Return to “The Settler from Jerusalem”

Photo from AP

With Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s declaration before yesterday’s AIPAC conference that “Jerusalem is not a settlement” – a response to U.S. claims to the contrary regarding at least part of the city -  I thought it would be instructive to look at a personal incident that occurred nearly five years ago.

In July 2005, I was interviewed for a cover story in the San Francisco Chronicle, my home town paper. The reporter was writing a series of articles about the real people behind the headlines living their normal lives in the Middle East and thought my story would fit in nicely. I agreed.

Imagine then my shock when I read the headline of the article reading “Settler Hopes for Peace to Take Root.”

The reporter insisted it was a “last minute overnight change” by a low ranking copy editor that was made without his approval.

The story of the inflammatory headline was then picked up by Honest Reporting which promptly sent a blast to its email list which numbered 125,000 at the time. The Chronicle was inundated by complaints and eventually published a retraction.

In light of the recent igniting of tensions between the U.S. and Israel (not to mention those with the Palestinians), I’m posting the link to the original story I wrote.

Visit: https://thisnormallife.com/2005/07/the-settler-from-west-jerusalem/

You can read the story in the Chronicle here: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/24/MNGKMDS8151.DTL

Tagged as: Hasbara, Israel, Jerusalem, Politics