Despite their central-right, free market loving ways, I have always been a fan of the Economist. I generally find their reporting to be pretty even-handed (as long as you auto correct for Capitalism) and in depth. They even surprise me once in awhile (usually in a good way..)

Of course, sometimes they also miss the mark. Like their Special Report on Israel. Or at least, one small portion of it. In the report (and the podcast interview with the author, which was fascinating to me for the uneven tone. The author talks about all these great and wonderful things about Israel, but then ends it by saying he is not confident of the State's future. Sort of a disconnect) the author compares the plights of Arab-Israelis and Russian immigrants.

Sure, the recent immigrants have it bad. They are not allowed to legally marry, have severe restrictions on their worklife, face incipient prejudice from Orthodox Jews, etc. However, the Israeli military didn't kill over 1000 of them over the last 5 years (even when many of the disenfranchised russian youths started attacking Jews.) They didn't get separated from ancestral fields, work, family and loved ones by a massive (and quite probably illegal) wall.

In short, it's sort of like Patrick saying he understands the troubles of the Black Man because he goes by the name of Tareeq.

note: The comparison of the Russian immigrants and the Arabs is in the podcast.

Last 5 posts by Ezra

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