JTA Special Series: Jewish Extremists-Smoke Screen for Obama
by Jerry Gordon, The Iconoclast, June 24, 2009
The Jewish Telegraph Agency, JTA, appears to be a veritable shill for the Obama Administration’s ‘settlements’ propaganda regarding Israel. It published and sent as an alert to subscribers a special series on Jewish Extremists. That is most unfortunate, as the series of articles endeavors to portray Religious Nationalists in West Bank settlements as anti-Israel, and anti-Muslim thereby presenting threats to the IDF trying to maintain security there.
There are three articles by JTA staff writer Dina Kraft in this ‘special series’.
Some Jewish Settlers Turning Against Israel
Israel wrestles with settler challenge
The view from a West Bank hilltop
The focus on these pieces is to show that Religious Nationalists are the equivalent of the cheredi Neturei Karta opposing Israeli government attempts to eject them from Hevron, building more than 100 so-called illegal hill top caravan settlements and engaged in ‘terrorist ‘activities against Palestinians .
My suspicions were aroused when I found this commentary from one of the cheer leaders for the Obama settlements mantra, the Israel Policy Forum (IPF). You may recall the IPF full page ad in the New Duranty Times excoriating Israeli settlement policies as contra the two-state solution, the division of Jerusalem and return of Arab refugees. It supported President Obama and presented five steps:
1. RE-START NEGOTIATIONS. US-mediated talks toward the establishment of a Palestinian
state alongside Israel must be re-launched without delay.
2. STRENGTHEN SECURITY. Weapons smuggling into Gaza and Palestinian terror attacks on Israelis must stop. The number of American-trained Palestinian security forces in the West Bankmust be increased and their role in preventing violence strengthened.
3. IMPROVE THE FACTS ON THE GROUND. West Bank settlement construction and the
demolition of Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem must be stopped. Illegal outposts, superfluous
checkpoints and unnecessary roadblocks in the West Bank must be removed.
4. FOCUS ON GAZA. The Gaza Strip must be reconstructed with a focus on civilian needs andthe local economy.
5. PROMOTE REGIONAL PEACE. The Arab Peace Initiative must be embraced and used as a basis for negotiations for a comprehensive peace between Israel and its neighbors, including Syria.
Under the headline of “The Wild West” on the West Bank on the IPF blog, “The Pulse”, these JTA excerpts were found: (Continue Reading this Article)
The JTA is dominated by leftists. I gave up on reading their dispatches, which sound like Meretz and Peace Now press releases, a long time ago.
Comment by NormanF — June 25, 2009 @ 2:33 am
Kapos at the JTA.
Comment by Laura — June 25, 2009 @ 10:34 pm
I have found the JTA articles to be a particularly frustrating read for years. Their work contains all the same biases, superficial assumptions and distortions that you would expect to find in the mainstream media. I wouldn’t want them to be a PR agency for Israel, but what use is a Jewish news service if it repeats the pro-Obama, two-state solution narrative that overplays Israel’s responsibility for the conflict and downplays the nature of the war against Israel. They show little understanding of Israel’s legal, moral and historic rights. Worse yet, they often write their stories with the same “human interest” slant as the MSM, starting with an anecdote (often from a Palestinian or left-wing activist) that shows Israel and the Jews in the worst possible light.
But this is what we have come to expect from American Jewish institutions and organizations…
Comment by 4infidels — June 26, 2009 @ 1:11 am