The article was written by a very dishonest person, Batya Ungar-Sargon. Ungar-Sargon wrote inaccurate and misleading pieces for the Forward on the Nechemya Weberman sex abuse trial in which she initially identified herself as a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, without telling readers that her degree is in English and she taught what would be remedial-level English classes at NYU or another good school at John Jay. Pretty misleading. (And even more so because the Forward apparently knew about the deception and didn't correct it until it was outed elsewhere.)
Above: Part of the East Ramapo School Board in 2011
Tablet Magazine has a very misleading article on the problems with the haredi-controlled East Ramapo school district.
The article was written by a very dishonest person, Batya Ungar-Sargon. Ungar-Sargon wrote inaccurate and misleading pieces for the Forward on the Nechemya Weberman sex abuse trial in which she initially identified herself as a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, without telling readers that her degree is in English and she taught what would be remedial-level English classes at NYU or another good school at John Jay. Pretty misleading. (And even more so because the Forward apparently knew about the deception and didn't correct it until it was outed elsewhere.)
Ungar-Sargon's family is close to an alleged sex abuser, a rabbi who admits to being a sexual sadist who seduces women who attend his classes.
So it wasn't much of a surprise when her coverage of the Weberman trial insisted there were no witnesses against Weberman and no evidence, and that the case was a he said, she said – without ever making it clear that there was much supporting evidence and that victim is herself a witness – just as rape victims are regularly witnesses against their rapists. If Ungar-Sargon had a legal background, she might have known she was essentially arguing that almost all cases of rape, child sex abuse and spousal abuse were invalid and the abusers should walk free. But she lacked that legal background despite her deception, and she either did not know or did not care that what she was reporting was nearly complete BS.
Ungar-Sargon brings this same level of incompetence and deceit to her reporting on East Ramapo, couching haredi opponents as anti-Semities and or ignorant of the law and ignoring years of haredi bad behavior.
I once asked Tablet why it published senior writer Liel Lebovitz's article glorifying and openly encouraging readers not to report crimes, including child sex abuse, to police. (Don't "snitch,' is how Leibovtz put it.)
Tablet's answer was that it publishes a wide variety of views, even views it may disagree with.
That's fine for an opinion piece – which is essentially what Leibovitz's awful essay was. But it isn't fine for a what is supposed to be a factual report like Ungar-Sargon's.
Anyone can read up on East Ramapo here or in any of the major and minor news sources Ungar-Sargon chastised for not following her view of what has gone on there, from the New York Times to the Journal News.
What you'll see is the Ungar-Sargon is dishonest.
The question is, why didn't Tablet's junior editors (its editor-in-chief is on maternity leave) notice?
Related:
[Hat Tip: Yochanan Lavie.]