When Bob Simon of CBS’ 60 Minutes went to the West Bank and uncovered for American viewers, the effects of Israel’s military occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands (see below), it did not draw as much criticism as when Jon Stewart hosted the Palestinian activist, Mustafa Barghouti, and the Jewish American human rights activist, Anna Baltzer, just recently.
In the context of US media’s long history of censorship and pro-Israel bias in reporting about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the roof caved in.
Jon Stewart’s comedy news show The Daily Show is reportedly under fire from pro-Israeli groups for giving airtime to two pro-Palestinian figures on Wednesday night. Stewart hosted Palestinian democracy activist Mustafa Barghouti and human rights activist Anna Baltzer, author of A Witness in Palestine, who explained the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the perspective of the Palestinian side.
According to a letter reportedly written by Baltzer and circulated by blogger Eric Johnson, the show “was overwhelmed with angry emails and phone calls prior to the appearance, and up until the last minute it seemed like they might cancel.”
“During the taping the show had its only heckler in 11 years,” Baltzer wrote. “The entire staff were very nervous and may come to regret the monumental decision (and not make it again) as they will surely be inundated now that the show has aired.”
The story is worth following.
For reference sake, the Bob Simon’s 60 Minutes episode was called, Time Running Out For A Two-State Solution? It’s subtitle is particularly significant given Netanyahu’s rebuff of Obama’s peace efforts and his unwillingness to stop the colonialism:
60 Minutes: Growing Number Of Israelis, Palestinians Say Two-State Solution Is No Longer Possible.
The CBS site still makes available the Bob Simon segment (click above).
