MSNBC / NBC News reporter Ayman Mohyeldin tweets his thoughts on US President Trump’s declaration on recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the US Embassy there:
Look at it this way, as Israelis have pointed out, with the US embassy moving to Jerusalem, we are one step closer to a One-State Solution with democratic and equal rights for everyone. #SilverLining
— Ayman Mohyeldin (@AymanM) December 5, 2017
While he is today a host on MSNBC shows “The Breakdown” and “First Look,” it appears that Mohyeldin is currently reporting from Ramallah in the aftermath of the Trump announcement.
That a journalist reporting from Israel and the disputed territories could tweet something of this nature is appalling on multiple levels.
Judging by his #SilverLining hashtag, Mohyeldin is expressing his support for a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Jewish Israelis aren’t opposed to a one-state solution due to a lack of interest in democratic and equal rights. To them, the one-state solution is unacceptable because:
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At its most basic level, the one-state solution denies the right of Jews to self-determination in their historical homeland and calls into question the very legitimacy of Israel as a state.
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A bi-national state would have the same consequence as the “right of return” – the negation of Israel as a Jewish state. Palestinians, by virtue of a higher birthrate, would turn Jews into a minority before voting in favor of another Muslim Arab state in place of Israel.
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The one-state solution is therefore simply a thinly veiled strategy for destroying the State of Israel and questioning its right to exist.
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The one-state solution is also proposed by those who refer to Israel as an “apartheid” state. Drawing upon this comparison, the example of post-apartheid South Africa is held up as a model for a bi-national Israeli-Palestinian state. However, former anti-apartheid activist Benjamin Pogrund explains in detail, examining issues of economy, religion, third-party intervention, political culture, violence and leadership, why the South African model does not fit the Israeli-Palestinian situation.
- Ethnically mixed states such as Yugoslavia demonstrate what can happen when competing nationalities are artificially brought together under one flag. The current conflicts in the Middle East, most notably in Syria also demonstrate that ethnic or religious divisions can lead to the most brutal violence. In the case of a unified Israeli-Palestinian state, experience has shown us that an Arab majority cannot be relied upon to respect the rights of other ethnic or national groups and that this could ultimately lead to violence and civil war.
It’s one thing for journalists to publicly express support for conflict solutions that are considered mainstream in Israel and the international community such as a two-state solution.
It’s quite another to express support for something that is considered not only to be on the political fringe but also promoting the end of Israel as a Jewish state.
Mohyeldin’s tweet demonstrates a lack of transparency in that MSNBC has not made it clear that Mohyeldin is not a neutral observer of events when he reports on them.
Mohyeldin is no stranger to unprofessional journalism and bias. In October 2015 at the height of a wave of Palestinian stabbing attacks, Mohyeldin was reporting live from the scene outside Jerusalem’s Old City where a Palestinian dressed in camouflage fatigues and armed with a knife broke through Israeli police lines and was shot dead attempting to escape.
Mohyeldin’s live commentary was such a distortion of reality that NBC News anchorman Jose Diaz-Balart was forced to intervene and correct Mohyeldin’s version of events when confronted with the video footage that had just been taken from the scene.
This included countering Mohyeldin’s claim that the Palestinian he saw running away from police didn’t have a knife in his hand.
Such was the outrage at the time, Israelis even launched a campaign to have Mohyeldin fired as a result.
In June 2016, In an on-air tirade, Mohyeldin excused the Palestinian terrorists who murdered four Israelis at a shopping mall, and blamed Israel instead.
How can MSNBC send Mohyeldin back to the region following his previous form and how can Mohyeldin be trusted at all to report fairly when he has clearly demonstrated his anti-Israel bias in this latest tweet?
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