Five Ways of Looking at the Knesset

Neve Gordon examines the balance, or lack of it, in this year's Israeli elections.

Knesset photo courtesy: calebcompany.org

(JERUSALEM) - When media joins forces with government, the public is in big trouble. It's no surprise, but that is exactly what is taking place in Israeli media during this year's election. Israeli citizens are not getting the full picture and yet they very much deserve to, now more than ever.

Americans frequently debate the merits of the press, some call it too liberal and others believe that the media largely functions in concert with the needs and ambitions of the U.S. government. Without real, unbiased critical analysis, we are all lost.

This is the way the results of the elections are being presented in the Israeli press:

Centre Left Bloc                               Right Bloc

Other, perhaps more accurate ways to present the election results:

Left Bloc                                Right Bloc

Non-Jews                                 Jews

Women                                        Men

Willing to take the necessary steps for a two-state solution?

Willing                                      Unwilling

First published London Review of Books blog

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Prof. Neve Gordon

Dept. of Politics and Government

Ben-Gurion University

Israel

972-8-6477766

www.israelsoccupation.info

Neve Gordon the author of Israel's Occupation, can be contacted through his website, www.israelsoccupation.info, Neve is an Israeli academic. He has been a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and the Watson Institute at Brown University. During the first intifada, he was the director of Physicians for Human Rights – Israel. Gordon is the co-editor of Torture: Human Rights, Medical Ethics and the Case of Israel, the editor of From the Margins of Globalization: Critical Perspectives on Human Rights, and most recently the author of Israel's Occupation. His writings have appeared in numerous scholarly journals as well as in publications like The Washington Post, LA Times, The Guardian, The Nation, Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, Chronicle of Higher Education and The National Catholic Reporter..

Special thanks to Neve Gordon and redress.cc