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Newsletter : 9fax0817.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN Aug. 17, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 151
Russian Journalists for Political Hire?
By Arutz- News Service
The Labor party paid money to journalists of Israel's
Russian-language press to write pre-election articles in favor of
Ehud Barak. This story, including admissions by journalists that
they received payments for their pro-Barak pieces, appeared in
Monday's Yediot Acharonot.
According to the paper, the arrangement was supervised by someone
who now serves as a senior minister in the Barak government. Edvard
Kuznetzov, editor of the Russian-language Vesti newspaper, says
that the scoop does not surprise him, and that most Russian
journalists "would be prepared to sell themselves to any party, to
any taker, because of the low salaries they receive."
Vesti journalist Sofia Ron agrees. "This kind of arrangement is not
new to me and is not surprising. It's been known for a long time,
going back to the 1996 and even 1992 elections. Aside from the
low-salary issue, journalistic ethics are not particularly
well-rooted among Russian journalists, especially in the smaller
papers...Not only did certain journalists maintain close
connections with the Barak camp, receiving money in exchange for
their articles, but they would submit their pieces to a Barak
spokesperson who would examine them prior to publication."
Barak's office denies these accusations, despite the declaration by
a source in the immigrants' committee of the Barak campaign that
the journalists even signed contracts to formalize the
pay-per-article deals.
Arutz-7's Haggai Segal asked Ron whether she believes that the
pro-Barak articles had an impact on the voting behavior of the
Russian immigrant public. "I think so," Ron answered. "But let me
explain: The pro-Barak articles would not have such an impact if
they were the only factor in the equation. What made a difference
was the parallel campaign by the Yisrael B'Aliyah party, in
cooperation with Labor, to wrest the Interior Ministry away from
the Shas party. This succeeded in turning voters' attention away
from the diplomatic negotiations - most Russian immigrants have
right-wing views - to the topic of religion and state."
Foreign Ministry Suspects Iranians Destroyed Jewish cemetery
By IsraelWire
About two weeks ago, Likud MK Moshe Katzav received a telephone
call from Moshe Zevulun, a member of the Iranian Jewish community,
to inform the former minister that the government of Iran had
destroyed the ancient Jewish cemetery in Mashhad.
Katzav passed the information along to the Foreign Ministry, which
has been working to verify the report. Officials in the ministry
acknowledged they are having considerable difficulties in the
investigation, explaining there are very few Jews remaining in
Mashhad and they fear too much contact, not wishing to be charged
with spying for Israel. Since April, 13 Jewish teachers and
community leaders have been imprisoned by Iranian officials and
face charges of spying for Israel.
According to the report from Zevulun, the Iranian government used
tractors to level what was once the Jewish cemetery. During the
ongoing investigation by the Foreign Ministry, it was learned that
Iran might have also destroyed the synagogue in Mashhad. The
Foreign Ministry adds that diplomatic efforts to obtain the release
of the 13 Jews are also continuing.
Internet Hate Sites
By Mike O'Sullivan (VOA-Los Angeles)
The Internet has opened the world of information to anyone with a
computer. But it has also given a voice to groups that advocate
racial hatred. Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center
in Los Angeles says that in 1995, his organization could identify
only one hate group online.
"By 1996, there were about 300 such web sites. In December of
1997, we came out with our first report, there were 600 such sites.
Today there are (more than) 1,500 sites that advocate racial hatred
or white supremacy."
The Wiesenthal Center official says that with the emergence of the
Internet, neo-Nazi and racist groups have been given a new forum in
which to express their ideas. "This technology gives people for the
first time an opportunity to really bypass news editors, general
managers at radio stations, all of the existing traditions in the
american media of where you draw the line. On the World Wide Web,
certainly in terms of the United States, for all intents and
purposes today, there are no rules."
The Wiesenthal Center official says the internet is doubling its reach every 100 days, as more people go online. He notes that many web surfers are youngsters and says an increasing number of hate sites are targeting children. He says government cannot regulate it, but major Internet service providers can -- by refusing to offer access to sites that advocate hatred or violence.
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