the Gaza Strip.  Putting aside anti-Semitism, hatred of Israel has existed since modern Israel was created in 1948, and so have letters to the Morning Call reflecting it.  For that reason, I declined to offer counterpoints to what is just the latest letter, but chose instead to address the larger issue.

10 comments:

  1. among the comments i received already, and not printing, is one about how hate filled netanyahu is. there are many sites to place such comments, including the morning call, but this isn't one of them.

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  2. I think israel gets a lot of undeserved hate. Way more than any other country gets.

    That aside, I don't think we should be sending them billions of dollars of aid, at time when the American people need that money more than Israel does.

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  3. Which means one of two things. Either you deny that Netanyahu is a hater, and that means you ignore a long a list of things he has said and done that prove otherwise, or you approve and accept his hatred as valid and deserved.

    The man openly claimed that the Palestinians were responsible for the holocaust and has supported the horrific racism directed against the Ethiopian refugees.

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  4. spencer@8:10, israel will now be facing more advanced russian weapons from it's proxies in the region, than in the past. the neighborhood has gotten significantly more dangerous for israel.


    @8:15, i refused to play the game with the morning call, and consequently won't host or spend much time on comments in which i must defend israel. yes, i deny that netanyahu is a hater. the public doesn't fully understand the region's history as netanyahu does. the mufti incited riots in 1929, which results in the massacre of the jews in hebron and jerusalem. israel rescued the ethiopian refugees, that said, they have experienced discrimination in israel, which is not a perfect society, like we have here.

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  5. Israel - the boundary between civilization and the barbarians. What don't people understand?

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  6. I dont have a problem us SELLING weapons and such to the Israelis. Giving them intelligence, military training and assistance. I just don't think they should get it for free..

    Personally I don't think any country should be getting any foreign aid given our fiscal mess. Israel is at the top of the list though. I read they get $100billion a year from us. Thats an insane amount of money for country that has some of the best armed forces in the world, and a wealthy and developed country.

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  7. spencer@12:14, aid to israel last year was anywhere between 3.1 and 3.8 billion, depending on the source. it has been U.S. policy to always give Egypt an equal amount. the fact that you're so far off, illustrates the misconceptions spread about israel.

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  8. its cause i misread from here:
    http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.611001

    its $100 billion they've received the US overall, since the 60s.

    Oops i stand corrected.

    Still $3-4billion is a lot. And why is egypt still getting foreign aid? Arent they an islamic mess right now?

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  9. The Philadelphia Inquirer today ran a headline: Palestinian Killed as Israelis Raid Hospital. The goal of the undercover operation was to arrest a suspected Palestinian stabber of an Israeli, and the stabber was a patient. The victim seems to have been a bystander emerging from a bathroom. I had to read the article to see why the headline was the way it was. I used to be a member of CAMERA: Committee for Accuracy in Mideast Reporting in America. The Inquirer is often called to task for its reporting. Carol Robins

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  10. I dont understand all of the hate in the world. Its one war after another with a select few profiting and many suffering. It seems people can live in peace but governments must force their will on another people.

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ANONYMOUS COMMENTS SELECTIVELY PUBLISHED. SIGNED COMMENTS GIVEN MORE LEEWAY.