Everything changed on Oct. 7. Or at least it should have.
The Hamas atrocities and the brazen attack on Israel should have alerted the world, and especially the news media, to the reality of the ongoing war on the existence of the Jewish state and the stakes involved in the battle to defend it. Moreover, the surge in antisemitism illustrated by the mobs in the streets of the world’s cities and on college campuses cheering for Hamas and calling for Israel’s destruction should have also made plain to those who report and comment on the news that this struggle is one between good and evil. It’s not one in which the two sides should be treated as morally equivalent.
The anti-Israel bias that has characterized so much of the mainstream corporate media’s coverage of the conflict, as well as some produced by Jewish sources, should have been discredited and abandoned when Hamas illustrated that it meant what it said about its goal of destroying Israel and accomplishing the genocide of its population.
But that isn’t what happened. The bodies of the slain, tortured and raped victims of the Oct. 7 attacks weren’t cold before most of the coverage of the conflict flipped to one dominated by false narratives and brazen lies about alleged Israeli atrocities and Palestinian victims. Unlike the reaction to the 9/11 attacks, the media adopted a “both sides are wrong” mentality and mainstreamed not just arguments that Israeli victims deserved their fate, but also antisemitic arguments about the one Jewish state on the planet not having a right to exist, let alone defend itself.
This widespread media malpractice was not just irresponsibly bad journalism but helped fuel the wave of anti-Israel, anti-Jewish incidents proliferating across the globe.
That’s why the events of the last several weeks prove that JNS is needed more than ever. It’s also why on Tuesday, Nov. 28—“#GivingTuesday”—a day when all those who are connected online are asked to donate to nonprofit causes, we need you to support the Jewish News Syndicate.
There are many worthy causes out there, including many that are both Jewish and Zionist. Moreover, the Jewish community has rightly prioritized those appeals dedicated to helping the victims of Oct. 7 and to helping the State of Israel to both fight this just war and care for its people.
But if there’s anything we all should have learned during this trying time, it is that the information war on behalf of Israel is a vital front on which the fate of critical American support for the Jewish state may well rest. So, if you care about pushing back against the rising tide of anti-Semitism and delegitimization of Israel that is being fueled by woke ideology, then giving to the JNS should be a priority this #GivingTuesday.
JNS is more than just another news website and syndication service. It is an organization devoted to reporting and telling the truth about Israel and Jewish issues unburdened by the biases and institutional blinders that distort so much of what we read, hear and see about these topics elsewhere in the secular and the Jewish media.
JNS prides itself on fairness and accuracy in its news articles, in addition to providing analysis and commentary filled with insights you won’t get elsewhere. But unlike most media outlets, it also presents the case for the justice of Israel’s cause at a time when it is assailed by foes and an antisemitic “Free Palestine” movement that aims at its destruction and the silencing of its supporters. At JNS, you get the facts about Israel and Jewish issues without the bias that so often tilts the argument against the Jewish state.
It is specifically because even after Oct. 7 so much of the Jewish media and even the mainstream organized Jewish world often won’t directly take on these lies—and, as a consequence, often don’t prioritize the defense of Israel, Zionism and Jewish rights—that JNS is so important.
In the last year, JNS has also expanded its coverage capabilities in both the United States and Israel. Our reporting on Washington politics, the American Jewish world and Europe, as well as our comprehensive coverage of Israel, including articles from our Israeli partner Israel Hayom that are seen nowhere else in English, remain unsurpassed in their depth and accuracy.
Equally as important, our popular podcasts, including our regular “Israel at War” coverage, my own “Top Story With Jonathan Tobin” (both the weekly and daily shows), the indispensable “In Focus With Caroline Glick,” “The Quad” and “Our Middle East: An Insider’s View” have given us the ability to reach large and different audiences from those who normally read our work.
Our opinion section remains essential reading with our star columnists Caroline Glick and Melanie Phillips, as well as my own daily columns, which are augmented by a broad array of guest writers six days a week. JNS articles and columns are republished every week by digital outlets and print newspapers across the globe. And our web traffic has increased exponentially.
But in order to continue to provide this service to the Jewish world, we need more than just your readership, sympathy or applause. We also need your financial help to keep JNS on target as we continue to do the job that no one else does in this same way.
I want to thank you personally for your readership and interest in our work.
As the calendar year of 2023 ends, consider making a tax-deductible donation to JNS today. While many other worthy causes seek financial help, I hope you will agree with me that supporting Jewish journalism at a time when Israel and the Jewish people remain under dire threats from antisemitic enemies in the Middle East and America is more important than ever. I hope you will deem JNS to be an essential need that cannot be allowed to fail for lack of funds. And I hope we can count on you this year and next.
To contribute, click here or mail your check to:
JNS
9450 SW Gemini Drive
PMB 38958
Beaverton, OR 97008-7105
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 Jewish journalism, and to fight for Israel and the Jewish people.
Wishing you and your families a happy Chanukah, and good health in 2024.
