CAMERA Action Alert On Arun Gandhi (UPDATE)

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America issued this alert about Arun Gandhi, of whom I wrote here and here.

Gandhi Apologizes...Sort Of In Brief: Thanks to the many of you who wrote to the Washington Post and Newsweek about Arun Gandhi's anti-Semitic screed (see below) in the "On Faith" section of their joint Web site. This morning, January 10th, Gandhi apologized, sort of. He essentially wrote that he didn't mean to indict all Jews (as "the biggest players" in the "culture of violence" that is "eventually going to destroy humanity"), just the ones who support Israel's self-defense policies. And the Holocaust...he admits that lessons can be learned from it, but still feels that Jews hold on to this "grievance" too firmly, angering potential friends. Mr. Gandhi fails to comprehend that Israelis did not put up a security fence because they are supposedly fixated on the Holocaust. There is very real violence currently being perpetrated against Israel's citizens, such as Arab suicide bombings, sniper attacks and Palestinian Qassam rockets launched daily from Gaza. Gandhi's "apology" mostly compounds the offensive nature of his original posting, but more importantly, it should be the executives at the Washington Post and Newsweek who apologize for allowing such a bigoted rant to be featured, and to remain, on their Web site.

A detailed critique of the Gandhi's "apology" is below the Action Items.
Action Items

It is imperative that Washington Post and Newsweek senior officials continue to hear from readers on this matter, and remove both the original posting and Gandhi's "apology". Urge them to issue their own apology. And the questions raised by yesterday's Alert remain urgent:

Who reviews the content for "On Faith"?

By what standards?

Could it be that the anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist nature of Gandhi's screed was not recognized? It was by numerous kooks who, encouraged by Gandhi, crawled out from under their cyber-rocks and posted responses expected on the bigoted fringes, not in mainstream publications.

If it was recognized, how was it considered acceptable?

Newsweek Managing Editor Jon Meacham and Washington Post staffer Sally Quinn lend their names to the feature. Are they responsible? Are their bosses?

Contact Caroline Little, chief executive officer and publisher, WashingtonPost.Newweek Interactive, at caroline.little@wpni.com, and Jim Brady, Executive Editor, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive, at jim.brady@wpni.com., Jon Meacham at jon.meacham@newsweek.com and Sally Quinn at quinns@washpost.com. Copy Washington Post Ombudsman Deborah Howell at ombudsman@washpost.com, and Washington Post Chairman Donald Graham at waterst@washpost.com .

Blind copy CAMERA at letters@camera.org

In Detail:

M. K. Arun Gandhi's empty January 10 apology at The Washington Post.com/Newsweek Interactive Web site for his posted January 7 rant calling Israel and the Jews "the biggest players" in a global "Culture of Violence" threatening humanity's survival demonstrates two things:
1) He doesn't get it, and

2) Those in charge at Washington Post.com/Newsweek Interactive have yet to take responsibility for publishing claptrap of the sort that has fueled anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in the past and does so today.

Third Rate

Arun Gandhi is a grandson of India's independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi. He runs something called the "M.K. Gandhi Center for Nonviolence" at the University of Rochester. But for the accident of being a famous man's descendant, he would be unknown. His apology is one part convenience, of the "to anyone whom I might accidentally have offended" genre offered by politicians caught with their hands in the till or by celebrities mired in scandal, and one part clueless effrontery. It barely deserves notice and cannot be accepted.

The apology that matters must come from executives at The Washington Post and Newsweek, and begin with removal of Gandhi's original posting and his ostensible mea culpa.

Now He Says

Blaming "poor wording" in his original, "Jewish Identity Can't Depend on Violence," Gandhi now says "I do not believe and should not have implied that the policies of the Israeli government are reflective of the views of all Jewish people [emphasis in the original]. Indeed, many are as concerned as I am by the use of violence for state purposes, by Israel and many other governments."

This "some of my best friends are Jews concerned about Israeli violence" maneuver fails. The Israeli government, like the U.S. and every other legitimate government, has a policy of defending its citizens against aggression, in Israel's case whether aggression by Arab countries or Islamic states like Iran, or by Palestinian terrorists. Gandhi fails to distinguish between victim and perpetrator, between police and criminal. Most Jewish people, regardless of what else they disagree on, agree that Israelis, and Jews everywhere, share the universal right of self-defense established by the Hebrew Bible, enshrined in Western law and endorsed a bit more recently by the U.N. Charter.

Gandhi's apology serves primarily to soothe himself over having provoked "anger" at fingering Israel and the Jews as mankind's main threat - a classic example of anti-Semitic dementia, even if not consciously intended - and to let Post/Newsweek off the hook. "On Faith" says it means to promote a wide-ranging conversation on religion during a time when "extremism" has replaced the Cold War as global threat. Of course, that extremism manifests itself in the several international jihads waged by Islamic supremacists. Not by Jews. Not by Christians. Not by Hindus, Buddhists, or members of any other wide-reaching religion. For Post/Newsweek to let Gandhi pretend otherwise is inexplicable and unacceptable.

Go to the source

In the distribution of Gandhi's toxic posting, the kingpins are those in charge at The Washington Post and Newsweek. As the advertising promotions on Washington Post.com/Newsweek Interactive suggest, their interest is in driving "unique visitors" to the Web site so as to be able to sell more space at higher rates. Accuracy, moral honesty, trafficking in anti-Semitic canards, these apparently are of less concern. Certainly, as of Thursday afternoon, January 10, Gandhi's original was still up, linked from his subsequent apology.

It appears that Web "content" is one thing, informed commentary another. Could Gandhi's original posting ever appeared on The Washington Post Op-Ed page? So far, not even columns by leaders of the terrorist Hamas organization have accused Jews or even Israel of being the biggest players in a global culture of violence threatening humanity. Could Gandhi's rambling have appeared as one of Newsweek's "My Turn" columns by outside writers? Nothing like it has.

But apparently Washington Post.com/Newsweek Interactive has other standards. The site justifies its existence by claiming it provides "intelligent, informed, eclectic, respectful conversation among specialists and generalists" about religion. It didn't and isn't in Gandhi's case. And that's intolerable.

Gandhi's "apology" and the original posting are below. You can continue to post online comments after the article, or after Gandhi's apology, by clicking here.

With thanks,
Eric Rozenman
Washington Director
CAMERA

UPDATE: U of Rochester Rejects Arun Statement
University of Rochester Distances Itself From Gandhi Statement
The following statement by Joel Seligman, President of the University of Rochester (where Arun Gandhi's M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence is located), has been circulated via email:
Statement by President Joel Seligman
January 11, 2008
I was surprised and deeply disappointed by Arun Gandhi's recent opinion piece in the Washington Post blog, "On Faith." I believe that his subsequent apology inadequately explains his stated views, which seem fundamentally inconsistent with the core values of the University of Rochester.

In particular I vehemently disagree with his singling out of Israel and the Jewish people as to blame for the "Culture of Violence" that he believes is eventually going to destroy humanity. This kind of stereotyping is inconsistent with our core values and would be inappropriate when applied to any race, any religion, any nationality, or either gender.

Among the University of Rochester’s values are a commitment to promoting diversity and being a welcoming and inclusive community. We respect the religious and cultural heritages of all people, and indeed our Interfaith Chapel is an institutional expression of our commitment to support religious diversity, to encourage free and open dialogue among diverse religions in a civil manner.

We are also committed to the right of every person to address complaints or allegations personally and directly. Arun Gandhi currently is in India. I will discuss this matter with him in person as soon as he returns to Rochester later this month.