In a report about palestinians learning Hebrew, the AFP takes the opportunity to bash Israel whenever it can.
Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – “As the saying goes: Know the language of your enemy,” says Dalal Said, a Palestinian television reporter who is learning Hebrew in a bid to better cover the conflict.
She is one of about 30 journalists taking two hours of Hebrew classes a week at a college in the West Bank city of Ramallah with an emphasis on learning to read Israeli newspapers.
“We live under occupation so it is crucial that we know what the press says to be able to get the bigger picture,” says fellow student Imad Freikh, who works for a weekly magazine.
—-
During the six-week course at Nasser al-Shiukhi college, the teacher — a Palestinian from Jerusalem who has a degree in Hebrew — tries to add some context to his lessons.
While teaching the colours, he tells his students that the word for black is “shakhor”, making sure to add that some Israelis refer to black people as “cushim” – a derogatory term which he says demonstrates a tendency toward racism.
Leaving aside the issue of whether the word “cushim” is indeed derogatory, the presentation of Israelis as racists in this report about palestinians learning Hebrew is the equivalent of a head-butt in a boxing match. It is completely out of place and designed to inflict damage.
For Ali Obeidat, a journalist who helped organise the course, knowing Hebrew is crucial to access information not always readily available in Arabic.
“In some cases, there is no Palestinian source for certain information so the Israeli press is the main source for covering the conflict,” he told AFP.
This is often the case when it comes to the number of people injured in a clash with the army or Jewish settlers where Israeli medics are often first on the scene and the only ones with accurate information.
At this point, an objective news outlet might mention that Israeli medics are often first on the scene to treat palestinians injured in car accidents or even at terror attacks which they themselves perpetrated. But not the AFP.
Many Palestinians already speak some Hebrew because until the start of the second uprising, or intifada (2000-2005), roughly 150,000 of them had jobs working inside Israel.
When the violence erupted, Israel cancelled their work permits.
The violence was not a volcano that just erupted. It was started by the palestinians as part of a planned strategy.
Countless thousands of others have also learned some Hebrew through years spent inside Israeli prisons where it was the only language with which they could communicate with their jailers.
Not just that, but even earned university degrees while in Israeli prison.
Most Israelis meanwhile learn some Arabic at school because it is one of the country’s official languages.
A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it line but oh, so important. Arabic is one of Israel’s official languages, and Israelis learn it for that reason and not because it is the “language of the enemy” (speaking volumes about the respective mentalities of Israelis and palestinians).
