Israel: Losing on the ‘Daily Show’
http://blogs.jta.org/telegraph/article/2009/01/15/1002273/israel-losing-on-the-daily-show
By Ami Eden · January 15, 2009
In case you missed it... Jon Stewart gave Israel and its supporters "The Daily Show" treatment over its attacks against Gaza.
The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c
Strip Maul
Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview
Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video
Did this gag represent a one-night punch line, or was it an ominous sign for Israel's PR fight? Between us, I wouldn't read too much into it -- sometimes a gag is just a gag. But my colleague, Ron Kampeas, offered a different take in an interview with the San francisco Chronicle:
Journalist Ron Kampeas, bureau chief of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in Washington, D.C., who covers the conflict, said the increasingly vocal concerns of Jewish Americans such as Stewart, who have come forward to express themselves, reflect changing culture and mores. But it doesn't mean they are anti-Israel, he said.
"This is a culmination of something that has been going on for a while," he said. "What used to happen is that when Israel did something controversial," many Jews thought it "wasn't kosher" to publicly question because it might fuel perception that "Israel is losing Jewish support."
Whatever one makes of Stewart's segment, Israeli TV's got to do better than this in response: