Edit filter log

'{{Infobox Website | name = Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America | logo = [[Image:Cameralogo.jpg|350px]] | screenshot = | caption = CAMERA logo | url = http://www.camera.org/ | commercial = No | type = "Seeks to correct media misrepresentations of Israel"<ref>[http://www.library.yale.edu/neareast/politics2.html Near East Collection at Yale University: Research Guide to Middle East Politics]</ref> | language = English | registration = | owner = [[Andrea Levin]] | author = Winifred Meiselman | launch date = 1982 | current status = | revenue = }} The '''Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA)''' is a [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]]-based, [[501(c)(3)]] nonprofit, pro-[[Israel]]<ref> *see, e.g., "Rally in Philadelphia will support America and Israel. Press release. Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (Greater Philadelphia District). January 18, 1991. <blockquote>A coalition of local groups will hold a rally at the Liberty Bell on Sunday, Jan. 20, in support of American and Israeli military policies in the Persian Gulf crisis. "We'll be coming out on Sunday to say 'God bless America and Israel," said Bertram Korn Jr., executive director of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, one of the sponsors of the rally. "The criminal Iraqi war machine must be permanently disarmed," he added.</blockquote> *Zara Myers. The Name of the Game? Advocacy for Israel. ''Jewish Exponent''. Philadelphia: Nov 25, 2004.<blockquote>To encourage effective advocacy on behalf of Israel, the Center for Israel and Overseas of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia will host a daylong program -- its inaugural advocacy event -- on Sunday, Dec. 5, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Hillel at the University of Pennsylvania, Steinhardt Hall, 215 S. 39th St. in Philadelphia. In the morning will be a panel featuring representatives from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, all of which will discuss "Methodologies on How to Advocate for Israel...Dr. John Cohn, a local physician named Camera's "No. 1 Letter-Writer" in 2004, will serve as moderator of the panel.</blockquote> *CAMERA Articles For Students. [http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=22&x_article=1375 ''Apply NOW to Be A CAMERA Student Representative—EARN A FREE TRIP TO ISRAEL AND $1000!''] Posted on CAMERA website, September 25, 2007.<blockquote>CAMERA is looking for fifteen passionately committed undergraduate students with excellent communication skills who can organize pro-Israel events on campus. Students earn $1000 and a free exclusive trip to Israel in June by becoming a CAMERA Fellows Representative.</blockquote> *Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. [http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-33.htm CAMERA: Fighting Distorted Media Coverage of Israel and the Middle East: An Interview with Andrea Levin.] Posted on JCPA website, June 1, 2005.<blockquote>Their work undoubtedly has impact, but the non-Israel-related groups do not have the same activist focus. They produce studies and polls. It is for this reason that I think pro-Israeli media watching has an importance beyond the cause of Israel. Efforts that induce better adherence to ethical journalism in one subject area are positive generally in helping to strengthen American democracy, especially, again, as there are no enforceable codes of professional conduct in the media. – CAMERA Executive Director Andrea Levin.</blockquote> *''The New York Times''. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0DE1E38F930A15756C0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 MIDEAST TURMOIL: THE NEWS OUTLETS; Some U.S. Backers of Israel Boycott Dailies Over Mideast Coverage That They Deplore]. Posted on NYTimes website, May 23, 2002.<blockquote>While the the pro-Israeli Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, or Camera, studies newspapers for evidence of bias, Palestine Media Watch has been monitoring the coverage of newspapers like The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.</blockquote> </ref> [[Watchdog journalism|media watchdog group]].<ref name=CAMERA_About>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=24 CAMERA: About CAMERA]</ref> The group says it was founded in 1982 "to respond to the Washington Post's coverage of Israel’s Lebanon incursion, and to the paper’s general anti-Israel bias".<ref>[http://camera.org/index.asp?x_context=50 "A brief history of CAMERA"] on CAMERA's official web site. Accessed August 14, 2007</ref> CAMERA is known for its pro-Israel media monitoring and advocacy.<ref>Manfred Gerstenfeld and Ben Green. [http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-gerstenfeld-f04.htm Watching the Pro-Israeli Media Watchers]. ''Jewish Political Studies Review''. 16:3-4 (Fall 2004).</ref><ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/7/25/105818.shtml?s=ic Murdoch, Son Differ Sharply Over Israel]</ref><ref name=Jpost>{{cite news | url= http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380734150&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull | title=Israel critique on campus | author=Lando, Michal | publisher=Jerusalem Post | date=2007-11-04 | location=Jerusalem }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18825 | publisher=Jewish Journal | title=Butt out | author=Rob Eshman | location=Los Angeles | date=2008-01-25 }}</ref> CAMERA releases reports to counter what it calls "frequently inaccurate and skewed characterizations of Israel and of events in the Middle East" that it believes may fuel [[anti-Israel]] and [[anti-Jewish]] prejudice.