Michigan Public Radio NPR refuses to air birthday greeting to Israel

Public radio — your taxpayer dollars at work fomenting Jew-hatred and supporting jihad.

NPR in Michigan rejected a Detroit Jewish couple’s message wishing the Jewish state a happy 68th Independence Day, saying it “compromises impartiality.” Impartiality between who, exactly? The annihilationists and their intended target? The Jews-haters vs the Jews? It’s further proof of the moral bankruptcy on the left and their crippling inability to distinguish between good and evil.

You would think that this level of Jew-hatred, now commonplace on the left — especially in elite circles — would stop the flow of Jewish donations to liberal causes and organizations such as NPR. You’d be wrong. Despite the rejection of Michigan’s NPR to broadcast their Happy Birthday Israel message, donors Hannan and Lisa Lis will continue to give to NPR  “trying to affect some pressure without going ballistic,” due to their “high level of respect for NPR.” Ugh.

“Michigan public radio station refuses to air birthday greeting to Israel,” TOI,  May 16, 2016:

Station says Detroit Jewish couple’s message wishing Jewish state a happy 68th Independence Day ‘compromises impartiality’

Jewish couple from Detroit is pressing a Michigan public radio station to broadcast a birthday greeting to Israel paid for by their sponsorship of the station

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Hannan and Lisa Lis made a donation to Michigan Radio, a statewide public radio group operated by the University of Michigan, that entitled them to sponsor a day’s broadcast and have a message read on the air six times.

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The couple requested “Happy 68th Birthday Israel” to be broadcast on Israel Independence Day, which took place on May 12, Deadline Detroit first reported. Hannan Lis is an Israeli citizen, and one son is serving in the Israeli army. Lisa Lis is a daughter of Weight Watchers CEO Florine Marks.

The station first said it needed two months notice to broadcast a message, but then rejected the message outright, saying in a letter to the couple: “We have determined that this message would compromise the station’s commitment to impartiality and that it crosses over into advocacy, or could imply advocacy.”

Hannan and Lisa Lis (Facebook)

The couple and the station exchanged several letters, including one in which the Lises asked if the station would broadcast a “Happy Birthday Norway” message. The station confirmed that it would not, according to Deadline Detroit.

According to the day sponsorship rules posted on Michigan Radio’s website: “Day sponsorships must be personal in nature. They may not include promotional, commercial or messages that Michigan Radio deems would negatively impact Michigan Radio’s reputation for impartiality. Language referencing political campaigns, candidacies, religious convictions or legislation will not be accepted.”

“There’s so much anti-Israel sentiments and rhetoric and lies out there, and I just wanted something positive about Israel to be announced on the radio,” Lisa Lis told AMI Newswire. “Many people just say ‘happy anniversary’ to their spouse. When they offered a day sponsorship to me, I genuinely and publicly wanted to wish Israel happy birthday from my husband and myself.

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“We respect the university and the relationship and connections it has with Israel. The radio station, on the other hand, somehow feels wishing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Israel is adversarial to them. And I can’t for the life of me figure out why. Everybody we talk to is surprised and shocked. I don’t see how ‘Happy Birthday’ is political.”

The couple told AMI that they would continue to press their case but are “trying to affect some pressure without going ballistic,” according to Hannan Lis, due to their “high level of respect for NPR.”