AP Anti-Israel Bias in Pro-Israel Story

The Associated Press is at it again. Having lived in “East Jerusalem” and being Jewish, was I a settler? According to the AP, yes.

In a story about a Republican congress delegation to Israel, the AP threw in a blurb, completely unrelated, about two Palestinian families who were evicted in the “East Jerusalem” neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

“A Jewish settler closes the gate to the house from where a Palestinian family was evicted on Sunday, in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009. The Unites States and European Union have criticized Israel for allowing two Palestinian families to be evicted by police in east Jerusalem and replaced by Jewish settlers.”

Let’s look at this from a broader perspective. The two homes in question were owned by Jewish families who were violently removed in 1948. The homes were taken by Palestinians under Jordanian rule. Those families were allowed to live in the illegally taken homes until a Supreme Court ruling said that the homes should return to their original owners. That is not mentioned by the AP.

Calling Jewish residents of Jerusalem “settlers” is also a farce, and offensive. I guess when I moved from Indiana to Colorado I was a settler? That sounds ridiculous, right? So does calling someone moving across town a settler. Just moving across the street in Jerusalem could turn someone into an evil settler.

Just make sure you know the whole story before you jump to conclusions in anything you read in the media. And don’t take this sitting down. You can contact the AP to let them know they are biased and full or crap. You can also tell everyone you know the truth. That is all we need to win the PR battle over Israel: the truth. It is the other side that lies.