UNESCO raises Palestinian flag at Paris headquarters

[Wallaby]

Yet more recognition for the Palestinians. I trust the Palestinians to adhere to the requests of the ever increasing backing they get from the world. As opposed to Israel which has complete disregard for anyone but themselves.

The amount of recognition Palestine is getting just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Of course this is causing major hair loss to those of the bigotted view of the world.

[Ulysses G.]

Unfortunately, the Palestinian Arabs are getting lots of recognition for allowing the Hamas terrorists to be part of their government. That is just one reason why they do not have their own country and likely will not until they negotiate with Israel and live up to the treaties that they have signed.

Edited December 25, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[geriatrickid]

Yet more recognition for the Palestinians. I trust the Palestinians to adhere to the requests of the ever increasing backing they get from the world. As opposed to Israel which has complete disregard for anyone but themselves.

The amount of recognition Palestine is getting just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Of course this is causing major hair loss to those of the bigotted view of the world.

I suggest you look at the countries that opposed the UNESCO decision. For the most part, they are the ones paying the UNESCO bills. Recognition has not gotten bigger and bigger as you state and if anything with growing economic pressures in the EU and USA, the arabs of the PLA are about to see their massive aid packages shrink because of their failure to account for the money.

No one is really losing sleep of the UNESCO dossier except UNESCO bureaucrats with their bloated incomes.. Rather, the attempt by some of European nations and Canada to stop the process was an attempt to preserve the stated goals of UNESCO. The PLA and Hamas are unable to comply with the UNESCO charter. What then is the point of admitting groups that will not respect the charter? What it does is further the argument of western taxpayers to curtail funding of UNESCO since it no longer functions as intended.

Edited December 25, 2011 by geriatrickid

[Jingthing]

What really matters for those of us really wishing for PEACE is progress on the ground in the region of the state of Israel and the not-state of Palestine. There is no progress. In recent years, things have gone backwards. Why? There is plenty of blame to go all around.

Edited December 25, 2011 by Jingthing

[geriatrickid]

Yet more recognition for the Palestinians. I trust the Palestinians to adhere to the requests of the ever increasing backing they get from the world. As opposed to Israel which has complete disregard for anyone but themselves.

The amount of recognition Palestine is getting just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Of course this is causing major hair loss to those of the bigotted view of the world.

I suggest you look at the countries that opposed the UNESCO decision. For the most part, they are the ones paying the UNESCO bills. Recognition has not gotten bigger and bigger as you state and if anything with growing economic pressures in the EU and USA, the arabs of the PLA are about to see their massive aid packages shrink because of their failure to account for the money.

No one is really losing sleep over the UNESCO dossier except UNESCO bureaucrats with their bloated incomes.. Rather, the attempt by some of European nations and Canada to stop the process was an attempt to preserve the stated goals of UNESCO. The PLA and Hamas are unable to comply with the UNESCO charter. What then is the point of admitting groups that will not respect the charter? What it does is further the argument of western taxpayers to curtail funding of UNESCO since it no longer functions as intended.

Edited December 25, 2011 by geriatrickid

[Pakboong]

As always, there are two sides to every story, here's what the BBC has to say:

http://news.bbc.co.u...000/9667737.stm

There are still shepherds in Bethlehem 2000 years on from the nativity but as our West Bank correspondent Jon Donnison reports, Jewish settlement expansion there has made the life of the shepherd increasingly limited.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...e-east-16325524

Once predominantly Christian, two-thirds of Bethlehem's 50,000 residents are now Muslim.

Some say the economic restrictions imposed by Israel are the main reason behind the exodus of Christians from the West Bank; others cite persecution by militant Muslims.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is attending the celebrations.

He said: "I wish for the Palestinian people that next year will be the year of implementing peace in the occupied Palestinian lands."

Let’s hope his wish comes true.

Nice try, good old BBC, they of the independently commissioned Balen report to investigate their alledged anti-Israel bias; a report they then refused to make public and spent a heap of license payers money on court orders to keep it private.

