'Newsweek' Caught in Propaganda No-Man's-Land

The Wall Street Journal reports today that its European edition has called off its sponsorship of a tennis tournament in Dubai that has suddenly turned into the latest front in the Israeli-Palestinian propaganda war. Why hasn't Newsweek done the same?

The tournament, one of the larger events on the Women's Tennis Association tour, became a focus of controversy after the United Arab Emirates denied an entry visa to an Israeli player, Shahar Peer, on the ostensible grounds that her presence might incite dangerous demonstrations against Israel's military presence in Gaza.

The tour's organizers considered canceling the event in protest but decided not to, in part at the urging of Peer, who didn't want to be seen as responsible for denying her fellow players the chance to compete. But they threatened to hold the tournament elsewhere next year. Meanwhile, the Tennis Channel quickly said it would not televise the event, and now the Journal says it it withdrawing sponsorship of both the women's and men's Dubai tournaments and canceling the publication of a special advertising section slated for Monday. "The Wall Street Journal's editorial philosophy is free markets and free people, and this action runs counter to the Journal's editorial direction," the paper said of the Emirates' decision to bar Peer from entry.

That leaves Newsweek in an awkward position. While the tournament has a score of sponsors, the Journal Europe and Newsweek are the only Western media outlets among them -- entities whose commitment to the principles of freedom and openness presumably exceeds that of, say, Rolex. (Gulf News Broadcasting is also a sponsor.) The newsweekly declined to comment to the Journal, and a spokeswoman has yet to reply to my email or voicemail.

It's likely Newsweek is eager to avoid being seen as taking sides in the conflict. The magazine found itself the focus of intense anger in the Muslim world three years ago after a flawed report about U.S. soldiers desecrating a copy of the Koran incited protests that killed 15 people. Newsweek later apologized for the report.