The reporting of this paper on Israel has lost its way on what it means to be The Jewish Week. The article, “Pence Speech A Salve To The Israeli Right” (Jan. 26), is just the culmination of a long list of editorializing disguised as news. When the vice president of the United States makes an historic speech to the Knesset, it doesn’t matter what political party or administration he is from. We should acknowledge it with grace and gratitude, not snarky commentary.
If the U.S. had instead declared Jerusalem the capital of a Palestinian state and sent its vice president to Ramallah, the Palestinians would be dancing in the streets, not hand-wringing.
It is time that we as Jews stopped being our own worst enemies and stand up proudly for ourselves, just like every minority, and certainly our enemies, would. The Jewish Week, of all papers, should not judge Israel by the double standard that has become so prevalent in other media outlets.
Editor’s note: The article referenced in the letters above and below was a column by one of our regular Israel contributors. It was labeled as such (“Letter from Israel”) and was not a straight news account of the speech. As is standard journalism tradition, columnists are granted slightly more leeway to interpret and analyze events in ways that are more subjective than news reports.
