The struggle for a fair presentation of Israel\'s side in the world press continues. The latest issue taken up by an organization based at \"www.HonestReporting.com\" involves a comparison by Newsweek-MSNBC of the respective careers of Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat. Nowhere in the short report - which appears in Newsweek\'s Dec. 17 edition and on the MSNBC website at \"http://www.msnbc.com/news/669794.asp#BODY\" - is Arafat\'s terrorist background noted, and certainly not the facts that he founded a terrorist organization, served as a model for dozens of other terrorist organizations, and was responsible for thousands of deaths, hijackings, bombings, and mass murders. On the other hand, Sharon is presented as \"aggressive\" and \"ruthless,\" as having led \"Israel\'s invasion of Lebanon that kill[ed] 2,000 Palestinian refugees,\" and as having sparked the current war with his visit to the Temple Mount. HonestReporting.com lists several Newsweek/MSNBC addresses to which readers can protest this prejudice.



In addition, HonestReporting asks the public to ask their local media for reports on Arafat\'s latest speeches of incitement (see above). The organization notes that Arafat referred to Palestinian attacks in his speech as \"terrorist activities,\" and asks, \"Now that even Arafat himself characterizes Palestinian activities as such, shouldn\'t BBC, Reuters and CNN do the same?\"