Mark Elf of Jews sans frontieres keeps tabs on British news coverage of the IP conflict, which always turns out to be an indirect condemnation of the censorship that pervades American journalism. This article and others sampled below would never make it into prominent American newspapers.
But in Britain today, according to Elf, because of fair and truthful news coverage,
…an article in (the) Daily Telegraph…shows how far Israel’s star has fallen in the eyes of the establishment.
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2007/07/beyond-settlers-needs.html
That’s the British establishment. Here’s the article he refers to and a link to others published in the recent past in the Daily Telegraph.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/09/wisrael109.xml
‘Israel behind secret land grab’
By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
10/07/2007
Israel has been accused of orchestrating a deliberate land grab in the West Bank by allocating 11 times as much land to Jewish settlements as is needed.It has also been accused of doing nothing to stop settlers from spilling out of allocated areas and stealing even more land from their Palestinian neighbours.The twin strands of Israel’s land policy in the occupied West Bank is described by Peace Now, a respected Israeli land rights group, as a “deliberate and underhand” policy of expansion.
Other articles which have appeared in the Daily Telegraph are unapologetic as follows:
Illegal settlers received millions in grants
By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
08/06/2005
The scale of Israel’s illegal land grab in the occupied territories was disclosed yesterday when the government’s own investigation found at least £9 million of taxpayers’ money was recently used for illegal Jewish outposts.While domestic and international attention is focused on Israel’s plan to withdraw all its settlements in Gaza, the report suggests a clear push by the Israeli government to stake out more land in the West Bank.
Israel ‘still expanding West Bank settlements’
By Tim Butcher, Middle East Correspondent
21/10/2005
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, yesterday accused Israel of building Jewish settlements in the West Bank at a faster rate than ever before, breaching the “road map” peace plan.His remarks were supported by a leading Israeli human rights group which found that the Israeli government last year oversaw a large influx of Jewish settlers into the West Bank, outweighing the 7,500 settlers withdrawn from Gaza this summer.
Israel’s borders finalised ‘by 2010’
By Harry de Quetteville in Jerusalem
10/03/2006
The final borders of Israel will be settled within four years, Ehud Olmert, the country’s acting prime minister, said yesterday.Mr Olmert, who is expected to lead the centrist Kadima party to a convincing victory in general elections later this month, issued the 2010 deadline in twin interviews with Israeli newspapers.”In four years’ time, Israel will be separated from a decisive majority of the Palestinian population, within new borders,” he said.
Israel rejects Arab peace initiative
By John Crowley and agencies
30/03/2007
Israel has rejected an initiative drawn up by Arab leaders to revive a blueprint for peace in the Middle East.The Arab heads of state, attending a two-day summit in Riyadh, adopted a resolution reaffirming their commitment to the Saudi-inspired plan. The proposal offers Israel peace and normal ties if it withdraws from all land seized in the 1967 war, allows the creation of a Palestinian state and the return of Palestinian refugees.
Arab League plans first visit to Israel
By staff and agencies
10/07/2007
The 22-country Arab League will send envoys on a historic first mission to Israel this week to discuss a sweeping Arab peace initiative and how it might prop up embattled Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli and Arab diplomats said. The announcement came the same day Israel’s Cabinet approved the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners in a bid to bolster Mr Abbas in his power struggle with the Islamic militant Hamas.
(snip)
Israeli officials have said they welcomed aspects of the plan, while rejecting its call for a return of all of the West Bank and an implied demand to resettle Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war that followed Israel’s creation and their descendants in Israel.
This last article may have made it into American newspapers, but nobody can deny that it would never expose the fact that another Camp David 2000 “generous offer” is in the making. More decades of strife are predictable.
