My colleague Tamar Sternthal (Director of CAMERA’s Israel office) just published a response to a Ha’aretz commentary written by Economist journalist Nicolas Pelham (“Christians in Israel and Palestine“, May 11) which accused Israel’s lobbyists of deceiving the world about the state’s treatment of Christians, and cited Proverbs to admonish the Zionists: “Deceive not with thy lips.”
As Sternthal demonstrates however, it is Pelham who repeatedly deceives in citing misleading population statistics, falsely claiming that Christmas Trees are banned in the Knesset, and risibly suggesting harmony between Christians and Muslims in the Palestinian territories.
Interestingly, her post prompted another Economist journalist – their community editor Ananyo Bhattacharya – to Tweet the following:
@TamarSternthal @haaretzcom this has nothing to do w/ Economist. But as someone who knows a little about British libel law, I can tell you..
— Ananyo Bhattacharya (@Ananyo) May 13, 2014
@TamarSternthal that by accusing him of ‘deceiving’ and ‘misleading’ you’ve probably defamed him as it implies intent to deceive…which…
— Ananyo Bhattacharya (@Ananyo) May 13, 2014
@TamarSternthal i doubt you can prove conclusively? just sayin’… Don’t take my word for it though. seek legal advice.
— Ananyo Bhattacharya (@Ananyo) May 13, 2014
While you can read Pelham’s Ha’aretz essay, and Sternthal’s response, and judge for yourself who’s deceiving and misleading, we can assure Mr. Bhattacharya (who’s also a Guardian contributor) that Sternthal and her colleagues at the US-based media watchdog group won’t lose any sleep over his, umm, ‘friendly advice’, and will continue responding to the Economist’s biased coverage of Israel whenever they see it – aggressively and without fear.