Todays Palm Beach Post has a bold headline "Israeli military kills 6 in Gaza" and in smaller but still bold type, this page one story say PA say "incursion could undermine peace negotiations"
Only on page 16 in the body of the story does it have the fact noted that 2000 rockets have been fired into Israel since Jan 1.
In addition the story talks about the Har Homa building project being in"the traditionally Arab area"
The lead co-author of the story, which originates from the Los Angeles Times is Rushdi Abu Alouf.
I called the Post's editor to complain, regarding the emphasis (which made it seem that the Israelis were up to derailing the peace talks) and the facts re; Har Homa.
The front Page editor Bill Rose called me back,and we had a pleasant substative discussion.
He knew even before I called, that the headlines were not balanced.I pointed out that yesterday 20 Kassams hit Sderot,and the Mayor (Eli Moyal) resigned because he could not protect his citizens.
What role does 2000 kassams play on the willingness of Israelis to make concessions for peace? How would we react in a similar situation?
In regard to Har Homa, I pointed out that it was originally a forest.The land is within the municipal borders of Jerusalem,and was expropriated primarily from Jews and some Arabs. It is today a large middle class community.I invited him to visit Israel which he had never done.I also invited him to Google Har Homa to check on my presentation( I had done that earlier,even though I was there for the groudbreaking with Mayor Olmert,and many times thereafter)
The key point is to immediately call your radio/TV /newspaper if you feel their coverage is biased.If you are calm, courteous and armed with facts, they will often be appreciative of your call-NEVERTHELESS KEEP MONITORING!
