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CNN's "God's Warriors": Hard on Jews, Soft on Islam

Christiane Amanpour's six-hour documentary special creates controversy.

A major documentary series by Christiane Amanpour aired on CNN from August 22-24. "God's Warriors", which began by focusing on the Jewish religion, followed by Islam and Christianity, has provoked a great deal of criticism.

Please click on the button below to see the first part - "Jewish Warriors" and view for yourself the bias, inaccuracies and false moral equivalence demonstrated by CNN's Chief International Correspondent.

(Click here to view Part 2: "Muslim Warriors" and Part 3: "Christian Warriors".)

Maurice Ostroff, a respected commentator on current affairs and a regular contributor to the Jerusalem Post has written a thorough critique of the series which we would like to share with our readers:

"GOD'S WARRIORS" DISAPPOINTS: CNN EARNS A C-MINUS

At the conclusion of the widely advertised CNN TV series "God's Warriors", dealing with the intersection between religion and politics Christiane Amanpour said she tried to explain the phenomenon of millions of people who know how to make the world right but feel ignored.

While she certainly deserves an A+ for her professionally conducted interviews in seven countries over eight months, the documentary barely earns a C- for its explanations. The six-hour program leaves serious viewers more confused than before.

Each of the three two-hour programs suffers from excess length, due mainly to irrelevancies. Former President Carter for example, enjoys the privilege of freely advertising his book in two of the series, but contributes nothing to the main subject.

Amanpour does not hesitate to inject her own views, demonstrating occasional lack of knowledge. For example when an Israeli settler said God says Jews must live in Hebron, Amanpour interjected that the West Bank was designated by the UN to be the largest part of an Arab state.  Not only is this statement factually incorrect, it is out of context. Amanpour is evidently unaware that all Arab states rejected UN partition resolution 181, to which she evidently referred and that the West Bank was included in the area designated for encouragement of Jewish settlement by the Balfour Declaration and even endorsed in article 6 of the British mandate.

One of the most misleading aspects of the program, was the use of the very few isolated incidents of Jewish terror attempts over the past 15 years, to create the false impression that a Jewish terror movement exists on a par with the violent worldwide jihadist phenomenon of indiscriminate death and destruction.  For example she interviewed Yehuda Etzion who was convicted and imprisoned for involvement in a foiled bomb plot  way back in 1984. Unlike some Islamic states, Israel acts vigorously against attempts to engage in terror and those very few Jews who did make attempts have been severely punished.

The relevance of religious extremism to the so-called Jewish lobby in the USA is flimsy indeed.  Nevertheless, Amanpour found time to allow Jimmy Carter as well as Professor Mearsheimer to expound their controversial views which have been criticized by experts.  In a six-hour program, there is no excuse to claim that lack of time prevented the presentation of these extremist views in their proper context by quoting authoritative contradictory opinions. Nor is there any excuse for attacking a Jewish lobby, without presenting the context as a natural part of the general lobbying scene in the USA like the ACLU and the very powerful, well-funded Arab lobbies.

The repeated references to settlements as illegal exposes a biased outlook. Obviously the most reliable sources from whom to seek clarification are the persons who played key roles in drafting the relevant resolution 242, namely British Ambassador to the UN, Lord Caradon, American Ambassador, Arthur Goldberg and US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Eugene Rostow. All have agreed that settlements are legal. In an interview in the Beirut Daily Star on June 12, 1974, Lord Caradon stated:  "It would have been wrong to demand that Israel return to its positions of June 4, 1967 because these positions were undesirable and artificial."

Professor Julius Stone, one of the twentieth century's leading authorities on the Law of Nations concurred that the Jewish right of settlement in the territories is equivalent in every way to the right of the existing Palestinian population to live there.

What must deeply concern everyone interested in maintaining Western democracy is the danger that this widely advertised documentary diverts attention from the real threat of Jihad, by equating it with non-violent religious movements. A warning early in the program by Ed Husain who said he was brain-washed to believe in a religious duty to kill innocent people on the basis of religion is unfortunately diluted later in the program. As a former member of the radical group, Hiz Ut-Tahrir he describes it as a group of individuals across the world dedicated to overthrowing every single Arab government, every single Muslim government and setting up an expansionist global state in the Middle East and a launch pad for creating an Islamist empire.

They operate openly, in large numbers on university campuses to this day and openly admit they intend to establish an Islamic empire ruled by fundamentalist Islamic law, Sharia.

Sorely missing from the entire series is any mention of the basic motivator of Islamic violence, the  incitement to hatred emanating from state media as well as openly from mosques, not only in Arab countries but under the noses of European and British governments. As human beings, can we be unperturbed by the indoctrination of infants to become suicidal Warriors as shown in an interview with a three-and-a-half year old girl broadcast on Iqra?

