The Associated Press vs. Judea and Samaria’s Jews

A recent Associated Press news report that was featured by many news outlets worldwide inadvertently disclosed the truth that the Israel Defense Forces are not occupying cities in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).

The story was authored by Tia Goldenberg and is described by the AP on its website as “an Associated Press reporter and producer covering Israel and the Palestinian territories.”

The news article referred to recent Israeli counter-terrorism operations in “the occupied West Bank,” citing a raid in the city of Jenin as an example. But here’s the hitch: Israel does not occupy Jenin. 

The Israeli governor and military administration of Jenin departed back in 1995. The Palestinian Authority runs Jenin’s courts, police, unions, media, schools, elections (on the rare occasions they are permitted) and everything else that makes up daily life. The IDF is deployed outside of cities like Jenin in order to maintain overall security of the region and stop terrorist operations. The IDF’s role is exactly what the internationally recognized Oslo Accords identified it as.

The very nature of Israel’s counterterror actions demonstrates that the Israelis are not occupying the city: as Goldenberg herself noted in her article: Israel recently conducted “near daily” raids in Jenin. 

If Israeli forces were occupying Palestinian Authority-controlled cities like Jenin the IDF would not be staging raids — they would already be in the city continuously. 

In reality, Israeli troops enter cities such as Jenin only briefly, when they are in hot pursuit of terrorists, and then they withdraw. It is the Palestinian Authority’s governing administration that remains as the civil administration day after day.  

Why does one news report matter? One reason is that so many newspapers, major ones as well as small town ones depend on the AP for their international coverage.

This story alone appeared in the following major daily newspapers:

The Boston Globe

The Chicago Tribune

The Detroit News

Las Vegas Sun News

Los Angeles Times

South Florida Sun Sentinel 

The Washington Times

As well as dozens of websites for TV and radio stations.

But there’s more. In January, after an error by a different AP reporter, I sent letters to the editors to several newspapers. The response from one editor is telling. This Iowa-based newsman wrote: “I would suggest contacting the Associated Press with your concerns. It is their news story. Thanks, Kyle J. Ocker” 

And that’s the problem: news editors trust the AP.  

The Associated Press has reporters stationed throughout the Middle East, so how is it that they still can’t get the most basic facts about Israel and the Palestinian Authority right?

About itself the AP states “For over 175 years, The Associated Press has been a trusted, independent source for fast, accurate and unbiased reporting.” That accuracy seems to not apply to Israel. 

American newspaper editors should do the right thing and tell the AP to stop misrepresenting what’s happening in Israel and/or stop using reports from Goldenberg and others who are perpetuating the canard of “Israeli occupation.”

Fully 98% of the Palestinian Arab residents of those areas live under the security rule of the Palestinian Authority and its forces. The Israeli governor and the military administration of those territories departed back in 1995. That’s a long time for the AP to mislead the readers of its articles. 

Judea and Samaria was, under the terms of the Oslo II Accords agreement, organized into three areas. Area A is under Palestinian Authority administrative as well as police control and A constitutes about 18% of the Judea and Samaria. But what’s important to note here is that Area A is by far the most densely populated out of three areas.  

Area A includes eight Palestinian Arab cities. This list includes Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jericho and well over two-thirds of Hebron. There are zero Israeli families or neighborhoods living in Area A.

If news editors can’t get the AP to correctly report on Judea and Samaria then these journalists should correct these types of errors themselves if they want to continue using the AP. That’s really what journalistic ethics demand. Until then, if you care about truth in Middle East reporting, please send a letter to the editor next time you see false reports about an occupation that does not exist.

Moshe Phillips is national chairman of Americans For A Safe Israel, AFSI, (www.AFSI.org), a leading pro-Israel advocacy and education organization.