As clashes between Palestinians and Israelis continue to escalate in Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood since Sunday, CNN has come under fire after an online news report that referred to the Palestinian residents of the neighborhood as "settlers" while referring to Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem as "Israeli nationalists."
Even though the video report set by CNN's Jerusalem Bureau Chief Andrew Carey provided a relatively more balanced overview of the ongoing escalation in Sheikh Jarrah, the headline chosen by CNN's website described the situation in East Jerusalem as "a housing dispute" between Palestinian "settlers" and Israeli "nationalists."
CNN is now referring to Palestinians as "settlers" on their own land.
— CODEPINK (@codepink) February 16, 2022
SHAME on CNN. #SaveSheikhJarrah #FreePalestine https://t.co/VIaUyqiypn
Consequently, online people have been heavily attacking CNN's wording describing it as "conforming to the far-right Israeli narrative," especially that it comes in favor of ultra-nationalist Israeli groups which insist on claiming ownership of Palestinian properties in East Jerusalem, the territory deemed Palestinian by international laws.
Shortly after the online backlash, CNN's headline removed the word "settlers" from its description of Palestinians.
CNN really used the term “Palestinian settlers” to define Palestinians in Palestine. This is a prime example of how western mainstream media normalizes settler-colonialism and ethnic cleansing. https://t.co/a1iV8s2sGC
— Comrade Kay ☭☭☭☭ (@Kayode_ani) February 15, 2022
And just as importantly, the article does not address the fact that Sheikh Jarrah is in EAST JERUSALEM, ie ILLEGALLY OCCUPIED TERRITORY, ie NOT IN ISRAEL AT ALL.
— ?Russell Khater? (@ruskhat) February 16, 2022
This is Ethnic Cleansing being exported to a whole different country.
Yet, social media users continued to protest what they called "appallingly biased" language which poses "a drastic shift" in covering the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, urging international media to use language that adheres to international laws.
Mistakes like CNN calling Palestinians “settlers” not only fundamentally distort the nature of the “conflict,” which is that Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their land and have been living under occupation for decades. They also erode the public’s trust in media.
— Laila Al-Arian (@LailaAlarian) February 15, 2022
i fixed it for you @CNN pic.twitter.com/sJPJFqqf88
— shatha?? #SaveSilwan #SaveSheikhJarrah (@notshathaa) February 15, 2022
This week's renewed clashes come following the visit of far-right Israeli MP Etmar Ben Gvir who led an attempt to set up "a makeshift office" in the neighborhood where several Palestinian families have been facing the risk of forced displacement for more than a year.
