BRITISH JOURNAL DEFAMES ISRAEL

NEW STATESMAN DEMOLISHES THE TRUTH (HonestReporting)

In 2002, the New Statesman, a British left-wing journal, gave us an infamous front cover entitled "Kosher conspiracy" featuring a Star of David standing on top of a Union Jack, for which the editor was forced to apologize following widespread condemnation.

So perhaps it is unsurprising that the New Statesman's latest edition compares Israeli actions to those of the Nazis during Kristallnacht, the destruction of mosques by Bosnian Serbs, and the eradication of entire villages by Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the Sudanese regime in Darfur.

Stating that the destruction of buildings is "a way of pursuing ethnic cleansing or genocide by other means, a way of rewriting history", author Robert Bevan, who has previously accused Israel of 'deliberately targeting the historic buildings of Nablus', misleadingly begins his article with a false and amoral equivalence lacking in any context:

Two weeks ago in Anata, Jerusalem, a Palestinian stood contemplating the rubble of his family home in the winter rain. "Did my house kill anyone that they should do this to me?" he asked. The Jerusalem municipality has 1.5 million shekels left in its demolition budget - enough to level 70 Palestinian homes - and it needs to spend the money before the end of the year. ... Thousands of Palestinian homes in the West Bank, in Gaza and around Jerusalem have been destroyed in the face of international condemnation. Bulldozers have become a weapon of war.

Responding to these types of politically charged accusations, a major academic study on Illegal Construction in Jerusalem by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs' Justus Reid Weiner concludes that:

Illegal construction has reached epidemic proportions. A senior Palestinian official boasted that they have built 6,000 homes without permits during the last 4 years, of which less than 200 were demolished by the city.

This frantic pace of illegal construction continues despite the fact that the city has authorized more than 36,000 permits for new housing units in the Arab sector, more than enough to meet the needs of Arab residents through legal construction until 2020.

In addition, the Jerusalem Municipality also explains why it is quite within its rights to ensure that legal construction codes are adhered to throughout the city limits, irrespective of the religion or nationality of the residents.

When referring to the West Bank and Gaza, it is also misleading to compare the actions of genocidal regimes with Israel's legitimate actions against Palestinian terrorism. In stark contrast to the deliberate targeting of mosques by Bosnian Serbs, Israel guarantees freedom of religion and the protection of the holy sites of all major religions under its jurisdiction. As explained by its Foreign Ministry, Israel, with the backing of international law, targets structures used by terrorists including:

Civilian buildings used to conceal openings of tunnels used to smuggle arms, explosives and terrorists;

Buildings used for manufacturing and storing rockets and other weaponry;

as well as:

Illegally constructed buildings in cases where these buildings interfere with plans for the construction of public facilities such as schools or roads; pose a safety threat to their inhabitants; or interfere with historic landmarks. It should be stressed that all demolitions are conducted in accordance with due process guarantees, after a fair hearing subject to judicial review with the right to appeal and without distinction on the basis of race or ethnic origin. Those affected by a demolition order are entitled by law to appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court.

So why does Robert Bevan compare this to deliberate acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing, placing Israel in the same company as some of the worst regimes in history, including the Nazis?
Comments to the New Statesman: letters@newstatesman.co.uk