Reuters Redefines Terrorist Attack
March 24, 2011 15:13 by Simon PloskerNothing captures the media’s attention like a bomb in the heart of Jerusalem. At this time, one person was killed and over 30 wounded as a bomb detonated next to a busy bus stop near the city’s central bus station and international conference center.
Incredibly, Reuters included the following in its report:
Police said it was a “terrorist attack” — Israel’s term for a Palestinian strike. It was the first time Jerusalem had been hit by such a bomb since 2004.
We’ve long criticized Reuters for its refusal to call terror by its name.
Now, Reuters appears to be attributing the term “terrorism” as something solely in the minds of Israelis. In February 2011, Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer announced the appointment of new Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler saying:
Our news organization is now poised to advance to new levels of excellence in an industry which is moving very fast.
Reuters certainly appears to be moving very fast and reaching new levels – just not in the area of excellence.
The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg hits the nail on the head in response:
Those Israelis and their crazy terms! I mean, referring to a fatal bombing of civilians as a “terrorist attack”? Who are they kidding? Everyone knows that a fatal bombing of Israeli civilians should be referred to as a “teachable moment.” Or as a “venting of certain frustrations.” Or as “an understandable reaction to Jewish perfidy.” Or perhaps as “a very special episode of ‘Cheers.’” Anything but “a terrorist attack.” I suppose Reuters will mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11 by referring to the attacks as “an exercise in urban renewal.”
The mind reels.
BBC: Terrorism Targets Inanimate Objects
The initial headline of a story says a lot about the thought process of a news editor. While most other news organizations covered a bomb blast in Jerusalem by focusing on the number of casualties as well as the location, the BBC went with this:
According to the BBC, it wasn’t Israelis, Jews, innocent Jerusalem residents or anyone else that a terrorist usually targets. No – it was a bus stop, an inanimate object fixed on the sidewalk.
The BBC’s interest in victims of the bombing was seemingly only piqued by the announcement that the 59 year old woman killed by the bomb was a British tourist. Of course, one of the first rules of foreign reporting is to find a local angle. Yet it is noteworthy how the BBC is so usually disconnected from the human side of Israeli victims of terror and from the horror of those acts.
Evidence of this appeared in a related analysis penned by the BBC’s Jonathan Marcus. The brutal murders of the Fogel family warranted barely a few lines and were simply referred to as “an attack on an Israeli settler family“. Note also the choice of image to illustrate the incident. Once again the BBC could not bring itself to humanize the victims by publishing a photo of the murder victims or the associated mourning.
And what about Sky News, which has recently been on a downward spiral in its reporting from Israel?:
Its initial headline was not much better than the BBC but at least Sky later updated its story to read: “One Killed, 30 Hurt, In Israel Bus Stop Blast“.
Associated Press also produced something similar to the BBC:
Sadly, for some media outlets, it appears that it’s still too much to acknowledge the reality of terror or the reality of its victims. The bus stop in question may have been the location of the bomb but it certainly wasn’t the object of the terrorists’ hatred.
Meanwhile at the New York Times…
Could we find a more blatant example of promoting a moral equivalence between Palestinian terrorism and Israeli self-defense than that tweeted by the New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof? Probably not.
Send your considered comment to Reuters through its online feedback form.
Send your considered comments to the BBC Complaints website. For more on how to navigate the complaints process, click here for our guide on how to make a complaint to the BBC.
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Mark Feffer
1:12 pm
Mar 30, 2011
It is well known the WWII British minister Lord Moyne coldly said “But what will we do with them?”
regarding the possible wartime rescue of many many Jews.
The Brits are still a lost cause.
Make Aliya, you all.
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Steve Mann
2:55 pm
Mar 30, 2011
Then Mark who would be left in the diaspora to shout and retaliate against the ant-Semites, for that is what they are- self hating Jews among them.
Then we would see a stronger and stronger Islamic lobby- in these western countries.
