-By Warner Todd Huston
Once again we see the Old Media using subtle rhetoric in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of Israel, this time it’s the Associated Press playing the trick.
In a November 16 story about Palestinian rockets being launched into Israel’s civilian population, the AP decided to try and cajole readers into feeling that Israel’s capital isn’t really Israel’s legitimate capital.
This is how the AP described Jerusalem: (my bold)
An attack on Israel’s self-declared capital marks a major escalation by Gaza militants, both for its symbolism and its distance from the Palestinian territory. Located roughly 75 kilometers (50 miles) away from the Gaza border, Jerusalem had been thought to be beyond the range of Gaza rocket squads.
What is this “self-declared” business, AP? Are you trying to say that Jerusalem isn’t really or legitimately Israel’s capital? Of course you are.
AP even made a pair of tweets late in the morning to flog this story, the second of which read:
The Associated Press @AP
Air raid sirens in Jerusalem signal a possible rocket attack aimed at Israel’s self-declared capital: http://apne.ws/ZXOoMR -KH (correction)
Why is that Tweet a “correction”? Because about an hour earlier AP made a “mistake” by posting the following:
The Associated Press @AP
Air raid sirens wail in Jerusalem, signaling a possible rocket attack aimed at Israel’s capital: http://apne.ws/U3UaeK -KH
Ooops, they forgot the “self-proclaimed” part, eh?
But, think about this logically for a second, won’t you? Exactly which capital in exactly which country isn’t a “self-proclaimed capital”? I mean, isn’t that how life works? You start a country and declare which of your great cities will be your capital? What country allows foreign interests to determine what their capital will be? Of course Jerusalem is Israel’s “self-proclaimed capital” just as Washington DC is America’s self-proclaimed capital and Paris is France’s self-proclaimed capital!
The point I am making is that the AP’s use of “self-proclaimed capital” to describe Jerusalem is both unnecessary logically — everyone’s capital is self-proclaimed, it is a given — and an attempt to make readers discount the legitimacy of the place — “Oh, those nasty Jews only say it is their capital,” readers are supposed to think.
It is a perfect example of the anti-Jewish bias in the liberal Old Media.
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, RightPundits.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, AmericanDaily.com, among many, many others. Mr. Huston is also endlessly amused that one of his articles formed the basis of an article in Germany’s Der Spiegel Magazine in 2008.
For a full bio, please CLICK HERE.
Re: Each country proclaims its own capital.
Anyone that can rub two braincells together can see that one Warner. Which, perhaps, shows that the folks at AP don’t have two co-joining braincells. I think they have Jello for brains as does anyone that doesn’t immediately see through their nonsense…