Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America
URL	http://www.camera.org/
Commercial?	No
Type of site	Media critic[1]
Available language(s)	English
Owner	Andrea Levin
Created by	Winifred Meiselman
Launched	1982

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) is a Boston-based, non-profit, pro-Israel^[2] media watch organization^[3] which was founded in 1982 to respond to perceived anti-Israel bias in The Washington Post.^[4] Image File history File links Cameralogo. ... // Uniform Resource Locator (URL) formerly known as Universal Resource Locator, is a technical, Web-related term used in two distinct meanings: In popular usage and many technical documents, it is a synonym for Uniform Resource Identifier (URI); Strictly, the idea of a uniform syntax for global identifiers of network-retrievable... Media Studies is the academic study of the constitution and effects of media. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... The Washington Post is the largest newspaper in Washington, D.C.. It is also one of the citys oldest papers, having been founded in 1877. ...

CAMERA has been noted for its pro-Israel media monitoring and advocacy.^[5][6][7][8] CAMERA states it releases reports to stop what it sees as "frequently inaccurate and skewed characterizations of Israel and of events in the Middle East" that it believes may fuel anti-Israel and anti-Jewish prejudice.^[3] The group mobilizes protest against what it sees as unfair media coverage through full-page ads in newspapers,^[9] organizing demonstrations,^[10] and encouraging sponsors to withhold funds.^[10]

History

CAMERA created chapters in major cities, including New York, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and in 1988 a Boston chapter and office, founded and led by Andrea Levin; Charles Jacobs became deputy director of the Boston chapter. Charles Jacobs is the co-founder of the American Anti-Slavery Group, which campaigns against slavery worldwide, and a co-chairman of The Sudan Campaign, a coalition calling for an end to slavery in Sudan. ...

In 1991, Levin succeeded Winifred Meiselman as executive director of CAMERA. According to the organization's website, since that time CAMERA’s membership has grown from 1000 to a current membership of 55,000, with offices in Washington, DC, New York, Chicago, and Israel in addition to the Boston headquarters"^[11] The director of the Washington office of CAMERA is Eric Rozenman.^[12]

In 1986, Florida International University political science professor Cheryl A. Rubenberg noted CAMERA as “Another pro-Israeli organization that was formed after 1982 to monitor the media...”^[13] She further states that CAMERA was one of several ‘new groups’ which constituted the “Israeli lobby” at the time.^[14] Writing in The Nation in 1987, journalist Robert I. Friedman similarly described CAMERA as having been formed in the wake of Israel's 1982 invasion "to keep the U.S. press in line," noting that the organization's activities at the time included publishing a newsletter and placing advertisements in The Christian Science Monitor and The New Republic in support of Israel's West Bank settlement policies.^[15] Florida International University, commonly known as FIU, is a public research university whose main campus is located in University Park in metropolitan Miami, Florida, in the United States. ... The Israel lobby in the United States is defined as a loose coalition of individuals and organizations who attempt to influence American foreign policy in support of Israel. ...

Structure, staff, and activities

On its official website, CAMERA describes itself as "a media-monitoring, research and membership organization devoted to promoting accurate and balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East" which "fosters rigorous reporting, while educating news consumers about Middle East issues and the role of the media." CAMERA further describes itself as a "non-partisan organization" which "takes no position with regard to American or Israeli political issues or with regard to ultimate solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict."^[16]

CAMERA staff members monitor media coverage of the Middle East, and directly contact media organizations and reporters to "refute" information the organization perceives as "distorted or inaccurate."^[17] The organization also supported a boycott effort against National Public Radio, and in one instance demanded the firing of that organization's foreign editor.^[18][19][20] NPR redirects here. ...

