Salam Fayyad and the drive towards Palestinian statehood: A comparison of British and US media coverage
What's been said so far about 'Salam Fayyad and the drive towards Palestinian statehood':
‘This groundbreaking report detailing the differences between American and British media coverage of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad lays bare an unpleasant fact - elite and popular opinion in the US and UK are moving in different directions. It is hard not to conclude that in the years to come, the 'special relationship' is sure to be tested over the Palestinian-Israel conflict, a Middle East peace process that is certain to become even more difficult with the strain in relations between Washington and London.’
Lee Smith is the author of The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations. He is also a visiting fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C and a Middle East correspondent for The Weekly Standard.
'Worried the UK media does not always present the big picture about the Palestinians' search for nationhood? This report suggests you are right to worry. It does so by asking one simple question: why don't we hear more about Salam Fayyad?'
Professor Alan Johnson sits on the Dissent Editorial Board, and is Senior Research Fellow at Foreign Policy Centre as well as an Advisory Board Member of Just Journalism.
'The Just Journalism report is a welcome contribution to research into media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hopefully it will alert the British press to what certainly appears to be a blind spot in its range of vision on the conflict. What is happening on the ground in the West Bank, initiated by and for Palestinians themselves and designed to both complement negotiations and bring the day of independence forward, deserves more attention than it’s received anywhere in the world thus far. It certainly deserves more attention than it appears to have received in the UK.'
Hussein Ibish is a Senior Fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine, a non-partisan organisation based in Washington, D.C. which advocates on behalf of a negotiated agreement that provides for two states – Israel and Palestine - living side by side in peace and security. Formerly he was the Communications Director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
'The simple yet penetrating comparison of the unequal treatment accorded for the eminently very newsworthy story of the stunning recent development of the creative work done in the West Bank by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in UK versus USA newspapers underlines the shameful anti-Israel bias of a goodly portion of the UK press and media. Bravo for this important investigative piece of journalism. Perhaps one day also the British public will be allowed to learn about this very important recent political and economic development in one of the hottest political spots on earth.'
Felix Posen is founder and president of the Posen Foundation, which works internationally to support secular Jewish education and initiatives.
'Here's a question: What's the difference between American and British media? Here's one possible answer: Americans write about Salam Fayyad, British not as much. Just Journalism has the interesting report right here.'
Shmuel Rosner is an editor and a writer based in Tel Aviv. In summer 2008 he ended a three year term as Chief US Correspondent for the Israeli daily Haaretz and as the writer of the influential blog Rosners Domain. He is also a regular contributor to the online magazine Slate and to Commentary and writes for The New Republic and for the online magazine Jewcy.
For the full report, click here.
PRESS RELEASE: UK media snub Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad’s achievements in the West Bank, while US press reports progress
London, 27 May 2010 – The UK broadsheet newspapers have ignored the major economic and security advances in the West Bank under Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, surely one of the most newsworthy topics to emerge from the contemporary Middle East. A report published today by Just Journalism contrasts this blinkered approach by British journalists with the keen interest shown by major US publications in the considerable progress made over the last two and a half years.
The report, entitled, “Salam Fayyad and the drive towards Palestinian statehood” is a comprehensive review of relevant coverage over nine months in the five UK broadsheets - The Guardian, The Independent, The Times, The Financial Times and The Daily Telegraph - as well as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time Magazine and Newsweek.
The study shows that dramatic improvements for Palestinians in the West Bank - a result of Salam Fayyad’s unique leadership, co-operation from Israel and support from the US - have been ignored or severely underplayed in the British press, which generally presented a focus on grassroots improvements simply as a ruse by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stunt political progress.
Writing in the report’s foreword, Hussein Ibish, a Senior Fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine, said:
“The Just Journalism report is a welcome contribution to research into media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hopefully it will alert the British press to what certainly appears to be a blind spot in its range of vision on the conflict. What is happening on the ground in the West Bank, initiated by and for Palestinians themselves and designed to both complement negotiations and bring the day of independence forward, deserves more attention than it’s received anywhere in the world thus far. It certainly deserves more attention than it appears to have received in the UK.”
Just Journalism’s Executive Director Michael Weiss commented: “Salam Fayyad is one of the most extraordinary figures to emerge from the Arab-Israeli conflict in decades: a Western-educated technocrat who, not without controversy, has supplanted the idea of armed ‘resistance’ with the language of interest rates and law and order. Almost as extraordinary as his achievements as prime minister is the British press’s utter dismissal of them as unworthy of discussion or debate.”
Key findings of the report:
• The US media attribute real importance to Salam Fayyad and his active approach to state-building, whereas the UK media find him to be irrelevant in the grand scheme of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Whilst a measure of diversity exists within both the UK and the US, in general, the US media are more supportive of Fayyad and his politics than the UK media
• The UK media identify an emphasis on restarting the Palestinian economy with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom they broadly dislike, whereas the US media identify it with Fayyad’s own focus on this subject
• The UK media present the focus on economic improvement in the West Bank as a ruse by Netanyahu to distract focus from reaching a full political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, indicating a strong inclination to emphasise points of conflict over potential co-operation
• UK media coverage of Fayyad is more likely to give ultimate emphasis to the problem of settlements whereas US media coverage does not conflate the subject of economic success in the West Bank with the problem of settlements