A LETTER TO THE EDITORS

​To the editors of CNN, the Associated Press, Reuters, The New York Times, the ABC, CBS, and NBC networks, The London Times, the BBC, and the many other news agencies around the world:

When I read your publications or listen to your broadcasts I can't help but draw the conclusion that you do not belong to the Society of Professional Journalists. I've drawn this conclusion because of your lack of ethical reporting. Maybe I am being too judgmental. I could give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you are members who have, perhaps, forgotten the Society's Code of Ethics. If that is the case, then let me refresh your memory with a few excerpts:

Preamble

"Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society's principles and standards of practice."

The rest of the Code is summarized by these statements:

"Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.

"Ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect.

"Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know.

"Journalists are accountable to their readers, listeners, viewers and each other." (1)

I feel that it is necessary to bring this Code to your attention because I don't believe you are providing ethical news reporting in your publications and broadcasts. Your bias shows in areas such as political elections and their results, national and international conflicts, parent and family issues, education, moral issues such as homosexuality, abortion and euthanasia, the economy, gun control, the environment ..... the list is infinite. Some of your readers/listeners are able to differentiate between the real truth and the "selective" truth. Others are at your mercy, believing every word that you publish and broadcast, because they don't suspect that you would say anything less than the complete truth. Your words wield tremendous influence and shape peoples' opinions and actions. Unfortunately, you use this influence to promote your biases and agendas. Arguably, we all have our biases and agendas. However, the average person doesn't have access to the "podiums" to which you have access, and, consequently, doesn't wield the influence that you do. That is why there is a need for the journalists' code of ethics and the need for journalists to abide by it. Your reporting, in my opinion, lacks honesty, integrity and credibility, and shows a blatant disregard for this code.

As I said, we all have our agendas. While I am writing this to you because I disagree with a great deal of your coverage on the previously listed issues, I have a specific agenda that I wish to discuss...Israel. To a reader who is not well versed in the history, mandates, agreements, resolutions, etc. concerning the situation in the Middle East, your coverage presents biased reports of what is actually happening in Israel, as well as in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, and the multitude of other Arab countries. However, to those of us who know the history of these disputed lands and what the Balfour Declarations, the British Mandate, the Oslo Agreements and the many other resolutions concerning this area actually say, you are providing gross misrepresentations of the truth. Not only do your reports reflect your bias in this issue, but they also omit information that has a great deal of bearing on the issues of the conflict.

First let us look at the land itself. It has not always been a desirable place to live. Mark Twain describes it in his book, The Innocents Abroad, as "a hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land." When he was there in the 1860's he saw barren hills and desert valleys nearly void of vegetation. Once the Jewish people began their return they irrigated and cultivated the land, making it a desirable place to live not only for the Jews, but also for the Arabs.

Now let's look at some facts about the history of the Middle East. From 1516-1917 the Muslim Ottoman Turks controlled an immense area of the Middle East, including all of what is called Palestine. The Ottoman Turks were NOT Arabs. When the Ottoman Turks were defeated by the British in World War I, the area came under British mandatory rule. The British had previously declared their approval of the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people and offered to help facilitate the same (Balfour Declaration, November 2, 1917). They officially decided (a decision that was ratified by the League of Nations) to create that national home for the Jews in Palestine, and issued a mandate that became effective in 1921. In 1922 the British partitioned the land into two separate entities, taking away approximately 73% of the land granted to the Jewish people to establish the Palestinian state of Transjordan. In 1947 the United Nations (the successor to the League of Nations) General Assembly decided to partition the remaining 27% into 3 parcels: the Jewish state, the Arab state, and Jerusalem, designated as an international zone. The Jewish people complied with the resolution. The Arabs rejected it. After Israel declared statehood on May 14, 1948, five Arab armies attacked Israel in an attempt to drive them out of the land. Arab leaders told the Arab residents to leave their homes until the Jews had been driven out, at which time they could return to reclaim their properties. When this did not happen the Arabs became refugees, unaccepted by their fellow Arabs in their many countries. During this war both Egypt and Transjordan (now known as Jordan) seized territory that belonged to the Jews and later annexed the lands into their respective countries. Again in 1967 the Arab countries attacked Israel. This time they lost the territories now referred to as the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as well as the Sinai, the Golan Heights and Jerusalem. Eventually, Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt, but did not return the other areas to Jordan and Syria. They did not annex these areas into the Jewish state of Israel, but they did encourage their citizens to build their homes and communities there. These areas, known by the Jews as Yesha, belong to Israel as the fruits of victory. Yet, Yasser Arafat and the rest of the Arab world, with your complicity, continue to proclaim that the Jews are "occupying" land that is rightfully theirs. Your readers should know that the Jews are not "settlers" in someone else's land, nor should this land be considered "occupied territory." The Jews won this land, in the same way that Egypt and Jordan had won lands in the previous war. However, you omit the truth found in these historical facts and continually use these terms to describe the Jews and their land.

Another issue that you report with bias is the Palestinian refugees' "right of return" to the land that they abandoned. At the same time you fail to mention the hundreds of thousands of Jews who have been expelled from Arab countries. Forced to leave behind their possessions, these Jews have been welcomed into the land that belongs to them, unlike the Arabs who have not been welcomed by their brothers in the Arab countries. Both have had to face hardships and continue to struggle to house, feed, clothe and otherwise support their families, but no one is discussing these Jews' rights in this regard. Of course, these Jews most certainly do not want to return to these Arab countries. They want to live in their own land. However, discussion concerning compensation for the possessions they left behind would be a logical complement to the Palestinian refugees' so-called "right of return." Yet, you are silent in this regard.