Lets be frank Israel does not have the greatest PR -
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Mark Feffer
3:21 pm
Mar 30, 2011
Steve- You are right. J Street and their likes would remain the Galut remnant cheering for the Arab cause. But keep your bags packed and prepare to live in your permanent home Eretz Yisrael. At least organize basic Hebrew classes you guys in Exile. Jewish PR? How about Pesach and how all the Arabs now wish to be free and rid of their cruel pharoahs?
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Steve Mann
11:10 am
May 07, 2011
Do you really think this rebellion against their Muslim despotic leaders will alter anything-
They will just swap one despot for another-
When you see and hear the rebels shooting their guns in the air shouting “Allah Akbah”- You know this.
Lets wait and see if the now, ruling army in Egypt allows “Free elections”.
I recall Hamas coming to power on the back of such an election- Have they said when the next one will be!
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orbitar
6:42 pm
Mar 30, 2011
About 30 000 years ago, the robust Neanderthal musclemen were fighting the “smarter” Homo Sapiens. Many of the weaker but smarter new emerging humans were murdered and beaten up by the brutal Neanderthals. Now you might find some traces of them in Australia or a bone or two in an anthropological lab.
The same process it going on since the first Jews Abraham who refused to warship man made idols or God’s creations. In his time of a new era, HUMAN SACRIFICES were forbidden by the Hebrews. It was a huge historic development and it took a while before the rest of the world accepted it. The next revolutionary step in human development happened, when Hebrews were liberated from slavery in a superpower Egypt. As a logical development, Moses’ legislature outlawed practice of people owning other people.
3300 years passed since and Jews still have problems with the Slave masters and slave owners. The last huge skirmish in my generation were both the Nazis and the Stalinist communism. Now we all have to fight the murderous Muslims in which countries are still about 30 million human slaves. They are the heirs of the Nazis. Now the youth in their countries revolt and demand more FREEDOM. Remarkable but true.
Even that will pass. Victory of Jewish ideas is inevitable, regardless of their casualties. Jews are real heroes. Humankind should appreciate Jewish sacrifices for their common sense, freedom, and right to be educated, wise, cretive and safe at the same time.
Say it to Reuters, BBC, CNN and those self hating idiots among the western self-righteous intellectuals.
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shloimebarukh
3:13 pm
May 06, 2011
uh, not really.
moses certainly DID NOT outlaw slavery! the torah merely commands that JEWISH slaves be freed after serving 7 years of slavery. and it doesn’t apply to non-jewish slaves at all.
in fact, there were jewish slave owners in the united states until the civil war, more than 3,000 years after moses.
sorry to ruin a good story.
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Steve Mann
11:11 am
Mar 31, 2011
We have not just the BBC and CNN to deal with but al-Jazeera and Press TV. Not forgetting Russian TV RT. All of them have this pro Palestinian agenda- So we need an Israeli Western TV. to combat this. There is a host of Knowledgeable English and American commentators who could be used. The Western public needs to be educated as the BBC has done a fantastic job over the last 20 years in de-legitimising the State.
Its reached the stage where my argument here in the UK always starts when I am asked- “How would you feel if someone stole your home”
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Steve Mann
11:16 am
Mar 31, 2011
orbitar”"
I write not just to CNN, Reuters and the rest- I plague the BBC to publish the Balen Report- I write to the MP`s in Westminster- I explain in detail from the horrors of how they support the punishments of Sharia to how they only tell half truths regarding Israel and how she has to defend herself-
The only thing I can not give them is OIL.
