Dear Mr. Knoblock

We are writing to bring to your attention a blatantly inaccurate and misleading report on the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict broadcast on the Fox News Channel. The report, by Katherine Harage, was aired on Fox News Live at noon on Saturday, October 14 and broadcast throughout the day.

In her brief, but shockingly inaccurate report, Ms. Harage implies that Israel’s very existence is to blame for the conflict, that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank is due to "Orthodox Israeli Jews" and that "Jewish communities" in the West Bank make Israel’s policy decisions on the peace process. Ms. Harage states:

"Religious fervor sustains the conflict. Orthodox Israeli Jews believe they have a biblical right to possession of all the territory in the Greater Israel, that also includes the West Bank of the Jordan River. Efforts to transfer control of the West Bank in the land for peace plan failed. Many of the Jewish communities who have occupied the area since 1967 would rather fight than accept Arab rule.

And years of hostility are rooted in the origins of modern Israel, when Jews immigrated to Palestine to escape persecution they displaced the Arab population of the region. Palestinian were left without a country of their own."

Ms. Harage and her producers would be well served to read the following historical points:

1. The origin of the Israeli Administration of the West Bank and Gaza Strip is obviously much more complex than Ms. Harage’s statement of cause. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the West Bank was under Jordanian rule and the Gaza Strip under Egyptian rule. After a series of hostile moves, including the closure the Straight of Tiran by Egypt, in June 1967 Israel launched a preemptive strike. Israel gained the territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the course of the ensuing war. The view some Israeli’s may hold on a "Greater Israel" was not related to this development.

2. Over the past seven years, as a result of Israel-Palestinian agreements, 99% of the Gaza Strip and 39.7% of the West Bank have been transferred from Israel control to the Palestinian Authority. 99% of the Palestinian population resides under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority. The determination of final border of the Palestinian Authority is an issue for final status negotiations. It is unclear what "land for peace plan" Ms. Harage is referring to.

3. The Jewish communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are known as settlements. They have not "occupied" the area, they live under Israeli administration. The future of settlements is also a final status issue, and there is certainly no proof of their preference to "fight" in the event of a final peace agreement that may make their area in which their settlement is located under the sovereignty of the Palestinian Authority.

4. Jews have a deep and sustained religious, historic, and cultural connection with the Land of Israel. When Jews in this century immigrated to Mandate-era Palestine they did not "displace the Arab population in the region" or leave Palestinians without a state. The United Nations partition plan of 1947 called for the establishment of a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Palestinians and other Arabs rejected the plan and launched a war against the new State of Israel in May 1948. As a result of the war some Arabs within Israel did leave or were displaced.

Fox News claims that it presents unbiased reporting and tells the viewer: "You decide." It is clear what skewed anti-Israeli conclusions the views of Ms. Harage’s report would draw. At this time of turmoil in the Middle East, it is important to be factually accurate.