The Church of the Nativity is not in Israel. It's in Bethlehem, a city in the West Bank governed by the Palestinian Authority, whose political status is unresolved.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas plans to gravely violate the Oslo Accords and move towards statehood by getting the United Nations to upgrade the PA's status to "non-member state."
Time Magazine's Karl Vick doesn't bother to tell readers that Abbas chose not to negotiate with Israel, and describes 800 rockets targeting Israel in 10 months as attacks that happen "from time to time."
Susan Cornwell's otherwise straightforward news account cited two far-left Jewish groups criticizing the U.S. de-funding of UNESCO and omitted statements, such as that by the mainstream Conference of Presidents, that applauded> U.S. action.
Ha'aretz journalist Akiva Eldar uses falsehoods and deceptions, distorting both Israeli and Palestinian negotiating positions, to accuse Prime Minister Netanyahu of lying in his speech before the United Nations.
The New York Times coverage of the Palestinian bid for UN membership reveals the blurring between its news and editorial pages. Palestinian responsibility for the stagnation of peace negotiations and the need for concessions is not news that's fit to print.
Palestinians may indeed be frustrated with more than 18 years of on-again, off-again negotiations, but the question is with whom should they be frustrated – Israel, or their own leaders, such as Mahmoud Abbas, who have consistently fumbled opportunities to end the conflict with Israel and create a state of Palestine?
Once again, the Los Angeles Times gives a platform to Saree Makdisi, the UCLA comparative literature professor who regularly argues for a "binational state," meaning the dismantlement of the Jewish state.
Palestinian leaders have said they will gain statehood via UDI (a Unilateral Declaration of Independence) rather than through negotiations with Israel. This would violate their agreements with Israel as well as US assurances to Israel, and would be likely to provoke violence. It would also be unlikely to actually achieve statehood.