ei: New book breaks censorship on Palestinian issue

In a groundbreaking departure, a recently released book by a major progressive institution dedicated to exposing "censorship" in the American media reveals that the organization itself also omitted information on the Israeli-Palestinian issue over its 20-plus years of operations.

The book, CENSORED 2005, is the most recent in a series produced by "ProjectCensored," a highly respected media research organization whose mission is "To Tell The News That Didn't Make the News."

The strongly worded chapter, by If Americans Knew founder Alison Weir,
describes the history of Israel, its continuing violations of human rights,
and the cover-up on this issue in the American press.

While media analysts have increasingly exposed distortion on Palestine in
the corporate media, Weir's chapter is one of the first to detail such
censorship in the progressive community. In addition to its analysis of
Project Censored itself, the chapter also names other progressive
organizations with similar lapses.

Observers feel that the inclusion of Weir's chapter may signal a new
willingness to discuss Israel's apartheid system and human rights violations
among progressive and leftist groups that previously were side-tracked by
allegations that discussing the facts on Israel would be "too divisive."

On the other hand, the book also includes an introduction by author Greg
Palast, an Israel-sympathizer who has called Al-Jazeera "Terrorist News
Network." (Most experts consider the Qatar-based network one of the most
reliable on the region.)

Unfortunately, while Project Censored has posted the 25 "most censored"
stories on its website, it has not yet posted the Palestine chapter, and
makes no reference to it in its press releases. Some Palestinian activists
are urging Project Censored to carry this chapter on their website.

"The new people at Project Censored shoud be praised for putting this
chapter in their book," one activist points out. "But now they have a lot of
time to make up for. We should all contact them to put this chapter on their
website.

Project Censored can be reached at censored@sonoma.edu

Related links:

www.projectcensored.org

Buy CENSORED 2005 on Amazon