Monday, November 03, 2003

US Press ignores story
Update: They are finally running this story in about 15 papers, all written exactly the same. Very, pro-Israel spin in all American papers, very different than any except the Pakistani ones. The way different countries spin the same story can be WILD! This poll, done of 500 people in all 15 EU countries, puts Israel as the #1 threat to world peace, followed by the US, tied with Iran and North Korea. At Middle East News, they tenderly lay off mentioning that the United States came in 2nd. In the Netherlands, at Expatica, they harsh on the US and Israel pretty hard, but they also bring up that the Italians were findest to Israel (close to 50/50) and that less-educated people tended to favor Israel (a little nationalism, I suspect). Over at EU Business News, it's all about Israeli government shock, and EU minister distancing. This article mentions that "countries" such as Palestine and Somalia weren't listed (p.s. if you think Palestine would have beaten Israel in the EU, you just don't get it yet). I can't tell which country InfoShop News is from, but they have this tizzy of a quote, in an otherwise unremarkable peice "Israeli Ministers and spokesman have also been at pains recently to insist that a definition of modern 'anti-semitism' should include criticism of the way the state of Israel chooses to protect itself[.]" Strangely, American left-wing site Common Dreams skips the anti-US message central to the poll, also. Two Pakistani papers just quote Israeli and American Jewish groups. How odd. I guess that is part of payback for not trouncing them during the War on Terror. Ah, there seems to be a discrepancy. The Guardian's published report lists the US tied for second, while France's Le Monde puts the US at 6th. (UPDATE: Guardian was right). Well, whatever... By the way, NO US PAPERS HAVE PICKED UP ON THIS SO FAR!

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