Joel Greenberg

Update on Media Coverage of Prisoners’ Document

Even while Hamas officials unequivocally stress the signing of prisoners' document does not mean the group accepts Israel's legitimacy, some news organizations continue to wrongly claim that by signing the document, Hamas leaders "effectively endorse a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." Other news organizations, however, have significantly improved their reporting on the document.

UPDATED: Journalists Veer Off ‘Road Map,’ Crash Into Cease-Fire

It seems that some members of the media are having a tough time differentiating the terms of the American brokered "road map" from Palestinian unilateral demands on Israel. Namely, while Palestinians have conditioned their cease-fire on the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons (among other demands), the "road map" plan, drawn up by the United States, European Union, Russia, and the United Nations, has nothing at all to say about Palestinian prisoners.

Palestinian Textbooks Teach Anti-Israel Hate

The media have ignored the Israeli publications which promote humane images of Arabs, and, far more importantly, have turned a blind eye to the systematic incitement to hatred of Jews and Israel sponsored by the Palestinian Authority in PA schools.

BACKGROUNDER: Land, the Palestinian Authority, and Israel

Following statements by PA Justice Minister Freih Abu Meddein and by Chairman Yasir Arafat that Palestinians found to have sold land to Jews will face the death penalty, at least 4 Palestinian land dealers said to have been involved in such sales were murdered.

Questions for the Times

If the New York Times botches its coverage of Israel, tipping reality upside down, making lesser occurrences into major stories and slighting deadly-serious events, what are the repercussions? Do senior editors carefully weigh substantive questions raised by concerned readers – or do they deflect criticism with evasions and insults?