Networks and Cable Still Mostly Silent on Anti-Semitism at Occupy Wall Street Protests
Journalistic outlets, which were all too eager to accuse the Tea Party of bigotry, have been mostly silent in response to examples of anti-Semitism at the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests. Incidents caught on tape and the urging of the Anti-Defamation League to stop anti-Jewish bigotry have yielded very little coverage. Since October 1st, a Nexis search reveals no discussion of anti-Semitism at the protests on ABC, CBS, NBC or during the prime time lineup of CNN and MSNBC. This is despite incidents of anti-Jewish comments at rallies in places such as New York and Los Angeles. At one L.A. protest, now-fired teacher Patricia McAllister complained, “I think that the Zionist Jews who are running these big banks and our Federal Reserve, which is not run by the federal government — they need to be run out of this country.” (The L.A. Times covered this story.) In New York , another protester derided, “So, the hatred of the Arabs towards Israel is understandable.” Although prime time MSNBC has failed to cover such incidents of hate, daytime anchor Martin Bashir did. On October 18 , he pressed activist Russell Simmons and played a commercial from a Jewish organization attacking the hate. In that clip, a man can be seen screaming, “You're a bum, Jew!” The New York Times on Saturday discussed and dismissed anti-Semitism at the rallies. Clay Waters of Times Watch explained: While the New York Times was hypersensitive to any signs of racial prejudice among the massive, peaceful Tea Party protests, reporter Joseph Berger raised and dismissed the idea of anti-Semitism at Occupy Wall Street, in Saturday’s “Cries of Anti-Semitism, But Not at Zuccotti Park.” Just two of many references: Reporter David Herszenhorn assumed racism was a force in the movement in an April
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on October 25, 2011. Filed under