AP Better Than AFP on 20 Years Since Oslo
Last week we noted AFP’s egregious omission of any mention of Palestinian suicide bombings and rocket attacks in its coverage marking 20 years since the signing of the Oslo accords. The AFP’s entirely one-sided reporting in which Palestinians had zero role in the breakdown of talks stands in stark contrast to the AP’s more balanced story.
Though Karin Laub’s article, “20 years on, Oslo Accords promise rings hollow,” focuses largely on settlements, it also manages to refer to Palestinian violence.
She writes:
Many Israel, scarred by Palestinian suicide bombings and rocket fire from Gaza, are skeptical of the other sides’ intentions and believe the politically divided Palestinians cannot carry out a peace deal, even if one is reached. . . .
Over the past 20 years, both sides have traded blame over the failures. . .
Israelis say Palestinians have used violence to try to extract concessions.
AP’s references to Palestinian suicide bombings and rockets is only noteworthy due the AFP’s skewed “reporting.” Maybe if the AFP found a reporter whose other job isn’t working for a Palestinian Authority newspaper, it too could get the job done.
Update: Since major media outlets have given such scant attention to the Israeli perspective on 20 years since Oslo, readers might want to check out BESA’s “Twenty Years to Oslo” by Prof. Efraim Inbar. He writes:
The Oslo process – started between Israel and the Palestinians 20 years ago – clearly failed to bring a resolution to the conflict, and did not result in a peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians. The nearly 1,500 Israeli casualties and many more thousands of wounded during this period by Palestinian terrorist and rocket attacks testify to this failure. Former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s land-for-security formula did not work. Moreover, the Palestinian Authority (PA), established within the framework of the Oslo process, now rules in the West Bank and promotes anti-Israel hatred through its education system and controlled media. Furthermore, Hamas, an Islamist organization dedicated to destroy the Jewish state, rules Gaza, continuing the armed struggle against Israel.
The current peace negotiations are unlikely to change the status quo. The chances that they will lead to the establishment of a stable, unified, and peaceful Palestinian state are nil. The differences in positions, particularly on refugees and Jerusalem, are unbridgeable. Moreover, the PA has displayed considerable difficulties in state building, and the resulting entity borders on a failed state. It failed to meet the essential test of statehood, monopoly over the use of force, and subsequently lost control over part of its territory, Gaza. It is hard to imagine the PA surviving without the infusion of billions of dollars of international aid. The PA mirrors the deep socio-economic and political crisis of several Arab states . . .
More from SNAPSHOTS
Reuters Falsely Links Jerusalem Embassy, Two-State Solution
January 9, 2019
The Jerusalem office park which houses Guatemala's embassy Multiple recent Reuters articles incorrectly report that moving the Brazilian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is a dramatic move away from the two-state solution. For instance, [...]
American Lutheran In Jerusalem Affirms that IDF Soldiers Are “Stormtroopers,” Backtracks
December 19, 2018
Rev. Carrie Ballenger Smith is a pastor at the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem. She ministers to the English-speaking congregation that meets at the Lutheran church, which is located in the Old City of [...]
The Washington Post Ignores Antisemitic Attack in Los Angeles
November 29, 2018
The Washington Post has warned about a “rising tide of antisemitism.” But as CAMERA has highlighted, The Post’s coverage of antisemitism has frequently been selective and is often politicized. More recently, the newspaper even ignored [...]
Think Tank: Iran Was Closer to Building a Bomb Than Previously Thought
November 23, 2018
A Nov. 20, 2018 report by a Washington D.C.-based think tank, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) argues that Iran’s illegal nuclear weapons program was “more advanced than Western intelligence agencies and the [...]
AFP Headline Casts Palestinian Assailant as Victim
November 21, 2018
Agence France Presse yesterday published a throwback headline, bringing us back to the period almost two years ago in which media outlets serially produced headlines which depicted Palestinian attackers as the victims. The wire agency's [...]
More Hypocrisy and Anti-Semitism From Linda Sarsour
November 19, 2018
In an earlier CAMERA exposé, we pointed out the self-serving allegiances and disgraceful hypocrisy of Linda Sarsour (of Women's March fame). We demonstrated how she poses as a universal activist who embraces all marginalized people [...]
Small Steps: Improved NY Times Language on Target of Hamas Rockets
November 15, 2018
Earlier this week, we pointed out how a New York Times article about fighting between Israel and Hamas neglected to inform readers that Palestinian rockets were fired indiscriminately toward civilians in Israeli towns and cities. [...]