Newsweek publishes a regular “Tel Aviv Diary” by columnist Marc Schulman who gives his personal take on life in Israel. In his latest column he writes about the current controversy caused by an Israeli investigative report which revealed Israeli hospitals accommodating Jewish mothers who wished to be put in separate rooms to Israeli Arabs.
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The issue was exacerbated by comments from MK Bezalel Smotrich and his wife that were roundly rejected by politicians from both left and right, including Education Minister Naftali Bennett, the leader of Smotrich’s Jewish Home party.
Given the unpleasant nature of the issue and the potential damage to Israel’s image in the wider world, Marc Schulman, to his credit, wrote his Newsweek piece in a fair and balanced manner.
This did not, however, extend to the headline:
By the second paragraph of the article, Schulman makes it clear that separating Jews from Arabs “was taking place even though it violated the official policy of the Ministry of Health and the officially stated policy of the administrations of each of the hospitals.”
This and the ensuing public storm is enough to demonstrate that “apartheid” is certainly not an official state policy, nor is it supported by the Israeli people.
The headline apparently generated a storm of its own aimed at Marc Schulman, who responded on his personal blog (emphasis added):
I think I did a reasonable job in laying out the facts of the story without being overly critical of too many of the players and even presented a relatively flattering view of Minister of Education Naftali Bennett. Thus, I was surprised by the comments that the article unleashed. On one hand the minute I saw the headline, I should not have been surprised. I should note- I have no control over the headline, something that critics of various correspondents do not seem to recognize. We write a story and our editors or the headline writers choose the headlines. Their choice is based on some connection to the story and a headline that they feel will get readers to click on the article and read it. In the days when media was mostly conveyed on paper medium, the headline was considered important, a way to get the attention of the reader. Today it’s much more important, readers do not read almost any publication linearly like they once did, but instead pick and choose the stories that strike their fancy, usually based on a quick look at the header.
While I disagreed with the choice of headline “Apartheid Arrives at the Maternity Ward”. It was an effective headline and at least reflected aspects of the story. Of course, effectiveness is a function of the results and this article certainly generated the readership and level of interaction that a mostly web based news organizations desire. So much so that the Editor and Chief of Newsweek wrote me an E-mail thanking me for the article. Is it a fully accurate headline? No its was not- Israel within the 1967 borders is not an apartheid state- Arabs are free to take any jobs go anywhere, live anywhere they desire. Is there racism and discrimination in the Israeli society? Yes as there is in almost any society. Is it codified in the laws? Something that is required to be apartheid, the answer is no. Of course, the situation is completely different on the West Bank but that is a different article. What is true however, is that in our state of perpetual war, it is too easy to fall into the trap of becoming an apartheid state.
While he is not responsible for the actions of Newsweek’s editors, Schulman has essentially acknowledged that, despite the facts to the contrary in his article, Newsweek’s priority was to misuse “apartheid” in the headline as a means to get readers to the story. The use of the word “apartheid” is inflammatory and a blatant attempt, by Schulman’s own admission, to attract web traffic at the expense of accuracy.
HonestReporting rejects this unethical and unprofessional practice and believes that Newsweek’s headline should be changed.
Please send your considered comments to Newsweek through its online contact form – http://europe.newsweek.com/contact
16 Comments
I have been hospitalized more than once. I have been attended by Arab doctors and male nurses and I have been in rooms with Arab citizen. There is absolutly no apartheid. Every society has its racists, but any type of separations wrongfully comes from individuals and is for sure not government policy.
The word Apartheid has very bad connotations. The editor is obviously biased and he did this deliberately.
Arabs are murdering Jews in Israel. Who would feel more vulnerable and protective than the mother of a newborn? Isn’t it traumatic enough to give birth without having to deal with rational fear of one’s hospital room-mate?
News reporters and or editors should learn what the word apartheid means and apply it where it is true. Do false headlines like that sell “copy” or just show the ignorance and bias of the author? Israeli hospitals treat Israeli’s and Arabs alike. Could the same be said of Arab hospitals?”
