For the past several years, National Public Radio earned a reputation for anti-Israel bias–so much so that even some liberal supporters began mocking it as “National Palestinian Radio.” That sad tradition continued Monday on NPR’s Morning Edition, in a report about a debate in Israel over defining the country as a “Jewish state.”
According to the short report, Israel’s Arab minority, representing about 20% of the population “faces frequent discrimination.” No further explanation or evidence was provided.
The fact is that Arabs in Israel face no legal discrimination at all–though NPR listeners with no specific knowledge of Israeli law would infer otherwise.
There is some discrimination against Arabs in Israeli society, just as minority groups in every society experience discrimination. There are, however, extensive efforts to address that problem, such as affirmative action policies and redistribution of state resources to Arab communities. Again, none of that was mentioned in the NPR story.
Yes, Jews are conscripted into the Israeli military, while Arabs are not (but may volunteer). In addition, Jewish immigrants are granted automatic citizenship. Yet Jews are forbidden from praying on the Temple Mount, as a concession to Muslim Arab sensibilities.
The picture is complex–but why miss an opportunity to slander Israel?
Senior Editor-at-Large Joel B. Pollak edits Breitbart California and is the author of the new ebook, Wacko Birds: The Fall (and Rise) of the Tea Party, available for Amazon Kindle.
Follow Joel on Twitter: @joelpollak