<ref name=CAMERA_About /> The group mobilizes protests against what it describes as unfair media coverage by issuing full-page ads in newspapers,<ref name=SFGate>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/04/14/MN89015.DTL U.S. newspapers catching flak for Mideast war coverage: Media caught in the cross fire as both sides complain of bias]<blockquote>He said the network has been targeted by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, which ran a full-page New York Times ad calling NPR's coverage "false" and "skewed" against Israel. The advertisement also urged NPR's financial backers to stop supporting the network.</blockquote></ref> organizing demonstrations,<ref name=Guardian>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1934830,00.html Guardian Unlimited: The readers' editor on ... a ruling in favour of freedom of expression]<blockquote>It has, for instance, been involved in a long-running battle with NPR, National Public Radio, in Washington, over its Middle East coverage, organising demonstrations outside NPR stations across the US and seeking to persuade NPR's supporters to withhold funds.</blockquote></ref> and encouraging sponsors to withhold funds.<ref name=Guardian /> CAMERA has about 55,000 paying members<ref name=JCPA /> and claims 46 news outlets have issued corrections based on their work.<ref name=Corr /> CAMERA has attracted both critics and supporters. [[Gershom Gorenberg]], an [[United States|American]]-born [[Israelis|Israeli]] senior correspondent for ''[[The American Prospect]]'', has written that CAMERA is "[[Orwellian]]-named"<ref name=Gershom2>[http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=j_street_on_the_map ''The American Prospect'': J Street on the Map]</ref> and that "like others engaged in the narrative wars, it does not understand the difference between advocacy and accuracy".<ref name=Gershom /> Other critics have described CAMERA as a special interest group<ref name=Jurkowitz /> fighting for a pro-Israeli bias.<ref name=Friedman /><ref name=Kaidy /> On the other hand, [[Richard Landes]], an Associate Professor at Boston University, said "their work is that they are careful both to reason and cite sources scrupulously" and that those who dismiss their work "rely on a dismissal that is at least as partisan as that with which it charges others."<ref name=landes>[http://www.gloria-center.org/meria/2009/12/landes1.html#_edn1 Goldstone's Gaza Report: Part One: A Failure of Intelligence]</ref> In May 2008, five [[Wikipedia]] editors involved in a secret CAMERA campaign to edit Wikipedia were prohibited by Wikipedia administrators, who wrote that the project's open nature "is fundamentally incompatible with the creation of a private group to surreptitiously coordinate editing by ideologically like-minded individuals".<ref name=BostGlobe>{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2008/05/03/war_of_the_virtual_wiki_worlds/|title=War of the virtual Wiki-worlds|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|publisher=[[The New York Times Company]]|accessdate=2008-05-04|date=2008-05-03|last=Beam|first=Alex|quote=In what was probably not a very smart idea, Gilead Ini, a senior research analyst for CAMERA, put out an e-mail call for 10 volunteers "to help us keep Israel-related entries on Wikipedia from becoming tainted by anti-Israel editors." [...] More than 50 sympathizers answered the call, and Ini put his campaign into motion. <br> In follow-up e-mails to his recruits, Ini emphasized the secrecy of the campaign: "There is no need to advertise the fact that we have these group discussions," he wrote. "Anti-Israel editors will seize on anything to try to discredit people who attempt to challenge their problematic assertions, and will be all too happy to pretend, and announce, that a 'Zionist' cabal . . . is trying to hijack Wikipedia." <br> [...] Someone leaked four weeks' worth of communications from within Ini's organization, and the quotes weren't pretty. Describing the Wiki-campaign, a member of Ini's corps writes: "We will go to war after we have built an army, equiped [sic] it, trained." There is also some back-and-forth about the need to become Wikipedia administrators, to better influence the encyclopedia's articles.|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5eI81uvfP|archivedate=2009-02-01}}</ref> ==History== CAMERA has chapters in major US cities and Israel, including [[New York City]], [[Chicago]], [[Fort Lauderdale]], [[Los Angeles]], [[Miami]], [[San Francisco]], [[Philadelphia]]{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}, and in 1988 a [[Boston]] chapter and headquarters, founded and led by [[Andrea Levin]]; [[Charles Jacobs (political activist)|Charles Jacobs]] became deputy director of the Boston chapter. In 1991, Levin succeeded [[Winifred Meiselman]] as executive director of CAMERA. According to the organization's website, CAMERA’s membership grew from 1,000 in 1991 to 55,000 in 2007<ref>[http://camera.org/index.asp?x_context=50 "A brief history of CAMERA"] on CAMERA's official web site. Accessed October 23, 2006.</ref> The director of the Washington office of CAMERA is [[Eric Rozenman]].<ref>CAMERA at [http://www.jirs.org/jirs/jirs0051al.html Jewish Information and Referral Service].</ref> ==Structure, staff, and activities== On its official website, CAMERA describes itself as "a media-monitoring, research and membership organization devoted to promoting accurate and balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East" which "fosters rigorous reporting, while educating news consumers about Middle East issues and the role of the media." CAMERA further describes itself as a "non-partisan organization" which "takes no position with regard to American or Israeli political issues or with regard to ultimate solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict."