The editors of the guilty newspaper are:

Paul Steinmetz Editor (203) 731-3361 editor@newstimes.com

Paul Sussman Managing Editor/News (203) 731-3369 psussman@newstimes.com

The eidtor responds and my response to the response.

Dear Mr. Sussman,

I appreciate your respose; I certainly agree that perspectives and opinion have a place in serious newspapers. I even concede that articles from someone like Mr. Towne who belongs to organizations that explicitely suppport terrorism and that are committed to wiping the state of Israel out existance have a - very occassional - place in the opinion pages.

This kind of perspective piece is, I believe, properly classed with op-eds. American journalists have long agreed that while the writers of op-eds may express extreem opinions, they are not allowed to tell outright lies or to invent "facts." The article about Mr. Towne crosses this line, without the slighest effort on the part of your reporter to inform the reader that Towne's assertions are at odds with a vast body of documentable evidence.

For example,

"In one settlement in Jerusalem, called the "City of David," there are 88 families that have received word that their homes will be destroyed in the future, Towne said. As the Arab homes are destroyed, the Israeli homes are built in their place, Towne said."

The City of David is a ridge extending to the south of the Temple Mount that was the site of the capital of the Israelite Kingdom in the days of David and Solomon. Because of its archaeological importance, the British Mandatory government forbade building on the site. The illegal Arab homes are slated for removal not so that Israeli homes can be bult in their place - that is a lie - but so that the archaeological dig can go forward and, when completed, be turned into an archaeological park.

Perhaps the most exciting find in this summer's archaeoligical digging season was the discovery on this site of a massive tenth century BCE building, dated, that is, to the century when David reigned and located in his city. Further excavation will determine if the building is a Davidic palace or a Davidic fortress. Already two seals have been found bearing the names of royal officials mentioned in the book of Jeremiah.

Palestinians may have lied to young Towne about this situation because many Arabs would like to forget that the Jews are native to this land and have lived in Judea for over 3,000 years.

In another place the article asserts that "There are roads where only Jewish settlers can travel, and those who travel on them illegally go to jail."
There are no roads whatsoever "where only Jewish settlers can travel."' There are roads that only cars with Israeli liscence plates can travel, such plates are on cars owned by Israeli citizens who are Jewish, Muslim and Christian.

Most of the article, however, can be faulted not so moch for direct lies as for a wierdly distorted version of reality. This is a young man who saw a Middle East where Jews throw stones at Arabs, but never where Arabs throw stones at Jews. He writes of his belief that Israel is merely pretending that the security fence is being built for... security. This could probably be classified as a lie, since the debate over erecting the fence was held in public, and it was a debate about security. (The debate over the route was separate, but that kind of subtlty escapes both Mr Towne and Ms. Barr) Town is also oblivious to the steep delcine in "successful" suicide bombings in towns now protected by the fence. (Yesterday's bomber in Beersheva came form the southern West Band where the fence is not yer erected.) And, of course, he speaks of a world in which Arabs and Jews will live together in a single democratic state. I rather assume that Mr. Towne is unaware that the Jewish communities of Iraq, Egypt, Libya and other Arab states, communities up to 2,600 years old, were fervent believers in secular, multi-ethnic Arab nationalism and democracy, until they were driven from their homes by Arab governments that do not believe in multi-ethnic democracy. There is no Arab state in which Christians have equal rights. Not one. And only two in which it is even legal fo Jews to live (Morocco and Algeria.) Perhaps this kind of thrugh-the-looking-glass worldview would be aceptable in an opinion piece. But Surely Ms. Barr had some responsibility to ask whether this young man really believed that in a Muslim-majority state Jews would be granted anything remotely like the rights Muslim Israelis now enjoy.

This article, then, is objectionable because it misstates facts, which should be inadmissable in the News Times. But it is also objectionable because it protrays such a wierdly distorted view of reality. It does not merely portray the situation in the Middle East from one side only; it givs a wildly distorted version of reality. And it does so in a news article or interview wherein the reporter never challenges even the most wildly distorted assertions and misstatements of reality. And there is a third objection.

