American Jews and the Future of Israel
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American Jews are less attached to Israel than their elders, but Jewish establishment leaders don’t want to hear it. Has Israel changed? Is it also divided? Also, President Obama expresses frustration over responsibility for Gulf oil slick. On Reporter's Notebook, as traditional newspapers cut back and bloggers try to take up the slack, what are the consequences for the watchdog function of America's news media?
Banner image: Protestors demonstrate in front of the White House June 1, 2010, after the White House declined Tuesday to specifically condemn Israel's raid on a humanitarian flotilla. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
Making News
Obama Expresses Frustration over Responsibility for Spill ()
President Obama expressed his frustration over the Gulf oil spill in an interview this morning on NBC's Today. Meantime, BP point-man Bob Dudley said the company is trying to do right by the victims. As committees of Congress hold hearings on Capitol Hill, Mary Lee Orr, Executive Director of the Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper and Louisiana Environmental Action Network, is coping with the damage.
Guests:
- Mary Lee Orr: Executive Director, Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper/Louisiana Environmental Action Network
Main Topic
A Rift Grows in the American Jewish Community ()
Israel's bloody enforcement of its Gaza Strip blockade has exposed a growing division among American Jews. AIPAC, the traditional Jewish lobby, played up five Islamic "Radicals" aboard ship. A competing lobby group, J Street, focused on the blockade's impact on Palestinians. Even before Israel's defense of the blockade, a lengthy article in the New York Review of Books created a firestorm with an attack on mainstream Jewish organizations in the US, and a recent survey shows young, liberal American Jews are unwilling to support Israel right or wrong. Is Israel failing to hear an important message? What are the implications for the Obama Administration and US policy?
Guests:
- Peter Beinart: Professor of National Political Reporting, City University of New York, @PeterBeinart
- J.J. Goldberg: Editor of Forward
- Philip Klein: Washington Correspondent, American Spectator, @philipaklein
- Anshel Pfeffer: Columnist/Reporter, Ha'aretz
Links:
- Beinart's article on the failure of the American Jewish establishment
- Hebrew Union College study on young American Jews' alienation from Israel
- Goldberg on the Gaza flotilla and failure of US Jewish leadership
- Klein on how liberal Jews are enabling the second Holocaust
- Pfeffer on Jewish leaders forgiving our 'racists'
Reporter's Notebook
Where Have All the Watchdogs Gone? ()
Regulatory agencies are boring until brakes fail, mines explode and oil-rigs blow up. But as newspapers cut back to save money, one of the casualties is coverage of those myriad Washington's agencies. Can media watchdogs prevent the worst case scenarios from occurring? What are the consequences of cutbacks in coverage? Washington writer Jodi Enda is a former White House correspondent for Knight-Ridder.
Guests:
- Jodi Enda: former White House Correspondent, Knight Ridder's Washington Bureau
Links:
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