It is unforgivable that in this documentary which could serve to create a genuine better understanding of the violence generated by religious zealotry, the authoritative voices of many experts in the field were omitted. The program would for example achieve greater credibility had Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz been interviewed as a foil to Mearshheimer.

Among others who would have added authoritative insight into the subject are Brigitte Gabriel, who lectures nationally and internationally about terrorism and who has issued an Urgent Warning to the West, Professor Salim Mansur the Muslim writer and Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario, Steven Emerson the internationally recognized expert on militant Islamic terrorism and national security and Dr. Khaleel Mohammed, the Islamic law specialist and professor of Religion at San Diego State University.

TAKE ACTION

For more opinion and analysis on CNN's "God's Warriors" see CAMERA's excellent point by point refutation and WorldNetDaily.

Please send your comments to CNN via its online feedback page.

HonestReporting will continue to monitor any further developments concerning this story.

 

HonestReporting. com

Talkback on this article (click here for Media Backspin).

 

Comments on Maurice Ostroff's article

Monday, August 27 2007

CNN's "God's Warriors": Hard on Jews, Soft on Islam

 Christiane Amanpour's six-hour documentary special creates controversy. View for yourself the bias, inaccuracies and false moral equivalence demonstrated by CNN's Chief International Correspondent and read Maurice Ostroff's thorough critique of the series at HonestReporting's latest communique: CNN's "God's Warriors": Hard on Jews, Soft on Islam

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Comments

While I mostly agree with your review of "God's Warriors", I must correct you. The British UN representative when resolution 181 passed was Lord Carrington and not Lord Carradon as you mention in your review. If we are going to criticize someone, we must make sure of our facts too!!!

Posted by: Daniel at Aug 27, 2007 6:42:13 PM

 

Response to Daniel,

Dear Daniel,
You wrote "While I mostly agree with your review of "God's Warriors", I must correct you. The British UN representative when resolution 181 passed was Lord Carrington and not Lord Carradon as you mention in your review. If we are going to criticize someone, we must make sure of our facts too!!! posted by: Daniel at Aug 27, 2007 6:42:13 PM.

 

As I always take care to be accurate in my writings, I hope you will not mind my setting the record straight. In the above article I correctly stated that it was Lord Caradon who was involved in drafting UN resolution 242 in his capacity as British Ambassador to the United Nations, a post he held with distinction from 1964-1970.

 

I did not refer to him in connection with resolution 181 as indicated by you.

Resolution 242 was passed on November 22, 1967. At that time, Lord Carrington, to whom you refer was not at the UN. He was then Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords.

Posted by: maurice Ostroff at Aug. 28, 2007 3:02L43 PM

 

Reply from Daniel At 16:32 28/08/2007, Daniel wrote:

Sir,

I should have checked the facts rather than relying on my memory of the

time.

Regards

Daniel 

 

TO GET THE REAL TRUTH, WATCH FOX NEWS, ITS NOT SLANTED NOR IS IT TAINTED

Posted by: E. LETCHAW at Aug 27, 2007 6:53:42 PM

 

NOT POSSIBLE TO VIEW UTUBE AMANPOUR. IT DOES NOT WORK

Posted by: manny jakel at Aug 27, 2007 6:53:55 PM

 

CNN........Cancel Negative News

Posted by: Ben Suntag at Aug 27, 2007 7:01:58 PM

 

Why are we suprised at this type of biased "documentary" from CNN....all I can say is dah?

I tried to watch most of it, but I was so angry 30 minutes into the program....well all I can say is it's CNN not FOX cable.

Posted by: Rae Spengler at Aug 27, 2007 7:08:28 PM

 

I thought the reporting was very fair indeed
Of course she reported on isolated cases. Extremism is isolated. and the report was on extremism, not the majority.
Good job, Christiane

Suzanne Sapir
Jerusalem

 

Posted by: suzanne sapir at Aug 27, 2007 7:19:30 PM

the nice thing about her reporting is the OFF DIAL.

the real truth about her version of truth, justice, and values is she and all of her ilk will with time be forgotten and Israel will remain forever

 

Posted by: chaim grosz at Aug 27, 2007 7:24:28 PM

I don't have cable so did not see the CNN presentation, but watching and reading the summary I was glad I was not a participant. We Jews are approaching our High Holidays and once again will pray for the peace we want so desperately. We can't do it alone and God does not seem to be hearing us!!! We don't need more antagonism such as this program seems to have provoked.

 

Posted by: Eleanore F. Grefe at Aug 27, 2007 7:27:29 PM

Christiane Amanpour has ALWAYS been biased against Israel and ALWAYS for YEARS favored the "poor, downtrodden Palestinians" CNN is the very same anti-semitic network it always has been. I too, turned it off with revulsion.

