JustASC

Did the New York Times’ Ethan Bronner unfairly deal the race card in talking about Obama’s lack of popularity in Israel?

Mark Finkelstein of NewsBusters (“Exposing & Combating Liberal Media Bias”) suggests as much in this blog post, citing Bronner’s recent appearance with Chris Matthews. Finkelstein quotes the transcript of the interview:

MATTHEWS: OK, that tells you a lot. So tell me why the President of the United States is so far [less popular than the Clintons or Joe Biden]. Is it his middle name? Hussein?

BRONNER: I would say that there is some level of prejudice about the fact that he had some Islamic background through his stepfather. But I think it has more to do with the fact that when he came into office a year ago he wanted to recalibrate the relationship between the United States and the Muslim world. And the easiest and clearest way of doing that was to put some distance between the United States and Israel. And he did that, and that made people nervous. I think there’s also some sense here, some degree of racism to be perfectly honest.

MATTHEWS: Yeah, because they see him as a black man.

Finkelstein explains:

Are Israeli Jews much more bigoted than their American co-religionists? An astounding 77% of American Jews voted for Barack Obama. But according to Ethan Bronner [with a little "help" from Chris Matthews], anti-black “racism” and anti-Arab “prejudice” are significant factors accounting for PBO’s unpopularity in Israel.

A few questions of my own. Did Bronner insult Israelis by suggesting there may be “some” racists among them? Perhaps  Bronner, living and working in Israel all these years, has seen signs of racial intolerance in Israel in general and directed at Obama in particular. If so, I’d like to see the polling, the literature, or the anecdotes. Without evidence, it makes the “racism” less plausible than the other factors he describes, which have at least been reflected by poll data (polls, by the way, that also find that Israelis are more likely than American Jews to describe Obama as a “Muslim”). 

In invoking “racism,” is Bronner demonstrating “liberal media bias”? No doubt Obama’s defenders have been known to play the race card to deflect criticism of the president (not counting those instances when the racism is real).  So perhaps Bronner was parroting the liberal line in talking about racism. On the other hand, he also asserts that Obama “put some distance between the United States and Israel,” an assertion that conservative critics of Obama like to make (and many Obama supporters would deny).

By the way, Finkelstein writes that  Bronner considers ”racism” and anti-Arab (actually, anti-Muslim — Obama’s father’s people weren’t Arabs) “prejudice” as “significant factors” in Obama’s unpopularity. However, in referring to both, Bronner used the term “some,” as in “some level” and “some degree.” I suppose that even by raising them as issues Bronner suggested their “significance.” But even some American Jews were clearly racist and anti-Muslim in their opposition to Obama – I’ve spoken with and received emails and letters from Jews who were both. So to suggest that there is “some” degree of both in Israel doesn’t necessarily suggest that Israelis are more prejudiced than American Jews. I’m just saying…

If a reporter like Bronner can’t back up the charge of Israeli racism, his remarks were certainly wrong-headed. Were they biased? I’d need more proof.  (And for what it’s worth, Bronner’s critics today are as likely to be found on the left as they are on the right.)