<ref>See [http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=24 "About CAMERA"] and [http://www.camera.org "Our Mission"] as featured on the official website.</ref> CAMERA complained in 2008 that [[the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations]] (of which it is a member) did not consult it before disinviting [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Vice President of the United States|vice presidential]] candidate [[Sarah Palin]] to an anti-[[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad|Ahmadinejad]] rally.<ref>[http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/127760 ''Israel National News'': Anti-Palin Jews Shunned Anti-Iran Rally]</ref><ref>[http://www.forward.com/articles/14260/ ''Forward'': Sparks Fly Over Decision To Exclude Palin]</ref> CAMERA has also criticized the Israeli non-governmental organization [[B'Tselem]] for some of its reporting on Israel.<ref>[http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/127759 ''Israel National News'': B'Tselem Tries to Steer United States to the Left]</ref> [[Dr. Alex Safian]] heads CAMERA's research department. When CAMERA perceives an inaccurate statement in the media, it says it gathers information, and sends findings asking for a printed or broadcast correction. CAMERA lists 46 news outlets which it says have issued corrections based on their work.<ref name=Corr>[Corrections. http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=10]</ref> The organization also publishes monographs about topics relating to the Arab-Israeli conflict.<ref>CAMERA website, [http://camera.org/index.asp?x_context=20 CAMERA Publications: Monographs]</ref> The [[Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs]] website says CAMERA has 55,000 paying members and thousands of active letter writers.<ref name=JCPA>[Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-33.htm]</ref> CAMERA is a member of the [[Israel Campus Roundtable]], which includes the [[American Israel Public Affairs Committee]] (AIPAC), [[Anti-Defamation League]], [[The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership]], and other pro-Israel organizations. As a member of this Campus Roundtable, CAMERA operates on college campuses to combat what it perceives as "propagandistic assaults on Israel . . . creating harmful misperceptions of Israel" and "publishes a student-focused magazine, CAMERA on Campus, containing specialized information useful in countering misinformation."<ref>See [http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=24 "CAMERA on College Campuses"]:<blockquote> Increasingly, campuses have been the scene of propagandistic assaults on Israel. Distorted literature, extreme speakers and false, inflammatory images are all too common, creating harmful misperceptions of Israel. This hostile environment can be intimidating to students seeking fair and objective information on Middle East issues.<br><br> CAMERA publishes a student-focused magazine, CAMERA on Campus, containing specialized information useful in countering misinformation. CAMERA also provides one-on-one assistance to students who encounter Middle East distortions in campus publications, flyers, rallies and classroom teaching.</blockquote> The managing editors of ''CAMERA On Campus'' is Deborah Passner.</ref> For undergraduates willing to write op-eds and organize pro-Israel events on campus, CAMERA has offered student representative positions which include compensation and training in Israel.<ref>[http://camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=1375 CAMERA: Apply NOW for CAMERA Student Rep Positions: Earn $1000 and FREE TRIP TO ISRAEL!]</ref> ==Criticism by CAMERA== {{See also|National Public Radio#Criticism|Encarta|Munich (film)#Controversies|The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy#Criticism}} Among the organizations and works that have been criticized by CAMERA are: ===ABC News anchor Peter Jennings=== "We've long considered him anti-Israel", CAMERA's founder Andrea Levin has commented of [[Peter Jennings]], after an incident in which CAMERA, and eventually also the [[Columbia Journalism Review]], took issue with Jennings and [[ABC News]] for balking at correcting an alleged misquote of [[Benjamin Netanyahu ]].<ref>[http://www.hnn.us/comments/8390.html History News Network<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ===National Public Radio=== CAMERA's report, "A Record of Bias: National Public Radio's Coverage of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: September 26 – November 26, 2000" (2001) asserted that [[National Public Radio]]'s "coverage of the [[Arab-Israeli conflict]] has long been marred by a striking anti-Israel tilt, with severe bias, error and lack of balance commonplace."<ref>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=4&x_outlet=28&x_article=75 CAMERA] March 27, 2001, accessed July 21, 2006.</ref> CAMERA supported a [[boycott]] of NPR, and demanded the firing of NPR's foreign editor, [[Loren Jenkins]]. CAMERA said that Jenkins had a long record of partisanship in favor of Palestinian views, and let his personal views tilt NPR's coverage. CAMERA also said Jenkins compared Israel to Nazi Germany in his writings, and referred to it as a "colonizer".<ref>Press Release. [http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=4&x_outlet=28&x_article=24 CAMERA Calls on NPR to Fire Foreign Editor Loren Jenkins.] May 3, 2002.</ref><ref>[http://www.why-war.com/news/2002/05/25/proisrae.html Pro-Israel Lobbyists Seek to Influence Coverage of Mideast.] ''Agence France-Presse'', May 25, 2002</ref><ref>Andrea Levin. Just Say No to NPR. ''The Jerusalem Post'', September 27, 2002.