Bridget Johnson responded to my post on her reporting in The Hill entitled “‘The Hill’ covers Obama-Abbas meeting with a Likudnik spin.” She requested that we run the following correction and clarification, which we’re happy to do. Johnson:
“I used to contribute on a freelance basis to Pajamas Media and other media outlets during the time I used to be an opinion columnist. I stopped contributing to any other media outlets, including Pajamas, before joining The Hill. I did tell you that there was no bias involved in the wording choice, which I explained was intended to distinguish the formally titled administrative area under Israeli control from those parts of the West Bank already under Palestinian Authority control. And I include many political types from across the spectrum on my Facebook friends list, including from the Muslim world.”
Horowitz response: First, I sincerely apologize for any factual errors. I’m glad Johnson pointed out that she no longer contributes to Pajamas Media and I’m sorry that wasn’t clear to me when I did my original post.
The issue of bias is more complicated to me, and I think this is where Johnson and I will have to agree to disagree. I believe her when she says she believes there was no bias in using the terms Judea and Samaria. I understand that she thinks she was using the formal Israeli terms of the area. The reason I feel this is biased is because the Israeli government’s term for the occupied Palestinian territories is not recognized internationally. Splitting the West Bank into areas of control between Israel and
Palestinian Authority creates a false distinction, and is only
employed by the Israeli government to obscure the fact that the entire West Bank is under occupation. Also, as I pointed out in the post, the terms Judea and Samaria are used to demonstrate a biblical Jewish connection to the land and thus imply the rational for contemporary Jewish control over the area. Interestingly, William Safire commented on this in a 2006 “On Language” column he does for the New York Times Magazine. Safire said,
In wartime, words are weapons; we have seen how Israelis and Palestinians are highly sensitive to connotations in their conflict. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon preferred to refer to land in dispute west of the Jordan River by biblical names: Judea and Samaria, evoking Hebrew origins; Israeli diplomats long tried “administered territories.” Palestinians call it the West Bank and have won that terminological battle.
