ashrawi...in jewish news

6. ASHRAWI BATTLES REVERBERATES IN JEWISH NEWS

Just when you thought everyone had "moved on" from the Hanan Ashrawi peace prize debate, the latest issue of Jewish News lands on the front door step. The paper didn't miss an angle as "the Ashrawi affair" coverage comprised no less than 10 news stories, a note from the editor on page 2, a full editorial, 5 opinion pieces and the majority of letters.

Mark Leibler, the man who never thought Solly Lew's huge conflicts of interest were a problem at Coles Myer, has launched a vicious attack against Stephen Rothman for allegedly having a conflict of interest when telling the Jewish community to tone down its attacks over the Sydney Peace Prize whilst he was seeking Labor preselection for the NSW seat of Dobell.

You can read the full story here:
http://www.ajn.com.au/pages/current-paper/national-02.html

The editorial and columnist Marcus Einfeld have both called for a full inquiry into what went wrong: http://www.ajn.com.au/pages/current-paper/editorial-01.html

The Jewish News itself should probably be investigated because they splashed the paper on the issue three weeks in a row BEFORE it had spilled into the mainstream as a hot issue.

Einfeld didn't mince his words claiming the whole saga was "a disaster for our community, and not only from a public relations standpoint".

"We made her into a folk hero, her viewpoints were heard by millions and the Sydney Peace Prize was elevated beyond its promoters' wildest dreams. And this is one disaster we can blame on no-one but ourselves."

Let's hope the issue is long forgotten by the time next week's edition hits the streets.

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