Tom Gross
Encyclopedia
Tom Gross is a British-born journalist and international affairs commentator, specializing in the Middle East. He was formerly Jerusalem correspondent for the London Sunday Telegraph
and for the New York Daily News
. He is a contributor to The Wall Street Journal
and National Review
in the United States, to The National Post in Canada, to The Australian in Australia, and to The India Times in India.
He has also written in Britain for The Daily Telegraph
, Spectator
, Evening Standard
and The Guardian
, among other publications, and in Israel for Ha’aretz, Ma’ariv
and The Jerusalem Post
, and in Iran for a number of opposition websites.
Much of his work has concerned the way the international media covers the Middle East. His article "The Forgotten Rachels", in regards to Rachel Corrie
, caused an international stir. He has been sharply critical of the BBC
, arguing that their Middle East coverage is strongly slanted against Israel
. In addition, he has subjected the coverage of Reuters and CNN to scrutiny.
He has also been strongly critical of The New York Times
, both for their general foreign coverage, and historically for what he terms their “lamentable record of not covering the Holocaust.” “The Times,” wrote Gross, “possibly because they feared people might (wrongly) think of it as a ‘Jewish’ paper, made sure reports were brief and buried inside the paper. During the war, no article about the Jews’ plight ever qualified as the Times’ leading story of the day.”
Gross has consistently supported the creation of an independent Palestinian Arab state alongside Israel and praised the reforms of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. But he has said that “to be viable and successful it is not only a question of what Israel will give the Palestinians, but of the Palestinians themselves engaging in good governance” and warned that “there is no point in creating a new Palestinian state if it will primarily be used as a launching ground for armed attacks on Israel, which would in turn only likely lead to a much bloodier war between Israelis and Palestinians than anything we have witnessed in the past.”
, was a distinguished author and critic, and his mother, Miriam Gross
, and sister, Susanna Gross
, are prominent literary editors. Gross' maternal grandfather was Kurt May
, a German-Jew who fled Nazi persecution to Jerusalem, where his mother was born. May, a lawyer who was disbarred in Nazi Germany for his Jewish heritage, later contributed significantly to the legal battle of The United Restitution Organization, which fought to attain restitution from German companies for persecuted Jews and Roma, after World War II. May was also a senior advisor to the U.S. chief prosecutor at the Nuremburg war trials.
, where he served as correspondent (covering the Czech Republic
, Slovakia
, and Albania
) for the (London) Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph. In addition, he wrote a regular op-ed column for The Prague Post
and op-eds for the leading Czech daily Lidové Noviny
.
and commentary, Gross worked in more popular media. He helped launch the Czech edition of Elle
magazine, the first international glossy magazine in post-communist Eastern Europe.
He also served as Prague Events Coordinator for MTV Europe
, and has written for other glossy fashion magazines, including Harper’s and Queen
, the Italian edition of Elle and the British edition of Cosmopolitan
.
For two years, based in Prague, he served as a special advisor to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the plight of Czech Roma
, mainly relating to citizenship issues arising as a result of the breakup of Czechoslovakia
. He has even gone so far as to criticize the internationally renowned liberal icon and playwright Vaclav Havel
, for not doing enough to help Roma while he served as Czech president.
He has acted as a consultant on Roma to the OSCE and for several non-governmental organizations, including Amnesty International, Helsinki Watch, the Danish Refugee Council and the Dutch Asylum Seekers Center.
His views on Roma have been cited in a number of print publications, including The New York Times
. He has also written about Roma in publications including The Wall Street Journal
, Financial Times
, Ha’aretz, and The Prague Post
.
Gross wrote the obituary in Britain’s Guardian newspaper of Milena Hubschmannova, the founding professor of Roma studies at Prague’s Charles University, and one of the leading Roma experts of her generation.
.
On the Middle East, he has appeared as a guest commentator on CNN
, Fox News, NPR
and other networks.
and the Myth of Shine
(Warner Books, New York, 1998) and of The Time Out Guide to Prague (Penguin Books, London, 1995).
Out of Tune received enthusiastic reviews in leading newspapers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Britain, China and South America. It was acclaimed as "a significant and courageous work on both music and the movies." Out of Tune was named the most important biography of a troubled genius by The Huffington Post in April 2011.
Gross has also contributed essays to a number of books, including Those Who Forget The Past (edited by Ron Rosenbaum
, Random House, New York, 2004).
He has worked as a consultant on several books, including Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and their Journey (by Isabel Fonseca), and as an editor on others, including Germany and its Gypsies: A post-Auschwitz ordeal (by Gilad Margalit).
and of Keren Malki. He is a founding signatory to The Henry Jackson Society’s Statement of Principles.