</ref> NPR's then-Ombudsman, Jeffrey A. Dvorkin, said in a 2002 interview that CAMERA used selective citations and subjective definitions of what it considers pro-Palestinian bias in formulating its findings, and that he felt CAMERA's campaign was "a kind of [[McCarthyism]], frankly, that bashes us and causes people to question our commitment to doing this story fairly. And it exacerbates the legitimate anxieties of many in the Jewish community about the survival of Israel."<ref>Camille T. Taiara. [http://www.sfbg.com/37/35/news_npr.html All bias considered: Bizarre attack on NPR as "anti-Israel" shows how fringe groups are pushing Mideast debate.] ''San Francisco Bay Guardian''. May 28, 2003. See also Jeffrey A. Dvorkin, [http://www.npr.org/yourturn/ombudsman/2002/020222.html "NPR's Middle East 'Problem,'"], ''NPR: Archive'' of Ombudsman Columns February 22, 2002, accessed July 21, 2006. [In June 2006 Dvorkin left the position of NPR Ombudsman to become the executive director of the [[Committee of Concerned Journalists]] (CCJ), an organization founded by [[Bill Kovach]] as part of the [[Project for Excellence in Journalism]] (CEJ), effective July 1, 2006; see Dvorkin's last column as NPR Ombudsman, [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5495702 "Dear Listeners: Thanks and Farewell,"] and [http://www.journalism.org/dvorkinrelease.asp CEJ/CCJ press release], June 19, 2006.]</ref> ===Encarta=== In an article originally published in the ''[[Jerusalem Post]]'' and posted on the official website of CAMERA, Andrea Levin, the Executive Director of CAMERA, describes [[Microsoft]]'s digital multimedia encyclopedia ''[[Encarta]]'' as "a troubling mix of solid information, bias and error." In particular, Levin points to the articles written by [[Shaul Cohen]] of the [[University of Oregon]], which Levin claims "blurs Arab aggression against the Jews from the Mandate period to the present, repeatedly equating the violence by the parties." <ref>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=6&x_article=633 "Microsoft's Encarta Muddles the Middle East,"] ''Jerusalem Post'' February 12, 2004, ''CAMERA'' May 26, 2006.</ref> ===Steven Spielberg's film ''Munich''=== In her film review of ''[[Munich (film)|Munich]]'' (2005), posted on the official website of CAMERA, Andrea Levin claims that the film (a collaboration of director [[Steven Spielberg]] and playwright&ndash;screenwriter [[Tony Kushner]]) promotes "its thesis of Israeli culpability" and that "Israel's action battling its adversaries is cast as aberrant, bloody and counterproductive." Levin continues: "indeed, it is stunning to watch Munich and realize that its director [Spielberg] brought ''[[Schindler's List]]'' to the world. Where that was artistry drawn from truth, Munich is cinematic manipulation rooted in lies."<ref>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=8&x_nameinnews=180&x_article=1042 "File Review of Munich: Spielberg and Kushner Smear Israel,"] ''CAMERA'' December 21, 2005, accessed May 18, 2006.</ref> ===Mearsheimer and Walt=== CAMERA published a detailed critique by [[Alex Safian]] of [[Harvard University]] professor [[Stephen Walt]] and [[University of Chicago]] professor [[John Mearsheimer]]'s ''[[The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy]]'' paper. Safian argued that it is "riddled with errors of fact, logic and omission, has inaccurate citations, displays extremely poor judgement regarding sources, and, contrary to basic scholarly standards, ignores previous serious work on the subject. The bottom line: virtually every word and argument is, or ought to be, in 'serious dispute.' In other words, a student who submitted such a paper would flunk."<ref>Alex Safian, [http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=35&x_article=1099 "Study Decrying 'Israel Lobby' Marred by Numerous Errors"] ("Updated April 6: Rebutting charges of expulsion and massacre"), ''CAMERA'' March 20, 2006, accessed March 24, 2006. Cf. "Reply to the Mearsheimer-Walt 'Working Paper'" by [[Alan Dershowitz]] of the [[Harvard Law School]], in his essay [http://www.frontpagemag.com/media/pdf/dershowitzreply.pdf "Debunking the Newest–and Oldest–Jewish Conspiracy,"] April 5, 2006, online posting, ''[[FrontPage Magazine]]'', n.d., accessed July 29, 2006 (pdf file); in posting an excerpt from Dershowitz's "reply" in [http://blog.camera.org/archives/2006/04/dershowitz_responds_to_walt_an.html "Dershowitz Responds to Walt and Mearsheimer Paper"], CAMERA observes that Dershowitz cites [http://camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=35&x_article=1099 "CAMERA's detailed refutation of Walt and Mearsheimer's claims"] (hyperlinking to Safian). See also Glenn Frankel, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/12/AR2006071201627.html "A Beautiful Friendship?] In Search of the Truth about the Israel Lobby's Influence on Washington," [[The Washington Post]] July 16, 2006: W13.</ref> ===''God's Warriors''=== CAMERA published a critique of [[Christiane Amanpour|Christiane Amanpour's]] [[CNN]] documentary series [[God's Warriors]], calling it "one of the most grossly distorted programs to appear on mainstream American television", "false in its basic premise", and "a perfect illustration of classical propaganda techniques".<ref>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=3&x_outlet=14&x_article=1354 God's Jewish Warriors -- CNN's Abomination] by CAMERA</ref> Amanpour has responded that the documentary is not meant to compare religions, but rather to show "that each faith has their committed and fervent believers, and we're showing how each of those are active in the political sphere in today's world."