 

Posted by: jake jacobson at Aug 27, 2007 7:29:54 PM

Those people, be they Jewish, Christian or Moslim, who believe they are right and all who do not believe as they do are wrong, are the problem and have been since the beginning of time. They are the extremists regardless of which religion they follow. Each thinks that God is on their side. How can contrary beliefs both be right? At best only one or none can be right.
I listened to all three programs as a Jew. I know that I am partial to the Jewish point of view but I thought the 6 hours were presented fairly.
The details may not be as accurate as some would have it but the essence is what is most important to me. That is the Jews, Christians and Muslims who are so sure their way is the only way and that God has told them so are the reason for the violence in this world. We will not live in a peaceful world till, as history can attest, they acknowledge that God is on neither side. In fact no one knows what God thinks and if their is a God that can control the behavior of humans. Surely listening to people who are willing to do harm to any who believe other than themselves can't be how the Bible asks us to behave.
I salute the work that Christiane Amanpour and CNN have provided for those of us who are trying to look at all sides for ways to resolve the problems brought about by the extremists of all faiths.

Posted by: jerome Schiffman at Aug 27, 2007 7:30:58 PM

 

What did you expect.Amanpour is a BRIT. Britain is a country with the largest latent antisemitism. I should know--I grew up there---"Shevloff--that's a funny name"
Thank God for Canada and the US of A where you can be what you are!!!

Posted by: Neville Shevloff at Aug 27, 2007 7:31:56 PM

 

While all the criticisms of the show are true, they do not go nearly far enough. Without getting into the constant bias, and errors, no one has focused on the fact that the video associated with both Jews and Christians constantly showed them as out of control, violent, etc. All the clips of Muslims showed them as calm, reasonable, intelligent.

No video of Muslim terror (even 9/11 was "shown" only with a still of a missing poster and a street scene) or Arab armies, but plenty of "blood thirsty" IDF soldiers and Jews.

Posted by: Stephen Luftschein at Aug 27, 2007 7:38:36 PM

 

I watch both CNN and Fox News, and am amused at the remarks made by individual who favor one over the other. With out watching or reading both conservative or liberal media I do not feel that proper or what should be close to proper dissemination of news can be made.
Of course CNN is liberal, and except for ratings and viewer populace Lou Dobbs is the best. As for Fox News, I find Fox loaded with a bunch of politically correct Neocon's not reporting the whole truth without thinking that they are going to step on somebodies toes. Hannity and Colmbs and OReily are good examples. Both are afraid to criticize Bush and his idiocy. To stick with only one news source is to be misled and captured in tunnel vision.

Posted by: Robert M. Copley Sr. at Aug 27, 2007 7:39:51 PM

 

Perhaps she should read the PLO Charter of 1964 (website of the Permanenet Observer Mission of Palestien to the UN). Interesting that it's only in context of dhimmi Jews that the West Bank & Gaza become the "Palestinian Homeland" even the PLO here rejects the partition of 1948...

Article 17: The partitioning of Palestine, which took place in 1947, and the establishment of Israel are illegal and null and void, regardless of the loss of time, because they were contrary to the will of the Palestinian people and its natural right to its homeland, and were in violation of the basic principles embodied in the Charter of the United Nations, foremost among which is the right to self-determination.

Article 18: The Balfour Declaration, the Palestine Mandate System, and all that has been based on them are considered null and void. The claims of historic and spiritual ties between Jews and Palestine are not in agreement with the facts of history or with the true basis of sound statehood. Judaism, because it is a divine religion, is not a nationality with independent existence. Furthermore, the Jews are not one people with an independent personality because they are citizens to their states.

Article 24: This Organization does not exercise any territorial sovereignty over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the Gaza Strip or in the Himmah Area.

http://www.un.int/palestine/PLO/PNA2.html

Posted by: zev at Aug 27, 2007 7:49:52 PM

 

Daniel, the review was not HonestReporting's. They presented it as it was written in JPost. Therefore the mistake is not there's.

Posted by: Shalom at Aug 27, 2007 7:50:55 PM

 

God's warriors was a poor portrayal. This afganistan woman married to a Clinton administration Sec. Of the Treasury Paul Rubin, Jewish, better check the house for weapons. It is obvious that she hates the Jews even tho married to one. I feel Ted Turner used this show, to show his personal hatred of the jews. The moslems were portrayed as the vitims and suicide bombers as heroes.

Posted by: ricnard mallin at Aug 27, 2007 7:58:57 PM

 

SURPRISE!!!! Who would have expected anything much different than pressure on Israel and those of the Tanakh faith wilst providing accomodation to the followers of Q'ran.

Posted by: Bob at Aug 27, 2007 8:10:33 PM

 

What did you expect??

