The past 12 months saw the rising tide of antisemitism around the globe continue to grow in size and strength. The mainstreaming of Jew hatred in the media, political discourse and popular culture has increased rather than dying down. Terrorism against Israel saw no letup as attacks on Jews continued to be a commonplace event. Meanwhile, the Jewish world was torn by political strife inside Israel that has reached alarming and dangerous proportions.
At the same time, the usual sources of concern for Jews persisted, including antisemitism at the United Nations and its affiliated agencies and the push for appeasement of an Iranian regime that poses an existential threat to Israel.
Meanwhile, Jews as well as those non-Jews who care about Israel and the fight against antisemitism found themselves confronted with a daunting choice to find out what was going on.
That’s why JNS is needed more than ever.
The overwhelming majority of secular corporate media outlets routinely produce biased news coverage of Israel that seeks to influence the public to disregard Jewish rights and obscure the truth about the Palestinians and their leading terror organizations and leaders, who don’t recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state no matter where its borders might be drawn.
Some of these same publications and channels cover Diaspora Jewry and the antisemitic BDS movement with the same disregard for the truth. In the past year, The New York Times campaign to depict Orthodox Jewish schools in a manner that can only be termed antisemitic is just the most prominent example of this phenomena.
Just as troubling, much of the Jewish media’s coverage of Israel is fully as bad as that to be found in The Times or on CNN or MSNBC. Indeed, their coverage of Israel may now be fairly termed as biased as anything you can see elsewhere.
And when Jews look to many of their leading legacy organizations, they find a similar situation. Those who are supposed to be defending the Jewish community and Israel are taking sides against the Jewish state or are increasingly concerned with other matters, whether it’s some partisan notion of social justice or an effort to be seen as anti-racist or in some way disassociated from specifically Jewish issues.
A media outlet untainted by these anti-Jewish biases and courageous enough to confront the challenges facing both Jews and non-Jews is more important than ever. And that is why we need your help to enable JNS to go on telling the truth about what is going on in a world in which we can no longer count on traditional sources to defend our values.
The Jewish News Syndicate, with its JNS.org website, isn’t just an award-winning source of comprehensive reporting, analysis and opinion. It’s a news source that can be trusted to tell the truth about Jewish issues and ideas, as well as about Israel.
At a time when audiences regard journalists with increased and much-deserved skepticism because of highly partisan and biased reporting, relying on mainstream news sources or even many Jewish outlets for up-to-date information and informed opinion about the issues that are a matter of life and death to the Jewish people is no longer possible.
At JNS we pride ourselves on maintaining the highest standards of fairness and accuracy in our news articles. Throughout 5783, our coverage of the issues facing both the United States and Israel gave our readers insights they couldn’t get elsewhere.
Unlike most media outlets, JNS presents the case for the justice of Israel’s cause. It also tells the truth about an anti-Semitic BDS movement that seeks Israel’s destruction and the silencing of its supporters, and whose influential supporters dominate academia and even sit in Congress.
And almost uniquely among media outlets, secular or Jewish, it provides coverage of the ongoing political strife in Israel that is not stacked on one side of the issue or joining in the chorus declaring it to be run by authoritarians, theocrats and opponents of democracy.
Whereas biased coverage has made most other news sources unwatchable and unreadable, at JNS, you get the facts not just about Israel, but about issues essential to Jewish interests everywhere.
In the past year, in addition to our array of regular columnists, including myself, we have continued to expand our staff and our features, offering podcasts and videos that offer one-of-a-kind, information-based interviews with great thinkers and important figures in the news, as well as timely political coverage in both Israel and the United States.
But to continue to provide this service to the Jewish world, we need more than just your readership. We also need your financial help to keep JNS.org on target as we continue to do the job that no one else does in this same way.
As 5783 ends and 5784 begins, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to JNS.org. While many worthy causes seek financial help, especially in these challenging times, I hope you will consider supporting Jewish journalism at a time when the truth about the threats from anti-Semitism, anti-Israel bias and global terrorism makes it more important than ever.
I hope you will agree that keeping JNS going is an essential cause that cannot be allowed to fail for lack of funds. And I hope we can count on you this year and next.
Click here to donate to JNS.
Thank you again for your support and readership. I look forward to hearing from you in the coming year as we continue to bring you the best in journalism.
Wishing all of our readers and their families a happy, healthy, peaceful and sweet New Year and to be sealed in the proverbial “Book of Life” for good. L’shanah tovah tikatevu!
