Turkish media target Jews more than any other group, report finds

[Yervant1]

Ha'aretz, Israel
Dec 30 2014


Turkish media target Jews more than any other group, report finds

Report on hate speech in Turkish media found 130 instances of hate
speech against Jews between May and August 2014.

By Haaretz | Dec. 29, 2014 | 10:08 PM

Hate speech in Turkish newspapers between May and August 2014,targeted
Jews more than any other group according to a new report by a Turkish
foundation dedicated to cultural diversity.

The `Monitoring Hate Speech in the Media' report, released on Monday
by the Hrant Dink Foundation, found that 32 national, religious and
ethnic groups were the victims of hate speech in articles written by
the Turkish press. The report was the subject of an article on the
Today's Zaman website.

Of those, Jews and Armenians were the victims in 50.4 percent of the
cases, followed by Greeks, Kurds and Syrian refugees.

The report recorded 130 incidents of hate speech against Jews, 60
against Armenians, 25 against Christians, 21 against Greeks, and 18
counts of hate speech against Kurds.

Anti-Semitic rhetoric in Turkish national newspapers was especially
conspicuous during the war in Gaza over the summer, according to the
report, which was written by lawyer and journalist Rita Ender.

It found that several articles did not differentiate between Zionists,
the State of Israel, Israelis and Jews, using instead the over-arching
term `Jews' to refer to all the groups mentioned.

The report also noted that some of the columnists who criticized
Israel's offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza compared its
actions to those of Hitler and the Holocaust.

The newspapers that were most guilty of hate speech were the dailies
Yeni Akit, Milli, Milat, OrtadoÄ?u, Yeni ÇaÄ? and Sabah, the report
noted.

The 89-page report features a chart of the articles that include hate
speech, with the date, newspaper, type (column or news article),
writer, headline, targeted group and degree of offense.

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.634389

[Yervant1]

Yaron Weiss: No justification for Israel's position on Armenian Genocide

22:53, 05.01.2015


Famous pro-Armenian activist in Israel Yaron Weiss calls Armenia and
Artsakh "Heaven" and claims there is no justification for Israel that
has not recognized the Armenian Genocide so far. He spoke about these
and other topics in an interview with press attaché of "Noyan Tapan"
Armenian culture center Mendel Korsunksy. Armenian News-NEWS.am
presents the full text of the interview.

Yaron, first of all please tell a little bit about you.

I live in a small town in the north part of Israel, married with four
children, tourist guide in Armenia & Georgia during the tourist
season. For living working in a large Telecom company.

In my spare time I advise backpackers who plan a trip to Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as trying to promote issues such as
recognition of the Armenian Genocide and preventing the sale of
weapons by Israel to Azerbaijan.

You have traveled a lot to both Armenia and Artsakh, what are your
personal experiences from those countries?

For me Armenia and Artsakh are Heaven. The Armenian hospitality is one
of the best in the world. The landscapes in Armenia are stunning: rich
culture and fascinating history. All this makes Armenia one of the
most attractive countries in the world with great potential for
tourism.

I would like to know how and when you began to be interested in the
matter of the Armenian Genocide.

After my visit to Armenia and reading a lot of academic researches and
books on the subject, I felt shame that my country does not recognize
the Armenian Genocide. The Jewish people who survived the Holocaust
must recognize the crimes that took place against other nations. There
is no justification that the government of Israel hasn't yet
recognized the Armenian Genocide. So I am working to change this
reality.

President of Israel Reuven Riblin has recently refused to sign a
petition for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the state of
Israel even though he was always supporting the cause, I would like to
know your opinion on this matter.

I was disappointed to hear that Reuven Rivlin the President of Israel
refused to renew his signature on a petition calling for recognizing
the Armenian genocide. I believe he did it out of the pressure of
political elements. But I have a feeling he will still surprise us in
the future and his refusal to sign now is part of a political tactic.

On the 99th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide the 24th of April
2014, in front of the Turkish embassy in Tel-Aviv, during your speech
you addressed the Israeli government to stop supplying weapons to
Azerbaijan, please address this matter.