Posted by: bev at Aug 27, 2007 8:23:31 PM

 

I tuned into 'God's Warriors' and was furious at the message. I found this unfair, slanted in favor of anyone else except Israel and the Jewish people. In the first segment, she showed only violence, anger and destruction. At no time did she indicate the many times Israel and the people made efforts to make peace, the willingness to give land for peace, nor did she show the violence perpetrated by Palestinians against Israel. In the next segments, she showed non-violent and peace speaking people whose Bible told them to kill anyone who did not have their beliefs. This was so terribly slanted. I thought news was supposed to be evenhanded, but this definitely was not.

Posted by: Sarah at Aug 27, 2007 8:27:51 PM

 

Do people here really think Fox is not slanted? I find them completely biased.

Stan

Posted by: Stan at Aug 27, 2007 8:47:28 PM

 

It is right in line with the liberal agenda to make Christians and religious Jews look bad. I noticed that the Israel-supporting church segments were constructed to make Christians look like ignorant fanatics. Ms Amanpour is an Iranian Muslim. What else do we need to know?

Posted by: Carolyn Dow at Aug 27, 2007 8:57:09 PM

 

I think the documentary was excellent. To claim that extreme Judaism was 'equated' to extreme is Islam is as silly as saying that pumpkins are equated to tomatoes in a documentary on agriculture. Having no loyalty to either of the three religions, and thus being at least somewhat emotionally objective, I would say that Islam certainly came out in the harshest light. It is insulting to my intelligence that some of you are insinuating that the documentary was 'soft on Islam and hard on Jews'. This is, of course, because you no doubt do not feel yourself to be fooled by the bias, but rather you assume others, like me, who watch the documentary will place intolerant rhetoric on equal footing with intolerant violence (or perhaps you find me even more base, and feel that since both religions received two hours of air time I MUST conclude them to be equally 'bad').

What Christiane was trying to show was the equivalence in conviction amongst fundamentalists. I think this case was well presented.

Posted by: Chris Wilmer at Aug 27, 2007 9:07:50 PM

 

Islam is not a religion,islam is a perversy.Stop islamic fascism before
its to late!

Thor Mikalsen

Posted by: Thor Mikalsen at Aug 27, 2007 9:38:21 PM

 

Carolyn Dow,

You took the words right out of my mouth.

Posted by: Lesley Richard at Aug 27, 2007 9:39:22 PM

 

There are many inaccuracies and omissions in Amanpour's report. One that leapt out at me was her comment that Israel had a choice at the end of the '67 war: either peace or land. This is, of course, nonsense. Before Israel could even express its desire, the Arabs had convened and issued their famous serious of no's: no recognition, no negotiations, no peace. And, in Amanpour's report: no mention. What, really, could one expect from liberal blather and CNN?

Posted by: David Kross at Aug 27, 2007 10:04:55 PM

 

less than 3 million Americans watch CNN and give them credit for knowing the difference between a Jewish terrorist and the prevailing Arab majority

Posted by: Ann Tenney at Aug 27, 2007 10:30:17 PM

 

this program is an afront to all three religions. The bias is openly shown. This program is for the trash can.

Posted by: Tehila Davis at Aug 27, 2007 10:47:04 PM

 

I would like to see Honest Reporting do some honest interviewing themselves. How about an interview with Amenpour to find out why she always spins the truth when talking about Israel and Jews.

Her bio says she was educated in the UK from age 11, and her college days were spent in Rhode Island. Guess she didn't learn much in the way of fair reporting.

Posted by: Rudi Gee at Aug 27, 2007 11:07:27 PM

 

First, it would do everyone good to look up Wikipedia biography of Ms. Amanpour. Secondly, review some or all of her comments when covering conflicts that had religious undertones. Lastly, a scatered research of all the documents that are used as reference would do everyone some good, to know how, when and why certain events occurred, and the reaction of each. I leave the final summary to the readers, not the gullibles.

Posted by: maurice at Aug 27, 2007 11:25:26 PM

 

OK,I'll keep my old bumper stickers (since the 1st Golf War) "CNN LIES" on my cars.

Remember when before Amannpour married Rubin (the Clinton press guy, not the Treasury guy), his mom said she's thrilled to have her as a daughter in law?

Now Amanpour has a Kosher certificate to screw the Jews.

