David Brennan, a UK-based Newsweek reporter, somehow reported on an event in New York City last Friday – from London.
Anti-Israel organization IfNotNow held a rally in New York on Friday morning, blocking traffic fr a bit (to curses from commuters) and sitting at the entryway of the office building that houses Birthright, among scores of other offices.
Looking at Brennan’s article, you see he has an entire interview with IfNotNow’s spokesperson – which must have been done before the demonstration. He posted the article during the demonstration, and included a live feed from IfNotNow itself.
In other words, his article was an advertisement and press release for an anti-Israel organization, with no comment from anyone who opposes it.
The most ridiculous part was this pretense of even-handedness: the original version of the article said Birthright did not immediately respond to a request to comment. The article was datelined 9:08 AM EDT, Birthright wasn’t even in their offices when and if he tried to contact them.
Since then the article has been updated with a comment, probably since I tweeted about his bias. But it doesn’t mention that IfNotNow members were arrested by the police – because why wait until after a demonstration to report on it?
Of course, Brennan described IfNotNow as a “progressive Jewish” organization and not an anti-Israel organization, as its parent Jewish Voice for Peace is.
This isn’t the first fawning article Brennan has written about IfNotNow – from Britain.
I remember when Newsweek was a respected news magazine.
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