"So you think NPR has a slant?"

As an NPR junkie, I take more than my share of flak regarding that outfit's editorial position on Israel. First, let me say that NPR news is a small portion of public programming and, incidentally, not the best portion. I listen mostly by podcast (If you see me with my Shuffle on, you're watching a man enraptured by the dulcet tones of Peter Segal rather than the din of Anthrax), which means I'm getting feature programs on science, human interest, etc. that NPR is so good at. Some of the best are "This American Life", "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me...", and "Car Talk."

But I digress. More than NPR, the NYT, and the Berkeley Birkenstock-Ledger combined, the UK media (both liberal and conservative -- I am looking at you The Economist) has a decidedly contra-Israeli stance. Apparently, having long been the oppressors themselves, they are quick to see the same quality in others.

Enter this morning's Times of London Editorial Page, crying out against an academic boycott of Israeli institutions. Why? Because those institutions are bastions of liberal thinking, as they are in most countries. Sure, this is a small move. But it is also a reminder that Europe is not intransigent in its criticism of Israel. A little more humanitarian aid; a little more talk of peace; and the tides of public opinion may turn again.