Jerusalem Post readers, however, voiced resounding support for the bill, in a recent unscientific poll. Almost 60% of respondents agreed that “Israel is under siege and must protect itself against such delegitimizing boycott campaigns,” though 16% insisted that boycotts are a “legitimate, non-violent form of protest.”In another recent JPost poll, readers seemed to follow Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s line, that rabbis should be investigated like anyone else in Israel. The poll was taken after Rabbi Dov Lior and then Rabbi Ya'acov Yosef were arrested on suspicion of incitement to violence and racism over their alleged endorsement of the controversial Torat Hamelech (The King’s Torah) book. An overwhelming 65% of readers voted that rabbis should be questioned by police “just like any other citizen in Israel would,” though 15% said that rabbis statements fall under a “different category” of speech.On YouTube news videos, protests in the Middle East dropped further in popularity, after holding the top spots almost every week since February. The site’s Newsroom section featured a clip from Malaysia, in which protesters demanded more transparency in the voting process. The second and third top news clips on the video-sharing site were not related to protests at all, but rather reflected popular topics in US news: A massive dust storm caught on video in Arizona and the announcement of the dramatic not-guilty verdict in the Casey Anthony case.According to the PEJ News Coverage Index last week, only federal-debt limit talks received more news coverage in the US than the murder trial, in which a Florida mother was found not-guilty of killing her two-year-old daughter. According to the index, 24% of coverage was devoted to the economy, and 17% to the trial. Across US media, Anthony was the biggest name in news in the past week with 101 stories on her trial, followed by President Barack Obama (73), and former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn (21).Back on JPost.com, the Top Five stories spanned news topics, a change from the last list, when flotilla-related stories flooded the Top Ten. In this week’s list, the much-hyped “Flytilla” took the top spot, but the next four most-read stories covered varied topics:1. 'Air Flotilla' lands, 69 activists barred entry2. New Jewish group wants to restore polygamy3. American picks IDF service over elite US Army Rangers4. Cancer cell breakthrough reported by Hebrew University 5. UN's Richard Falk under fire for ‘anti-Semitic’ cartoonFrom news sites to blogs, tweets to videos, The Numbers Crunch is a bi-weekly column which zooms out and brings you the big picture online, from Israel, the Middle East and around the world, and poll results from Jpost.com. If you have stats to share, email elana@jpost.comThe writer is the Internet desk manager at The Jerusalem Post
The Numbers Crunch: Israelis 'Like' settlement boycotts
Also, Twitter meets Google+, Jpost readers back controversial bill, and Malaysia riots, Casey Anthony verdict sweep YouTube.
Jerusalem Post readers, however, voiced resounding support for the bill, in a recent unscientific poll. Almost 60% of respondents agreed that “Israel is under siege and must protect itself against such delegitimizing boycott campaigns,” though 16% insisted that boycotts are a “legitimate, non-violent form of protest.”In another recent JPost poll, readers seemed to follow Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s line, that rabbis should be investigated like anyone else in Israel. The poll was taken after Rabbi Dov Lior and then Rabbi Ya'acov Yosef were arrested on suspicion of incitement to violence and racism over their alleged endorsement of the controversial Torat Hamelech (The King’s Torah) book. An overwhelming 65% of readers voted that rabbis should be questioned by police “just like any other citizen in Israel would,” though 15% said that rabbis statements fall under a “different category” of speech.On YouTube news videos, protests in the Middle East dropped further in popularity, after holding the top spots almost every week since February. The site’s Newsroom section featured a clip from Malaysia, in which protesters demanded more transparency in the voting process. The second and third top news clips on the video-sharing site were not related to protests at all, but rather reflected popular topics in US news: A massive dust storm caught on video in Arizona and the announcement of the dramatic not-guilty verdict in the Casey Anthony case.According to the PEJ News Coverage Index last week, only federal-debt limit talks received more news coverage in the US than the murder trial, in which a Florida mother was found not-guilty of killing her two-year-old daughter. According to the index, 24% of coverage was devoted to the economy, and 17% to the trial. Across US media, Anthony was the biggest name in news in the past week with 101 stories on her trial, followed by President Barack Obama (73), and former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn (21).Back on JPost.com, the Top Five stories spanned news topics, a change from the last list, when flotilla-related stories flooded the Top Ten. In this week’s list, the much-hyped “Flytilla” took the top spot, but the next four most-read stories covered varied topics:1. 'Air Flotilla' lands, 69 activists barred entry2. New Jewish group wants to restore polygamy3. American picks IDF service over elite US Army Rangers4. Cancer cell breakthrough reported by Hebrew University 5. UN's Richard Falk under fire for ‘anti-Semitic’ cartoonFrom news sites to blogs, tweets to videos, The Numbers Crunch is a bi-weekly column which zooms out and brings you the big picture online, from Israel, the Middle East and around the world, and poll results from Jpost.com. If you have stats to share, email elana@jpost.comThe writer is the Internet desk manager at The Jerusalem Post