With Christmas approaching there will inevitably be media stories centred on Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
In the past many of these media stories have reported Bethlehem as being in Israel. It is not.
Bethlehem is in the area described by the United Nations as the “Occupied Palestinian Territories”. The word “occupied” refers to the fact Israel has been in “belligerent occupation” of all historic Palestine since 1967 despite UN Security Council resolutions requiring it to withdraw.
Reporting Bethlehem as part of Israel adds insult to injury for Palestinians who live under what is described by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem as “A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid”.
We are asking that Aotearoa New Zealand media report the location of Bethlehem correctly and if media outlets are using stories sourced overseas which don’t correctly locate Bethlehem then a clarification or correction be included at the end of the item to make this clear to readers/viewers here.
