Mon. 18 Jul. 2011 @ 11.35 - Poll finding that majority of Palestinians reject two states for two peoples while endorsing religious extremism ignored by British media; Guardian report omits these details, while Independent focuses on Jewish rejectionism instead. On Friday, Just Journalism covered a major new poll on Palestinian attitudes in the West Bank and Gaza. The poll, conducted by face-to-face interviews in Arabic with over a thousand participants, produced several worrying results. As The Jerusalem Post reported, this included a significant majority who reject Israel's legitimacy as a Jewish state, and agree that the creation of a Palestinian state should be the first step to absorbing the Israeli one: 'Respondents were asked about US President Barack Obama's statement that "there should be two states: Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people and Israel as the homeland for the Jewish people." 'Just 34% said they accepted that concept, while 61% rejected it. 'Sixty-six percent said the Palestinians' real goal should be to start with a two-state solution but then move to it all being one Palestinian state.' Mon. 18 Jul. 2011 @ 17.31 - Sky News correspondent highlights negative effect of foreign aid 'industry' in Palestinian territories, including role played by UN body for refugees. Tim Marshall, foreign affairs editor for Sky News, highlights the role played by NGOs in the Palestinian territories in his latest blog piece for the Sky News website. 'Palestine - 'Occupation Incorporated', discusses some of the negative side-effects of the proliferation of aid agencies, including over 200 NGOs, which operate in the Palestinian territories and account for 30 per cent of the territories' GDP. According to Marshall, 'Palestinians are among the most foreign aid funded people in the world and the place is awash with money.' However, he argues that the sheer level of foreign aid often serves to undermine both the quality of government and the private sector. In particular, he states that the 'billions that pour in' mean that the Palestinian Authority is not fully responsible for delivering services. Just Journalism Spokesperson Michael Weiss writes in The Daily Telegraph on the recent arson attack at Ma'an News Agency in Gaza. Friday 15 July 2011 Hamas says Gaza's press is free. But "free" has a special meaning for them: journalists are free to do their job, and Hamas is free to harass, intimidate and beat them up for doing it. On July 10, the offices of Ma'an News Agency - the only independent Palestinian media outlet - were the site of an attempted arson attack. According to the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms, Ma'an's Gaza correspondent, Ibrahim Mohammed Khalil, discovered on Sunday morning that "a large portion of the door [to Ma'an's newsroom] had been burned down". He also found a "plastic bottle that contained combustible material". The English language editor of Ma'an, George Hale, is a friend of mine and so I emailed him asking what had happened and who might have tried to immolate his newsroom. Did he suspect Hamas might have had a hand in it? Fri. 15 Jul. 2011 @ 18.04 - Arab-Israeli politician allegedly assaulted security staff while being escorted from Knesset, during standard procedure for parliamentarians deemed unruly. The Israeli press is reporting that Haneen Zoabi, a well-known Arab-Israeli member of the Israeli parliament, has been accused of assaulting a Knesset security staff member. The incident is alleged to have occurred while Zoabi was being removed from a parliamentary session on Wednesday. According to The Jerusalem Post, she was removed after shouting at Benjamin Netanyahu, following a reference he made to her.
July 18, 2011 The Wire Poll findings of Palestinian rejectionism unreported
The Wire Sky News highlights foreign aid 'industry' in Palestinian territories
Op-eds and Features Who tried to burn down Ma'an News Agency in Gaza?
The Wire Haneen Zoabi allegedly assaults Knesset staff
Monday, 18 July 2011
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