The fact is that the Christian population of Israel increased 4 fold since 1948, whereas in every single Arab Country it decreased dramatically, and who can blame them with churches being burned, their women being kidnapped and every other aspect of Dhimmi status in Muslim lands making their lives hell.

http://www.jcrelatio...East.608.0.html

We, the leaders of The Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding, are distressed over the decline of Christians throughout the Middle East. In the last 50 years, the Christian populations in the region have dropped significantly in every country except Israel. This trend has accelerated in the last 10 years.

We are biased, admit the stars of BBC News

By SIMON WALTERS, Mail on Sunday

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1hWQaeUV1

The secret report at heart of BBC’s Gaza paranoia

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23628970-the-secret-report-at-heart-of-bbcs-gaza-paranoia.do

Edited December 25, 2011 by Pakboong

[Steely Dan]

We are biased, admit the stars of BBC News

By SIMON WALTERS, Mail on Sunday

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1hWQaeUV1

The secret report at heart of BBC’s Gaza paranoia

http://www.thisislon...aza-paranoia.do

Thanks for that Pakboong, it underlines what I've been stating and it has been going on for simply ages and with much of the mainstream 'news' networks too, which helps explain how the myth of the Palestinian people was able to become accepted 'fact'.

http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2011/12/in-post-news-environment-media-no.html

The very word Palestine is indeed Roman and the irony is the letter 'P' does not directly translate in Palestinian Arabic so Palestine becomes Balestine and the PLO the BLO. But then again.

In the post-news environment, media no longer exists to report, it exists to disseminate glib talking points that sound good at first, but don't stand up to examination. Fact checks, one of the latest media gimmicks, have become another vector for disseminating talking points. So have media blogs which began repeating the same ridiculous thing over and over again.

[Pakboong]

We are biased, admit the stars of BBC News

By SIMON WALTERS, Mail on Sunday

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1hWQaeUV1

The secret report at heart of BBC’s Gaza paranoia

http://www.thisislon...aza-paranoia.do

Thanks for that Pakboong, it underlines what I've been stating and it has been going on for simply ages and with much of the mainstream 'news' networks too, which helps explain how the myth of the Palestinian people was able to become accepted 'fact'.

http://sultanknish.b...t-media-no.html

The very word Palestine is indeed Roman and the irony is the letter 'P' does not directly translate in Palestinian Arabic so Palestine becomes Balestine and the PLO the BLO. But then again.

In the post-news environment, media no longer exists to report, it exists to disseminate glib talking points that sound good at first, but don't stand up to examination. Fact checks, one of the latest media gimmicks, have become another vector for disseminating talking points. So have media blogs which began repeating the same ridiculous thing over and over again.

It is difficult to evaluate the report as it was never made public. The information it allegedly contains was leaked. I don't know by whom or to whom or whether it supported Israel's claim or not. As I was reading, I uncovered the second article which was the 2006 article where BBC admitted to bias. The admission did not really pertain to Israel but an admission of bias is simply that and takes the freedom of the press matter to a different level. At the time of the controversy, Michael Grade was the BBC chairman and I happen to know that he is Jewish so it is hard to say what was really the case would it not be for the admission to bias pertaining to another matter.

[Ulysses G.]

Thanks for that. Fact-based reporting is a refreshing change from the usual media myths..

"Palestinian identity is just so much gibberish. The official definition of that identity encompasses only those parts of the Palestine Mandate which Israel holds today.

The people who live on the parts of the Palestine Mandate that were turned into the Kingdom of Jordan in 1921 are not Palestinians. There is no call to incorporate them into a Palestinian state. The people who lived in the parts of Israel that were captured by Jordan and Egypt in 1948 weren't Palestinians, and there was no call to turn the land that today comprises the so-called "Occupied Territories" into a state. But in 1967 when Israel liberated those areas-- only then did they magically turn into Palestinians."

