Israel Palestine On Record Pa

In this scathing analysis of Israel-Palestine coverage in the US media,Howard Friel and Richard Falk reveal the persistent ways the New York Times has ignored principles of international law in order to shield its readers from Israel's lawlessness. While the Times publishes dozens of front-page stories and extensive commentary on thekillings of Israelis, it publishes very few such stories on thekillings of Palestinians, and mostly ignores the extensivedocumentation of massive violations of Palestinian human rights by thegovernment of Israel. Furthermore, the Times regularly ignoresor under-reports a multitude of critical legal issues pertaining toIsrael's policies, including Israel's expropriation and settlement ofPalestinian land, the two-tier system of laws based on national originevocative of South Africa's apartheid regime, the demolition ofPalestinian homes, and use of deadly force against Palestinians. Thesejournalistic practices have not only shielded the extent of Israel'stransgressions from the American electorate, which is Israel's mainsource of financial and military support, it has severely diminishedour understanding of the Middle East and of US foreign policy ingeneral.

Richard Falk is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Global Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.