Posted by: Arie at Aug 27, 2007 11:31:30 PM

 

I was not shocked, but angry with Amanpour. Her report was extremely biased as evidenced by her interviews with the Israeli who was in fact arrested by Israel for his violence. The report clearly left the uneducated with the feeling the the Palestinians are in fact justified in their relentless suicide bombings and cry for Jewish blood, while Jews are seen as "oppressors and occupiers of land seized illegally" ALL WRONG. THere are thousands of terrorist/jihadist/suicidal Jew haters in the Muslim community. How many in the Jewish community? One, and she found him to interview of course. And thank God we get the Saudi funded Jimmy Carter biased view on Israel. Where were the counterpoints to all the anti Jewish sentiments? And her comment about "violation of illegal law comes in diamonds" when discussing Jews is just OUTRIGHT BLATANT antisemitism. I screamed at my television just before my head exploded and I had to turn it off.
Diane

Posted by: Diane at Aug 28, 2007 12:09:53 AM

 

I did not see the "smear job" done against Israel/Jews, Did Christiane mention any of the following?
The bombing of the King David Hotel in July of 1946.
The " Lavon Affair" in 1954 Where the Mossad were going to destroy American and British Targets and then blame Egypt.
The attack on the U.S.S. Liberty by the armed forces of Israel.
The bullying done by the ADL:
Chronology: The Jewish Defense League 1969-1995

September 1969:
The President of the United Nations Security Council revealed that six UN Missions of the Arab states received telegrams from the Jewish Defense League threatening each as a "legitimate target" in revenge for acts of terrorism committed by Arabs.

May 18, 1970:
Fifty JDL members took over the Park East Synagogue opposite the Soviet UN Mission. Positioning themselves in the sanctuary, on the roof and on scaffolding surrounding the building, they unfurled huge banners decrying the plight of Soviet Jews. Those on the roof shouted demands and played martial music through a loudspeaker directed at the Mission across the street. Responding to the pleas of the synagogue's rabbi to leave, Kahane told him that as far as he was concerned, there was "nothing to talk about." The takeover continued for nine hours, due to the hesitancy of the synagogue's officials to aggravate the situation by asking the police to intervene."

May 22, 1970:
Six unidentified members of the JDL stormed into the offices of two Arab propaganda agencies in New York. Three Arab men were severely beaten with wooden clubs, and the offices were left in disarray. The three victims were hospitalized. Responding to reports that JDL literature was found at the scene of the attacks, Kahane did not take credit for the assaults but stated that "If we did [take credit], we'd be open to all sorts of problems. We obviously can't." He then proceeded to express his approval of the attacks.

September 27, 1970:
Two members of the JDL, Avraham and Nancy Hershkovitz, were arrested in an alleged plot to hijack an Arab airliner. The two were arrested at Kennedy Airport carrying firearms and explosives. They were later indicted on six counts by a grand jury but pleaded guilty only to a charge of passport falsification.

October 1970:
A group of JDL members led by Kahane took over the executive offices of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies in New York. They occupied the offices for two hours, demanding $6 million for "Jewish education"

November 16, 1970:
Continuing their efforts against the Federation, the group subsequently launched a telephone harassment campaign against then Federation President George C. Heyman. A newspaper advertisement called for sit-in demonstrations at Heyman's office and advised, "[I]f you cannot stop by, phone him several times that day."

November 24, 1970:
In the second takeover of the Park East Synagogue that year, the JDL again commandeered the premises of the synagogue for an anti-Soviet demonstration. After the police erected barricades to prevent demonstrators from approaching the Soviet Mission, a car suddenly veered onto the sidewalk into a line of uniformed policemen. Six patrolmen and one officer were injured.

November 25, 1970:
At 3:20 a.m., a bomb exploded at the Manhattan offices of the Soviet airline Aeroflot and its travel agency Intourist causing extensive damage. Thirty-five minutes after the explosion of the bomb, an anonymous caller telephoned the Associated Press and declared that the bomb was in response to Soviet anti-Semitism and pronounced the JDL slogan, "Never again!" At a subsequent press conference, Kahane voiced approval of the bombing but denied responsibility for it, stating, "Any protest to help enslaved people is a legitimate form of protest - including bombing and other forms of violent action."

January 8, 1971:
A bomb exploded in the pre-dawn hours of the morning outside a Soviet cultural building in Washington DC causing moderate damage. Shortly after the explosion, a woman telephoned news agencies and warned: "This is a sample of things to come. Let our people go. Never again! " Bertram Zweibon, the vice-chairman of the JDL denied the group's involvement, but declared, "We do not condemn the act.

February 29, 1972:
JDL members wielding sticks fought with left-wing protesters who disrupted a lecture given by Kahane at the City College of New York.

March 2, 1972:
A member of the Jewish Defense League who purchased a rifle allegedly fired into the Soviet UN Mission in October of 1971 was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of possessing a false draft card and falsely identifying himself when buying a firearm. On March 18, 1975, he pleaded guilty.

March 16, 1972:
A JDL member poured blood over the head of a Soviet diplomat after crashing a Washington, DC reception.