The organization also publishes monographs about topics relating to the Arab-Israeli conflict.^[21]

CAMERA is a member of the Israel Campus Roundtable, which includes the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Anti-Defamation League, The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership, and other pro-Israel organizations. As a member of this Campus Roundtable, CAMERA operates on college campuses to combat what it perceives as "propagandistic assaults on Israel . . . creating harmful misperceptions of Israel" and "publishes a student-focused magazine, CAMERA on Campus, containing specialized information useful in countering misinformation."^[22] The Israel Campus Roundtable is an umbrella organization of pro-Israel groups in the New England area. ... The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is an American special interest group that lobbies the United States Congress and White House in favor of maintaining a close U.S.-Israel relationship. ... The Anti-Defamation League (or ADL) is an interest group founded in 1913 by Bnai Brith in the United States whose stated aim is to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. ... The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership is a non-profit corporation located in Boston, Massachusetts, whose stated aim is to promote a fair and honest understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict. ...

CAMERA is also a member of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations,^[23] which describes itself as at the "forefront of mobilizing support for Israel and educating the public in times of war and conflict, and in the pursuit of peace".^[24] The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (abbreviated as COPOMAJO or CPMAJO) is self described as a central address for key American, Israeli and other world leaders to consult on issues of critical concern to the Jewish community. It is often referred to as simply the Presidents Conference...

Assertions of anti-Israel bias made by CAMERA

Main articles: National Public Radio#Criticism, Encarta, Munich (film)#Controversies, and The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy#Criticism

Among the organizations and works that have been criticized by CAMERA are: NPR redirects here. ... Encarta is a digital multimedia encyclopedia published by Microsoft Corporation. ... Munich is a 2005 drama film starring Eric Bana. ... For other uses of the term Israel lobby, see Israel lobby (disambiguation). ...

• ABC News anchor Peter Jennings: "We've long considered him anti-Israel", CAMERA's founder Andrea Levin has commented, pointing to an incident in which CAMERA, and eventually also the Columbia Journalism Review, criticized the anchor and his network for balking at correcting their misquote of an Israeli politician.^[25].
• National Public Radio: "A Record of Bias: National Public Radio's Coverage of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: September 26 – November 26, 2000" (2001) asserts that National Public Radio's "coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict has long been marred by a striking anti-Israel tilt, with severe bias, error and lack of balance commonplace."^[26] NPR's then-Ombudsman, Jeffrey A. Dvorkin, said in a 2002 interview that CAMERA used selective citations and subjective definitions of what it considers pro-Palestinian bias in formulating its findings, and that he felt CAMERA's campaign was "a kind of McCarthyism, frankly, that bashes us and causes people to question our commitment to doing this story fairly. And it exacerbates the legitimate anxieties of many in the Jewish community about the survival of Israel."^[27]
• Encarta: In an article originally published in the Jerusalem Post and posted on the official website of CAMERA, Andrea Levin, the Executive Director of CAMERA, describes Microsoft's digital multimedia encyclopedia Encarta as "a troubling mix of solid information, bias and error." In particular, Levin points to the articles written by Shaul Cohen (of the University of Oregon), which she claims "blurs Arab aggression against the Jews from the Mandate period to the present, repeatedly equating the violence by the parties." ^[28]
• Steven Spielberg's film Munich: In her film review of Munich (2005), posted on the official website of CAMERA, Andrea Levin claims that the film (a collaboration of director Steven Spielberg and playwright/screenwriter Tony Kushner) promotes "its thesis of Israeli culpability" and that "Israel's action battling its adversaries is cast as aberrant, bloody and counterproductive." Levin continues: "indeed, it is stunning to watch Munich and realize that its director [Spielberg] brought Schindler's List to the world. Where that was artistry drawn from truth, Munich is cinematic manipulation rooted in lies."^[29]
• Mearsheimer and Walt's "The Israel Lobby" Paper: CAMERA published a detailed critique by Alex Safian of the paper "Israel Lobby," arguing that it is "riddled with errors of fact, logic and omission, has inaccurate citations, displays extremely poor judgement^[sic] regarding sources, and, contrary to basic scholarly standards, ignores previous serious work on the subject. The bottom line: virtually every word and argument is, or ought to be, in 'serious dispute.' In other words, a student who submitted such a paper would flunk."^[30]
• Christiane Amanpour's "God's Warriors": CAMERA published a critique of the CNN documentary series, calling it "one of the most grossly distorted programs to appear on mainstream American television", "false in its basic premise", and "a perfect illustration of classical propaganda techniques" ^[31]. Christiane Amanpour has responded that the documentary is not meant to compare religions, but rather to show "that each faith has their committed and fervent believers, and we're showing how each of those are active in the political sphere in today's world."^[32]
• "Israel's Jewish Defamers": In October 2007, CAMERA organized a conference entitled "Israel's Jewish Defamers," in which a panel of discussants accused selected Jewish critics of Israel, as well as Israel's leading newspaper, Haaretz, of distortions and falsehoods about Israel. CAMERA director Andrea Levin described the Jewish critics—who included Princeton University’s Richard Falk, writer Norman Finkelstein, New York Review of Books contributor Henry Siegman, former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis, Trent University professor Michael Neumann, and Tikkun magazine publisher Michael Lerner— of being guilty of "demonstrably false and baseless defaming of Israel, wildly distorted out of context accusations against Israel." Among the panelists were writer Cynthia Ozick and Harvard psychiatrist Kenneth Levin, who likened the Jewish critics to chronically abused children. Anthony Lewis told the New York Sun that the conference was "about a nonexistent phenomenon," noting that Jewish criticism of Israeli policies was not necessarily defamatory. Haaretz's editor-in-chief, David Landau, refused to comment on the conference, citing that "it was "a matter of policy and principle" not to respond to CAMERA, which Landau described as "McCarthyite." Tikkun editor Lerner also rejected the notion that he was anti-Israel.^[33][34][35]