Edited December 25, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[geriatrickid]

BTW, the fact that the chairman of the BBC was jewish has no bearing on whether or not he has control over the improprieties of the journalists and their editors. That group is fiercely independent. The same holds true at UNESCO where there are some legitimate professionals deeply concerned with the preservation of historical and cultural sites. They must be besides themselves as they know that some of their precious funds will be siphoned off to additional dubious organizations in the PLA. The fact of the matter is that the sites of value in Isreal and the PLA have in large part been well taken care of by the Israel department of Antiquities which has an excellent, non sectarian reputation. It is probably one of the few Israeli government departments that gets high marks from Arab nationalists as it considers ancient artifacts valuable no matter if Arab, Israelite, Druze, Roman etc.That department in conjunction with universities around the world and various Christian faith based groups has preserved multiple sites in the PLA that would have otherwise ben ripped apart or looted. Watch now as funds are redirected away from groups that subscribed to transparency, peer review and strict codes of practice, to the PLA that will line the pockets of corrupt Fatah henchmen while the sites fall into disrepair. All these people cheering on the UNESCO decision have not given much thought to how arab preservationists will now function. The PLA will never fund an Israeli project which means that the PLA will never have the skills, tools and overall funding to do anything substantive aside from a few showcase objects.

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been removed. Please stay on the topic, which is UNESCO and the membership of the Palestinian territories. It's difficult to separate the issue from Israel, but posts which primarily address Israel and are off-topic will be deleted.

[Ulysses G.]

What nonsense. Israel is more than happy to help the Palestinians form their own state when they make PEACE and stop the terrorism.

[geriatrickid]

BTW, the fact that the chairman of the BBC was jewish has no bearing on whether or not he has control over the improprieties of the journalists and their editors.

Exactly. But it really is an obsession of enemies of Israel who is Jewish. They especially love to hear from Jewish critics of Israel as if that carries extra weight.

Of course it makes a difference.

If a Palestinian owned a media organisation and that organisation made pro palestinian comments I'm sure the minority Israeli apologists on this site would jump up and down and throw their toys out.

Just sad that Israel wants to deny the Palestines a recognised homeland, something they themselves were lucky to achieve. But the ever increasing majority of the world doesn't share your minority view.

Israeli apologists? Right. Arab media groups regularly make comments one might consider pro PLA, so what? Some media sources also make comments against the PLA, again, so what? The issue of a "homeland" for the arabs in the PLA is unrelated to the UNESCO decision, at least that's what UNESCO stated, claiming it was focused on the preservation of cultural sites. Your comment is precisely why many countries opposed the membership as it allowed the arabs to bypass negotiations and to claim "statehood" when there was none.

BTW, the "palestinians" do have a homeland, its called Jordan, a country from which they were in large part forced out of.

[Naam]

The very word Palestine is indeed Roman and the irony is the letter 'P' does not directly translate in Palestinian Arabic so Palestine becomes Balestine and the PLO the BLO. But then again.

then again the spinning wheel is indeed turning at the usual high RPM. no such thing exists like replacing a "p" with a "b". in arabic script and spoken language it was always falastin فلسطين for Palestine and falastini الفلسطينيون for Palestinians no matter what some "Daniel Greenfield" spins in his blog.

Edited December 26, 2011 by Naam

[Scott]

Off-topic posts removed. Please stick to the topic.

[elgato]

"The move to admit Palestine to UNESCO, which is part of a broader campaign by Palestine to get recognition as a state by the United Nations, sparked outrage in Israel and the United States. Both countries suspended funding to UNESCO in response to the admission"

Another childish response by the US and Israel.

Kudo's to UNESCO for "admitting" there is a nation called Palestine!

[Ulysses G.]

Actually, that is historically inaccutrate. There has never been a nation, a people or language that was "Palestinian" other than the Jewish one in the distant past. Newt Gingrich may have a lot of faults, but he knows his history.

Edited December 26, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[elgato]

Actually, that is historically inaccutrate. There has never been a nation, a people or language that was "Palestinian" other than the Jewish one in the distant past. Newt Gingrich may have a lot of faults, but he knows his history.

That's why I typed "admitting" with quotation marks. I didn't mean to imply that UNESCO or any other organization had recognized the State of Palestine.

[Scott]

Since posters do not seem to be able to either read the OP and respond or listen to the most remedial of instructions, this thread is closed.