<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/08/22/amanpour.answers/index.html I-Reporters quiz CNN's Amanpour]</ref> ==="Israel's Jewish Defamers"=== In October 2007, CAMERA organized a conference entitled "Israel's Jewish Defamers," in which a panel of discussants accused selected Jewish critics of Israel, as well as one of Israel's leading newspaper, [[Haaretz]], of distortions and falsehoods about Israel. CAMERA director Andrea Levin described the Jewish critics — who included Princeton University’s [[Richard Falk]], writer [[Norman Finkelstein]], ''[[New York Review of Books]]'' contributor [[Henry Siegman]], former ''New York Times'' columnist [[Anthony Lewis]], [[Trent University]] professor [[Michael Neumann]], and [[Tikkun]] magazine publisher [[Michael Lerner (rabbi)|Michael Lerner]] — of being guilty of "demonstrably false and baseless defaming of Israel, wildly distorted out of context accusations against Israel." Among the panelists were writer [[Cynthia Ozick]] and Harvard psychiatrist [[Kenneth Levin]], who likened the Jewish critics to chronically abused children. In response, Anthony Lewis told the ''New York Sun'' that the conference was "about a nonexistent phenomenon," noting that Jewish criticism of Israeli policies was not necessarily defamatory. Haaretz's editor-in-chief, David Landau, refused to comment on the conference, citing that "it was "a matter of policy and principle" not to respond to CAMERA, which Landau described as "McCarthyite." ''Tikkun'' editor Lerner also rejected the notion that he was anti-Israel.<ref>Elliot Resnick. [http://www.jewishpress.com/print.do/25532/Conference_Focuses_On_Israel's_Jewish_Defamers.html Conference Focuses On Israel's Jewish Defamers.] ''Jewish Press'', October 24, 2007.</ref><ref>Gabrielle Birkner. [http://www.nysun.com/article/64887 Conference Focuses On Israel's Jewish Defamers.] ''The New York Sun''. October 19, 2007.</ref><ref>Ben Harris. [http://www.jewishreview.org/node/6914 Media watchdog blasts ‘Israel’s Jewish defamers’;Michael Lerner, Ha’aretz editor reject charges.] ''The Jewish Review'', Vol 50, No. 8, October 2007.</ref> ===2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict=== In response to coverage of the [[2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict]], CAMERA criticized the reporting of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'',<ref name=LATObscure>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=33&x_article=1578 ''CAMERA'': At LA Times, Obscured Targets]</ref> ''CNN'',<ref>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=3&x_outlet=14&x_article=1577 ''CAMERA'': Who Broke the Ceasefire? CNN's "Fact Check" Falls Short]</ref>, ''Ha'aretz'',<ref name=Pulse>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=55&x_article=1574 ''CAMERA'': Pulse on Gaza's Medical Situation]</ref>, ''NPR'',<ref name=NPRUNRWA>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=8&x_nameinnews=146&x_article=1575 ''CAMERA'': Palestinian Spokesmen Rely on Time-Tested Tactic]</ref> the U.N. Relief and Works Agency,<ref name=NPRUNRWA /> and Norwegian doctors being funded by the Norwegian ministry who appeared on media outlets such as the ''BBC'' and ''CBS''.<ref>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=35&x_article=1580 ''CAMERA'': Norwegian Doctors in Gaza: Objective Observers or Partisan Propagandists?]</ref> CAMERA said that in its view reporting from the Los Angeles Times "consistently omitted key information about Gaza Strip sites targeted by the Israeli army" and gives the false impression that Israel doesn't aim to prevent civilian deaths.<ref name=LATObscure /> CAMERA criticized ''Ha'aretz'' for "confusion and misinformation on the medical issue" in its "outlining what medical supplies Gaza is reportedly lacking and ignoring all incoming medical aid".<ref name=Pulse /> ===Quotation misattributed to Moshe Ya'alon=== In early 2009 CAMERA began investigating the dissemination of [[False Moshe Ya'alon quotation|a quotation]] widely misattributed to [[Moshe Ya'alon]], "The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people", after the quotation was cited by [[Rashid Khalidi]], a [[Columbia University]] professor, in an [[op-ed]] article in the [[New York Times]].<ref name=ts/> The quotation, and variants, had previously been repeated throughout the world by news broadcasts, blogs, and in reputable publications such as the [[Chicago Tribune]], [[Boston Globe]], [[Toronto Star]], [[Time Magazine]], and the [[London Review of Books]]. The belief that Ya'alon, a high-ranking Israeli military official, had expressed disregard for Palestinian people in this manner reinforced an opinion among some readers and commentators that Israel was the aggressor and Palestinians their victims.<ref name=ts/> However, Ya'alon did not make the statement in the 2002 [[Haaretz]] interview generally cited as its source, and appears never to have made the statement at all. In part due to CAMERA's campaign, a number of international newspapers, including the New York Times, issued [[correction (newspaper)|corrections]].<ref name=ts>{{cite news|publisher=Torronto Star|date=2009-08-08|title=Damaging Israeli misquote finally corrected: Record set straight seven years after Israel's top soldier was accused of trashing Palestinians|author=Oakland Ross|url=http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/678245}}</ref> ==Reception to CAMERA== ===''Boston Globe''=== *In a 2003 profile of the organization in the [[Boston Globe]], Mark Jurkowitz observed<ref name=Jurkowitz>Mark Jurkowitz, [http://www.hnn.us/comments/8390.html "Blaming the Messenger:] When the Pro-Israeli Group CAMERA Sees News from the Middle East That It Deems Unfair Or Wrong, It Targets the Media-And Doesn't Let Go," ''[[Boston Globe|Boston Globe Magazine]]'' February 9, 2003: 10, ''History News Network'' ([[George Mason University]]) April 24, 2006.