AJN STAFF

THE Australian news website newmatilda.com has turned off its comments facilities on articles about Israel following complaints about anti-Semitism on the site from the Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC).

A special report by ADC Research Director Deborah Stone highlighted many anti-Semitic comments on the site including Holocaust denial, racist stereotyping and anti-Semitic canards of Jewish power and money.

The report also identified unbalanced coverage of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The ADC analysed all articles on the issues run on newmatilda.com in the first three months of 2009 and found 17 of the 18 articles published presented the Palestinian narrative, characterizing Israel as an oppressor and not acknowledging its victims or security concerns. It also found disproportionate emphasis on the conflict compared to other international issues.

The ADC wrote to newmatilda.com in April expressing its concerns. Editor Marni Cordell did not respond on the issues of anti-Semitism and claimed Israel coverage was fair.

“If you read opinions on our site that are not commonly found in the major dailies or in publications like the Australian Jewish News, then that is one sign that we are doing our jobs,” she responded.

But after the ADC findings were publicly distributed earlier this month, newmatilda.com acted to deal with the anti-Semitism on its site.

Cordell said the site had turned off comments on articles about Israel/Palestine until it developed the technical ability to moderate comments on the site.

“We are appalled to find ourselves hosting Holocaust deniers and racists. Such comments in no way reflect the views of the staff of newmatilda.com. Obnoxious comments aren’t limited to articles on this issue, but Israel/Palestine does provoke a greater volume of impassioned and divergent responses than any other.”

However Cordell continued to deny the site’s coverage of Israel was inappropriate, editorialising that “we believe balance is desirable where it is appropriate -— but we do not attempt to provide a ‘for’ and ‘against’ analysis of every issue we cover. That is because we believe that some things are simply wrong, and should not be justified on any terms.”

Stone said it was good to see newmatilda.com had acted on the extreme anti-Semitism of those using its comments facility, but the site had to also take responsibility for the fact that it was provoking anti-Semitism by demonising Israel.

“The slippage from Israel criticism to anti-Semitism is a frightening reality. Persistently presenting Israel as the oppressor without any understanding that this is a political conflict with victims on both sides feeds anti-Semitism.”