Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda chief is rumored to have said this (Credit: AZ Quotes)

Mondoweiss Has An Agenda, And Reporting Truth Is Not Part Of It

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Emanuel Engelmayer
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The anti-Zionist publication “Mondoweiss” literally exists to spread falsehoods about Israel. Nothing about their reporting is accurate or shows any element of journalism let alone journalistic integrity. For example, a few days ago Mondoweiss published an article titled “Israeli restrictions on foreign travel into occupied West Bank take effect despite criticisms." Forget the fact that much of what they reported in the article is blatantly false, the premise alone is simply wrong.

Even the title is incorrect as it suggests Israel has control of those who enter Palestinian Authority territory, something that has not been the case for decades. There are no checkpoints leading into Judea & Samaria and once in the area, the roads are shared between Israelis and Palestinians.

The problem with the false news that Mondoweiss puts out is that others look to it as a legitimate reporting outlet, when in fact it is a 'one-trick-pony-show' that only focuses on Israel, and never seems to give even the liberals in Israel credit. Just last week they had an article on how the leader of Israel's Labor party is just as bad as the far-right Itamar Ben-Gvir. The Labor party is the liberal party of Yitzhak Rabin, the man who made peace with Jordan and literally gave Palestinians autonomy for the first time in their entire history. 

When it comes to the travel restrictions article, Mondoweiss is literally writing about a military document that clarifies the various types of entry permits into the West Bank issued by the Palestinian Authority, the governing body of the Palestinians. The article fails to mention that the Palestinians actually control who enters their space, for example, Jews are not allowed in Palestinian territory, while many Israelis do go to villages to shop in Judea and Samaria, under the law it is illegal.

To highlight the dangers of giving an outlet like Mondoweiss the credibility of a news outlet, the article was used by several progressive politicians in America as proof of Israel's apartheid policies in an attempt to void the process of allowing visa-free travel between America and Israel, a policy that would allow over 2 million Arabs easy access to the U.S., a simple fact that even 20 congressional delegates conveniently left out. The fact U.S. congresspeople based their argument on false information says much about them and their biases. 

Written in Hebrew, the Israel Defense Forces document begins with a list of abbreviations related to the statuses of different visitors to the West Bank, including those who are part of international organizations and registered PA (area A & B) residents. It then continues and offers a quick premise giving insight into what policies the document will clarify.

“In the 1990s, as part of the interim agreement [referring to the Oslo Accords],  the responsibility of allowing foreigners into the West Bank was partially transferred to the Palestinian authority. In the interim agreement, it was stated that a foreigner seeking to enter Judea and Samaria, will be required to carry a visit permit that is issued by the Palestinian Authority, with the approval of the Israeli side.”  Again, once in Israel, there is no one checking who is entering Judea & Samaria, so while it is written, there is no mechanism to enforce it. This is actually how Mondoweiss reporters get into Palestinian cities to cover militant parades and funerals, they are well aware what they wrote is false, but that did not stop them.

Just from reading the first few pages, it becomes clear that Mondoweiss’s article is nowhere near truthful and if anything, the document should be praised by pro-Palestine organizations because it deals with giving Palestinians more jurisdiction over their lands. The IDF is committed to handing over as many responsibilities to the PA as possible, yet under agreements with Jordan is also legally responsible for the safety and administration of the Eastern border with Jordan, a stretch of land that encompasses both Israeli and Palestinian land. Based on all those considerations, the document simply attempts to allow all domestic bureaucratic processes necessary for entry, to be carried out by the PA. 

On page 12 of the document, denial of entry is mentioned, but only for foreigners, meaning for those who are not recognized by the PA and did not go through proper Israeli bureaucracy. “As a general rule, a foreigner is not granted a right to enter the area [West Bank], and applications from foreigners will be examined according to the discretion of the competent [Palestinian] authority. With the considerations that will be examined, it is possible to name considerations of security threats, fear of settling illegally in the area, or violation of previous visa conditions and any other relevant consideration.”

Essentially, if the Israeli military or Palestinian security forces deem a certain foreigner a threat or fear illegal migration, they may deny his entry into the West Bank. Typically, they are either denied entry at Israel's airport or are stopped on the Jordanian side, long before they come near Judea & Samaria. The document goes on for a few dozen pages and covers all things from tourist and press to academic visas. If anything, the document shows a side of Israel most don’t see, one that completely cooperates with its Palestinian counterparts and seeks to further develop the governmental entities within the PA. The document is so elaborate and well-written that it even mentions the status of mixed couples, those who are in a relationship with a registered Palestinian citizen but are not actually themselves. 

Frankly, the entire document is a boring read with the legalese and military language it is written in meant for bureaucratic processing. Nothing about it, not even a single word, is even slightly political or implies a change in the current status Palestinians have in entering and exiting the West Bank, at least nothing your average Palestinian resident would notice. In fact, it is so boring, it begs the question of whether the writers of the article in “Mondoweiss”, Yumna Patel and Michael Arria, could even read the Hebrew written document. They are not even being creative with fake news, but merely recycling topics already used by many pro-Palestine organizations throughout 2022.

What likely brought them to write their published piece is a strong desire to attack Israel and the need for a catchy headline to go with it - otherwise known as clickbait. The very clear lie told in the article is masked by what would seem like professional opinions from Israeli and American experts. These so-called 'experts' are nothing more than those who have made their careers out of Israel-bashing and, as the Mondoweiss article proves, creating false reporting back up their claims. 

On a personal level, to the publishers of “Mondoweiss” and the writers of the article referred to above, Integrity is clearly not important to your cause, but what exactly is your cause? Perhaps monetization at the expense of millions who live in Israel is the cause, and your lack of integrity and inability, to tell the truth, is the path to success. If one day you wake up and decide that telling the truth is essential to your publication, perhaps start out by hiring people who can actually read Hebrew and not rely on Google translate when researching IDF policies and Israeli-Palestinian Authority bureaucracy.

You not only misled in the title, you completely bungled the premise by not understanding the context of the document you were focusing on, a document that actually empowers the Palestinians. There is much about Israel to criticize. It is not a perfect entity and makes mistakes often, to go out of your way to literally fabricate a story is cheap and unbecoming of an entity that supposedly trying to make the lives of Palestinians better. In your 'about' section, you claim to "provide news and analysis unavailable through the mainstream media regarding the struggle for Palestinian human rights," the reason it is unavailable apparently is because you made it up. Mainstream media sources should be weary when using your articles as a source based on that fact alone.

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