Settlements established by Israel in territories captured in the 1967 war have become a matter of great controversy among pro- and anti-settlement advocates who debate the legality of such communities.
The subject of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza
has long provoked severely distorted coverage. Regardless of differing
political views on settlement policy, information about the much-reported issue
should be factual and balanced.
On MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Keir Simmons erroneously referred to locations which Hezbollah targeted within internationally-recognized Israeli territory as "settlements." While MSNBC agreed the terminology was wrong, the network declined to broadcast a correction.
CAMERA prompts correction after UPI falsely reported that United Nations said "nearly 500" West Bank Palestinians were killed in settler-related incidents since Oct. 7. In fact, the UN cited seven fatalities. McClatchy subsequently corrects on more than two dozen sites.
UPI's Adam Schrader falsely reports that according to UN data, Israeli settlers are responsible for most of the 199 Palestinians killed in the West Bank from Jan. 1 to Oct. 6 of last year. In fact, UN data shows seven Palestinians were killed in incidents involving settlers. In virtually all of the cases, the Palestinian fatalities were perpetrators attacking Israelis.
While the Biden Administration's decision to consider settlements illegal under international law in no way restores a decades-long U.S. policy, media reports that it does just that do revive long-standing miscoverage of U.S. policy.
By bringing on someone with such a record of outlandish lies, and by refusing to either push back with the facts or bring on an opposing perspective that could have countered Diana Buttu’s falsehoods and calls to ethnically cleanse the land of Jews a second time, MSNBC once again shows contempt for credibility and accuracy.
Reporters Patrick Kingsley and Raja Abdulrahim expand their enterprise of vilifying Israel as the culprit in the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict by focusing on Israeli settlers.
When it comes to Israel, the Washington Post's opinion page is often an echo chamber, breathlessly repeating the same views. The newspaper even ran two op-eds by the same author in the space of seven days, both implicitly arguing the same thing: Jewish homes in Judea are responsible for the lack of peace.
In the eyes of The Los Angeles Times, Israeli plans to advance plans to build Jewish homes in Jerusalem are an "obstacle to peace" of the first order, demanding a page-one, 1,000 word story. The actual murder of an Israeli citizen and the arrest of dozens of terrorists with plans and means to inflict mass casualties is not a story at all.