</ref>: <blockquote> "To its supporters, CAMERA is figuratively - and perhaps literally - doing God's work, battling insidious anti-Israeli bias in the media. But its detractors see CAMERA as a [[myopic]] and vindictive special interest group trying to muscle its views into media coverage. ... To many in the media CAMERA is ... an advocacy group trying to impose its pro-Israeli views on mainstream journalism." </blockquote> ===Washington Report on Middle East Affairs=== *Mitchell Kaidy, writing in the ''[[Washington Report on Middle East Affairs]]'', criticized CAMERA's efforts to pressure university libraries to remove books that the organization finds offensive.<ref name=Kaidy>Mitchell Kaidy, [http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0793/9307029.htm "CAMERA and [[Facts and Logic About the Middle East|FLAME]]: Pressuring U.S. Media,"] ''[[Washington Report on Middle East Affairs]]'' July/Aug. 1993: 29, WRMEA ''Archive'' of ''Back Issues'' April 10, 2006; cf. CAMERA on [http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=64 Washington Report on Middle East Affairs], accessed August 13, 2006.</ref> CAMERA responded by criticizing the organization as being "virulently anti-Israel".<ref>[[Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America]], [http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=64 Washington Report on Middle East Affairs]. Retrieved Dec 1, 2006.</ref> ===Journalists=== *Writing in ''[[The Nation]]'' in 1987, journalist and author Robert I. Friedman described CAMERA as having been formed in the wake of Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon "to keep the U.S. press in line," noting that the organization's activities at the time included publishing a newsletter and placing advertisements in ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'' and ''[[The New Republic]]'' in support of Israel's [[West Bank]] [[Israeli settlement|settlement]] policies.<ref name="Friedman"/> According to Friedman, "CAMERA, the A.D.L., AIPAC and the rest of the lobby don't want fairness, but bias in their favor. And they are prepared to use McCarthyite tactics, as well as the power and money of pro-Israel PACs, to get whatever Israel wants."<ref name=Friedman>Robert I. Friedman. ''The lobby: Jewish political power and American foreign policy.'' ''The Nation'' 244.(June 6, 1987).</ref> *In his 2006 book ''Public Editor #1'', former ''New York Times'' public editor Daniel Okrent expressed gratitude to CAMERA as a notable example of organizations that "maintained an evenness of tone and an openness of communication no matter how much they disagreed" with his columns.<ref>Daniel Okrent, ''Public Editor #1'', pgs. 20-21</ref> *Writing about criticisms from CAMERA he and his colleagues have received, Jerusalem-based journalist Gershom Gorenberg wrote "It is not the press's job to provide [[Public Relations|PR]] for any government. Until CAMERA gets this straight, self-respecting journalists will regard an occasional snarl from the watchdog as proof that they're doing their job."<ref>Gershom Gorenberg. [http://www.momentmag.com/Exclusive/2007/2007-10/200710-OpinionGorenberg.html Uncandid CAMERA.] ''Moment Magazine''. Washington: Oct/Nov 2007. Vol. 32, Iss. 5; pg. 14</ref> ===''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles''=== *Writing about attempts by CAMERA to get a local [[Pasadena, California]] church to cancel an appearance by Palestinian activist Reverend [[Naim Ateek]], Rob Eshman, Editor-in-Chief of [[The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles]], wrote "I'm always leery when Jewish groups ride in from out of town to try to save us from the bad guys. We have plenty of sharp-eyed Jewish defense groups locally who can tussle on our behalf. It's just a bit condescending to think we rubes, out in America's second-largest Jewish city, don't know how and when to fight. Or whom."<ref>Rob Eshman. [http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18825 ''Butt Out''.] ''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'' January 25, 2008.</ref> Eshman later clarified that his criticism was directed specifically at CAMERA's handling of the Ateek visit, and not toward the organization in general. "I think CAMERA, which in so many cases I find useful and correct, is in this case making things worse," he wrote.<ref>Rob Eshman. [http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18865 Response to CAMERA letter.] ''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'', February 1, 2008.</ref> ===Center for Middle Eastern Studies=== *In 2005, Donald Wagner, Executive Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and Associate Professor of Religion and Middle Eastern Studies at Northpark University,<ref>[http://www.fosna.org/conferences_and_trips/documents/2004_st_paul_brochure.pdf Hope for the Holy Land Conference: The Presenters]</ref> accused the organization of "extremist pro-Israel propaganda" and argued that "Israel and its friends at CAMERA claimed "there were no new settlements" while "not only did the settler population double, so too did new settlement construction in the 108 new 'settlement outposts' established between the end of 1992 and 2000".<ref>[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Trouble+spots.(LETTERS)(Letter+to+the+Editor)-a0139554714 Sojourners: Trouble spots]</ref> ===The Atlanta Journal-Constitution=== ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' described the place CAMERA took in a debate among various Jewish groups about statements made by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said it was not right to outright dismiss his apology. CAMERA said true repentance required Carter to reverse any of the perceived harm he caused, and called on the president to take "concrete actions to redress troubling false statements" the group said he made about the war Israel waged in Gaza. Ira Forman, chief executive of the Washington-based National Jewish Democratic Council, said it was "''[[mensch]]''-like" to accept and encourage Carter's remarks.