Mideast Media Sampler 5/14/13: The Need To Blame Bush For Obama's Hesitancy In Syria

by David Gerstman, contributing blogger at Legal Insurrection

1) Syria considerations

Last week former executive editor of the New York Times, Bill Keller wrote Syria is not Iraq. The gist of his argument is that he trusts President Obama but shouldn't have trusted President Bush. It's a silly argument. However, as Dexter Filkins reports, Keller's thinking is mirrored in the administration. 

Mideast Media Sampler 5/10/13: Newseum Honors Hamas Terrorist Propagandists

by David Gerstman, contributing blogger at Legal Insurrection

1) When is news not really news?

The Newseum - a museum devoted to the news business - recently held an event to honor journalists killed in the line of duty. Included in that honor members of Hamas who were killed by Israel this past November. 

Newseum honoring Hamas employees is an insult to brave legit journos killed in duty bit.ly/12lE3ev
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) May 10, 2013

-----

Does this mean that the @newseum will honor the memory of contributors to Inspire Magazine as well? buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/pro-… cc: rosiegray
— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) May 10, 2013

Front pages of newspapers, displayed at the Newseum, an interactive museum
 of news and journalism, located in Washington, D.C. Credit: Wiki Commons

BuzzFeed covers the story and includes this from Cliff May: 

Arlene Kushner on Fighting For Israel's Right To The Temple Mount in Jerusalem

From Arlene Kushner:
May 9, 2013

Hold Fast to the Hope

With all that remains disturbing (and I'll get to it), there are also good things happening within the government and the Knesset.  Good people who are ready to fight for Jewish rights.

Yesterday, during an AFSI reception at the Knesset, Deputy Minister of Transportation Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) shared her intentions to fight for the right of Jews to pray on Har Habayit (the Temple Mount).

While at a celebratory plenum session of the Knesset, Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein (Likud) expressed the hope that the issue of Jewish prayer on Har Habayit would be resolved by the next Yom Yerushalayim:

"All of us must make sure that the city of three religions, which we are proud of for having freedom of worship, should be open to every Jew in every place that they want to pray."

Was Stephen Hawking Simply Badgered Into Boycotting Israeli Conference?

Palestinian academics sent a barrage of letters to Hawking in recent weeks in an attempt to persuade him to join the boycott movement.
Furore deepens over Stephen Hawking's Israel boycott, The Guardian, May 8, 2013

The constant prodding of physicist Stephen Hawking by BDS activists as described by the Guardian explains the apparent contradiction in Hawking's decision not to attend the conference in Israel.

After all, as Haaretz points out, Hawking has felt free to visit Israel numerous times in the past: