Comments on: A letter from Anna Baltzer on her Daily Show appearance with Mustapha Barghouti

By: Loreen Targos

Loreen Targos — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:57:30 +0000

Thank you so much for your courage. Keep it up. Only with justice and two fair states can Israel remain a true Jewish democratic homeland. Peace!

By: Francine Apollo

Francine Apollo — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:32:12 +0000

I am sorry to have missed the program. I want to thank the Daily Show and Jon Stewart for the courage to say what needs to be said.
“Real” journalists have not presented a balanced view of this issue…it’s 60+ years old!!! We have to “solve” the problem of Israeli occupation. Yes, Jews needed a homeland…I would never minimize that but establishing freedom and safety for one group at the others’ expense diminishes us all.
Go Jon!!

By: Dan Byrnes

Dan Byrnes — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:40:19 +0000

The only upsetting thing here is that a comedy show remains one of the only honest voices in American media. Stewart and the Daily Show have done excellent work in bringing relevant issues to a wider audience, and I believe Jon Stewart continuously comes off as the least-biased interviewer in any media outlet. Kudos, again, for comedians having more courage than many journalists.

By: Gary

Gary — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:07:12 +0000

I say the Daily Show did give time to “the other side”: the guests vs the berserker audience heckler. Mr. Heckler recreated the “feel” of Likudniks arguing belligerently with critics, like Alan Dershowitz vs Norman Finkelstein on Democracy Now.

I FIRMLY applaud the courage of Jon Stewart and Comedy Central for taking this on, when they did not have to, for setting a precedent (ONCE AGAIN) as a bold satirical NEWS outlet, like The Onion but with Truth.

Thanks for not playing it safe. Bless Rachel Corrie too, the play honoring her memory was suppressed by the Likudnik-Zionist activists. Their rabid defensiveness, to even mild critiques, tells a huge story.

By: dan badger

dan badger — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:04:59 +0000

The Daily Show is criticized for airing the Barghouti/Baltzer segment on the grounds that “you didn’t give the other side.” But The Daily Show has no obligation to “the public interest” any more than Fox News does. It is free to present what it chooses. Those who disagree are free to present their side. Such a presentation would be valid criticism of the Barghouti/Baltzer segment would be legitimage and welcome. But to criticize simply the show simply because it didn’t say what the critics would like to have said is bogus. It’s up to them to make their own case.

By: Erez

Erez — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:04:08 +0000

My message to Anna Baltzer http://digs.by/fy8

By: Rosamine Hayeem

Rosamine Hayeem — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:16:46 +0000

As a Jewish viewer in London, I applaud Jon Stewart for allowing the courageous and truthful voices of Anna Baltzer and Mustafa Bargouthi to be heard. For far too long have anodyne and glib excuses been made for Israel’s continuing acts of illegal repression and violence towards the occupied Palestinians. For far too long have mainstream media been content with distorted versions of what is happening on a daily basis.

By: Diane Oraif

Diane Oraif — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:23:04 +0000

Anna, Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama love you! Thank you for bringing this issue to the media.

By: Charles Stuart

Charles Stuart — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:53:14 +0000

Perhaps Mr. Stewart is the person who is allowing us to join the rest of the world (and global media) so that real facts become available to the sheltered American public. Now, if other news channels will follow, we can have an honest discussion in this country. The astonishing amount of money and effort diverted to censoring the reality of the Middle East for Americans could be spent to much better use in trying to SOLVE these problems, create a one-state or two-state solution, move the borders back to the pre-war boundaries, give Palestinians access to water, take down the apartheid wall, and make Jerusalem an international city supervised by the UN. It’s pretty simple – once the fog machine is rolled away. Thank-you, Jon. You broke the artificial dyke.

By: Tom Getman

Tom Getman — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:43:03 +0000

Jon and Company…you are even more favorite after your display of courage. If Israelis and Zionist Americans want Israel to survive like I do it is time to honestly face xenophobic excesses and leave victimization behind…both being the perpetual victim and creating more of them. Israel can never be “a light to the nations” with present cruelty to stangers and neighbors alike. And our heroes Anna and Mustafa were spot on. Strength to all of you as the mass movement builds.
Courage,
Tom G