Broken CAMERA: Distorted Picture of Settlements in the LA Times

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Palestine Center ED's Letter Runs in L.A. Times

by Yousef Munayyer

On December 11th, The Los Angeles Times, which has generally been more balanced on its Opinion page than many of its counterparts, ran a very disappointing op-ed piece by the euphemistically-named Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA).

CAMERA is an outfit devoted to the defense of anything perpetrated by the State of Israel, and has very little to do with accuracy or reporting. A cursory review of their website exposes their positions against anyone who is critical of the State of Israel and its long-standing, illegal occupation. Christiane Amanpour, Jon Stewart, Roger Cohen and a host of other American, Arab, Israeli, Muslim, Christian or Jewish writers who have suggested that Israel is in the wrong (about anything), are slammed on the home page of this “committee for accuracy”.

So when the LA Times decided to run an Op-Ed by one of CAMERA’s writers arguing that Israeli settlements in the West Bank were in fact legal, I was surprised and disappointed by the editorial staff at the Times. This is, of course, not a new argument, but it is one that has been thoroughly discredited.

Below is a letter to the editor I felt compelled to write. The Times’ editors published it today.

Nothing settled about settlements

Re “A right to build,” Opinion, Dec. 11

I was surprised to see such a propagandistic article in this paper, when The Times has routinely had higher standards.

The illegality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank is widely agreed on in the arena of international law, and suggesting otherwise is merely an attempt to legitimize the ugliness of colonialism.

When Israel began to aggressively colonize the occupied territories, President Carter's secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, requested a legal opinion on the issue. Citing a variety of legal literature, including the 4th Geneva Convention, the legal opinion concludes: "The establishment of the civilian settlements in those territories is inconsistent with international law." Every U.S. administration since has maintained this standard.

The movement to colonize the rest of historic Palestine is a repulsive thing, and it remains so even when its proponents attempt to disguise it with legalistic costumes.

Yousef Munayyer
Washington

The writer is executive director of the Jerusalem Fund and the Palestine Center.