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Important information for friends of Israel -- from CAMERA (slightly amended and abbreviated by US4Israel, for your convenience).
The Washington Post: Obsessive-Compulsive Coverage of settlements
In "Mutual Dismay Over Jewish Settlements (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/19/AR2008051902449.html?referrer=emailarticle) (May 20), The Washington Post ran a long article on Israel's construction of Jewish neighborhoods and communities in the disputed West Bank (Judea and Samaria). Errors of commission, omission and editorial judgment render the dispatch more promotional writing than reporting.
Major flaws
1. The Post quotes "Hagit Ofran, settlement expert for the Israeli advocacy group Peace Now." Peace Now once made international headlines with a report charging that 86.4 percent of Ma'ale Adumim was built on private Arab land; the correct figure was less than 1 percent (0.54 percent).
2. The Post's description of Ma'ale Adumim as "a settlement due east of Jerusalem" is misleading. Ma'ale Adumim is four miles from downtown Jerusalem -- closer to the Knesset, Israel's parliament, than suburban Bethesda, Md. is to the U.S. Capitol.
3. The Post declares, without attribution, that "the Palestinian nation, when and if it is created, will include the West Bank and Gaza." In fact, the West Bank and Gaza Strip remain disputed territories: the unallocated five percent of the original British Mandate for Palestine (Jordan comprises 77.5 percent, pre-'67 Israel 17.5 percent). The Post pre-judges the outcome of future events.
4. The Post writes that "to the Palestinians, expansion of settlements represents proof that Israel is not serious about wanting a deal." There's no mention at all of Palestinian behavior: thousands of rockets and other terrorist attacks launched from the Gaza Strip (after Israel razed two dozen settlements and evacuated nearly 9,000 settlers in 2005) that prove to Israelis that the Palestinian Arabs are not serious about wanting a deal.
Reinforcing this one-sided coverage, the accompanying chart notes, among other things, that in 2007 "the Quartet called on both parties to make progress on their Phase One Roadmap obligations, including an Israeli freeze on settlements." Glaringly omitted is the Palestinians' Phase One Roadmap obligation: to eliminate terrorist attacks on Israel and terrorist organizations.
5. The Post alleges that "at stake is the future of land that has been in dispute since 1967, when Israeli forces conquered Arab territory." In fact, the territory is not Arab. Its legal status and sovereignty have been in dispute since the British Mandate ended in 1948. Jordan then illegally occupied it, but Jewish rights to "settlement on the land" were recognized by the original League of Nations' mandate and later adopted by the United Nations, and have never lapsed. Here again, The Post commits Middle East revisionism.
Action item: Write The Post at letters@washpost.com with a copy to: Jerusalem Bureau Chief Griffe Witte, Foreign Editor Scott Wilson, Assistant Managing Editor for Foreign News David Hoffman, Managing Editor Philip Bennett and Ombudsman Deborah Howell whose addresses are: witteg@washpost.com, wilsons@washpost.com, hoffmand@washpost.com, bennettp@washpost.com, ombudsman@washpost.com respectively.
Politely but directly point out errors. Point out the article's bias-by-omission, including silence on Palestinian terrorism. Insist that coverage of Jerusalem and settlement-related issues be comprehensive, not compulsively tilted against Jews and Israel.
Please send a blind copy (bcc) of your letter(s) to letters@camera.org and us4israel@gmail.com.
Just in case you are not acquainted with CAMERA, here's the link: www.camera.org.
Thanks for helping Israel,
US4Israel
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