<ref>[http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/jewish-advocacy-group-questions-255734.html ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'': Jewish advocacy group questions Carter's apology]</ref> ===Academia=== In 1986, [[Florida International University]] [[political science]] professor [[Cheryl A. Rubenberg]] noted CAMERA was “Another pro-Israeli organization that was formed after 1982 to monitor the media...”<ref> Cheryl A. Rubenberg: ''Israel and the American National Interest: A Critical Examination'', University of Illinois Press, 1986. ISBN 0-252-06074-1, p.339<blockquote> Another pro-Israeli organization that was formed after 1982 to monitor the media is the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting (CAMERA). </blockquote> </ref> She further stated that CAMERA was one of several ‘new groups’ which constituted the [[Israel lobby in the United States|“Israeli lobby”]] at the time.<ref>Rubenberg, p.353-54, <blockquote> The term “Israeli lobby” loosely refers to the approximately thirty-eight major Jewish groups that concern themselves with Israel and with influencing US Middle East policy to serve the interests of the Jewish state. (Since the 1982 war in Lebanon, there has been a proliferation of new groups, in addition to the thirty-eight, such as [[Americans for a Safe Israel|ASFI]], CAMERA, and others.) </blockquote></ref> In 1988, [[Edward Said]], a political activist and Professor of English and Comparative Literature at [[Columbia University]], argued that not even the [[Israeli government]] has ventured arguments as extreme as CAMERA, and that "surely, the Israeli lobby can find better propaganda methods than this!"<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE5DF1038F936A35751C0A96E948260 ''New York Times'': How Great Were the Injustices of Arabs to Jews; 'Pacification' of Gaza]</ref> In 2010, Boston University history professor Richard Landes wrote that CAMERA is "careful both to reason and cite sources scrupulously."<ref name=landes></ref> ==CAMERA campaign in Wikipedia== In an April 2008 article, the pro-Palestinian advocacy site<ref>{{cite journal |last=Halper |first=Jeff |year=2006 |date=spring 2006 |title=A Strategy within a Non-Strategy: Sumud, Resistance, Attrition, and Advocacy | journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |issue=139 |url=http://www.palestine-studies.org/final/en/journals/content.php?aid=6800&jid=1&iid=139&vid=XXXV&vol=197 |quote=Bright spots of Palestinian advocacy such as the Electronic Intifada |doi=10.1525/jps.2006.35.3.45 |volume=35 |pages=45 |format={{Dead link|date=May 2009}} }}</ref><ref>George S. Hishmeh, [http://nigelparry.com/in-the-press/propaganda-war.shtml Activists under cyber-attack in internet propaganda war], The Daily Star (Lebanon), Monday, November 11, 2002. <blockquote>NB: Given the headline, and context it is clear this is one of the advocacy sites referred to, it is from the press and this online copy is from the blog of the one of the people running Electronic Intifada. "Nigel Parry, co-founder of Electronic Intifada, one of the widely read online publications that has been subjected to these attacks..."</blockquote></ref> [[Electronic Intifada]] revealed the existence of a [[Google group]] set up by CAMERA. The stated purpose of the group was "help[ing] us keep Israel-related entries on Wikipedia from becoming tainted by anti-Israel editors".<ref name=BostGlobe/> Electronic Intifada accused CAMERA of "orchestrating a secret, long-term campaign to infiltrate the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia to rewrite Palestinian history, pass off crude propaganda as fact, and take over Wikipedia administrative structures to ensure these changes go either undetected or unchallenged".<ref name="electronicintifada">"Pro-Israel group's plan to re-write history on Wikipedia." [http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9474.shtml]. ''Electronic Initifada.'' April 21, 2008.</ref> A veteran Wikipedia editor, who according to Electronic Intifada, was "colluding with CAMERA, also provided advice to CAMERA volunteers on how they could disguise their agenda."<ref name="electronicintifada" /> According to the Electronic Intifada website, an e-mail by one member of the Google group advised that "One or more of you who want to take this route should stay away from any Israel realted{{sic}} articles for one month until they{{sic}} interact in a positive way with 100 wikipedia{{sic}} editors who would be used later to vote you as an administrator."<ref name="electronicintifada" /> "There is no need to advertise the fact that we have these group discussions," another e-mail recommended.<ref name=BostGlobe /> The veteran Wikipedia editor identified, in a 25 March email, another Wikipedia editor, whom he viewed as an effective and independent pro-Israel advocate. The veteran editor instructed CAMERA operatives to work with and learn from the editor perceived to be an effective and independent pro-Israel advocate. Excerpts of some of the e-mails were published in the July 2008 issue of [[Harper's Magazine]] under the title of ″Candid camera″.<ref name=Harpers> {{cite web|url=http://harpers.org/archive/2008/07/0082086/|title=Candid camera|work=[[Harper's Magazine]]|date=2008-07}}</ref> In April 2008, CAMERA's "Senior Research Analyst" Gilead Ini would not confirm that the messages were genuine but maintained that there was a CAMERA email campaign which adhered to Wikipedia's rules.