Sunday Telegraph
The Sunday Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961. It is the sister paper of The Daily Telegraph, but is run separately with a different editorial staff, although there is some cross-usage of stories...
and for the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
. He is a contributor to The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
and National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
in the United States, to The National Post in Canada, to The Australian in Australia, and to The India Times in India.
He has also written in Britain for The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
, Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
and The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, among other publications, and in Israel for Ha’aretz, Ma’ariv
Maariv
Maariv is a Hebrew language daily newspaper published in Israel. It is second in sales after Yedioth Ahronoth and third in readership after Yedioth Ahronoth and Israel HaYom. In a TGI survey comparing the last half of 2009 with the same period in 2008, Maariv saw its market share fall slightly...
and The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
, and in Iran for a number of opposition websites.
Much of his work has concerned the way the international media covers the Middle East. His article "The Forgotten Rachels", in regards to Rachel Corrie
Rachel Corrie
Rachel Aliene Corrie was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement . She was killed in the Gaza Strip by an Israel Defence Forces bulldozer when she was standing or kneeling in front of a local Palestinian's home, thus acting as a human shield, attempting to prevent the IDF from...
, caused an international stir. He has been sharply critical of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, arguing that their Middle East coverage is strongly slanted against Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. In addition, he has subjected the coverage of Reuters and CNN to scrutiny.
He has also been strongly critical of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, both for their general foreign coverage, and historically for what he terms their “lamentable record of not covering the Holocaust.” “The Times,” wrote Gross, “possibly because they feared people might (wrongly) think of it as a ‘Jewish’ paper, made sure reports were brief and buried inside the paper. During the war, no article about the Jews’ plight ever qualified as the Times’ leading story of the day.”
Gross has consistently supported the creation of an independent Palestinian Arab state alongside Israel and praised the reforms of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. But he has said that “to be viable and successful it is not only a question of what Israel will give the Palestinians, but of the Palestinians themselves engaging in good governance” and warned that “there is no point in creating a new Palestinian state if it will primarily be used as a launching ground for armed attacks on Israel, which would in turn only likely lead to a much bloodier war between Israelis and Palestinians than anything we have witnessed in the past.”
Education and family
Gross was educated at Oxford University, where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). He was born into a literary family in London. His father, John GrossJohn Gross
John Gross FRSL was an eminent English author, anthologist, literary and theatrical critic. The Spectator magazine called Gross “the best-read man in Britain”, as did The Guardian...
, was a distinguished author and critic, and his mother, Miriam Gross
Miriam Gross
Miriam Gross has had a long and distinguished career as a literary editor. She was the Deputy Literary editor of The Observer from 1969–81, the Women’s editor of The Observer from 1981–84, the Arts editor of The Daily Telegraph from 1986–91, and the Literary editor of The Sunday Telegraph from...
, and sister, Susanna Gross
Susanna Gross
Susanna Gross has been the books editor of The Mail on Sunday since 1999. She was born in London and educated at the University of York. She previously worked as an editor at the Daily Mail, was features editor of Harper’s & Queen and was deputy editor of The Week.She is also a keen bridge player,...
, are prominent literary editors. Gross' maternal grandfather was Kurt May
Kurt May
Kurt May was director of The United Restitution Organization, which assisted victims of Nazism, from its inception in 1948 to his retirement at age 91, in 1988....
, a German-Jew who fled Nazi persecution to Jerusalem, where his mother was born. May, a lawyer who was disbarred in Nazi Germany for his Jewish heritage, later contributed significantly to the legal battle of The United Restitution Organization, which fought to attain restitution from German companies for persecuted Jews and Roma, after World War II. May was also a senior advisor to the U.S. chief prosecutor at the Nuremburg war trials.
Prague
Before being based in the Middle East, Gross lived and worked in PraguePrague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, where he served as correspondent (covering the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, and Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
) for the (London) Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph. In addition, he wrote a regular op-ed column for The Prague Post
The Prague Post
The Prague Post is an English language weekly newspaper covering the Czech Republic and Central and Eastern Europe.It is the only English-language newspaper in the Czech Republic...
and op-eds for the leading Czech daily Lidové Noviny
Lidové noviny
Lidové noviny is a daily newspaper published in the Czech Republic. It is the oldest Czech daily. Its profile is nowadays a national news daily covering political, economic, cultural and scientific affairs, mostly with a centre-right, conservative view...
.
