The Associated Press was, at one point, considered a reputable news source. Founded in 1846, its “news” articles and photographs are published in 1700 newspapers and used by thousands more television and radio broadcasters. There have been some controversies in its long history, most of which were in the last decade, but it is still considered by many to be an impartial news source.
It’s not. It hasn’t been for a while. For years, it has been slanting news stories against the right, against America and against Israel. It has done this subtly in many cases. However, when it comes to the Middle East, the organization no longer seems to care about even the appearance of impartiality.
Following Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech to both houses of Congress, the “news” organization published a Fact-Check of the speech. When they say “fact check,” they really mean “blatant attack and distortion of facts as well as misrepresentation of what was said in the first place.”
The author of the hit piece, Josef Federman attempts to take cherry picked quotes and then refute them.
“NETANYAHU: “You don’t need to send American troops to Israel. We defend ourselves.”
THE FACTS: “Israel is a leading recipient of American foreign aid, including more than $1 billion in military assistance each year.”
Clearly “THE FACTS” have absolutely nothing to do with the Prime Minister’s statement. With that, it should be kept in mind that the entirety of that military aid needs to be spent in the United States. That aid is actually a net loss to the Israeli economy. Israel still has no need for American troops.
“NETANYAHU: “In Judea and Samaria, the Jewish people are not foreign occupiers. We are not the British in India. We are not the Belgians in the Congo.”
THE FACTS: While the West Bank, or Judea and Samaria, is promised to the Jewish people in the Bible, the international community considers the West Bank occupied territory. Israel captured the area in the 1967 Mideast war but has never annexed it. Its occupied status is underscored by the presence of tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers who protect Israeli settlements and control the movement of Palestinian residents in the name of security.”
The League of Nations voted at San Remo in 1920 to unanimously set aside the area then known as Palestine as the National Homeland for the Jews. Part of that land, to the East of the Jordan River, was later set aside to be given to the Hashemite family for their help to the British during World War I. The remaining land, between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River was, by international agreement, in its entirety intended for Jewish settlement. When the League of Nations was subsumed by the United Nations, all member states accepted as obligatory all binding resolutions including the Mandate for Palestine. The partition of Palestine by the UN was only binding with the acceptance of both sides and only one side was willing to accept it. The 1949 armistice agreement specifically precluded setting any permanent borders. Judea and Samaria were illegally occupied by Jordan between 1949 and 1967 and were used as launching grounds for countless terror attacks as well as the ’67 war.
The fact that thousands of Israeli soldiers are there to protect the Jewish inhabitants says more about the Arab residents and has no bearing on the land’s status as occupied.
“NETANYAHU: “You don’t need to export democracy to Israel. We’ve already got it.”
THE FACTS: Israel does give its Arab minority full civil rights, including participation in elections. But Israeli Arabs suffer from systematic discrimination in housing and the workplace. Also, more than 2 million Palestinians living in the West Bank do not have Israeli citizenship and therefore cannot vote in Israeli elections.”
Yes, that’s right. Arabs have full civil rights, they are members of the parliament, hold ministerial positions, high ranking officers in the army, supreme court judges, university professors, businessmen with full freedom of the press, religion, and assembly.
“NETANYAHU: “The vast majority of the 650,000 Israelis who live beyond the 1967 lines reside in neighborhoods and suburbs of Jerusalem and greater Tel Aviv.”
THE FACTS: Nearly all of these communities were built in the face of overwhelming international opposition and are considered illegal settlements by the world, including the U.S. There are 300,000 Israelis living in the West Bank and 200,000 in east Jerusalem, making a total of 500,000.”
There is no real legal opposition to Israel building in Judea and Samaria. The land, by definition, is not “occupied” since they never legally belonged to anyone except Israel as defined by the San Remo conference of 1920.
“NETANYAHU: “The Palestinian economy is booming. It’s growing by more than 10 percent a year.”
THE FACTS: The West Bank economy is indeed growing rapidly. But the World Bank has noted that the growth comes after years of contraction during fighting with Israel and has been fueled by huge amounts of foreign aid. It warns the growth is unsustainable unless Israel does more to encourage the Palestinian private sector.”
There is one reason and one reason alone for the contraction of that economy during those years: the overwhelming belligerence of the Arab inhabitants of the area as well as endemic corruption. It was only following the Arafat years that the Arabs actually made an effort to build some economic infrastructure. I’m still not sure why Israel is responsible for encouraging the Palestinian private sector.
“NETANYAHU: “Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by the Palestinian version of al-Qaida.”
THE FACTS: While Hamas and al-Qaida have killed hundreds of people in religious holy wars, they have no connection, and Hamas has in fact come under criticism from the global terror network for being too moderate. Al-Qaida preaches global jihad. Hamas says its struggle is solely against Israel, not the West at large. In its Gaza stronghold, Hamas has violently clashed with smaller armed groups that claim inspiration from al-Qaida.”
This guy is clearly an idiot. I know, that’s an ad hominem attack, but this attack is completely without merit. Netanyahu isn’t saying Hamas is the same as al-Qaida, he’s making a clear metaphor to which the American audience can relate. Al-Qaida has stated that it wishes to topple America and build an Islamic state in its place. Hamas has stated it wishes to topple Israel and build an Islamic state in its place. That aside, Hamas has repeatedly voiced support for al-Qaida and its genocidal push for Global Jihad, both are off shoots of the Muslim Brotherhood. The fact that Hamas has clashed with smaller groups that claim inspiration from al-Qaida is nothing more than a local power struggle and has no ideological basis.
That the AP would put this nonsense out on their news wire is another nail in the coffin of journalism.