Matthew Bell

Matthew Bell

Matthew Bell is a Jerusalem-based Middle East reporter. He has been with The World since 2001 and has filed stories from cities across the US and abroad.

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Making Preparations Ahead of the UN Vote on Palestinian Statehood

September 8, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment
A recent Palestinian demonstration at an Israeli military checkpoint outsude Ramallah attracted about a hundred protesters. (Photo: Matthew Bell)

A recent Palestinian demonstration at an Israeli military checkpoint outsude Ramallah attracted about a hundred protesters. (Photo: Matthew Bell)

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The World’s Matthew Bell reports from the West Bank on what both Israelis and Palestinians are doing in advance of the UN vote on Palestinian statehood. Both sides are preparing for the worst case scenario of widespread disturbances.

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One comment for “Making Preparations Ahead of the UN Vote on Palestinian Statehood”

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_Y6L6FTDBJYFKOHEZCN6BO6ZEGQ dorn

    Marco Werman talked of Palestinians
    turning to the UN “after two decades of negotiations”. He omitted of
    course that the PA has refused to negotiate in recent years, much to
    the chagrin of the US.

    Nor has The World or Matthew Bell even hinted at the fact that Hamas
    and Fatah cannot even agree on a Prime Minister – or even a common
    time. Gaza and The West Bank now operate on different clocks.

    Bell talked of settler violence and potential Palestinian violence. he
    talked of Palestinians “confronting the occupation”. Not once has The
    World or Bell hinted at the fact that the core issue is Palestinian and
    Arab refusal to accept any permanent Israel at all – let alone the fact
    that Palestinians could have had a state in 1948, 1967, 2001, 2008, and
    more recently.

    Invariably, Bell talked to an American born “settler” – not an Israeli
    of Middle Eastern descent. How long will it take The World to even
    mention that half of all Israelis are descendants of Jewish refugees
    from Arab lands?

    How long will it take to show that the core issue remains Arab
    rejection of any Jewish self determination, and that the current UN
    exercise is just another round in the endless war against Israel?