Elle and MTV
Before turning to political journalismPolitical journalism
Political journalism is a broad branch of journalism that includes coverage of all aspects of politics and political science, although the term usually refers specifically to coverage of civil governments and political power....
and commentary, Gross worked in more popular media. He helped launch the Czech edition of Elle
Elle (magazine)
Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means "she".-History:Elle was founded in...
magazine, the first international glossy magazine in post-communist Eastern Europe.
He also served as Prague Events Coordinator for MTV Europe
MTV Europe
MTV Europe is a pan-European 24-hour entertainment cable and digital television network launched on August 1, 1987. Initially, the channel served all regions within Europe being one of the very few channels that targeted the entire European continent...
, and has written for other glossy fashion magazines, including Harper’s and Queen
Harper's Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
, the Italian edition of Elle and the British edition of Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
.
Work on Roma
Tom Gross has also worked and written extensively on the political and social situation of the Roma (Gypsies). “This is one of the most painful and disturbing problems in Europe today, though it is often neglected or misreported by the mainstream media,” he wrote.For two years, based in Prague, he served as a special advisor to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the plight of Czech Roma
Relations between ethnic Czechs and Roma
The Roma people , commonly known as Gypsies , constitute a minority in the Czech Republic. According to the last census from 2001, only 11,746 persons declared themselves as Roma. But the actual number is much higher, estimated at 200–300,000 people...
, mainly relating to citizenship issues arising as a result of the breakup of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. He has even gone so far as to criticize the internationally renowned liberal icon and playwright Vaclav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
, for not doing enough to help Roma while he served as Czech president.
He has acted as a consultant on Roma to the OSCE and for several non-governmental organizations, including Amnesty International, Helsinki Watch, the Danish Refugee Council and the Dutch Asylum Seekers Center.
His views on Roma have been cited in a number of print publications, including The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. He has also written about Roma in publications including The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
, Ha’aretz, and The Prague Post
The Prague Post
The Prague Post is an English language weekly newspaper covering the Czech Republic and Central and Eastern Europe.It is the only English-language newspaper in the Czech Republic...
.
Gross wrote the obituary in Britain’s Guardian newspaper of Milena Hubschmannova, the founding professor of Roma studies at Prague’s Charles University, and one of the leading Roma experts of her generation.
Television and radio
Tom Gross has worked on a number of television programs and documentary films, including BBC TV specials on Czech Roma, the “BBC Rough Guide to Prague and Bratislava,” and a BBC documentary on Sudeten GermansSudeten Germans
- Importance of Sudeten Germans :Czechoslovakia was inhabited by over 3 million ethnic Germans, comprising about 23 percent of the population of the republic and about 29.5% of Bohemia and Moravia....
.
On the Middle East, he has appeared as a guest commentator on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Fox News, NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
and other networks.
Books
Tom Gross is co-author (with Margaret Helfgott) of Out of Tune: David HelfgottDavid Helfgott
David Helfgott is an Australian concert pianist. He is as well known for having schizoaffective disorder as he is for his piano playing. Helfgott's life inspired the Oscar-winning film Shine, in which he was played by Geoffrey Rush....
and the Myth of Shine
Shine (film)
Shine is a 1996 Australian film based on the life of pianist David Helfgott, who suffered a mental breakdown and spent years in institutions. It stars Geoffrey Rush, Lynn Redgrave, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Noah Taylor, John Gielgud, Googie Withers, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd, Nicholas Bell, Chris...
(Warner Books, New York, 1998) and of The Time Out Guide to Prague (Penguin Books, London, 1995).
Out of Tune received enthusiastic reviews in leading newspapers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Britain, China and South America. It was acclaimed as "a significant and courageous work on both music and the movies." Out of Tune was named the most important biography of a troubled genius by The Huffington Post in April 2011.
Gross has also contributed essays to a number of books, including Those Who Forget The Past (edited by Ron Rosenbaum
Ron Rosenbaum
-Life and career:Rosenbaum was born into a Jewish family in New York City, New York and grew up in Bay Shore, New York. He graduated from Yale University in 1968 and won a Carnegie Fellowship to attend Yale's graduate program in English Literature, though he dropped out after taking one course...
, Random House, New York, 2004).
He has worked as a consultant on several books, including Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and their Journey (by Isabel Fonseca), and as an editor on others, including Germany and its Gypsies: A post-Auschwitz ordeal (by Gilad Margalit).
Public Service
Gross is a member of the International Advisory Board of NGO MonitorNGO Monitor
NGO Monitor is a non-governmental organization based in Jerusalem, Israel whose stated aim is to generate and distribute critical analysis and reports on the output of the international NGO community for the benefit of government policy makers, journalists, philanthropic organizations and the...
and of Keren Malki. He is a founding signatory to The Henry Jackson Society’s Statement of Principles.