Village sells itself as “Ireland’s political and cultural magazine.” Unfortunately, investigative journalist Frank Connolly demonstrates that he has done very little investigating into the facts when it comes to his article “
Israel Politik: Illegal settlement.”
Connolly’s Untruth #8.
The latest flash point is in the old city of Jerusalem itself where
Israeli security forces have set up around the gates that bring Muslims and Christians to their historic places of worship, including the Al Aqsa mosque and the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre which hosts the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth.
More nonsense meant to convey the false impression that Israeli security forces are targeting Muslim and Christian holy places. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Last February, the Greek Orthodox, Catholic and Armenian Christian churches closed the doors of the church after
the Israeli authorities threatened to impose penal taxation on their lands.
In fact, before it was canceled, the Jerusalem Municipality planned to collect property tax on church-owned properties that are not used as houses of worship. A far cry from the imposition of “penal taxation on their lands.”
Connolly’s Distortion #9.
Following a confrontation with armed Palestinians in July, 2017, the Israeli police installed metal detectors and CCTV cameras
in the compound of the Al Aqsa mosque, one of the world’s holiest sites for Muslims.
The security measures were installed
outside of the Temple Mount compound, not inside.
Connolly’s Error #10.
As a leading negotiator of the failed Oslo Accord agreement in 1993, Shaath has watched as Israel ignored and then trampled on the deal, including its key provision that
the integrity of west Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem should remain until final agreement was reached.Then there were 135 settlers on the occupied Palestinian lands. Now there are 700,000.
Oops. There were a few more than 135 people living over the so-called Green Line back in 1993. In fact, as sourced from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of Israelis living in what Connolly calls “occupied Palestinian lands”
amounted to just over 269,000 in 1993.
As for the integrity of the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem: if Connolly is referring to settlement building, the Oslo Accords specifically
did not limit Israeli construction in the disputed territories.
Connolly’s Minimizing #11.
Connolly also misrepresents Israeli protests over a Palestinian conference attended by Dublin’s BDS-supporting mayor over “a former Grand Mufti of Palestine, Haj Amin al-Husseini, whose image was used on conference material and who had controversially met with Adolf Hitler in 1941.”
(full article online)
The Village Idiot: Irish Magazine's Flawed Article | HonestReporting