“I’m not saying the press should be pro-Israel,” Neil Lazarus said Monday. “What I need is for the press to be fair.”
Israel expert and advocate Neil Lazarus spoke at Hillel Monday evening as part of Hillel’s Israeli Night. This event, which also included an information session about studying abroad in Israel and a Middle Eastern dinner, was sponsored by the Penn Israel Coalition, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, the Consulate General of Israel in Philadelphia, Penn Hillel and Penn Study Abroad.
During the presentation titled “Israel in the Media,” Lazarus showed a series of film clips and manipulated photographs that negatively portrayed Israel. In addition to criticizing the media’s depiction of Israel, Lazarus also addressed bias in the media in general. He used several clips and images to show how information is often presented out of context or in a way that distorted the truth.
“Be critical of Israel,” Lazarus said. He reiterated this point several times throughout the evening, while also encouraging students to defend Israel unconditionally.
Born in Britain, Neil Lazarus immigrated to Israel and currently lives there with his family. After working for several years as a consultant for the Israeli government, he established the company Awesome Seminars, which promotes student advocacy for Israel. He travels around the world to deliver seminars to college students and other Jewish young adults. He also lectures on Israeli politics, diplomacy and anti-Semitism.
Despite the serious nature of his topic, Lazarus frequently made jokes about himself and about Jewish and Israeli culture. The audience responded positively to Lazarus’s humorous and often irreverent approach.
“He addressed all the main criticisms against Israel and responded with phenomenally accurate information,” College freshman Jon Iwry said. “I don’t think he could have done a better job to defend both Israel and accurate media reporting.”
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