‘Religious Freedom’ and a Half-told Story at BBC Radio 4 - by Hadar Sela

...As we see, this report presented an entirely one-sided and distorted account of a story that was repeatedly portrayed as being solely about "the church's rights in the region" and with absolutely no mention of the other side of the story and the rights of the people affected by the church's actions. One might also question the timing of this story seeing as it actually broke several months ago but BBC audiences heard nothing about it until various church bodies began a PR campaign. As for Edward Stourton's claim that "religious freedom" includes real estate deals - that one will surely go down as one of the more ridiculous notions promoted by the BBC.

Hadar Sela..
BBC Waatch..
23 November '17..

The November 19th edition of the BBC Radio 4 religious affairs programme ‘Sunday‘ included an item described in its synopsis as follows:

“Madeline Davies from The Church Times tells Edward why the Greek Orthodox Church is selling it’s [sic] land in Israel.”

However, as listeners quickly found out, it in fact developed into a story about a draft bill currently awaiting debate in Israel’s Knesset.

Presenter Edward Stourton introduced the item.

Stourton: “In the holy land nothing stirs passions like the land itself. The Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem – Theophilos III – seems to be selling off an awful lot of it. Madeline Davies of the Church Times has been following the story and told me what’s happening.”

Davies: “The Greek Orthodox Patriarchy owns a large amount of land in Israel and it’s really the only source of income that the Patriarch has. They’ve got a lot of costs to cover and they have sold some land in order to cover those costs. There’s really a dispute over some of those sales; whether some of those sales were done with the full permission of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch and whether some of them were actually done without the approval of the church and should never have gone through.”

Stourton: “And why is it such a sensitive issue?”

Davies: “It’s really a question about the co-existence in Jerusalem. There’s a desire to ensure that the church is able to control its own land; to make its own decisions about whether it sells it and who to, or whether the government can really intervene in who owns land in the area.”

Stourton then promoted extremely partisan – and inaccurate – framing of the story:

(Continue to Full Post)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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Does Ha'aretz Provide the Full Picture? Distorting Eli's Lands Status

Chanan Amiur..
CAMERA Media Analyses..
03 February '13..

This past week, Ha'aretz reported that according to the Civil Administration, at least 166 homes in the settlement of Eli were built on private Palestinian land. Yet the Civil Administration has never made such a determination. Once again, Ha'aretz readers are treated to a distorted headline.

Chaim Levinson reported on Jan. 29 ("At least 166 homes in Israeli setttlement built on private Palestinian land"):

At least 166 houses in the West Bank settlement of Eli were constructed on private Palestinian land, a recent survey by the Civil Administration revealed.

A quick check reveals that Ha'aretz's error is two-fold. The land upon which the 166 homes are built is not defined as private Palestinian land -- not according to the state, which built the homes in the 1990s; not according to the army, whose then GOC Central Commander signed off on the demarcation boundaries of the new settlement which the state declared; and certainly not by the residents of Eli.

More importantly, Ha'aretz errs by wrongly stating that the Civil Administration defines the land as privately owned Palestinian land. According to Guy Inbar, the spokesman for the Civil Administration, the administration defines the land in question as "survey lands" or "land under clarification," meaning they are currently going through a procedure to resolve possible claims of private ownership and to complete the process of declaring them state lands.

Moreover, it is undisputed that no Palestinian claims ownership of these particular lands. At most, there are possible signs of earlier cultivation during an undetermined historical period. If they were cultivated at all in the past, it is not known by whom. Thus, to claim that these are private Palestinian lands is like declaring a murder based on a possible motive, but without a body or a weapon. What serious investigator would determine a murder took place under these circumstances? In any event, the Civil Administration has not determined that these are privately owned Palestinian lands. Then, how, and why, has Ha'aretz falsely attributed this claim to the administration?

Elder Debunking "The Map that Lies"

Elder of Ziyon..
13 July '12..






From Fox News:

Advertisements at train stations in suburban New York depicting shrinking Palestinian territory in Israel are riling some critics who say they are “deliberately misleading and inaccurate,” FoxNews.com has learned.

The ads, which were purchased by The Committee for Peace in Israel and Palestine, show the “Palestinian Loss of Land” from 1946 to 2010. An accompanying headline reads: "4.7 million Palestinians are classified by the U.N. as Refugees."

Henry Clifford, co-chairman of the group, told FoxNews.com he paid $25,000 to display posters at 50 Metro-North Railroad stations for 30 days. They are to “educate and inform people” on the proper historical context of the region, he said.

“There’s always room for discussion of different sides of every story, but there’s no room for discussion on fact,” Clifford said. “Anyone who challenges these maps and the content of these ads, it’s they’re obligation to show that they’re historically wrong. The ball is in their court.”

Excellent!

(Read and share Elder's full  rebuttal at "The Map that Lies")

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook.
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Moshe Arens : Legal, but wrong

Moshe Arens..
Haaretz..
01 May '12..

The State of Israel rightfully prides itself on being the only democracy in the Middle East. It also takes pride in being a country in which the rule of law prevails. That is no small matter in a country that has had to contend with wars and acts of terrorism throughout the 64 years of its existence and presently faces what might be an existential threat. It is probably without parallel in other democracies throughout history that have had to deal with the kinds of emergencies with which Israel must contend.

No wonder that in territory whose legal status is ill-defined - under Israeli administrative jurisdiction but not Israeli sovereignty - problems arise that present the judicial system and the government with complicated legal problems that on occasion seem almost insoluble. It is precisely in these cases that a good dose of common sense may be more suited than legal argumentation, and can point the way to what should or should not be done.

Such was the case of the Israeli settlers who lived for years in the Gush Katif settlement bloc, had broken no laws, and had enjoyed the support of successive Israeli governments - until the Sharon government decided to order the Israel Defense Forces to forcibly remove them from their homes as part of its disengagement policy.

The government decision involved a blatant violation of the civil rights of thousands of Israeli citizens, and a petition against it was filed with the High Court of Justice - the ultimate protector of the civil rights of Israeli citizens and all those living under Israeli sovereignty or Israeli jurisdiction, the ultimate arbiter of complaints against injustice and unlawful acts. The court, nevertheless, upheld the government's decision.