The Jordan Times

The long line at the Qalandia checkpoint last week was one of the first signs of the added collective punishment that the Israeli army was now instructed to impose on the Palestinian population. When my turn finally arrived, I drove up to the soldiers, hoping finally to be allowed into Ramallah. Daoud Kuttab writes from occupied Jerusalem in the Jordan Times.

Despite a clear-cut case of massive human rights violations and the weight of international law on their side, Palestinians are losing the crucial war for international opinion, many political watchers and media analysts believe.

RECENT EFFORTS by the Israeli government and America’s pro-Israel lobby have focused extensively on media coverage of the current crisis between Palestinians and Israelis. From demanding that CNN replace reporters of Palestinian descent with “pro-Israeli reporters” to hiring three additional PR firms to deal with the US media, Israel’s allies have ratcheted up the media war. Go to any pro-Israel organisation’s website and you can find a plethora of action alerts charging that the Western media has it in for Israel. But the truth is, of course, quite the opposite.