Under the “Active Stills” byline at +972 are sharp comments on a recent NYT piece about the E1 corridor in the West Bank. The first two paragraphs below, there’s more at that link:
A recent New York Times article ran under the misleading headline, “West Bank Land, Empty but Full of Meaning”, referring to the E1 area where the Israeli government recently announced new settlement building in spite of international opposition. Strangely, the photo appearing in the online edition underneath that headline pictures a Bedouin man who owns land in E1.
The Times headline is especially troubling for its resonance with the Israeli national myth that the land was “empty” before the Zionists came and “made the desert bloom.” Such language reinforces decades-old misconceptions to the casual reader, while the disconnect between the headline and the photo illustrates the internal contradictions of Nakba denial and Zionist mythology: there was no one here, and they all need to leave.
Update:
Amnesty International has tweeted on this very question:
AmnestyInternational@amnesty .@NYTimes wrong to call #WestBank E1 area “empty.” 2,300 face eviction from E1 + Ma’ale Adumim http://owl.li/gcdTv @StevenErlanger @rudoren
2300 face eviction from E1? People? Or Palestinians? You have to exercise judgment and discernment (discrimination), here, or you’ll be out of a job. Now that you understand, you see it IS empty.
The E1 threat may be a fake threat. Look at where else Israel continues to build. But if it’s a fake threat Netanyahu shot himself in the foot with it considering how the EU is all up in arms over it…just adding to Israel condemnation around the world.
This is an interesting article, although it has some wishful thinking in it I believe. However earlier this year I did speculate that Obama might be acting ‘indirectly” thru Europe on Israel. Lately Beinart and others are also suggesting that he might be using Europe to pressure Israel. I don’t really see how ‘indirect’ is going to work well though or fast enough to prevent a blowup when the US continues to use it’s UN veto for Israel and continues aid and continues to replenish it’s weapons stock every time it attacks Gaza and provide it bunker busting bombs.
http://original.antiwar.com/engelhardt/2012/12/20/are-the-us-and-israel-heading-for-a-showdown/
Are the US and Israel Heading for a Showdown?
No One Thinks So, But It Just Might Happen
Are the US and Israel Heading for a Showdown? No One Thinks So, But It Just Might Happen
It’s doubtful, but they will eventually have a showdown with the Palestinians. On Thursday the US blocked Security Council efforts to issue a joint presidential statement and resolution condemning construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-security-council-members-blast-israel-over-settlement-construction-plans.premium-1.485916
On Wednesday Nimir Hamad, an adviser to President Mahmoud Abbas, had told Ma’an that the Palestinian government would go to the UN Security Council in order to prevent Israel from implementing its new settlement plans. He said if that didn’t work, the leadership would head to the International Criminal Court to put an end to settlement expansion. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=549376
That 19th century colonial canard is alive and well today. In American Jewish education, for example, the Land of Israel is depicted as empty of people. The Biblical landscape, the olive trees and archeological ruins are often shown as devoid of present-day human activity. This establishes an essential separation between “the Land” and whichever people happen to be living there right now. Jews, on the other hand, are free to project themselves on to this empty canvas. Mainstream Jewish education is built on this metaphysical bond. You have to conceptually kick out the Palestinians to make room for the Jewish myth.
Of course it’s empty.
Surely, the NYT bothered to check all the land deeds and verify that no one has any ownership to the land.
Hey kids, it’s a fire sale and it’s all up for grabs. Yayyy.
The NYT is so pathetic. It’s amazing what passes for journalism these days.
Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, Palestinians have for centuries invested in lands because next to gold, land is the BEST investment. And 20 or 30 years down the road, Palestinians will pass that land on to their children so that they, too, can build homes for their families and live on the land.
But along comes the NYT and claims, “What’s the problem here, all you whiners? The land is empty.”
For full effect the NYT should have printed a photo of a Palestinian herding a few goats, because no report in the Western media is complete without the stereotypical goat-herder image.