Friday, January 29, 2010

The Arutz-Sheva Stories That Others Don't Cover


IsraelNN Staff A-7 Goes Where Others Don't

The popularity of the Arutz-Sheva e-mail letter and the IsraelNationalNews.com website soared by 100 percent in 2009 as people seek to read the news that other media distort or bury.

In addition to the large number of readers subscribing to the e-mail and viewing stories directly from the website, Israel National News rates as number one on Google and AOL news searches for news from Israel, often outdistancing the Jerusalem Post as well as Haaretz and Ynet.The reporting of news without a negative bias against Israel, as well as wiping away the whitewash from news in the media, are behind the surge. One blatant example is our staying true to the old adage that “a rose is a rose is a rose” when it comes to reporting on terror. Major media in Israel call terrorists “militants" as does most media in the United States and elsewhere, except when a terrorist strikes in their home country.

U.S. President Barack Obama has changed his predecessor’s “war against terror" to one against “a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.” At Arutz Sheva, a terrorist remains a terrorist, as was seen when we reported the terrorist kidnapping of an Israeli in Nigeria. The terrorists complained to foreign media and the Israel Foreign Ministry about having been described as such.

Two examples among dozens of significant events that other media did not allow their readers to know were an Arab terrorist who targeted a Jewish driver’s vehicle, firing more than a dozen bullets at six Jews in his car. Israel National News was the only news source that informed the public of the near-fatal attack.

Similarly, the world’s media virtually ignored a shipment of 500 tons of Iranian weapons bound for Hizbullah and intercepted by Israel. An anti-Obama rally in Jerusalem was almost exclusively reported by us, and was then posted by the Drudge Report. This tradition did not start last year; way back, it was Arutz Sheva that was first to publicize the web presence of a "secret document" of a high-level meeting regarding Shin Bet agent provocateur Avishai Raviv.

These articles, as well as more described below, are the reason for Thursday’s Shevathon - the annual project to encourage contributions by readers that in effect are contributing to themselves by enabling us to enrich our coverage and present the news on Israel and Judaism truthfully.

Among the guests on the Shevathon show, broadcast live, are Knesset Members, including Aryeh Eldad and Yaakov (Ketzaleh) Katz, national religious rabbis, Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, journalists and professors.

Exposés

Arutz Sheva-Israel National News exposed stories over the years that otherwise would have remained buried by the run-of-the-mill media. A series of articles revealed the U.S. government’s blunder of allowing its Jerusalem consulate to sell off at an auction file cabinets containing thousands of semi-classified documents, some of them containing personal financial information. The documents also revealed a long-standing American policy of undermining a Jewish presence in eastern Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

News of the massive USAID program for the Palestinian Authority schools where children learn incitement and that the State of Israel does not exist was first published by Arutz Sheva. Our team of journalists has also brought you news of the Torah and Jewish world found nowhere else. Full coverage was given last year to the dedication of eight Torah scrolls in memory of the Jews who were massacred in the terrorist attack two years at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

We also published an exclusive report on a father and his daughter praying on the Temple Mount several hours before her marriage.

Among dozens of articles about Israel that even the Israeli media bury, we have reported the ongoing struggle of one man to retain his Jerusalem property that is legally his but which has been taken over by Arabs who have ignored eviction orders issued by the court.

Our writers also have covered Iran and reported news that most media skip over, such as the story of a highly influential Shiite religious leader, with whom Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regularly consults, who apparently told followers that coercion by means of rape, torture and drugs is acceptable against all opponents of the Islamic regime.

Our readers found exclusive coverage on the trial in Japan of three yeshiva boys who were tricked into carrying drugs. We also “connected the dots” that other media ignore and reported on the Arab buyout of American and European banks and businesses during the financial crisis.

This week, Arutz Sheva-Israel National News exploded the myth that Jews in Judea and Samaria do not help Arabs and reported on a grassroots Gush Etzion charity drive for Arabs. We also have provided ”good news” on Israel such as the kibbutz solar farm that President Shimon Peres said helps fight terror by reducing the world's dependency on Iranian oil.

We have offered frequent and exclusive reports on Israeli research and innovations in the field of health, such as a new dressing for wounds that dissolved when the skin is healed.

Our opinion section gives readers insights on current events that are not found elsewhere, such as an in-depth understanding of the connection between New Year’s Day and anti-Jewish pogroms, the truth about J Street as well as a quiz on how much you really know about the Israel-Arab conflict.



This week's Arutz Shevathon Fundraiser provides our readers with the opportunity to give back to Arutz Sheva, helping Arutz Sheva continue to voice the truth and to expand into new horizons. Leave a message with your donation by calling 1-800-270-4288.

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