This is horrendous. To think that the cynical editors tarnish Israel’s image to attract readership is an outrage. As a retired nurse, I never encountered such discrimination in the hospitals I worked in. Often, the caregivers are Arab, nurses and doctors alike. To take an isolated case or two does not make it the rule.
As an author of that article, I appreciate your response, but it is discusting what your editors did to the headline and I hope you let them know. It is your article and you should have say over what the headline says. Other people who are anti Israel see a headline and may not even bother to read what you have to say figuring they saw what they belive and most likely surmise what they think is the truth. I read the paper myself looking at the headlines and skip over a lot of articles I don’t want to take the time to read. At least your editors could be honest.
I don’t see how a mothers concerns at a hospital is synonmous with a government policy. Individual acts do not add up to being apartheid whether you defend the mother’s actions or not. I have seen apartheid and I have been to Israel, aprtheid i the old south with seperate labeled bathrooms and drinking fountains sgregated lunch rooms not at request but as a enforced law. Apartheid is not comparative to the circumstances in Israel today. Abbas has already claimed no Jews will be able tolive ina Palestine and ultimately the Palestinians are holding out for all of Israel to included in one state in an Islamic trending region that is becoming more and more genocidal in its treatment of non-Muslims.
Newsweek: ‘We are just another Jew-hating cageliner’.
I don’t see how a mothers concerns at a hospital is synonmous with a government policy. Individual acts do not add up to being apartheid whether you defend the mother’s actions or not. I have seen apartheid and I have been to Israel, apartheid in the old south had eperate labeled bathrooms and drinking fountains segregated lunch rooms and buses not at request but enforced by law. Apartheid is not comparative to the circumstances in Israel today. Abbas has already claimed no Jews will be able to live in a Palestine and ultimately the Palestinians are holding out for all of Israel in one state ruled by Paestinians This in an Islamic trending region that is becoming more and more genocidal in its treatment of non-Muslims.
One would think that there are editors of Newsweek that are intelligent enough to learn what apartheid was in SouthAfrica where the families would not be allowed to live together when they were slaves to the white people.
They were beaten and treated like crap. They had to make dinner and serve the families and if they spilled something they were many times whipped or beaten. Plus they were not allowed to use the families toilets.
There are many other things that the editors of Newsweek should read before they start comparing Israel to that of South Africa during the time of apartheid. I find it amazing that the Newsweek editors are so ignorant of the facts.
Its bad enough that those in institutions of supposed higher learning are so ignorant of the facts of apartheid.
But I hope editors of a major magazine will in the future read a little about what really apartheid is. They will be or should be shocked by their ignorance of it. Unless they have another agenda and don’t care about spreading complete garbage and untruths.
Alec your comments are offensive. I do not recall anyone I knew in South Africa beating their staff. You would be refering to a few that would have but most did not. Sorry totally disagree with you. I grew up there and our staff lived in a house with facilities and were part of the family as were all the neighbours around us. Problem with so many people in other countries is they comment without actually living in a situation and form biased views because it suits them. Balance is important when you make statements and comments Sir!!!
I am probably talking about some of the excesses in older times. Ashley of course you know more about it having lived there. But was there not a time when the Blacks in South Africa were treated poorly?
Apartheid in a Tel Aviv maternity room? Do you even understand what apartheid was and what it meant to the millions living under apartheid in pre-1994 South Africa? Do you understand that using apartheid in this way trivializes apartheid itself? Would you refer to Donald Trump in a headline for an article about him as “Adolf Hitler” – just to gain readers’ attention? Would you refer to Bernie Sanders in an article about him as that “Trotsky Socialist Jew”? That would certainly gain you some readership, I bet. It would also gain you a storm of negative publicity, and rightly so, forcing a few resignations. So why don’t the persons responsible for this disgusting apartheid headline, just to gain readership, either apologize unconditionally or resign. You have brought shame on Newsweek and disgrace on yourselves and the Marc Schulman, author of the piece.
Maybe this note is true, but not because Apartheid but maybe because in view of the stabing attacks, Israelies can no more trust ANY arab who is next to you and can pull a knife in seconds. I would’n like to be in a hospital bed next to an arab, not because apartheid, but because fear!!
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