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Thursday, April 29 2004'A real journalist'Jerusalem Post's Khaled Abu Toameh, born in Tulkarem, is a unique voice of straightforward reporting from the West Bank and Gaza. InContext reports from a talk Abu Toameh gave in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Excerpt: Why is he working for a "right wing Israeli newspaper?" Abu Toameh says he's always asked. Because he's a "real journalist." In the PA, there are no real journalists, just mouthpieces for the thugocracy (my word, not his). The problem of imbalanced reporting, says Abu Toameh, has much to do with the failure of Israeli press relations: When he's covering a story that reflects poorly on Israel and tries to get a government spokesman to offer a rebuttal, it's a long and frustrating process...The Arab spokespeople, on the other hand, are always more than willing to talk, to accomodate, to make a reporter feel welcome. Hospitality is a famed Arab trait, and one for which Israelis are not reknowned. Knock on the door, wake them up in the middle of the night, no problem. Hanan Ashrawi will come out in her nightgown to answer your questions.
TrackBackTrackBack URL for this entry: Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 'A real journalist': CommentsI suggested the story of the execution mentioned to Best of the Web Today. James Taranto excerpted the (very disturbing) story here. Fair and honest reporting should always be promoted whether positive or negative, Israeli or Palestinian. Israel needs CONSTRUCTIVE criticism as much as it needs support because both are integral for good partnerships. This Jew is humbled by the courage of Mr. Khaled Abu Toameh to report what he sees despite the obvious risks. As a devoted reader of the Jerusalem Post, I can tell everyone that I look for Khaled Abu Toameh's byline to get the low down on what's REALLY happening within Palestinian society. I want to invite him to South Africa as our guest but I cannot get hold of an e-mail address for him that works - can anyone help?? Khaled Abu Toameh is a top-notch A final note on Mr. Toameh’s indictment Khaled Abu Toameh writes what the right wing Jerusalem post want him to write. He is actually smart and knows what to note and what to ignore. Those who look for Khaled Abu Toameh's byline to get the low down on what's really happening within Palestinian society need to reconsider their views. I heard him speak this past summer. It was very informative, he blamed many of the Palestinians problems on their poor leadership and their leadership, who in order to change the focus of their bad leadership (this also applies to countries like Jordan) blame Israel and the Jews, inciting violence to avoid coups. In this cycle of the Palestinian hatred and misinformation, Israel cannot do much. He says Israel must wait for a competent leader to make a real peace. For now, he said, Israel should attempt to make reconciliations with poorly treated Israeli-Arabs who receive less funding and government discrimination. |