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orbitar
5:18 pm
Mar 31, 2011
Israeli research will find replacement for oil soon. Now it is natural gas available all over the world -depending how deep one drills. As a total replacement for fossil fuel in transportation, Israel is testing electric stations all over the country feeding energy to switching batteries in the all-electric cars. Oil companies will hate to lose both the immense power and wealth they have enjoyed in the last ~100 years. However, the turmoil in the Middle East is gradually reaching the Saudi oil fields feeding energy to industrialized countries. More than half of the Muslim population being too young and unsatisfied ensures that the present unrest will go on for years bringing uncertainty into the nature of future owners and handlers of their energy resources. Blindness in handling ruthless aggressive Iran (feeding the area with Mahdi ideology, terrorists, and arms) is magnifying the threat, not mentioning the potential use of unconventional weapons by irrational fanatics; both the inevitable certainties and the obvious potential dangers are clearly threatening the very existence of industrial countries anywhere in the world. I assume that all of this will force even the Oil companies to adapt to new reality. Perhaps THIS TIME it might prevent them to KILL the oil replacement technologies, as so successfully and skillfully manipulated until now.
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Mark Feffer
10:38 pm
Mar 31, 2011
Hello there. Israel gives the world LIFE. Not only oil.
The FDA recently approved a groundbreaking new non-invasive,
radiation-free lung imaging system created by Deep Breeze, Ltd, an
Israeli company in Or Akiva. It is viewed by some as the most
important breakthrough innovation and another amazing Israeli
innovation.
Please watch and be proud. This is Israel ’s best PR.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FcseDRyepA
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Steve Mann
11:28 am
Apr 01, 2011
Mark I know this you know this and the politicians of the Western world know this and all the other innovations that come out of Israel-
Still they push for this 58th Muslim state that they want to name Palestine- Another state that will be run on Theocratic dictatorial laws which are inhumane. A state that will still like the rest of its Muslim counterparts in the world strive for Israels demise.
So what is it with Western politicians? The vote now that they have allowed the Islamist into their domain by the Million!
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Mark Feffer
12:03 pm
Apr 01, 2011
Steve. At least here in Jerusalem, Arabs seem to be fed up with Hamas and Abbas. All they want is to make a living. There is hope the Pals around here might indeed rebel – too. Money talks.
Let the EU distribute their billions directly to the clans. No need for a currupt, Murder Inc. Pal state, really.
Shabbat Shalom
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steve mann
5:51 pm
Apr 01, 2011
Mark you already have one- on your Eastern border- Jordan- 80% of the once Palestinian occupied mandated land .
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Mark
1:30 pm
Apr 01, 2011
Melanie Phillips talks about how Brit media is an accessory to murder. Israel does indeed need a world news channel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buu9zWPKCo0
Melanie and Caroline Glick (J Post) and Naomi Regan ought to be chairmen of the board of this channel I would say.
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Mark
1:32 pm
Apr 01, 2011
Sorry. That is the great Jewish author Naomi Ragen.
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Geo
11:29 pm
Apr 01, 2011
Wouldn’t surprise me if it was determined that Reuter’s was run by Neo-Nazis!
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Mark
2:28 am
Apr 03, 2011
Read The Covenant by Naomi Ragen for some background on BBC type reporting in Israel.
(Her latest is The Tenth Song).(Despair and redemption theme)
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Beverly Kurtin
7:38 pm
Apr 29, 2011
Oh, those silly Jews. They call poor Arabs “Terrorists” when they know perfectly well that they are freedom fighters. Pardon me while I lose my lunch.
It is beyond time that the Arabs be called what they are: HOMICIDE BOMBERS. They pack their explosive devices with Coumadin (Warfarin), a rat poison that kills by blocking clotting factors in the blood streams. Oh, and it used in hospitals to “thin the blood” for patients who have coronary artery disease. When I was going to undergo a carotid endarterectomy (to clean out blocked carotid arteries) they overdosed me with the result that I had a massive hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding inside the brain) and 16 years later, I am still trying to recover. So the nails, etc. that the homicide bombers coat with Warfarin can cause a person to bleed out, causing a painful death.
Steve Mann…for your information, the Romans renamed Israel Palestine after Philistines, who are now extinct. The term Palestinian used to refer to Jews living in what is now the State of Israel…it was renamed about 2,000 years ago.
