Saturday, April 07, 2012

DOUBLE CROSSED

Every year at Christmas and at Easter, the Age regales us with stories about how tough life is for the Christians living in Israel and the Palestinian territories because of the occupation. This year was no different with Ruth Pollard's offering - Pilgrims rent a cross to walk in Christ's footsteps - weaving the now familiar narrative without checking the facts let alone delving into why the checkpoints and the bureacracy exist or letting her readers know that when the Old City was administered by Jordan, Jews were given no access to its holy sites at all.

The facts about entry permits were available here if Pollard wanted to tell both sides of the story - Israel’s US envoy rejects ‘libelous’ article on Palestinian Christians’ access to Jerusalem.

The rest of the year Fairfax ignores why the Christian population under Hamas and the PA is declining and why the numbers in that region are growing only in Israel.

Telling all of the facts might be of service to Christians in the region but I suspect that would be too much to expect from Fairfax Media.

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