Madam, – I was shaken and upset by the feature on Israel (Go, April 9th) and the accompanying map which portrayed all of the occupied territories as being part of Israel. Quite simply this is an absolutely untrue statement of fact and should be well in the knowledge of the journalist or the supervising editor.
Not once did the author give cognisance to the fact that areas such as East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights are represented in international law and by the UN as Israeli occupied territories. In fact the map which your newspaper published portrays all the occupied territories as being an integral part of Israel, thus the article intentionally or unintentionally promotes the creeping ethnic cleansing which is part of the Israeli policy towards the indigenous Palestinians.
Quite simply, it is the intention of the Israeli authorities to remove all Palestinians from Jerusalem and Hebron, etc, to make way for Israeli settlers. Thus the article gives traction to the Israeli claim to de facto ownership of all the lands from the Mediterranean to the River Jordan.
Not once did the author use the word “occupied” or “Arab” and in referring to Occupied East Jerusalem as the “Muslim quarter” personified either his lack of knowledge of the subject matter or an abject bias towards the occupying power.
I believe that the lack of balance and impartiality displayed in the article has done little to further embellish the image of your respectful newspaper which in my opinion has invariably maintained the highest journalistic and impartial standards of news and feature publication. In fact as already stated by me the article is an absolute distortion of fact and of the truth. – Yours, etc,