Wash. Post Invokes Jesus and John the Baptist to Flog Israel

Leo Rennert
American Thinker
30 July '10

Discerning Washington Post readers have come to expect a regular menu of Israel-bashing articles from Jerusalem correspondent Janine Zacharia. Not a week goes by without a major Zacharia feature about Israeli shortcomings and blemishes, however spurious, however questionable. And especially questionable in the context of total silence about any failings by Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority, of which many very serious ones still await Post coverage.

The latest Zacharia effort to extend her string of anti-Israel pieces, however, deserves special mention because it's a stretch beyond a stretch. She's obviously beginning to run out of saleable material, as attested by a July 30 story that, along with two photos and a map, takes up half a page, with a headline reading: "A Sacred but sullied spot? -- Activists say pollution makes baptism site unsafe."

The lead paragraph explains the headline: "Environmentalists claim that the hallowed spot along the Jordan River where Christians believe John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ has become too filthy for human use."

She then goes to quote a spokesman for Friends of the Earth Middle East as saying that "unlimited sewages continues to flow both directly and indirectly into the river." And so this group wants Israel to prevent thousands of Christian pilgrims from immersing themselves in that spot of the river.

Having scored her usual hit against Israel, Zacharia only then proceeds to report Israel's denial that the river is actually quite safe and, in any case, Israel is working to make it even safer.

So how unsafe really is the Jordan for Christian pilgrims?

According to Zacharia, a water test last October found bacteria within levels deemed safe by Israeli standards. And Israel has an enviable public health record. But that doesn't satisfy Zacharia. "The result," she adds "would not have met the standard set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is 10 times as stringent."

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Israel through a dark lens

Leo Rennert
American Thinker
22 June '10

In its June 22 edition, the Washington Post runs an article by Jerusalem correspondent Janine Zacharia that depicts Israelis mired in malaise about their country's "deepening isolation" -- with only an Elton John concert as a brief morale-booster. To say the least, this is a jeremiad out of sync with reality. It totally ignores Israel's many successes as a thriving player on the world stage ("In Israel, a deepening isolation -- Nation fears it may be in danger of losing its most improtant ally: The United States" page A8)

Zacharia sets the funereal tone right from the start when she writes in her lead paragraph that "in Israel, where many feel more shunned than they have in decades, the legendary pop icon's decision to perform in Tel Aviv was cause for celebration."

And she goes on in the same vein that "after weeks of dreary reports about artists caving to calls to boycott Israel, Israeli diplomats being expelled by friendly allies, and even pressure from the United States to change course in Gaza, John allowed Israel an opportunity 'for three hours,' as one music reviewer put it, 'to be a normal country.'''

Well, we get the picture: In Israel these days it's Oy Veh all the way, according to Zacharia.

However, her article is deeply flawed. By selectively assembling a few international minuses, it presents only half the picture, at most. And it turns into a caricature by carefully omitting and ignoring Israel's many international strengths and accomplishments.

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