In its Aug. 30 edition, the New York Times devotes considerable space to an article by Jerusalem correspondent Isabel Kershner about inflammatory remarks against Palestinians by a politically influential Israeli rabbi, Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Shas Party, which is part of the government ("Actors' Protest and Rabbi's Sermon Stoke Tensions in Israel Ahead of Peace Talks")Kershner's six-column article takes up a full third of page A7.  It quotes Yosef as calling Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas "evil" and praying that God strike "these Ishmaelites and Palestinians with a plague; these evil haters of Israel."  It also quotes him as saying that Abbas "and all these evil people should perish from the earth."The Times was right in publishing Yosef's remarks, especially since he's a major political player in the formation of Israeli governing coalitions.The Times, however, is wrong in failing to publicize...(Read Full Post)