ABC News logo ABC News Special Report ident, circa 2006 ABC News is a division of American television and radio network ABC, owned by The Walt Disney Company. ... Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings, CM (July 29, 1938 – August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-American journalist and news anchor. ... NPR redirects here. ... NPR redirects here. ... Combatants Arab nations Israel Arab-Israeli conflict series History of the Arab-Israeli conflict Views of the Arab-Israeli conflict International law and the Arab-Israeli conflict Arab-Israeli conflict facts, figures, and statistics Participants Israeli-Palestinian conflict · Israel-Lebanon conflict · Arab League · Soviet Union / Russia · Israel, Palestine and the... Anti-Zionism is a term that has been used to describe several very different political and religious points of view, both historically and in current debates. ... Encarta is a digital multimedia encyclopedia published by Microsoft Corporation. ... The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli newspaper in the English language. ... Encarta is a digital multimedia encyclopedia published by Microsoft Corporation. ... The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. ... Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946)[1] is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. ... Munich is a 2005 drama film starring Eric Bana. ... Munich is a 2005 drama film starring Eric Bana. ... Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946)[1] is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. ... Tony Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an award-winning American playwright most famous for his play Angels in America, for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. ... This article is about the movie. ... Image:JJM07. ... Stephen Martin Walt (born July 2, 1955) is a professor of international affairs at Harvard Universitys John F. Kennedy School of Government. ... For other uses of the term Israel lobby, see Israel lobby (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see SIC. Sic is a Latin word, originally sicut [1] meaning thus, so, or just as that. In writing, it is placed within square brackets and usually italicized — [sic] — to indicate that an incorrect or unusual spelling, phrase, punctuation, and/or other preceding quoted material has been... Christiane Amanpour, CBE (born January 12, 1958) (in Persian: ) is the chief international correspondent for CNN. // Shortly after her birth in London, her British mother Patricia, and her father Mohammed, an Iranian airline executive, moved the family to Tehran. ... God’s Warriors is a three-part CNN documentary produced by Christiane Amanpour in which she compares the rise of religious fundamentalism as a political force in the world. ... The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... Haaretz (Hebrew: (help· info), The Land) is an Israeli newspaper, founded in 1919. ... For other uses, see Norman Finkelstein (disambiguation). ... The New York Review of Books (or NYRB) is a biweekly magazine on literature, culture, and current affairs published in New York which takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity. ... Anthony Lewis (born March 27, 1927, New York City) is a prominent liberal intellectual, writing for the New York Times op-ed page and the New York Review of Books, among other publications. ... This article is about Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. ... Michael Neumann Michael Neumann (born 1946), son of the eminent political sociologist of Nazism, Franz Leopold Neumann, is a professor of philosophy at Trent University in Ontario, Canada. ... Tikkun is a Hebrew word. ... Michael Lerner is the name of several notable people from the Americans: Michael Lerner, rabbi and left-wing political activist Michael Lerner, actor Michael Lerner, retailer with Lerner Stores This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Cynthia Ozick (born April 17, 1928, New York City), is an American writer, the daughter of William Ozick and Celia Regelson. ...