Should we try to protect the Syrian civilians? Not only “NO,” but HELL NO. Shrub got us into two wars and we have CIA operatives in Liberia right now. Does anyone recall how the Vietnam fiasco got started? We had some “advisors” in Vietnam…and it escalated from there. Go to Washington D.C. and look at the wall that shows how many of our people were killed.
My cardiologist is Syrian and I refuse to have any other cardiologist touch me, I love the guy. My heart goes out to any group of people who want what Israel and the United States have: Democracy. But there are other countries on this planet. It is beyond time that they pitch in.
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Steve Mann
10:58 am
May 07, 2011
Beverly I agree completely-
However the Brits Gave 80% of that land to the Hashem`s from the Sahara(Hejaz)-
This is now an accepted sovereign nation- It might call itself Jordan- But back in 1920 the first “King” Abdullah had his head printed on stamps which had the word Palestine across it.
So what more do the Muslims want- the remaining 20%!
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Beverly Kurtin
4:49 am
May 08, 2011
Well, that is exactly what they want: EVER SQUARE CENTIMETER of Israel. They cannot stand having a democratic state in what they consider “their part of the world.” What makes me cross-eyed angry is that President Obama thinks, like his predecessors, that Israel ALONE can cause peace to break out in the Middle East (I used to think that was Ohio ). They cannot get it through their skulls that the only developed country in that area is ISRAEL. The Arabs are still living in the 12th century and want the rest of the world to live like them. Some idiot Americans have converted to Islam and have decided to wear the same kind of schmata that the Muslim women are forced to wear.
Osama Bin Laden has just become a good Arab; it should be interesting to see what happens now. I usually don’t wish anyone ill, but when it comes to Al-Qaeda, may they all disappear, just have the atoms in their bodies disassemble and POOF, they’re all gone.
If they were here in the United States they would fit perfectly into the title Wingnut. Wingnuts are trying to tear this country apart. Al-Qaeda is trying to tear the planet apart. They are mentally ill; they haven’t the foggiest idea of how big the world is or how fragmented our various religions are. Who needs Islam? It is a false religion that dishonors Allah. They say that they follow Torah. REALLY? Do they bother to read the part that says DO NOT MURDER? Of course not. The truly disgusting part of all that they do is scream Allah Akbar as they decapitate a person or murder innocent people. Murder and Torah do not go together and I am fairly certain that Allah (Arabic for G-d in case you forgot) does not accept their adulation.
Nobody really knows how many members of Al-Qaeda exist, but without their heinous leader, it is unclear what will happen next. They make threats but they are cowards and usually don’t pull off what they say they are going to do.
Peace will break out when ice skating is the featured event in the theological place of eternal punishment. Judaism doesn’t believe in a hell per se, but I hope there is a place where Hitler, Martin Luther, Stalin, Al-Qaeda, etc. can go for eternity.
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Steve Mann
11:59 am
May 08, 2011
I am afraid I can not get into the religious side of it to that extent-
We have sufficient problems in the UK with those orthodox Jews who side with the pro-Palestinians- because of some “Divine” command that Israel should not exist until the return of the Moshiac.
I can only argue on the Historical artefact findings and writings which give the land of Israel the absolute right to exist- The historic Roman conquest- the proof that there has never been a Sovereign land called Palestine-
The absolute knowledge that Balfour gave his permission for Israel to exist once again.
The absolute knowledge that the Muslims have no connection to Jerusalem with the exception of an age old mosque built by a Caliph to which has no Q`ranic significance.
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Beverly Kurtin
12:23 am
May 09, 2011
You’re right on! As far as the Orthodox nuts go, they’re crazy. I don’t particularly think that the Messiah will ever exist and if he/she does…well, when does G-d think it will be a good time?
There never, EVER was any group of schmucks (Arabs) who were called Palestinians. That term belonged to the Jews living in the land that became known as Israel. The Palestinian Post became the Jerusalem Post after 1948; Jews used to carry Palestinian passports,
I was watching a dialog between a very learned Jewish man and a very stupid Arab. They were talking about Jerusalem. The Jew said that it has always been a Jewish city, the Arab said, “You cannot change the Koran.” Without missing a beat the Jew said “that’s right, Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Koran.” I’ve never seen an Arab change subjects so fast in my life!
