During the troubles in northern Ireland, the British Broadcasting Corporation faced a linguistic dilemma. Protestants called the area’s second city “Londonderry,” while Catholics simply said “Derry.” To choose one or the other would have violated the BBC’s policy of neutrality. So the organization simply compromised, alternating in its reports between the two names.
Efforts to provide balanced reporting on Israel/Palestine confront similar dilemmas. Let’s take just one example; Israel has moved several hundred thousand Israeli Jews into the occupied Palestinian West Bank, in violation of international law. Israel calls the new Jewish-only population centers “settlements” — and most of the world has adopted the same terminology.
But Palestinians and their supporters argue that the more appropriate word is “colonies.” So why should the BBC, the New York Times and the Washington Post be forced to decide? Why not just suggest they use the compound form, “settlements/colonies”? Anything else is bias, one way or another.
Are there other examples in Israel/Palestine where the prevailing vocabulary should be modified in the interest of fairness?