Reuters: Big, Bad Israelis to Deport Owner of Book-shop-to-the-stars
One of the great long-running scams run by Reuters Middle East bureau is to focus obsessively on Israeli immigration policy and portray every deportation or detention as an international human rights scandal. Very little context is provided in these reports and never do Reuters correspondents compare Israeli policy with that of other governments, generally held in high regard for purported just and humane treatment of migrants.
In 2009 for example, we commented on a story by Douglas Hamilton where the Reuters correspondent sought to demonize Israel for rescinding the residency status of those Palestinians who spend more than seven consecutive years outside the country, or take foreign domicile or citizenship. We noted that many countries in Europe, including France for example, have similar or even more draconian residency laws — yet Reuters makes no mention of this.
In February 2010, we noted news of the Kingdom of Jordan arbitrarily stripping thousands of Palestinians of their citizenship. Reuters failed to even cover the story.
And in November 2010, we commented on a repulsive piece edited by Hamilton which sought to draw a parallel between a holding facility for migrants Israel had been considering and the Nazi concentration camps.
Now comes a story by Reuters correspondent Maayan Lubell about a Palestinian bookseller in Jerusalem who faces deportation following a decision by the Israeli Supreme Court due to the fact that he left Israel — in 1973 — to study and live in the United States where he acquired citizenship. Lubell’s transparent appeal to pity entitled:
Israelis defend threatened Palestinian bookseller [italics ours]