NEWS Panel Debates Media's Role In Terrorism DELICATESSEN & RESTAURANT 13821 W. 9 MILE RD. • Oak Park 548-1111 or 541-2888 HAS ALL YOUR HOLIDAY NEEDS FROM APPETIZERS TO COMPLETE DINNERS! • Gefilte Fish • Roast Chicken • Brisket of Beef • Chopped Liver • Matzoh, Kreplach, Etc. • Soups AND EVERYTHING ELSE NECESSARY! We Will Close Fri., Oct. 3 at 3 p.m. and Reopen Tues., Oct. 1 at 11 a.m. We Will Close Sun., Oct. 12 all day and Reopen Tues., Oct. 16 at 11 a.m. Advertising in The Jewish News Gets Results Place Your Ad Today. Call 354-6060 NOW TAKING ORDERS FOR ROSH HASHANA AND YOM KIPPUR BREAK FAST Closing Friday, Oct. 3 at 3 p.m. Reopening Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 10 a.m. Lincoln Shopping Center Greenfield and 10 1/2 Mile Ad. • Oak Park 62 .-_,Friday, September 26, 1986 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 968-0022 1 Jerusalem — "The media is not an initiating factor for terrorism but it is partly responsible for the increasing level of public tolerance of ter- rorism and for spreading pub- lic boredom with terrorism," said Michael Elkins, veteran correspondent of the British Broadcasting Corporation, in a recent conference sponsored by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Department of Summer courses and Special Academic Programs. During the program, .a panel of journalists and the Israel Defense Forces' spokes- man struggled over the dif- ficult issue of terrorism and the media. In addition to Elkins, mem- bers of the panel included Er- win Frenkel, editor of The Jerusalem Post; Lt. Col. Raanan Gissen, IDF spokes- man; Ron Ben-Ishai of Time magazine; Samuel Segev of Maariv and L'Express; and Nicolas Tatro, Israel bureau chief of the Associated Press. "Thrrorism is in the eye of the beholder," said Elkins. "In my view, the BBC is the best organization of its kind, and it has difficulty with defining a terrorist. It had no problem with Irish provincials, but when a Palestinian bombs a supermarket in Rehovot he is called a guerrilla. [In my view] if a person throws a bomb in a civilian market, that is ter- rorism." However, Elkins said that there were several instances when the media overstepped its boundaries. One example was in the hijacking of a Lufthansa plane in which careless reporting by a jour- nalist about the fact that the pilot was transmitting infor- mation cost the pilot his life. "Iblevision is the terrorists' medium of choice and they have learned how to exploit the media," said Gissen. "Iblevision has to realize that it is not just reporting news now, it is a part of the story. The kidnapping of newsmen in Lebanon is insurance that they will get media coverage. Killings are done before negotiations to insure that they will get coverage." Gissen believes that with some self-regulation on the part of the media, such as sending only seasoned report- ers to cover terrorist activity, embargo of information until the incident is over, no publishing of unedited mater- ial or live coverage where ter- rorist activity is involved, avoiding short deadlines, and no coverage of loss of life un- til the family is informed, a middle way could be found between the problem of free- dom of the press as well as suppressing terrorism to some degree. As an Israeli reporter, Segev said he feels that he must take into account the safety of the state when he covers a story. "On one hand, you have to report all the facts you know, but then you don't want to serve as a tool for the ter- rorists. It's a difficult con- flict," said Segev. "You want to explain what's going on to give a broader explanation, but by doing so you are con- tributing to the expansion of terrorism. It is not only you that's involved but your coun- try and others as well. Also, there are exaggerations when an incident is covered which makes for marvelous cover- age but at the same time the net result is disastrous." The media should distin- guish between political groups and groups which are using indiscriminate violence to achieve its goals, siad Segev. Ben-Ishai defended the role of the media and said that the media is more helpful than harmful in combating terror- ism. "There is no point in put- ting all the blame for terror- ism on the media. Media is a reality and we have to cope with it. It is needed to con- duct a democratic way of life and enable the public to con- duct and make its own deci- sions about everything," said Ben-Ishai. He pointed out that during the Achille Lauro incident, the IDF used the media to release tapes of the conversa- tions between the terrorists and terrorist Abu Abas in time to spur the American admini- stration to take action. He said that the media is also helpful in providing intelli- gence information to the military. "The media can be foolish from time to time," he said. "I'm disappointed with the American media, but usually the European and Israeli media are much more respon- sible than people claim." Tatro said that the media is a neutral tool which is used by everyone — from the prime minister to speak out against terrorism to El-Al to bring a Jewish-Indian boy to Israel for his Bar Mitzvah. In conclusion, Michael Elkins said that the greater the freedom the media has in a country , the greater the responsibility it also has. New Routes Tel Aviv (JTA) — El Al is checking alternate routes for .its South African service in the event that certain un- named African countries, over which the Israeli airline flies on its route from Tel Aviv to Johannesburg. forbid El Al flights through their airspace, Transportation Minister Haim Corfu said.