AIJAC sees an improvement in the ABC
Dr Colin Rubenstein, executive director The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, believes that ABC improved its reporting on the flashpoint in Gaza on the weekend.
Dr Colin Rubenstein
Israel retaliated following a barrage of mortars and rockets rained on the border villages injuring three Israelis.
An early ABC report gave the impression that Israel was the aggressor prompting The Executive Council of Australian Jewry to file a complaint.
Dr Rubenstein told J-Wire: “The ABC news coverage of events in Gaza and Israel’s south on Sunday morning, July 15, was indeed problematic, setting out the Israeli attacks against Gaza without providing adequate context of the reasons for these strikes.
Thus the ECAJ complaint on those segments appears to be fully justified.
However, we note that the reports from Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop on that night’s ABC TV news and the following morning’s ‘AM’ program on ABC radio were a significant improvement, explaining the incendiary kite attacks and numerous rockets coming from Gaza to which Israel was responding. We hope that the latter two reports are indicative that future ABC reporting on Israel will endeavor to be professional and fair, as it has sometimes failed to be in the recent past.”
I love the ABC and Radio Melbourne has presenters John Fayne, Libbi Gorr, Raf Epstein and until recently Red Symonds to name a few and all Jewish.
So why all the criticism of the ABC?
AIJAC should know that the ABC have a systemic attitude of bias against Israel. This could be seen only today (18/07) in their reporting of Israeli soldiers ‘threatening the poor Syrian refugees heading close to the border with Israel.(I mean, for heaven’s sake, the Syrians hate us and are Israel’s sworn enemy!, besides which Israeli medicos have been assisting wounded Syrians where they can for some months now, something our media are not interested in.) Let us not be thankful for small mercies, vis a vis the Rubinsztein-Dunlop reporting mentioned by Colin Rubenstein, and expect or assume professional and fair reporting from the ABC from hereon. It’s not going to happen. We need a big turn around in attitude from the ABC and rigorous professionalism in their journalists and should settle for nothing better. All kudos to ECAJ for calling out the ABC for what it is.
Instead of using “Israel retaliated,” why not say ” Israel mounted active defence and deterrence measures…”?
That’s OK then?!! Their ABC does its normal snow job on Israel but corrects it a bit when David Adler calls out its bias? I think Colin should be congratulating David Adler and AJA for getting stuck into their ABC asap, something other Jewish community organisations don’t seem too keen to do.