I could strangle President Obama for telling the Israelis that it was up to them to bring peace about. W H A T ? It is the Arabs who refuse to make peace. Now they want ALL OF JERUSALEM WITH NO JEWS ALLOWED. That will happen when the non-Jewish hell has ice skating and is air conditioned. Judaism does not believe in, nor teaches about any hell. Christianity is a fire escape religion; the only reason to be a Christian is to avoid going to a non-existent hell.
The Arabs want to carry on Hitler’s Judenfrei policy, that is why there are no Jews allowed to live in any Arab country while Israel’s doors are wide open. Make peace with people who deny you exist and don’t want you to be able to live? I refuse to call Arabs Palestinians. When they had the entire area to themselves, it had two features: Swamps and desert. NOW that the Jews have made the desert to bloom and have multi-national corporations who have built large infrastructures in Israel, the Arabs want all Jews to leave the land. How in the hell is that going to bring peace?
I still support Obama and will vote for him again as the very thought of voting for a RepubliCANT turns my stomach. For years the GOP has said that they wanted government off the backs of the people. Well, apparently women are not part of the people. The offspring of unmarried parents have declared a war on women, proposing harsh penalties if a woman needs to have a PERFECTLY LEGAL ABORTION. SCOTUS has declared that abortion is a right of a woman, yet the people whose mothers have to wear flea collars are trying to override the Supreme Court. I cannot begin to explain my loathing for RepubliCANTS.
They want to defund Planned Parenthood because some idiots think that all they do is abortions. Three percent is 100%, how did that come about? Radical Christianity is trying to control EVERY WOMAN’S rights. If any woman votes for a RepubliCANT candidate for ANY office, they should sew a penis on themselves and “man up.” Of course, those women who would vote for the GOP are “submitting graciously” to their husbands or other male relatives. They make me puke.
Ciao…Bev
When I was in elementary school I once said, “Jesus Christ.” I was sent to the principal’s office for swearing. For SWEARING? I just thought it was something to say when you got angry. I took G-d’s name in vain? Jesus wasn’t G-d, so what were they so ticked off about? Mrs. Fresher, the principal, was a really neat human being, that is why I remember her name. She explained that Christians believe that Jesus Christ was G-d. I shook my head and said that G-d is one, there’s no co-G-d. Anyhow, that was my introduction to Christianity; I didn’t like it too much.
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Steve Mann
10:22 am
May 09, 2011
Whilst I have to agree with a lot of what you say- not all-
For I have no time for the modern language that hides vulgarities within words and the old language that omits vowels. For with one hand you stigmatise orthodoxy.I do not, only those anti-Zionists. Then you leave the “O” out of the word God as portraying your religious fear.
After giving the left wing PC of saying God might be a women.Which portrays you full of contradictions.
I have no attachment to Obama- Israel`s plight has dipped since his Presidency and his Cairo speech., which gave the Arab world an impression that Israel`s staunchest ally was changing sides.
Whatever any one thought of Bush his undaunted support never wavered.
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Beverly Kurtin
12:53 am
May 09, 2011
It is bad enough when the idiots at Reuters, BBC, etc. lie about Israel, but when Christianity starts beating up on Israel I have to wonder what is wrong with their non-thinking. The Presbyterian church is leading their screwed up flock to blame Israel for everything that is going wrong. Never mind that the Democratic State of Israel FEEDS THE GAZANS, that is never mentioned. Are they starving? Go into any of their grocery stores and look around, with the exception of brand names that are unfamiliar to you, you would think that you were here in the states, They have fully stocked food stores, clothing stores, you name it, they’ve got it and most of it comes from Israel.
Israel provides Gaza with everything they need including water, electricity, fuel…the list goes on and on and on. Yet the world is being misled into believing that Israel is a terrible country that doesn’t deserve statehood.
