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Press TV Gets It Badly Wrong on Jerusalem, Too (Even After I Explained It To Them)

by May 17, 2018Articles, Foreign Policy, Interviews & Debates, Multimedia15 comments

A screen capture from my Press TV interview
Despite my having explained the truth to them, Press TV misinforms its audience that the status of East Jerusalem under international law is "controversial" (it's not) and that the goal of the so-called "peace process" was to realize the two-state solution (it wasn't).

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0S5U2e39uU

[Update, May 24: After I confronted Press TV about their gross distortion of my message, they removed the above video and published a new one of the full interview. Click here for the updated post.]

I gave an interview this week to Press TV about the US moving its Israel embassy to Jerusalem. Unfortunately, they not only cut my key points from the interview, but so badly distorted my message in this video that it comes across as the literal opposite of what I actually said.

Stop Conflating the “Peace Process” with “The Two-State Solution”!

First, they titled it “Killing the Two-State Solution”, which they conflate with the death of the so-called US-led “peace process”. They presented my interview on Twitter this way:

https://twitter.com/OnTheNewsLine/status/997057904443363329

That is the opposite of what I actually said in the interview, which was that the move in one way is really a good thing, because by destroying in the eyes of the world’s other governments the US’s last shred of credibility as a neutral mediator, it spells the death of the “peace process” — which, as I explained, has been the process by which Israel and the US have long blocked implementation of the two-state solution.

The logical corollary of what I said is that there is now an opportunity to actually pursue the two-state solution, which is essentially synonymous with ending the occupation, which I view in turn as a necessary step toward achieving a just solution for Palestinian refugees, i.e., a single democratic state solution.

I even elaborated on specifically how this could be pursued, namely, by pursuing legal remedy for Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians through the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Criminal Court (ICC). I further elaborated that for that to happen, there needs to be a unity of purpose among the Palestinian leadership, which Israel and the US have successfully prevented by employing a strategy of “divide and conquer”; specifically, by conspiring with the now-illegitimate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and his Fatah party to illegally overthrow the Hamas government that was legitimately elected into power in 2006. This resulted in the situation we see today with Abbas ruling in the West Bank and Hamas remaining as governing authority in Gaza.

I fully explain the critical distinction between the “peace process” and the two-state solution in my following article:

The Two-State Solution vs. the ‘Peace Process’, and Why the Distinction Is Critical

East Jerusalem Is Not “Disputed” Territory!

The second major point I emphasized in my interview that was not only cut, but completely twisted into just the opposite of what I said, was with respect to the status of East Jerusalem.

In the video they compiled from my interview, Press TV states that the UN views the status of Jerusalem as “controversial” and subject to “negotiations” between the oppressed and their occupier.

That is nonsense. As I observed in my interview, while the status of West Jerusalem may be open to legal debate, it is a completely uncontroversial point of fact under international law that East Jerusalem is “occupied Palestinian territory”.

I also explained in my interview how the US’s embassy move is actually illegal, a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 478 of 1980, which forbade member states from establishing embassies in Jerusalem since this would serve to legitimize Israel’s illegal annexation of East Jerusalem with great prejudice toward the right of the Palestinians to self-determination.

As I explained to Press TV, there are well over a dozen UN Security Council Resolutions condemning Israel for its measures to annex East Jerusalem, which the UN has observed are illegal, null and void. These Security Council resolutions also repeatedly re-emphasized that the status of East Jerusalem is not disputed or controversial, but that it remains under international law occupied Palestinian territory.

I explain all of that in more detail in my following article:

Why the US Moving Its Israel Embassy to Jerusalem Would Be Illegal

You might also find of interest:

Review of Richard Falk’s “Palestine’s Horizon: Toward a Just Peace”

Should I Give Any More Interviews to Press TV?

I agreed to this interview because I viewed it as an opportunity to get my message through to Press TV’s large audience. Yet, not only did my message not get through, but they so badly mangled it that it came across as the literal opposite of what I actually said.

So it seems to me like there’s no point in giving Press TV any more interviews; at least not for this kind of “sound bite” video format. What do you think? If they ask me again, should I do any more interviews with them?

Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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  • Elena says:

    Maybe you should make a point of having someone from your side record a video for you while you are interviewing, and, if the media gets creative with their editing, you can release that video and let people see how the media has distorted what you actually said.

  • Blake says:

    I think continue on we need voices getting the Palestinian message out

  • Elena says:

    Maybe you should make a point of having someone from your side record a video for you while you are interviewing, and, if the media gets creative with their editing, you can release that video and let people see how the media has distorted what you actually said.

  • Usman Dauda says:

    It takes many steps and endurance to get people informed in this complex world. Tell them you are not happy with the twists, if they invite you next time give them conditions. I think honouring their invitations will help in selling your opinions to the audience. Keel the good work.

  • Ausonio says:

    Since these distortions and omissions were not (I assume) the result of malicious intent, I would advise you to continue giving interviews, perhaps conditionally upon your approval of the sections of the video in which your position is conveyed. I agree with others’ comments on the importance of getting the Palestinian message out.

  • Marion says:

    I think giving an more Press TV interviews is a waste of time, since they seem to deliberately distort your message.

  • Blake says:

    I think continue on we need voices getting the Palestinian message out

  • Usman Dauda says:

    It takes many steps and endurance to get people informed in this complex world. Tell them you are not happy with the twists, if they invite you next time give them conditions. I think honouring their invitations will help in selling your opinions to the audience. Keel the good work.

  • Ausonio says:

    Since these distortions and omissions were not (I assume) the result of malicious intent, I would advise you to continue giving interviews, perhaps conditionally upon your approval of the sections of the video in which your position is conveyed. I agree with others’ comments on the importance of getting the Palestinian message out.

  • Marion says:

    I think giving an more Press TV interviews is a waste of time, since they seem to deliberately distort your message.

  • Oscar says:

    Assuming you pointed out to them what they got wrong, what did they say? Maybe they were confused. Keep taking such opportunities & speak as you write–don’t assume they know anything even if they are nodding along.

  • Thanks, everyone, for your comments and suggestions.

    My assumption is that they had already scripted the video and just wanted a talking head to fill in the gaps. In other words, it didn’t really matter to them what my message was, they were just looking for someone they could attribute the views offered to by picking out whatever sound bytes they could cherry-pick to complete the pre-scripted video, without respect or regard for my actual message.

    Perhaps I’ll consider interviews of another format, but given how they falsely attributed to me views that are the opposite of what I actually said, I feel it would be a counterproductive use of my time to participate in any more such videos as this one.

  • Oscar says:

    Assuming you pointed out to them what they got wrong, what did they say? Maybe they were confused. Keep taking such opportunities & speak as you write–don’t assume they know anything even if they are nodding along.

  • bsroon says:

    Jimminy Christmas! Is Press TV a wholly owned subsidiary of Assrael? Talk about miscommunication. i suspect the people interviewing and editing the interview are not very smart ( or maybe not very literate in english? ) and to (MAYBE!) have them “get it” you’d have to backtrack from your conclusion and hit the point prior until the whole thought process was reverse engineered.

  • Ramesh Shrestha says:

    Israel has unconditional financial, military and political support of the West, especially that of the US. It gives Israel full confidence to do what it wants. The public opinion seen this week in few places against the current situation is not going to make even a little dent on Israel’s illegal criminal activities. A real action required is political and economic isolation of Israel by cutting off diplomatic and trade ties. Would anyone be willing to take such steps? Very doubtful. The two state solution and the agreement done between Arafat and Rabin in presence of Clinton should have been the baseline for mutual co-existnece.

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