Palestine Summer Encounter is sponsored the the International Solidarity Movement, a gorup often called a "cheerleader for terrorism." The ISM operates on the shady side of what is respectable, endorsing terrorism and even assisting terrorists.

The Holy Land Trust has a similar reputation and, of course, it flatly refuesd to guarantee the United States government that it would insure that USAID funds not be used for terrorism.

Towne himself, of course, has sponsored the rallies of International ANSWER in Danbury. International ANSWER is notorious for its overt anti-Semitism. Respectable people do not attend or cooperate with ANSWER. There are other, reputable anti-War groups.

I do not know Chris Towne's personal feelings about Jews. What I do know is that he works with two organizations, the ISM and Holy Land Trust, that endorse and encourage the murder of Jews by terrorists, and that he has organized at least one demonstration on behalf of a third organization, International ANSWER, that is plain anti-Semitic.

My point here is that all of the organizations with which Mr. Towne is identified as being affiliated are badly tainted by suppoort for terrorism and the vilest kind of old-fashioned anti-Semitism. It is customary for newspapers, when mentioning an affiliation with groups of this sort, to append some sort of remark about the questionalble nature of the group.

I am not familiar with Heather Barr's work. Perhaps she has an animus against the Jewish State. Perhaps she is unfamiliar with Middle Eastern politics and was simply in over her head. But certainly I would expect greater care to be taken by her editors with a story in which the interviewee throws about loose charges about the behavior of the Israeli government.

The News Times is at fault here three ways. First, for allowing misstatements of fact into its pages. Second, for allowing a news article to appear in which a reporter in your employ failed to question wildly esaggerated and patently inaccurate statements made by the interviewee. And , third, for failing to add identifiers to organizations known to support terrorism and to be anti-Semitic.

I take the toruble to write all of this becasue, you know, people really do believe what they read in the paper.

Sincerely,

Diana

psussman@newstimes.com

Ms.___ :

Thank you for your interest in The News-Times and the story on the
young man who spent the summer in Gaza.

Yes, I realize the piece was hardly balanced. That's why we ran it
on our Perspectives page -- a place where stories with opinions and
points of view often run. But given the spotlight that's been shining on
that part of the world, I thought there was some merit in offering up
the Palestinian perspective, which is one that our readers might not
otherwise get. Whether people agree or disagree on a topic isn't
important; getting them to think about the subject is.

My job as an editor of a daily newspaper is provide news and ideas
and provoke thought and, sometimes, arouse anger. I would be a lousy
editor if I simply ran stories that made everyone feel good or that
simply reflected my own views of the world.

We might have to agree to disagree whether this piece was
appropriate. But at least you know a little more now about why we ran
it.

Feel free to contact me any time with ideas or complaints.

Paul Sussman
Managing Editor
The News-Times

Thanks for posting that. So apparently posting lies is acceptable as a way "stimulating thought." How sad that what's known as the "Palestinian perspective" boils down to nothing more than a pack of lies (which the newspapers see as their job to propagate, not expose.)

Perhaps I should change the title of this post to "News Times knowingly prints lies and doesn't give a damn."

No matter how many times we see it, the overt irresponsibility of certain sectors of the press never ceases to astound.

More to the point - a consistent slant of "perspective" pieces amounts to propaganda.

Is The Day also willing to run a piece by a pro-Israeli voice? Or is that off limits?

Truly shocking response from the editor of the News Times, Paul Sussman, who apparently believes that there are no verifiable facts. It kind of makes you wonder why he bothers to edit a newspaper if everything is mere opinion and nothing is fact.

Dear Mr. Sussman,

I am shocked by your assertion that “the "facts" you cite might be disputed by the other side….. the only thing beyond dispute is that learned people on both sides of this epic conflict have wildly different views of the facts and of reality.

Objectively verifiable facts exist, even in the Middle East. And it is the recognized responsibility of newspapers to verify the facts that they print.

I brought to your attention two facts in the Barr/Towne article that are demonstrably wrong, although stated as fact in your pages.

Suppose that a newspaper published an article stating that "There are roads in Danbury where only whites can travel, and those who travel on them illegally go to jail." This would be demonstrably, factually wrong.

