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CNN’s recent antisemitism special refused to focus on the demographic most frequently physically attacked, Orthodox Jews, while refusing to address public figures who promote blood libels and other conspiracies.
By United with Israel Staff
A recent CNN report called “Rising Hate: Antisemitism in America” is receiving glowing coverage and accolades for raising awareness about Jew-hatred in the U.S.
It has also been called out for glaring omissions with regard to both the frequent targets of violent antisemitic attacks, Orthodox Jews, and high-profile promoters of antisemitic conspiracies and modern day blood libels.
“There was no mention of Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Louis Farrakhan, or the perpetrators of the clear majority of shootings, stabbings, and other random attacks that have become sadly common in places like Brooklyn, Monsey, and Jersey City,” commented Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV) Vice President Rabbi Dov Fischer.
“The program featured a range of purported expert opinion, but included no representatives of the very traditional communities that have borne the brunt of the current wave of anti-Jewish hatred,” added a statement from CJV, referring to the visibly Jewish members of the Orthodox community, who have been kicked, punched, stabbed, and shot to death in attacks throughout the U.S. over the course of the past several years.
Omar and Tlaib MIA
Despite the persistent antisemitism scandals that have followed Omar and Tlaib since they appeared on the national stage, CNN’s report didn’t address their antisemitism.
Throughout the years, Omar has promoted a variety of antisemitic tropes, including the a tweet claiming, “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.”
In 2018, she claimed that U.S. support for Israel was “all about the Benjamins,” alluding to the image of Benjamin Franklin on $100 bills. She has also insinuated that her Jewish Democratic colleagues on Capitol Hill have dual loyalties and falsely accused Israel of intentionally killing a journalist. Based on her record, Omar earned the “Antisemite of the Year” award in 2019 from StopAntisemism.org.
Tlaib, for her part, has promoted a number of blood libels demonizing the Jewish state and went so far as to offer sympathy to a Palestinian terrorist named Ahmed Erekat who tired to ram an Israeli policewoman to death with his car in 2020.
“Erekat pulled up to a guard post near Jerusalem and in a terrifying moment captured on security cameras suddenly rammed his car at full speed and slammed into an Israeli policewoman,” reported United with Israel at the time.
Tlaib retweeted that the terrorist was “executed,” failing to mention that he drove his car into an Israeli policewoman in an incident that was eerily similar to numerous similar Palestinian vehicle attacks.
Media watchdog group Honest Reporting raked CNN over the coals for its reporting on the story, which included the misleading headline, “Video of Palestinian man being shot after suspected attack at checkpoint sparks controversy.”
“What’s missing here is any sense of historical context. In fact, Israeli security forces have become all too familiar with the pattern of a suspect ramming a car, exiting it, and then proceeding to stab at people,” noted Honest Reporting.
No Farrakhan? No Problem for CNN
Farrakhan’s multi-decade history of antisemitism includes remarks such as “Satanic Jews have infected the whole world with poison and deceit” and outright lies, including his demonstrably false claim that “there were many Israelis and Zionist Jews in key roles in the 9/11 attacks.”
Farrakhan also famously described the genocidal monster Adolf Hitler as a “very great man.” Remarkably, the Nation of Islam leader remains a popular figure for celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, and even Madonna.
According to the the statement from the CJV, the CNN report’s distinct perspective, which omitted any mention of Omar, Tlaib, or Farrakhan, represents “a deliberate whitewash of left-wing antisemitism.”
“The omission of traditional leaders, those whose congregations are the favorite targets of antisemitic violence, was glaring,” stated CJV Southern Regional Vice President Rabbi Moshe B. Parnes. “CNN appeared to rely inordinately upon Jonathan Greenblatt, a former Obama staffer who has taken the ADL in a highly partisan direction, and even brought in Jill Jacobs, head of an organization seen by most of the Jewish community as providing political cover for antisemitism. CNN failed to speak with a single Orthodox rabbinic leader, whether from the Simon Wiesenthal Center or a rabbinic organization like our own, and hid from its audience the predominant cause of the current crisis.”
According to CJV, the organization “represents over 2,000 traditional, observant rabbis in matters of public policy.”
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