<ref name=Register>{{cite web|url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/29/wikipedia_blocked_doj_ip/|title=US Department of Justice banned from Wikipedia|work=[[The Register]]|accessdate=2008-05-09|date=2008-04-29|last=Metz|first=Cade}}</ref> In August 2008, Ini argued the excerpts published in Harper's Magazine were unrepresenative and that CAMERA had campaigned "toward encouraging people to learn about and edit the online encyclopedia for accuracy".<ref>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=32&x_article=1525 CAMERA: CAMERA Letter in Harper's Magazine About Wikipedia Issues]</ref> A group of Wikipedia administrators strongly believed an editor on Wikipedia to be Gilead Ini and blocked that user account indefinitely.<ref name=JewishWeek /><ref>[[Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard/Incidents/Wikilobby_campaign|Wikilobby campaign discussion on Wikipedia]]</ref> In April 2008 Gilead refused to say whether he was behind the Gni account,<ref name=Register /> and in May 2008 he denied that the account belonged to him.<ref name=JewishWeek /> Andre Oboler, a Legacy Heritage Fellow at the Israeli non-governmental organization [[NGO Monitor]], alleged that groups such as "Wikipedians for Palestine" have engaged in similar practices.<ref name=JewishWeek>[http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c39_a9469/News/International.html ''The Jewish Week'': "Latest Front In Mideast Wars: Wikipedia"]</ref> Electronic Intifada co-founder [[Ali Abunimah]] insisted that his group would never encourage a similar e-mail campaign.<ref name=BostGlobe /> Commenting on the incident, Gershom Gorenberg, of the liberal magazine ''[[The American Prospect]]'', stated "CAMERA is ready to exempt itself from the demands for accuracy that it aims at the media. And like others engaged in the narrative wars, it does not understand the difference between advocacy and accuracy." Gorenberg criticized CAMERA for telling members not to share information about the campaign with media, and he also argued Ini's definition of accuracy "only means not printing anything embarrassing to his own side".<ref name=Gershom>Gorenberg, Gershom. [http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_mideast_editing_wars The Mideast Editing Wars.] ''The American Prospect'', May 1, 2008.</ref> David Shamah, of ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'', stated that "the vast anti-Israel lobby that haters of our country have managed to pull together" hate it when groups like CAMERA mess up "their anti-Israel propaganda with (gasp!) facts".<ref>Shamah, David. [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1209627021761&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull "Digital World: Internet Independence Day"], ''The Jerusalem Post'', May 6, 2008</ref> Five editors involved in the campaign were sanctioned by Wikipedia administrators, who wrote that the project's open nature "is fundamentally incompatible with the creation of a private group to surreptitiously coordinate editing".<ref name=Telegraph>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1934857/Israeli-battles-rage-on-Wikipedia.html|title=Israeli battles rage on Wikipedia|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|publisher=Telegraph Media Group Limited|accessdate=2008-05-08|date=2008-05-08|last=McElroy|first=Damien}}</ref><ref name=elmundo>Monica G. Prieto, [http://www.elmundo.es/navegante/2008/04/23/tecnologia/1208961786.html "¿Se puede reescribir la historia? (Is it possible to re-write history?)"], ''El Mundo'', April 23, 2008, accessed 2008-04-29</ref> ==Notes== {{reflist|3}} ==See also== {{Wikinews|US Dept. of Justice IP address blocked after 'vandalism' edits to Wikipedia}} *[[Media coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict]] *[[Facts and Logic About the Middle East]] (FLAME) *[[HonestReporting]] media watchdog "dedicated to defending Israel against prejudice in the Media" *[[If Americans Knew]], a US-based media-monitoring organization which covers much the same issues, but from an opposing viewpoint. *[[The Jewish Internet Defense Force]] ==External links== * [http://www.camera.org/ CAMERA] Official website. * [http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-33.htm "CAMERA: Fighting Distorted Media Coverage of Israel and the Middle East: An Interview with Andrea Levin"] (Exec. Dir. of CAMERA) at Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. * [http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/Committee_for_Accuracy_in_Middle_East_Reporting_in_America CAMERA] at Nuclear Spin (part of [http://www.spinwatch.org/modules.php?name=FAQ SpinWatch], another media watchdog group which identifies itself as "monitoring PR and Spin"). * [http://www.davidproject.org The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership] Official website. * [http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=18&region_id=13 FAIR: Region: Middle East] Hyperlinked list of items headed CounterSpin, Media Advisory, Activism Update, Extra! * [http://www.journalism.org/default.asp Online Home of the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Committee for Concerned Journalists]. [[Category:Criticism of journalism]] [[Category:Israel – United States relations]] [[Category:Non-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict]] [[Category:Political advocacy groups in the United States]] [[Category:Zionism in the United States]] [[Category:Zionist organizations]] [[de:Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America]] [[es:Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America]] [[nds:Komitee för dat akrate Berichten ut den Nahen Oosten in Amerika]] [[ru:CAMERA]]'