Studies show that US coverage is Israeli-centric. The main bureaus for CNN, Associated Press, Time, etc. are located in Israel and often staffed by Israelis. The son of the NY Times bureau chief is in the Israeli army;"pundit" Jeffrey Goldberg served in the IDF; Wolf Blitzer worked for AIPAC. Because the U.S. gives Israel over $8 million/day - more than to any other nation - we feel it is essential that we be fully informed on this region. Below are news reports to augment mainstream coverage.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Israel offers limited permits to Gaza's Christians to spend Christmas in Bethlehem

Xinhua News- Nabil Tarazi, a 50-year-old Christian who lives with his family in the Gaza Strip, said he would spare no efforts to gain a chance to go to the holy city of Bethlehem for Christmas on Friday.

Tarazi, who is a civil servant in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), told Xinhua he is still waiting for an Israeli response to his application for the pass permit to go with his family from Gaza to Bethlehem for the forthcoming Christmas.

"I applied to the Israeli side three weeks ago, and have so far received no reply," he said.

Local media reported that Israel will only offer pass permits to around 300 Christians this year, out of a total of 3,000 Christians in Gaza among the 1.8 million population, to go to Bethlehem during the Christmas.

Israel decided this year that Christians below the age of 35 years old won't be able to obtain a permission to go to Bethlehem for Christmas, Tarazi said. Read more
at 12/23/2010 03:01:00 PM