Linda Gradstein at NPR, exposed

Chris Kromm ckromm at mindspring.com
Tue Feb 19 20:54:52 PST 2002


ALI ABUNIMAH & NIGEL PARRY, ELECTRONIC INTIFADA - National Public Radio's Israel correspondent Linda Gradstein has received cash honoraria from pro-Israeli organizations in what appears to be a clear violation of NPR policy, an Electronic Intifada investigation has revealed. Gradstein has not only accepted such honoraria in the past, but continues to do so in spite of being instructed not to by NPR management . . . Following the revelation that some journalists had received payments in the form of "speakers fees" from bankrupt energy giant Enron, NPR correspondent Juan Williams informed listeners of the network's Morning Edition program on February 8, that "At NPR, reporters are not allowed to give speeches to groups they report on to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest."

Yet Gradstein has long been a favorite on the pro-Israeli lecture circuit, especially with Hillel, a nationwide organization which in close cooperation with AIPAC (the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee) and the Israeli government, works to promote a strongly pro-Israeli agenda on college campuses. In fact, at least in one case, Hillel openly acknowledges that it sees Linda Gradstein as a propagandist for Israel. A page at the Hillel website, providing a summary and evaluation of an April 2001 lecture Gradstein gave at George Washington University, states that inviting her to the campus was specifically for the purpose of "educating a broad cross-section of the campus about Israel from a Jewish perspective" and that this would be "a strong tool in the fight against the Palestinian propaganda" on the campus.

Gradstein was paid $2,500 for this appearance, according to the Hillel evaluation, $2,000 of which was raised from Hamagshimim, a group that describes itself as "a dynamic pro-Israel/Zionist movement for young adults."

Our investigations also revealed that Gradstein received a $1,000 honorarium from the Amy Adina Schulman Fund, a foundation whose stated funding criteria include promoting "Zionist youth movement" activities, for a lecture she gave in Princeton in April 2001. These are only two examples of the dozens of appearances Gradstein has made since 1993 for many of which she has received cash honoraria and in-kind benefits from pro-Israeli lobby groups.



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