Sorry I haven’t been tweeting a lot of language related stuff lately, so here’s some discourse analysis courtesy of the New York Times #SaveSheikhJarrah 1/

The function of the article title and blurb is to frame the story and summarize the main points of the story.

By referring to what is happening in Jerusalem as “evictions,” NYT is reinforcing the narrative that this is a real estate dispute as opposed to ethnic cleansing. 2/

Sheikh Jarrah is called a “contested neighborhood.” The word “contested” is favored by the forces that want to expel the families from their homes.

Under int’l law, East Jerusalem is occupied, not contested. The former involves legal obligations that the latter does not. 3/

Note how the blurb switches between “Arab” and “Palestinians.” Within certain circles, Palestinians are often referred to solely as “Arabs” because their Palestinian identity isn’t seen as legitimate. 4/

NYT follows the Israeli practice of referring to Palestinian citizens of Israel as “Israeli Arabs” but calls the non-citizens Palestinians.

I’d suggest here that NYT’s confused terminology is a function of its recognition that Israeli control over E. Jerusalem is legitimate. 5/

These Palestinians aren’t citizens but they exist in “legitimately” Israeli territory. So they settle here on referring to specific Palestinian Jerusalemites as “Arab” but “Palestinians” when speaking of them as a whole. 6/

Finally, I want to draw attention to “remove.” NYT acknowledges that the events in Sheikh Jarrah is part of a larger effort targeting Palestinians in E. Jerusalem.

There’s a phrase for the targeting of a group in this manner: ethnic cleansing. “Remove” is far more innocuous. 7/

There’s more that can be said about the article itself, particularly its usage of words like “clash,” “battle,” and “brawl” to refer to what has clearly been one-sided attacks by settlers and armed state forces against Palestinian residents. 8/

Needless to say that what you’re reading in NYT comes served with a heaping dollop of ideological bias against Palestinians. Please keep that in mind when reading US news media on what’s happening in Jerusalem. 9/9