Gratuitous Israel Bashing

Dear Ms. Sullivan, Islamic extremists are wreaking havoc throughout the Middle East, millions of new refugees have been created, Yazidi men are being taken out and shot at point blank range while their women and children are kidnapped, and there are over 2000 dead in Ukraine with an accelerating death toll--more than the casualty total for the recent heightened combat in Gaza and Israel. So what does the Times run as its lead story above the fold in Sunday's paper, with three full pages inside of continuation: “Transplant Brokers in Israel Lure Desperate Kidney Patients to Costa Rica”. Presumably with the cease fire holding with Gaza, it required some creativity to come up with this week’s story disparaging Israel. As a country of only 8 million Jews and Arabs, it is hard to imagine on a planet of some 7 billion souls that Israel is pivotal in what the Times report calls a “vast marketplace” for transplantable organs. One would presume from the editors’ selection, the displacement of millions pales next to the influence 0.1 % of the world’s population might have on organ transplants. The Times has also been criticized for hastily dismissing charges by the foreign press association of Israel/Palestine over intimidation of correspondents. Surely, it would not have been difficult for a reporter to disappear, and it would not be the first time Islamic extremists kidnapped or killed a journalist. And in weeks of fighting there were, we are to believe, no Hamas rockets or fighters worth photographing. When does it become reasonable to believe that alongside the national, city and foreign desks the Times now has an “attack Israel desk”? How do you justify such a story, written in such a way? Do not the Times readers, and your journalists’ integrity, deserve better? John R. Cohn, M.D. Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, PA 19107 215-923--7685 http://www.pressherald.com/2014/08/14/ukraine-death-toll-soaring-as-attacks-intensify/ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/17/world/middleeast/transplant-brokers-in-israel-lure-desperate-kidney-patients-to-costa-rica.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0 http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/08/15/foreign-press-association-condemns-hamas-treatment-of-foreign-journalists-robert-mackey-is-silent-and-some-additional-media-notes/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Centanni