According to reports in the world press, it seems that Israel is one
of the largest arms suppliers of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is one of the
few countries in the world that declares openly they need weapons for
attacking a neighboring country. Armenia is not threatening
Azerbaijan. Since I completely sympathize with the Armenian people, I
can't accept the fact that my country arms the greatest enemy of
Armenia. The Israeli people don't know the truth about it. So
therefore we have to tell them about it.

Yaron, what are your wishes to the Armenian people?

Armenian people have always been considered educated and hard-working
people. Armenia is a nation of builders. I believe that in the near
future Armenia will begin a period of prosperity and will return its
former glory.

http://news.am/eng/news/246939.html

[Yervant1]

Study: anti-Semitism most common prejudice in Turkish media

By SAM SOKOL
01/06/2015 20:08


In the study, over half agreed that Jews are responsible for `most of
the world's wars' and sixty one percent said that people hate Jews due
to their behavior.

Turkey President Recep Tayyip erdogan.. (photo credit:REUTERS,JPOST STAFF)

Anti-Semitism is the most common racial or religious prejudice found
in the Turkish media, a recent study by the Hrant Dink Foundation
found.

The study, which tracked denigratory coverage of over thirty different
groups in media reports between May and August, found that Jews and
Armenians were the subject just over half of the recorded incidents in
a media landscape filled with `biased and discriminatory language
use.'

Jews led the pack, with 130 incidents, followed by Armenians (60),
Christians (25), Greeks (21), Kurds (18) and Syrian refugees (10).

The report further noted that during coverage of last summer's
Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, some in the Turkish media did not
differentiate between Jews, Israelis and Zionists, using words like
Jew to refer to all of them indiscriminately.

One example of the conflation of Diaspora Jews and Israelis during the
war, was an article by journalist Faruk Köse in Yeni Akit, a
pro-government newspaper in Istanbul, calling on Turkish Jews to issue
a communal apology on behalf of Israel.

During the conflict, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was
harshly condemned by Jewish leaders for calling Israel a `terror
state' and accusing Jerusalem of perpetrating a `systematic genocide'
against the Palestinians.

Also during the conflict, the head of the Insani Yardım Vakfı (IHH),
the group responsible for the 2010 Gaza flotilla, was reported to have
told Turkish television that `Turkish Jews will pay dearly' for
Operation Protective Edge.

According to a poll released by the Anti-Defamation League in the
latter half of 2014, sixty nine percent of Turks harbor anti-Semitic
attitudes. Sixty nine percent of respondents replied affirmatively
when asked if Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the countries in
which they live, while seventy percent of those surveyed agreed that
Jews only care about `their own kind.'

Over half agreed that Jews are responsible for `most of the world's
wars' and sixty one percent said that people hate Jews due to their
behavior.

The Turkish Jewish community did not respond to an email request for
comment regarding the media survey.

Turkey's Jews for the most part kept a low profile during the conflict
as it has a policy of silence when it comes to the press. Some Turkish
emigres have accused Ankara of pressuring communal bodies to toe the
party line.

Over the summer, a group of Turkish Jewish intellectuals unconnected
with the officials communal body did write an open letter to Erdogan
denouncing Israeli actions in Gaza but also decrying the President's
demands that they make such a declaration because they are Jews.

`In the same way the people of Turkey cannot be held responsible for
the barbarity of what Islamic State does because a number of Turks are
among its fighters, the Jewish community of Turkey cannot be held
responsible for what the state of Israel does,' they explained,
stating that it is impossible for a community of 20,000 to offer a
unified opinion on any matter.

After this correspondent visited an Istanbul synagogue in 2013,
subsequently publishing an article on the local community's
preparations to celebrate Israeli independence day, the community
requested through an intermediary that the article be taken offline in
an apparent bid to avoid being linked to Israel in the media.

`The Turkish Jewish community will prefer to keep their mouths shut
because of their public safety, and they are right to do this,' one
emigre told the Post afterward in explanation.

In the end of December, Turkish Chief Rabbi Isak Haleva spoke at a
gathering of orthodox Rabbis in Jerusalem despite the tensions between
his country and Israel.


http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Study-anti-Semitism-most-common-prejudice-in-Turkish-media-386882