CNN's serious error in relying on a congenital propagandist for commentary about Israel - by Dexter Van Zile

...The problem is not just with CNN, but with Catholic leaders who failed to hold him to account over the years. The fact that he served seven years as International President of Pax Christi and as Patriarch of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem from 1987 to 2008 is, in light of his public statements, a shock.

Dexter Van Zile..
CAMERA Media Analyses..
23 January '18..

Vice President Mike Pence's recent visit to Jerusalem provided an opportunity for the anti-Israel Christians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to run for the cameras and tell everyone how bad Israel is.

In a now all-too-predictable turn of events, a Christian “leader” who has little, if any influence on life in Palestinian society, was recently portrayed as a credible source of information about the Arab-Israeli conflict by journalists in the United States.

The Christian in question is the former Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem, His Beatitude Michel Sabbah, who has made a career of demonizing Israel and downplaying Muslim violence against Israel — and Christians. In a segment that aired on Monday January 22, 2018, he told a reporter, "Our fear is not from our people, from Muslims,” Sabbah said. “Our fear is from America.”

H.B. Sabbah's message fit in neatly with the thrust of CNN reporter Ian Lee's report — that “U.S. foreign policy is hurting the local Christian community” in the Holy Land. The problem for that narrative is that Israel's local Christian population has increased from 34,000 in 1949 to 130,000 today, an increase of 282 percent.

This increase did not stop H.B. Sabbah from chiding the U.S. for its support of Israel, declaring that it is bad for Palestinian Christians. “American policy must change in the Middle East," he told CNN. "If truly the American administration is Christian, go back to the commandment of love. You love Israel. That's very good. But you [should also] love the Palestinians if you're Christian. Jesus said, love everyone.”

It is hard to believe that after recent events, Christians in the Middle East fear American policy more than they do the prospect of jihadist violence, but His Beatitude Sabbah is a former Catholic Patriarch — in Jerusalem no less — so who are outsiders to argue?

And not only is he the former Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem, H.B. Sabbah served as International President of Pax Christi, a Catholic charity organization for eight years, from 1999 to 2007. (The fact that he was able to hold onto this position in light of what he said during the Second Intifada — documented below — is a shock.)

The problem is that Sabbah is simply not the type of person CNN should rely on as a source for information about the Middle East.

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