Watchdogs, Superheroes, & Second Life

-Sayed Kashua, an Israeli-born Arab journalist, and author has created a prime-time situation comedy which “deals with Israeli society’s prejudices and peccadilloes through the eyes of a Muslim Arab family that bears an uncanny resemblance to Mr. Kashua’s own.� (Forward)

-During the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s Gertrude Berg, on TV and radio “conquered America.� Ben Birnbaum wants to know, “Why is she still something of a mystery?� (Nextbook)

-A look at the magazine 2Life, whose “beat is the burgeoning Jewish community within Second Life,� which features, among other things, a “skyscraper made entirely of matzah.� (New Voices)

Israel in the Second Life. (Forward)

-Investigative journalist Yoav Yitzchak makes the case that Israel’s top journalists are betraying the public by covering for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as he leads Israel to disaster. (Israel National News)

-How Jewish history, culture, and values shaped the comic book superhero. (Nextbook)

-Sanford Pinsker provides “A Jewish perspective on the multicultural Sopranos,� especially the relationship between Tony and the Jew, Hesh. (NJ Jewish News)

-A battle is gearing up on whether Israel should have a state-authorized radio station catering to West Bank settlers established somewhere in Judea or Samaria. (The Jerusalem Post)

-A prominent ultra-Orthodox website digitally erased the image of Winograd Commission member, Professor Ruth Gavison, from their coverage of the report. In other cases, images of women are blurred. (Ynet)

-Rob Eshman says that media watchdog group CAMERA has no business “riling up rabbis, congregants and any Jew with an e-mail address to pressure the All-Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena to cancel the appearance of a prominent Palestinian activist, the Rev. Naim Ateek.� (Jewish Journal)

-But CAMERA’s Andrea Levin retorts that their actions were entirely justified (includes a rejoinder by Eschman). (Jewish Journal)

-Shalom TV, the first all-Jewish-content network (“Jewish C-SPAN�) ever offered by a major cable television provider, will be available free as an on-demand option to Comcast customers nationwide. It will present “Jewish life in all its diversity and dynamism,� but no Jews for Jesus. (J.)

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