The sentence that you published: "There are roads where only Jewish settlers can travel, and those who travel on them illegally go to jail." Is demonstrably, factually wrong in precisely the same way. http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_article=937&x_context=2

The article also states, “"In one settlement in Jerusalem, called the "City of David," there are 88 families that have received word that their homes will be destroyed in the future, Towne said. As the Arab homes are destroyed, the Israeli homes are built in their place, Towne said."

Housing permits in Jerusalem are complex and, certainly, the parties interpret the facts differently. This does not negate the truth that there are facts about housing in Jerusalem. The statement that as the 88 homes in question are demolished “Israeli homes are built in their place,” is verifiably, factually incorrect. The 88 homes in question are being demolished to be replaced by an archaeological park on the location of the Biblical city of Jerusalem dating to the era of David and Solomon. This is a matter of easily checked fact, not of opinion. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0506090197jun09,1,5783236.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed)

The News Times has a responsibility to distinguish between matters of fact and matters of opinion. After all, if there were no verifiable facts, what point would there be in publishing a daily newspaper?

Sincerely yours,

Diana

Ms. ________:

I appreciate the thought and effort you put into the long
dissertation of your grievances against the story about Chris Towne.

I don't think much will be achieved if I sit her and try to assess
whether I agree with or disagree with individual points.

I will, however, gently point out that some of the "facts" you cite
might be disputed by the other side. And a "weirdly distorted view of
reality" is more a subjective than an objective criticism. About the
only thing beyond dispute is that learned people on both sides of this
epic conflict have wildly different views of the facts and of reality.
I'm not prepared to silence voices simply because I dispute their view
of reality. As I said before, my job is to allow as many viewpoints as
possible in the paper, even those that you and I might find personally
odious. In a democracy, a newspaper is a marketplace of ideas. Readers
can accept the ones they like and reject the others.

As for the placement of the story, this IS a spot where The
News-Times often runs op-ed type stories. (Other papers do the same.
Perspectives sections are common in Sunday papers.) We've run extensive
opinion pieces on the death penalty and animal rights, to name two
hot-button topics, on the front of the Perspectives section. And we've
run more featury pieces, such as on the origins of Bethel and on the
lives of interesting residents who have passed away. It's a venue for
in-depth pieces that are analytical or historical or just plain
contentious.

Again, I appreciate your interesting comments on the matter. You
write with clarity and passion, and I admire that as well. I promise you
we will take a hard look at future pieces we run on the Middle East to
make sure that, as a whole, we offer a balanced picture.

Paul Sussman

Diana, why don't you ask if Paul Sussman will print your own views in the op-ed section?

(Although... well, some of your facts aren't right either. There are Jews in Arab countries other than Morocco and Algeria - a substantial community in Tunisia, and smaller ones in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Egypt. And Christians do have equal rights in a number of Arab states - Lebanon, certainly, and also Syria. There's more than sufficient rebuttal to be done on the Israeli-Palestinian issues.)

You are correct about Tunisia. My bad. And correct that this careless letter was dashed off in haste, and that I was careless in this section. what I should have done was to list the several Arab states where it is illegal for Jews to live.

The Syrian community, like the Iraqi community until two years ago, and like the Egyptian community consists of a mere handful of individuals who remain for peculiar individual reasons. Some hide their Jewishness form the government. Others are tolerated as an eccentric remnant. Until recently there were a handful of Jews still in Yemen and in Saudi Arabia along the Yemeni border. I am not certain if this is still true. Only in Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco do Jews live openly as Jews. I had no idea that any Jews were left in Lebanon. Lebanon, of course, is a special case because of its long standing constitutional blaance between Muslims and Christians.

What I said about Christians was that "There is no Arab state in which Christians have equal rights. " I should have said, except Lebanon. the statement is valid with regard to all other Arab countries. The Christian community in Syria is very far from having equal rights with the Muslim community. and this holds true for every other Muslim Arab state in which Jews live.

As to op-eds, the Danbury paper prefers material form residents of its circulation area. Last month, however, it rejected an article from a local conservative rabbi about his summer trip to Israel. It is not clear that this paper wishes to present the Middle East from a Jewish persepctive.