Yet another issue that you choose to ignore is the failure of the Palestinians to fulfill their requirements under the Oslo Agreement, as well as their violations of this agreement. They continue to incite violence and fail to hold known terrorists in jails. Their "police" force far exceeds the number designated by Oslo. They possess more weapons in number and power than limited by Oslo. This information does not reflect positively on the Palestinians, so you don't bother to report it.

Thus far I have mentioned only general areas of biased reporting. Now I'd like to move on to specific reports that show your pro-Arab bias. The current conflict began in September, 2000, and the Mitchell Commission has now made its recommendations to restore peace to the area. Israel has abided by the cease-fire recommendation; the Palestinians have not. Since the cease-fire took effect on June 13, 2001, the Palestinians have continued to launch mortar attacks, plant and detonate bombs, shoot sniper fire, as well as throw rocks at the Israeli citizens and the Israeli Defense Force. This does not sound like a cease-fire to me. Yet, your media continue to report as though the Palestinians are abiding by the cease-fire. When the Reuters news agency recently reported the murder of an Israeli woman they included the fact that seven Israelis and eight Palestinians have been killed since the cease-fire took effect. However, they failed to note that the Israelis were murdered in cold blood while the Palestinians were engaged in activities that threatened the lives of Israeli soldiers and citizens. The BBC recently broadcast a documentary film on Ariel Sharon and the Sabra and Shatila massacres, which presented the view that then-Defense Minister Ariel Sharon was responsible for the invading IDF army, is at least indirectly responsible for the massacre and should stand trial as an international war criminal. Such reporting is blatantly anti-Jewish in nature, beyond any reasonable doubt. The New York Times, in its coverage of the Salute to Israel Parade, used just one photo of 30 anti-Israel protesters, with no photo of the more than 100,000 peaceful, pro-Israel participants. Sweden has condemned Israel's response to Palestinian rioters - while its own police recently shot (with live ammunition) three rock-throwing protestors at an anti-globalization demonstration in Gothenburg. I have not found a report about this activity in Sweden except in the Israeli media. You choose to omit what does not fit your agendas. Yet, you continue to repeat Yasser Arafat's claim that Israel is not keeping the cease-fire, and that he is demanding a settlement freeze and opening of area closures. You make no mention that the Mitchell report requires cessation of violence before either of these demands is to be considered by Israel. You tell us that the closures of the Palestinian areas by the Israelis are creating an extreme hardship on the Palestinian people. Yet what occurs when Israel relaxes the restrictions in an effort to comply with the US-brokered Tenet cease-fire arrangement? As has been the case in the past, the removal of the closures has been met with renewed terrorist attacks, resulting in fatal attacks that claim the lives of Yesha residents.

I could continue to list news items found in the Israeli and Arab media that you fail to report, such as the Palestinians' smuggling of illegal weapons from Egypt; wanton destruction of archeological artifacts on the Temple Mount by the Muslim Waqf , along with the Muslims' claim that there has never been a Jewish presence on the Temple Mount; and the vitriolic anti-Israeli speeches constantly being given by the leaders of the Arab countries. However, I am sure that you have read more than you care to read. You, no doubt, understand the point that I am trying to make: You are printing and broadcasting dishonest, unethical, biased reports concerning the conflict in the Middle East. But do you care? Up to this point I have refrained from making any Scriptural references. It is now time to do so, in order that you are not uninformed. The God of Israel, Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, tells us this about Israel through His prophet Zechariah: "...for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye." (Zech. 2:8) Through Israel's King Solomon Yahweh tells us: "A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight." (Proverbs 11:1) The following law is one of many Yahweh gave Moses: "You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness." (Ex. 23:1) Through the prophet Joel He has warned us of His judgment to come: "For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations, and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land." (Joel 3:1,2) Again, I could continue to list Scriptures that warn you, and all of us, of the consequences of our behavior. And, again, I ask you this question: Do you care? I pray that you do and that you will consider all that I have written as you continue in your positions as journalists.

FROM THE BRIDEGROOM

"Stand, stand up! Stand up straight, stand up strong and do not accept the anti-Semitism that is coming into society in greater numbers than before. The movement that is about now against My People will shadow that of Hitler. You must stand; you must stand firm, and you must stand up for My People. They don't have anybody else to stand. Those whom I've called to be Watchmen must stand. Stand against everything they see, hear, read, --feel, that's against My People. Don't accept it or take it in. Rebuke it; reject it. Voice the declaration of My choice of My Chosen People." (April 7, 1998)

To our readers of "Knowing The Times":

It may seem to you that we are continually writing about the same issues dealing with Israel and the war in the Middle East. We do not apologize for doing so. We are compelled to do so because we want you to KNOW THE TIMES in which we are living. We do not want to fail to do the job that our Father Yahweh has given us to do. Yes, you have read some of this before, and, most likely, you will read some of it again. We must continue to publish the truth concerning Yahweh's Chosen People Israel because WE MUST NEVER FORGET! The above "Letter to the Editors" will be sent to as many media publications as possible so that they will know that we will not sit idly by and allow history to repeat itself. Please seek wisdom and direction from the Father to see if He would have you write to them also. Let us not be silent. LET US STAND!

(1) http://www.spj.org/ethics/code.htm