March 22, 1972:
A band of 12 JDL members disrupted a luncheon meeting of the Long Island Association World Trade Club during a speech being given by an official of the Russian Embassy. Detectives forcibly removed them from the room.'

April 8, 1972:
A warrant for the arrest of a JDL follower was issued in Manhattan Criminal Court when he failed to pay a $200 fine imposed after he pleaded guilty to criminal mischief for invading and vandalizing the offices of the Soviet news agency Tass in 1969.

May 9, 1972:
At a sit-in at the Austrian Embassy in Washington, JDL members scuffled with Austrian officials.

May 24, 1972:
In an apparent effort to disrupt U.S. - Soviet relations, four people, two of which were reported to be members of the JDL, were arrested and charged with bomb possession and burglary in a conspiracy to blow up the Long Island residence of the Soviet Mission to the UN. President Nixon was on an official visit to Moscow at the time. The arrests were announced by Acting Attorney General Richard Kliendienst. On August 4 1972, the two JDL members pleaded guilty and were sentenced to serve 3 years in prison for one and a year and a day for the other.

September 14, 1972:
Members of the JDL were arrested in Los Angeles twelve hours after the bombing of an apartment building which included among its tenants a Palestinian Arab. No one was injured. In June of 1973, two members of the organization were convicted on charges of assault.

September 27, 1972:
Three members of the JDL pleaded guilty in Brooklyn Federal Court to charges related to bombing incidents in 1971 at the Amtorg Trading Corporation offices and at the Long Island estate of the Russian Mission.

January 12, 1973:
A group of anti-Soviet demonstrators, identified by police as JDL members, invaded the Park East Synagogue opposite the Soviet UN Mission on East 67th Street, and shouted slogans at the Mission. The synagogue's rabbi called the group "irresponsible."

February 6, 1973:
An FBI agent revealed that members of the JDL had planned to use a "drone airplane" in 1971 to bomb the Soviet Mission to the UN in New York.

February 22, 1973:
Ten members of the JDL took over and vandalized the offices of the World Council of Churches in New York.

February 28, 1973:
Eight members of the JDL took over the offices of the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia.

March 1, 1973:
The executive secretary of the New York office of the World Council of Churches stated that the Council would seek payment from the JDL for damages caused on February 22 by ten JDL members who invaded the Council's offices and vandalized the premises.

May 22, 1973:
A Queens, New York high school teacher was sentenced to 90 days in prison for using false documents to hide the identities of individuals who purchased rifles for use in a JDL camp in 1970. A co-defendant, also a JDL member, was convicted on similar charges, and was sentenced to 5 months in prison on July 15.

June 30, 1973:
Rabbi Kahane revealed that he had instructed followers to kidnap a Soviet diplomat in the U.S. to forestall a U.S.-Soviet summit meeting.

July 17, 1973:
Rabbi Kahane stated in Israel that he had written to JDL members in the U.S. suggesting they blow up the vacant Iraqi Embassy in Washington.

August 23, 1974:
Four JDL leaders were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct while attempting to disrupt a performance of the Bolshoi Ballet at the Temple University Music Festival. Earlier, officials of the festival had received a letter from a JDL official stating that unless the proceeds from the program were donated to organizations helping Soviet Jewry, the JDL would try to prevent the program from taking place by "whatever means are necessary." The Pennsylvania leader of the JDL was later convicted of disorderly conduct,while charges against the other three JDL members were dismissed. The list continues.Just asking.

Posted by: Tom at Aug 28, 2007 12:22:40 AM

 

Anyone who saw all three episodes, I did, could not agree more with the sentiments expressed about the clear anti-Jewish and anti-Christian bias in Amanpour's series. To take a few isolated examples of violence on the part of Jewish extremists in Israel or Christian fundamentalists in the U.S. and equate them to Islamofascism in the name of balanced reporting is nothing but journalist extremism, purely and simply. Amanpour has degenerated into another irresponsible, biased reporter who'd be better off serving as one of Jimmy Carter's flacks.

Whether one agrees with them or not, AIPAC and members of the U.S. Christian Right are only exercising their constitutional prerogatives, the same as Daily Kos, Moveon.org, the NRA and other lobbying groups.

Posted by: Hal Bass at Aug 28, 2007 1:18:28 AM

 

CNN Lies....

Posted by: Rick at Aug 28, 2007 1:25:25 AM

Thor Mikalsen,

Most people think the same, unfortunately, the PC disease which is now running rampant around the world forbids them from saying so, The UK is a prime example and is absolutely paralysed by this phenomenon.

Posted by: Ray Hardy at Aug 28, 2007 3:44:49 AM

 

Depending on ones own biases One can find negatives in the entire six hours. Her real contribution was to show the absolute certainty each of the 3 religious groups have that They have the exclusive ear of God as interpreted by humans of great passion and questionable wisdom.

