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All the news that fits__ / Compiled by Elizabeth Applebaum

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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

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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

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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.

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