The NYT’s front page leader propagandistically claims (emphasis added):
“Israel’s borders erupted as thousands of Palestinians marched from Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank on the anniversary when Arabs mourn Israel’s creation.“
NewYorkTimes Front Page, Nakba Day, 2011
I call this a distortion because Palestinians actually mourn the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Can you imagine what it would be like if the NYT stated this honestly and plainly? Palestinians mourn the personal and collective impact — lives, homes, and land lost, refusing their right to return. By framing it as mourning “Israel’s creation” – shifting the focus from legitimate Palestinian suffering to the debatable merits of Jewish state-centric nationalism – the NYT promulgates the Zionist frame of “they want to destroy the state of Israel.”
Also note in the story, Ethan Bronner fails to mention UN Resolution 194 or international law in general. Res. 194 “resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date…”
What does it say about the NYT that their editors accept an article with such a drastic elision? Especially when written by a Zionist whose son serves in the very army that shoots to kill refugees who wish to return and live at peace, as many Palestinian refugees in fact desire? I spoke to some in the Dheisheh refugee camp. They don’t want to destroy Israel. They want to rebuild their villages.
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