Posted by: Maurice Bender at Aug 28, 2007 3:47:16 AM

 

What I found laughable was the sheer hypocrisy which wove its way throughout the program. Thus, for example, Amanpour would present herself as the virtuous defender of "international law." To illustrate her "understanding" of "international law" she would trot out a lawyer who would argue that "Settlements are illegal!" But as Irwin Cotler has pointed out, to claim "settlements are illegal" is to make a legal judgment, expressed with an air of certainty and finality -- but prior to any litigation or actual judicial process, thus "presupposing the outcome of the negotiating process" (to quote from Irwin Cotler in a Jerusalem Post interview conducted in 2002.) This does not uphold the rule of law, rather hearing lawyers express "legal" opinions as if they were somehow "authoritative" yet without the benefit of (in lieu of) any judicial proceeding (or direct discussions with the litigants) undermines -- undercuts -- the law. But, perhaps, this is CNN’s Amanpour’s "understanding" of International Law. Lawyers making the case on behalf of one side of the party to a dispute become the equivalent of authoritative judges rendering a verdict. And all the while we hear Amanpour making claims of "objectivity." Laughable.

Posted by: J.S. at Aug 28, 2007 4:00:57 AM

 

CNN has been known in the past to bend to threats to its staff from Arab countries.
I am of the opinion that news people present Israel and Jews in a negative light in order to curry favor to obtain access to Arab or Islamic news sources.
On the other hand,news people essentially have access to a free Israeli society in order to get their news freely.

Posted by: Harry at Aug 28, 2007 4:01:37 AM

 

Tom, go take a look at www.thereligionofpeace.com

Right now the count for *deadly* Islamist terrorist attacks (since 9 11) is 9,341. And for the Weekly Jihad Report (that's for Aug 18 to Aug 24, 2007), the number of Jihad attacks are 88; the number of dead bodies, 402; the number of critically injured, 638. That's in one week, Tom. And, "no," one need not go back 35 years to find the hint of a "threat."

Today the website "TheReligionOfPeace.com" also features a picture from Hyderadad, India.

Let's put it this way -- if "Tom" were a physician working in an emergency room, he would be spending all his time and energy racing to put that bandage on the cut finger requiring at most 2 stitches or looking after those stubbed toes -- meanwhile ignoring the patient with the gunshot wounds, the heart attack victims, the stroke patients -- yeah, gotta treat those people with the hang nails! Priorities.

Posted by: J.S. at Aug 28, 2007 7:05:38 AM

 

Did we expect anything better from Amanpour or CNN? I don't think so.
I complained when a trailer with Carter was shown before the broadcast of the series.

Posted by: henry tobias at Aug 28, 2007 9:51:44 AM

 

The following is a TV context challenge to both CNN and Fox News:

Get the right context and we can have the peace we all yearn for.

Right Context: Place all the life oriented, health oriented, freedom oriented and pursuit of happiness oriented results on one side of a scale and death, slavery and misery oriented actions on the other side of the scale, for each of the great religions. Let the scale decide which religion is life, liberty and pursuit of happiness oriented. Then, we can realistically celebrate each religions actions toward life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
Real peace will follow.

Is CNN up to making a program on that context? If it did that, it would leave Fox News in the dust.
Attention Fox News: You can take this context challenge too.

Posted by: Marvin Mark at Aug 28, 2007 12:28:38 PM

 

 

My apologies for having read many but not all of the interesting preceding comments.
I watched all six hours of the Amanpour documentary.
The first two hours were enormously biased with a wholly unfair weighing of the settlers' views as if they were predominant Israeli opinion - not to mention her obscuring the fact of almost no violence and an almost total absence of any justification of violence. But, then it was over, i.e. by being first, it was most apt to recede in memory, especially among those whose minds were not irreversibly made up before watching any part of her documentary.
The real surprise for me was her unexpected (relative)toughness on Islamic violence. And her rather prolonged indictment of Islamic attitudes towards women, including several types of women who either pathetically condone their own oppression or witlessly adopt Islamic dress without regard to their oppressed 'sisters'(the young American) were perhaps the most impressive sections of the whole six hours.
Pardon my irreverence, but the final section on American evangelicals evoked almost more humor than criticism either of them or Amanpour. As for the weird alliance between apocalyptic evangelicals and Israelis, the most disturbing thing about this is that these Americans want, for fantastic religious reasons, almost the same results that many of us want for hard-headed geopolitical reasons, i.e for the national security of Israel, the United States, and indeed, the whole Western and non-Islamic world. It is unfortunate that this union of very similar goals is combined with such radically different reasons, because this gives the anti-Israeli and even Anti-Semitic Left a way to confuse and conflate the two types of motives, as Amanpour did in her first two hours.
Final verdict: It could have been a lot worse. Ron Thompson

Posted by: Ron Thompson at Aug 28, 2007 5:00:08 PM

 

Hi Honest Reporting!

