Public Radio Remains “Fair and Balanced”

An NPR affiliate station, WEMU, tried to set up a debate between this writer and Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor Executive Director David Shtulman over three years ago, but retracted the offer after Mr. Shtulman refused to cooperate. This week, we asked again for some air time and, recognizing WEMU’s delicate situation vis-a-vis the Jewish community, requested only a fraction of the time initially discussed:

It occurs to me that David [morning news host] could spend 15 minutes or so interviewing me one-on-one some morning at the radio station. This might be perceived as less portentous as an hour-long scheduled program of a contentious topic [ref: The Lynn Rivers Show].

Israel is still certainly in the news, most notably its failure to oppose UN recognition of Palestine, and our weekly protests have endured over nine years. As far as political activism is concerned, these vigils appear as the “only game in town.”

David supplied the bad news quickly:

Thank you for your interest in pursuing an interview on WEMU. In talking with [Program Director] Clark Smith, we have concluded that a long-form interview is not the way to go at this time. We will continue to cover the locally-related issues in our newscasts in the fair and balanced manner we always have.

We appreciate your willingness to be accessible, and hope you will remain so in the future.

We responded that we will indeed remain willing and accessible for any chance to have our views and, more importantly, those of the ethnically cleansed Palestinians, reach a wider audience.

Bitter Opponent of JWPF Dies

Allow JWPF to go on record as saying that we wish only the best of health, and long, happy life to everyone, supporters and detractors alike. This includes Beth Israel Rabbi Rob Dobrusin, Federation Director David Shtulman, and even Beth Emeth Rabbi Bob (“I love genocide”) Levy.

So it is with mixed emotions that we report the death of Stephen Pastner and offer condolences to his family for their loss. In truth, Stephen was not a gentle opponent of JWPF and was responsible for scathing ad-hominem attacks in the local on-line and print media. He was also suspected of being instrumental in the firing of our friend Dr. Catherine Wilkerson from the Packard Community Clinic. We note that his age at death corresponded to our own Sol Metz, probably the only thing these two men had in common.

AATA Again Denies First Amendment Rights

Three members of Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends attended a special meeting at the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority offices, where once again the Zionist dominated Board of Directors and Corporate Counsel – acting under an order from Zionist Federal Judge Marc Goldsmith – found that an advertisement from Blaine Coleman violated their new and improved guidelines. See the result of their two-hour, closed-door deliberations here.

During public commentary at that meeting this writer spoke about the obvious conflict of interest that exists both among the Board and the Judge. For clarity, a hypothetical situation was envisioned where a citizen wished to place an anti-handgun poster on a bus and found, to his dismay, that key AATA Board members were staunch NRA members. And to make matters worse, the judge in this case was an NRA member, a member of the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners (MCRGO), sent his daughter to marksmanship school, and possessed many long rifles, pistols, and assault rifles in his vast collection.

What would observers think about this citizen’s chance of getting a fair hearing on his poster? And why wouldn’t it be expected that staunch supporters of a Jewish supremacist state be just as unlikely to rule in favor of a poster exposing the Apartheid nature of such a state?

Read coverage of this story here and here, and note how the pro-Israel comments quickly attempt to derail the issue into illogical, ad-hominem attacks.

Comments?

Six vigilers
Ending Racism: Israel’s gotta go!
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends