The effectiveness of the pro-Israel lobby to intimidate our press has reached new heights

The effectiveness of the pro-Israel lobby to intimidate our press has reached new heights

Ira Glunts on October 23, 2015 |  http://mondoweiss.net/2015/10/effectiveness-intimidate-reached?utm_source=Mondoweiss+List&utm_campaign=c8c8302d90-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b86bace129-c8c8302d90-398529325

Two weeks ago, the New York Times appended editorial notes and made numerous edits to Rick Gladstone’s timely piece about scholarly doubts over whether Jewish temples ever stood on the present site of the al Aqsa plaza. The final version of the article completely altered the intention of the article to appease Jewish critics, and unconvincingly blamed Gladstone for misstating his central thesis.  (The Mondoweiss coverage is here and here.)
On Thursday, October 15 during Kate Snow Live, MSNBC aired a segment on the present violence in Israel/Palestine. Amazingly, it presented the four-map graphic about Palestinian land loss (see graphic in video above) that is familiar to most who are supporters of Palestinian rights.  The following exchange then took place between Snow and MSNBC analyst Martin Fletcher, who is a Jewish television journalist with 35 years of experience in the region,

Snow: Another bit of history to remember. If you look at the map, we have a map that shows historically the areas that used to be Palestine in 1946, and then the UN Plan there, and then as it shrunk down to basically Gaza and the West Bank, right, and then at present. And so what does that show you Martin, that the area where Palestinians are living has been growing increasingly smaller?
Fletcher: Well absolutely. But this is what it’s all about. It’s all about the land. And what this map shows you — plus it’s pretty shocking when you present it in this way — what it clearly shows is that if there’s no peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israel, more of those green areas, more of that Palestinian land will be eaten up by Jewish settlements.  [Emphasis mine, IG] Although right now there is a freeze on settlements by Israel, because there’s so much international pressure, the Palestinians say “If we don’t have peace soon, then we won’t have a Palestine left.”

Contradicting the Zionist narrative in the US mainstream press is considered as inappropriate as serving a rabbi a ham and cheese sandwich.  Whether contesting Jewish claims to the al Aqsa plaza as in the Gladstone piece or criticizing Israeli land appropriation as in the Snow/Fletcher segment one runs the risk of losing his/her kosher-for-US audiences stamp of approval.  Gladstone and Snow may not have understood this, but Fletcher surprised me by making the honest comment that the Jews have been taking over Palestinian land and are continuing to do so.