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.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

UN chief: Israeli settlements on Palestinian land are illegal, hamper peace talks

AFP - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday slammed Israel's refusal to halt settlement building in Palestinian territories and warned that time is running out to save Middle East peace talks.

Ban highlighted that the United Nations, European Union, United States and the diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East had all criticized Israel's refusal to freeze its building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

"Settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory are illegal under international law, contravene the Road Map obligations of Israel, undermine confidence, prejudge the outcome of the permanent status negotiations and hamper efforts at bringing the parties back to the negotiating table," he said. Read more