Don't worry about Amanpour. She lost significant credibility a number of years ago when she began to be known as a "news whore" more concerned about projecting her own opinions than honest reporting. She consistently demonstrates that there is an inherent anti-Semitic bias in all left-wing media - not just CNN. Just look at the BBC and CBC!

Imagine "interviewing" one of the most disastrous presidents in American history - Jimmy Carter! Had he not already clearly demonstrated his anti-Jewish, anti-Israel positions? So why dreg him up again if only to "help" make a another attempt at smearing the Jewish state?

People like Amanpour who can keep a straight face and look "professional" while "interviewing" various players involved in the Byzantine quagmire of religion and politics, can and do have an agenda. And that agenda is plain for all to see: there is only moral relativism where acts of evil can be defined and redefined in accordance with one's own views. In the end, Amanpour has done a great disservice to the cause of civilization - a civilization that is and was based on the fundamental acceptance and understanding of the difference between good and evil. By eroding that difference in her "reports" she has thrown open the door of respectability even wider for the forces of a new age of barbarism. Congratulations!

Warren

Posted by: warren at Aug 28, 2007 5:54:19 PM

 

This Christiane Amanpour has proven again that her ignorance overcomes her big mouth.

Thank you

Posted by: Debbie at Aug 28, 2007 7:12:20 PM

 

It is such a shame that Christiane Amanpour, an accomplished reporter, lets her own biased and obviously anti-semitic views, influence her judgement in reporting on such an important subject. Instead of showing the truth that the "Islamic Warriors" are the enemies of the whole world, she tries to equate them with the few extremist in the rest of the world. SHAME ON AMANPOUR and SHAME ON CNN.

Posted by: Peter Rebenwurzel at Aug 28, 2007 9:57:40 PM

 

My wife and I strongly feel that the series is not evenhanded. The G-d's Jewish Warriors almost entirely dedicated to settlers and those who support them. It’s just a minute part of Jewish people. Why this particular group? Also, there is very little info about Judaism, the culture, the religion the modern society, or even what the majority of Israelis think about the settler issue.
Now in contrast, in G-d's Muslim Warriors 85% of time is spent on Islam as a religion - Islamic customs and rituals, carefully explaining and disputing many stereotypes. Only the last 10 minutes of the show we see the relevant and true warriors of Islam – bloody and cruel terrorists. Even the presented tape with Ahmenidjaddoes not show one of his “famous” aggressive speeches, which coincidently would go perfect with the topic of this series. Instead, wee see the tape where he welcomes Messiah.
I wonder if CNN thinks that Americans are this stupid? We won’t close our eyes on thousands being killed, tortured and displaced daily by Islamic fanatics. Shame on you Amanpour, shame on CNN!
4244

Posted by: Michael at Aug 29, 2007 12:05:56 AM

 

obviously written by a typical "woe is me" jew.

Posted by: jj at Aug 29, 2007 2:41:48 AM

 

Anyone but a radical Islamist would say that this documentary was even-handed. I'm a lapsed Catholic and was absolutely shocked at Amanpour's biased and outright hatred for the Jewish people, and on a smaller scale, against Christians.
I've written CNN to protest their pro-Islamist propaganda. What else can we all do? Honestreporting must keep this in the spotlight while this controversy is still new.
Amanpour defended Hamas a few years ago and denied that they were a terrorist group. The controversy was short-lived and her opinion piece was deleted from the CNN website. We have to make sure that this time that won't happen.

Posted by: Daisy at Aug 29, 2007 6:34:31 AM

 

Amanpour accomplished absolutely nothing in trying to explain away the violence rocking the Middle East as being a product of "God's Warriors". It is clear that the program was meant solely to advance the career of this jet-set Leftist mouthpiece. For news, visit "HonestReporting"'s website. For spin, it's CNN all the way.
C = Christiane's
N = Nihilistic
N = Network

Posted by: olamkatan at Aug 29, 2007 9:33:22 PM

 

How many suicide bombers have been Muslims? How many countries at war nowadays are Arabs or Islamic?
Sure, you'll find corruption in Denmark, but nobody calls Denmark a corrupt country.
If you want to make a point, you'll probably want to compare Denmark or New Zealand with Venezuela and Haiti and say: Hey! I saw corruption in all these countries. What can save you is STATISTICS. Honest Statistics.
But Honesty doesn't seem to be your string suit nor your interest. Ratings and other agendas are.

Posted by: Ruben Misrahi at Aug 31, 2007 5:48:07 AM



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