/ , ,-. --- / -- -, ■ ■ \ \ / All the news that fits__ / Compiled by Elizabeth Applebaum C CAMERA Study Charges Anti-Israel Bias at NPR AMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Re- porting in America, last week issued in its fall newsletter a study of National Public Radio's coverage of the Middle East, charging a persistent pat- tern of anti-Israel bias. CAMERA President Andrew Levin noted that despite NPR's intense focus on Israeli actions and policies, as demon- strated by the large number of segments aired during the pe- riod of the study, NPR provided no coverage whatsoev- er of the threat posed to Israel by Arab acquisition of nuclear, biological, chemical and missile technology. Similar- ly, the network did not devote any air time to informing lis- teners about the balance of military power in the region. NPR is funded by U.S. taxpayer dol- lars. It is mandated, under federal law, to observe "strict adherence to objec- tivity and balance in all programs of a controversial nature." In its report, CAMERA argues that other issues central to the concerns of mainstream Israelis have been ignored at NPR. Although the study spanned a time period that included intensive peace discussions among Israel, the Palestinians and Arab states, with par- ticular NPR concentration on the pos- sibility of territorial concessions by Israel, not a single MEDIA REPORT story focused on the strategic signd- icance of Judea and Samaria to Israel's security. CAMERA further charges that NPR skewed its reports in terms of the choice of intervie- wees, presenting in one sample nearly twice as many Arab speakers as Israelis, 43 to 22. In this sample NPR reporters did not interview a single spokesman from the centrist Labor Party. CAMERA is urging listeners to respond to reports they consider anti-Israel by writing NPR station managers and local elected of- ficials, and by calling NPR national head- quarters, 1-800-235-1212. claim --- Publishing Houses, Med. Promote Bogus ,.„, Mideast History, AJHS Sponsors History Contest T he American Jewish Historical Society is sponsoring a con- test for the best essay on any aspect of American Jewish history. The $100 Leo Wasserman Founda- tion Prize will be awarded to a 20-30 page essay (including appropriate cita- tions and bibliography) written by a graduate or undergraduate student. En- tries must be received by Jan. 31. The winner will be announced by May 15. To enter, send five copies of the es- say to Leonard Dinnerstein, Department of History, University of Arizona, Tuc- son, AZ, 85721. T he next time you visit Chicago — I'm talking about one of those trips where you bring along Baby Joe and Grandma and Muffy the Dog and Susie and Bobby, who both want to sit behind Mom and if they can't they're going to scream their heads off the entire way to Chicago —think yellow. Yellow Cabs, that is. The Round-Up has no advice for the Susie and Bobby dilemma, but here's just the thing for Baby Joe. Thanks to company president Jeff Feldman, Yellow Cab is now provid- AMY ing safety seats for children in 200 of the fleet's cabs. That means you can fly to Chicago with- out dragging your own baby seat (leaving plenty more room for Susie's "Beverly Hills 90210" magazines — is Luke Perry just the dreamiest OR WHAT?). To order the cab, call (312) TAXI-CAB (829-4222). Other cities are jumping on the taxiwagon, too, according to Parents magazine. Safety seats are now available in Arlington, Va. and Atlantic City, N.J. homer Yisrael (Guardians of Israel) is a new project, start- ed by student volunteers, to help Russian and Ethiopian Jews find work in Israel. A division of Volunteers for Israel, Shomer Yisrael operates a data bank listing more than 4,000 new immi- grants and describing their employ- ment history. Using this information, the volunteers are able to match in- dividuals seeking work with available jobs. So far, the 18-month-old orga- nization, manned by 12 volunteers, T CALE. ItEde RE,LIT Going Ga-Ga For The Big Yellow Taxi S Yiddish Center Winter Program T he National Yiddish Book Cen- ter is about to host its first-ever winter college program in Yid- dish culture. Scheduled for Jan. 10-15, the program will offer 45 undergradu- ate students from throughout North America the chance to learn about Yid- dish language, literature, history and culture. The program will be held in South Hadley, Mass. Activities will include daily lectures and afternoon seminars, workshops in Yiddish language, and Yiddish feature films and documentaries. The Winter Program is open to all undergraduate students. No prior knowledge of Yiddish is required. Ap- plication deadline is Dec. 11. The $200 cost includes tuition, books, room and board. Some scholarships are available. For information, contact the Center's Conference Director, Pearl-Anne Mar- galit, c/o the National Yiddish Book Cen- ter, 48 Woodbridge St., South Hadley, Mass., 01075, or call (413) 535-1303. Students Help Immigrants Find Employment In Israel Group Questions American Funding To INTERPOL he National Commission on Law Enforcement and Social Justice (NCLE) has filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act against the U.S. office of the International Criminal Police Organization, INTERPOL, to force the agency to release documents relat- ing to Interpol's U.S. funding. INTERPOL has in the past been cited for ties to former Nazis and to Arab ter- rorists. Most recently, INTERPOL in 1992 allowed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader George Habash, who helped mastermind the slaughter of 11 B has helped 5,000 Om secure em- ployment. Three representatives of Shomer Yisrael recently toured the United States. Sharon Eisenger, one of the representatives, told the Jewish Press she volunteers with Shomer Yisrael because "instead of waiting around for the government to help the new immigrants, we decided to help them ourselves." For information, contact Shomer Yisrael, (212) 684-7522. Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, into Paris for medical treatment. IN- TERPOL spokesmen admitted knowing of Mr. Habash's entry to Paris but said they did nothing about it as they had no warrant for his arrest. NCLE, founded in 1974 by the Church of Scientology, called for an investiga- tion of INTERPOL based on its alleged ties to drug traffickers. According to NCLE, the private international police agency is relaying sensitive law-en- forcement information to major drug- running countries. Big Science At Brandeis randeis University has broken ground for a $15 million in- terdisciplinary research cen- ter where scientists will work to unlock the mysteries of the human brain and intelligence. Scheduled for completion in May 1994, the center will house researchers from seven fields: biology, biochem- istry, chemistry, computer science, lin- guistics and cognitive science, physics and psychology. The 52,000-square-foot center is be- ing constructed in the school's science quadrangle and will receive $9 million in U.S. government funding. The new head of the research cen- ter will be Wayne, from "Saturday Night Live's Wayne's World." Not. 0 0