Nearly two-dozen Al-Jazeera staffers resign
(JNS.org) Nearly two-dozen Al-Jazeera employees have resigned from the Qatar-based satellite news channel over what they are calling pro-Muslim Brotherhood bias in its coverage of the recent events in Egypt.
As many as 22 resigned employees were all part of Al-Jazeera’s “Mubasher Misr” (or “Egypt Live”) channel, which focuses coverage on political, social and cultural issues affecting Egypt.
According to the Dubai-based English language daily Gulf News, the employees were instructed by management to favor the Muslim Brotherhood in their coverage.
Karem Mahmoud, an anchor at Al-Jazeera, said that the lack of professionalism in the media coverage of turmoil in Egypt was the reason he resigned.
“I felt that there were errors in the way the coverage was done, especially that now in Egypt we are going through a critical phase that requires a lot of auditing in terms of what gets broadcasted,” Mahmoud told the Saudi-based Al Arabiya news. “My colleagues have also resigned for the same reason.”
*
Netanyahu taps Ron Dermer as new Israeli ambassador to U.S.
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced that he has chosen his close aide Ron Dermer as the next Israeli ambassador to the U.S. The current ambassador, Michael Oren, said last week that he would step down this fall.
“Ron Dermer has all of the necessary traits to fill this position successfully,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “From many years of acquaintance with him, I know that Ron will loyally serve Israel in the capital of the United States.”
Oren, who grew up in New Jersey Dermer, was Israel’s first American-born ambassador to the U.S., and he will be succeeded by the second—Dermer is a native of Miami Beach, Fla.
Before Tuesday’s official announcement, Army Radio reported last month that Dermer would be appointed. Dermer’s candidacy had been in question for some time, according to the Army Radio report, as he was considered a “red sheet” in Obama administration circles for his perceived support of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in last summer’s race. But Dermer has managed to improve his ties with the Obama administration and with Secretary of State John Kerry in particular, the report said, leading the administration to remove its objection to his appointment.
*
Israeli-Arab Christians seek to forge their own identity through new party
(JNS.org) Amid the backdrop of tension within Israel’s Arab community over enlistment in the Israel Defense Forces, Israeli-Arab Christians are seeking to forge their own new identity apart from Israeli-Arab Muslims through the formation of their own political party.
The new party will be named Habrit Hahadashah (The New Alliance); the party’s name includes the word brit, or covenant, in reference to Christianity’s New Testament.
“The entire thing started from the fact that I wanted to get my nephew into the army and there were difficulties, they really didn’t want him to integrate. Today he is a major in a combat unit,” Bashara Shlayan, founder of the new Arab Christian party, told Israel Hayom.
Shlayan added, “We also invited priests from the church to a conference we held in Nazareth Illit. One of them is the Church patriarch, Father Gabriel Nadaf [who has drawn the ire of Arab MKs recently for encouraging Christian Arab youth to join the IDF], who preferred [our way] and said we were right.”
Shlayan said many Israeli-Arab Christians simply want to be recognized as loyal citizens.
“They [Israeli-Arab leaders] think being against Israel is Arab nationalism, that it is the manly thing. But if you oppose this way of thinking, you are a traitor. This is what needs to be changed. It’s stupidity. So I demand that we, the Christians, be recognized as loyal citizens of the state,” Shlayan said.
*
Preceding provided by JNS.org