I saw a headline today that says "Israel bars Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City". It was a true shocker. After all, Palestinians make up about a third of the residents of Jerusalem, so barring them from the Old City would be a major move of international importance. Then I read the article. When I got more than halfway through the piece, I learned that people who live in the Old City are not included in the ban; they can enter or leave as they like. People who work in the Old City are not included in the ban; they can enter or leave as they want. People who attend school in the Old City are not included in the ban; they too are free to come and go. The ban is also just for two days during an upcoming Jewish holiday when the Old City will be filled with visitors coming for the celebration of that event. So, boiling it all down, for two days during a holiday, the Israelis are barring Palestinians who do not live, work or study from the Old City. The measure is designed to prevent any more violent attacks by Palestinian terrorists of the sort that have seen four Israelis killed in the last week and others, including a toddler, stabbed by terrorists.
It's disgusting that the headline is so far from the reality. But it was not the only misinformation in the article. Here's my favorite bit: "Some 300,000 Palestinians live in Jerusalem, making up about a third of the city's population. They live in the predominantly Arab eastern district and have residency status in the city, but do not hold Israeli citizenship." It sure makes it sound like the Palestinians live a second class existence, doesn't it? It ignores reality, however.
We have to go back to 1967 to understand this. In that year, the Israelis recaptured the half of Jerusalem that had been under Jordanian rule. The Israelis reunited the city as one. All Palestinians who lived in Jerusalem were offered Israeli citizenship. These people also had the option of retaining Jordanian citizenship or becoming Jerusalem "residents" but not Israeli citizens. Residents have the same rights as Israelis, but they were not able to vote in the Israeli national elections. They can vote, however, in local elections. Residents also do not serve in the Israeli armed forces. The large majority of the Arab residents of Jerusalem chose to be "residents" rather than Israeli citizens. Their children have continued to be "residents", so saying that most Palestinians in the city "have residency status in the city, but do not hold Israeli citizenship" without explaining that this was the choice of those Palestinians, makes it seem like some sort of punishment for them, when that is not true.
There are many problems in the relationships between Israelis and Palestinians. The media ought to write about those and not create phony ones that make things seem worse than they actually are.
It's disgusting that the headline is so far from the reality. But it was not the only misinformation in the article. Here's my favorite bit: "Some 300,000 Palestinians live in Jerusalem, making up about a third of the city's population. They live in the predominantly Arab eastern district and have residency status in the city, but do not hold Israeli citizenship." It sure makes it sound like the Palestinians live a second class existence, doesn't it? It ignores reality, however.
We have to go back to 1967 to understand this. In that year, the Israelis recaptured the half of Jerusalem that had been under Jordanian rule. The Israelis reunited the city as one. All Palestinians who lived in Jerusalem were offered Israeli citizenship. These people also had the option of retaining Jordanian citizenship or becoming Jerusalem "residents" but not Israeli citizens. Residents have the same rights as Israelis, but they were not able to vote in the Israeli national elections. They can vote, however, in local elections. Residents also do not serve in the Israeli armed forces. The large majority of the Arab residents of Jerusalem chose to be "residents" rather than Israeli citizens. Their children have continued to be "residents", so saying that most Palestinians in the city "have residency status in the city, but do not hold Israeli citizenship" without explaining that this was the choice of those Palestinians, makes it seem like some sort of punishment for them, when that is not true.
There are many problems in the relationships between Israelis and Palestinians. The media ought to write about those and not create phony ones that make things seem worse than they actually are.
No comments:
Post a Comment