WHO IS IT THAT DEMANDS JUDENFREI? Israel’s doors are open to anyone who wishes to enter. Arabs who are in Israel want to STAY Israelis because in Israel they are taught how to read and write, attend universities EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT CITIZENS OF ISRAEL!
They lie their heads off when they call Israel an apartheid state and the security fence an apartheid wall. How stupid can people be? They don’t know what the term apartheid means, but they “know” that Israel is an apartheid state. If Israel is an apartheid state, so is the United States of America.
Israel is unapologetically a JEWISH STATE. Despite that, all followers of non-Jewish religions are permitted to be citizens. When the Arabs controlled what is now Israel, NO OTHER RELIGIONS HAD ACCESS TO THEIR HOLY SPOTS WITHIN THE COUNTRY. Israel protects and defends the holy areas of ALL religions including Islam.
When Israel became independent, they welcomed any and all Arabs to stay where they were, but their mindless Mufti–who spent most of WWII–as a guest of Adolph Hitler and learned the German’s methods of exterminating Jews, told the Arabs to leave their homes and farms and when, in a week or so all Jews were dead, they could come back. Thanks be to G-d that the Israelis won that war. How could that happen? How could a tiny country with literally hands full of people who could fight (and those who didn’t know how to fight) win a war with overpowering forces against them?
Does anyone want “proof” that G-d exists, that G-d is still keeping his promise to protect us? Then Who do you think won the war for us? It sure wasn’t the Brits, the Americans, the French…Hashem almighty fought the war for us, I believe that as much as I believe we need oxygen to live. Also, come to think of it, hydrogen gas is highly explosive, is it not? Oxygen is also highly explosive. But combine two atoms of hydrogen with one of Oxygen and, ta daa, we have water. Without H2O we would all die because we NEED water. We can live without food for several weeks, but if we go three days without H2O, we die.
Anytime anyone asks me to prove that there is a G-d I simply point to myself and say, “I am a Jew, no other group of people from 3,000 years ago know who they are, how do Jews know they are Jews?” What other people have gone 2,000 years without a homeland and yet have survived to know who they are and where we come from? ONLY the Jewish nation knows. The Greeks who live today are not the Greeks of old times. The same goes for all ancient people.
The Jew-hating former White House reporter said that we don’t need to be where we are, we could go home to Germany and Poland and the United States. Why did she say that? Because she doesn’t believe that we’re being persecuted. She is a first class idiot!
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genomega
1:07 am
May 09, 2011
The mother and father of that White House reporter were Arabs, so I guess that explains the Jew hating. Its bred into them.
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Beverly Kurtin
2:57 am
May 09, 2011
To whom are you referring?
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genomega
3:41 am
May 09, 2011
Helen Thomas; her parents immigrated from Lebanon.
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Beverly Kurtin
5:30 am
May 09, 2011
Thanks! I didn’t see the word Reporter. It’s funny, Danny Thomas who was often confused with being Jewish was from Lebanon and he was as far from hating Jews as anyone I have heard of,. A competitor of ours had a pizza store and we had a luncheonette. We’d exchange food with them for a pizza and we frequently got together as friends. They were Lebanese and we, of course, are Jewish. So I don’t think it’s genetic. Keep in mind that Thomas is, in addition to being ugly as hell, is over 90 and kinda ditzy. As well as having to wear a flea collar all the time.
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Bruce Esterman
2:04 pm
May 16, 2011
Virtually everything that Beverly says is spot on, Have you applied for a job with the Israel Hasbara department. We need more like you. You have spelt it out beautifully.
The only one thing that I disagree with (and I am not an American) is that you would vote for Obama again. His naivete or stupidity has not helped Israel ‘s cause one iota.His minders are no better.
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BBC Bias Alert: Justifying and Humanizing Terrorist Murderers | The Conservative Papers
2:46 am
Feb 11, 2012
[...] You may also like: Reuters Redefines Terrorist Attack [...]
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