The Rally That (Almost) No One Covered
One of the most well-known philosophical questions known to popular culture asks whether a falling tree makes a noise if no one witnesses it. Now we can add whether a rally attracting tens of thousands of supporters for Israel outside the UN exists if no newspapers bother to report it. Fortunately, the New York Sun and Power Line manage to outdo the rest of the media in informing readers:
As world leaders convened for the second day of the United Nations General Assembly, tens of thousands of supporters of Israel gathered across the street from United Nations headquarters to protest President Ahmadinejad of Iran and to call for the unconditional release of the Israeli soldiers kidnapped on July 12. The international and national leaders who stepped up to the podium also challenged the United Nations to take preventative action against the Iranian leader who threatens the Jewish people with genocide.
The National Solidarity Rally, sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Jewish Community Relations Council, sent a message of solidarity with Israel and support for the war against global terrorism and its state sponsors.
"This is a message to the leaders of the world that we reject Ahmadinejad and his message of hate and the immorality he represents," the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents, Malcolm Hoenlein, said.
Speakers at the rally included Foreign Minister Livni, Ambassador Bolton, Governor Pataki, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, and Professor Alan Dershowitz.
Just the combination of speakers involved in the demonstration should have attracted a few headlines. How often will people see Alan Dershowitz and John Bolton on the same stage -- or for that matter, George Pataki and Dershowitz? That combination alone should have rated a mention at the Paper of Record, but a scan of their headlines this morning shows no interest at all.
The speeches also had some grist for media coverage. Elie Wiesel called the UN invitation to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shameful and said he should have been excluded from the international community. Dershowitz announced the launch of an effort to indict Ahmadinejad for attempted genocide, which he said would challenge the legitimacy of international bodies to enforce international law. He said he wants to see whether they can act before a genocide occurs, rather than just form committees to build memorials afterwards. I'm pretty sure I know how that will turn out.
At the least, though, the rally and its speakers has solid news value. Too bad most of the media thundered after Hugo Chavez following his sulphuric speech at the General Assembly. (via It Shines For All) |