CAMERA and Wikipedia

In an April 2008 article on the pro-Palestinian news site Electronic Intifada, e-mails between CAMERA members were published, detailing the group's plan to cooperate with prominent Wikipedia editors in establishing a Zionist narrative surrounding Israel and the Middle East, with particular discussion on the Deir Yassin Massacre and in validating anti-Islam polemics. A substantial amount of the correspondence is from Wikipedia editor "Zeq"^[36] who supposedly advises the group that "One or more of you who want to take this route should stay away from any Israel realted [sic] articles for one month until they interact in a positive way with 100 wikipedia editors who would be used later to vote you as an administrator." ^[37] ei logo The Electronic Intifada (ei) is a not-for-profit, independent online publication about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict from a Palestinian perspective, offering an alternative analysis to Mainstream media. ... A bilingual poster in Romanian and Hungarian promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s. ... The Deir Yassin massacre (Deir Yassin is also transliterated from Arabic as Dayr Yasin and frequently (mis)transliterated from Hebrew writings as Dir Yassin) refers to the killing of scores of Arab civilians at the village of Deir Yassin just east of Jerusalem in Palestine by Jewish irregular forces between...

Perspectives on CAMERA

In a 2003 profile of the organization in the Boston Globe, Mark Jurkowitz observes: "To its supporters, CAMERA is figuratively - and perhaps literally - doing God's work, battling insidious anti-Israeli bias in the media. But its detractors see CAMERA as a myopic and vindictive special interest group trying to muscle its views into media coverage."^[38] The Boston Globe is the most widely-circulated daily newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and in the greater New England region. ...

Website testimonials

Testimonials on CAMERA's website include late congressman Tom Lantos (D-California) commenting that "CAMERA has the courage to effectively challenge the media to step up to its responsibility to report fairly and accurately"; Professor Alan M. Dershowitz, of the Harvard University Law School, remarking at a 1989 CAMERA conference that "the only people who should and do fear CAMERA are those who should and do fear the truth"; and Israeli politician and former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky asserting that "We all know that CAMERA's mission is important not only for the Jewish community, but also for the integrity and vitality of American democracy," and former New York City mayor Ed Koch quoted as saying "There is ... one source you can rely on when it comes to keeping track of news stories on the Middle East — CAMERA — Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America."^{[39][unreliable source?]} Thomas Peter Tom Lantos, Ph. ... Alan Morton Dershowitz (born September 1, 1938) is an American political figure and criminal law professor at Harvard Law School. ... Langdell Hall, home of the HLS library. ... CCCP redirects here. ... For the Pearl Jam song, see Dissident (song). ... Natan Sharansky (Hebrew: נתן שרנסקי, Russian: Натан Борисович Щаранский; born January 20, 1948) is a notable former Soviet anticommunist, Zionist, Israeli politician and writer. ... Edward Irving Koch (born December 12, 1924; pronounced ) was a United States Congressman from 1969 to 1977 and the Mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. ...

Criticism

Mitchell Kaidy, writing in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs criticizes CAMERA's efforts to pressure university libraries to remove books that the organization finds offensive.^[40] The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs is a magazine published in Washington, D.C. that focuses on news and analysis from and about the Middle East and U.S. policy in that region[1]. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs is a 100-page magazine published 9 times...

Journalist and author Robert I. Friedman wrote in 1987 that "CAMERA, the A.D.L., AIPAC and the rest of the lobby don't want fairness, but bias in their favor. And they are prepared to use McCarthyite tactics, as well as the power and money of pro-Israel PACs, to get whatever Israel wants."^[41]

New York University professor and historian Tony Judt has described CAMERA director Levin's charge that he is "pandering to genocide" as one of a series of reaction to his writings that "verged on hysteria."^[42] Tony Judt (born 1948, London, England) is a British historian, author and professor. ...

