On the anniversary of the Palestinian “March of Return,” a Sky News report on the buildup to the Palestinian demonstration at the Gaza border fence with Israel included the following:
For better or for worse, the term “settlement” is usually employed to describe an Israeli community in the disputed territories and is too often used in common parlance and the media in a negative and politicized way to question the legitimacy of those communities.
The communities referred to in the story, however, are located on the Israeli side of the Gaza border where the only people questioning their legitimacy are those who question the legitimacy of the entire country.
Based on the rest of the Sky News coverage of the issue and the balanced reporting by the journalist involved, there’s no reason to suggest that there is anything else other than a slip in the terminology. Indeed, shortly after being contacted by HonestReporting, Sky News replaced “settlements” with the more appropriate “communities.”
A follow-up story also referred to “residents of Israeli communities.”
© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