Writing about attempts by CAMERA to get a local Pasadena, California church to cancel an appearance by Palestinian activist Reverend Naim Ateek, Rob Eshman, Editor-in-Chief of The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, writes "I'm always leery when Jewish groups ride in from out of town to try to save us from the bad guys. We have plenty of sharp-eyed Jewish defense groups locally who can tussle on our behalf. It's just a bit condescending to think we rubes, out in America's second-largest Jewish city, don't know how and when to fight. Or whom."^[43] Eshman later clarified that his criticism was directed specifically at CAMERA's handling of the Ateek visit, and not toward the organization in general. "I think CAMERA, which in so many cases I find useful and correct, is in this case making things worse," he wrote.^[44] Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles is a community non-profit weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of Greater Los Angeles. ...

Writing about criticisms from CAMERA he and his colleagues have received, Jerusalem-based journalist Gershom Gorenberg wrote " It is not the press's job to provide PR for any government. Until CAMERA gets this straight, self-respecting journalists will regard an occasional snarl from the watchdog as proof that they're doing their job."^[45] Gershom Gorenberg is an American-born Israeli political writer[1] specializing in the political history of Israel and Israeli-American relations. ...

Notes

is the 86th day of the year (87th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bill Kovach is an American journalist. ... The Project for Excellence in Journalism is a US non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to researching and evaluating the news media. ... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 146th day of the year (147th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 138th day of the year (139th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 79th day of the year (80th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 83rd day of the year (84th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alan Morton Dershowitz (born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and criminal law professor known for his extensive published works, career as an attorney in several high-profile law cases, and commentary on the Arab-Israeli conflict. ... Harvard Law School (colloquially, Harvard Law or HLS) is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. ... is the 95th day of the year (96th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... FrontPage Magazine is a conservative internet publication edited by David Horowitz Link [1] Categories: Computer stubs | Magazines stubs ... is the 210th day of the year (211th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Washington Post is the largest newspaper in Washington, D.C.. It is also one of the citys oldest papers, having been founded in 1877. ... is the 197th day of the year (198th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Boston Globe is the most widely-circulated daily newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and in the greater New England region. ... is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... George Mason University, also known as GMU or simply Mason, is a public university in the United States. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Facts and Logic About the Middle East (or FLAME) is a non-profit pro-Israel organization based in San Francisco, California. ... The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs is a magazine published in Washington, D.C. that focuses on news and analysis from and about the Middle East and U.S. policy in that region[1]. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs is a 100-page magazine published 9 times... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 225th day of the year (226th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Andrea Levin
• Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME)
• If Americans Knew, a US-based media-monitoring organization which covers much the same issues, but from an opposing viewpoint.
• Israel Campus Roundtable (CAMERA is a member)
• The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations

Facts and Logic About the Middle East (or FLAME) is a non-profit pro-Israel organization based in San Francisco, California. ... If Americans Knew is a non-profit organization which focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, United States foreign policy regarding the Middle East, and media coverage of these issues. ... The Israel Campus Roundtable is an umbrella organization of pro-Israel groups in the New England area. ... The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (abbreviated as COPOMAJO or CPMAJO) is self described as a central address for key American, Israeli and other world leaders to consult on issues of critical concern to the Jewish community. It is often referred to as simply the Presidents Conference...

External links

• CAMERA Official website.
• "CAMERA: Fighting Distorted Media Coverage of Israel and the Middle East: An Interview with Andrea Levin" (Exec. Dir. of CAMERA) at Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
• CAMERA at Nuclear Spin (part of SpinWatch, another "media watchdog" which identifies itself as "monitoring PR and Spin").
• The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership Official website About Us.
• FAIR: Region: Middle East Hyperlinked list of items headed CounterSpin, Media Advisory, Activism Update, Extra!
• Online Home of the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Committee for Concerned Journalists.