Crispian Balmer goes to bat; count the canards (part III)

In yet another op-ed, misleadingly packaged as "Analysis", Reuters Jerusalem Bureau Chief Crispian Balmer opines:

Israel fears it could use the ICC [International Criminal Court] to take action against some 500,000 Israelis who live in territory seized in 1967 and whose settlements most world powers regard as illegal.

Like his adolescent colleagues at Reuters, Balmer's memory spans a mere 44 years.  In an effort to portray Israelis living in the disputed territories as interlopers, he fails to inform readers that Jews had made their home in these lands for thousands of years before they were ethnically cleansed from the area by the Arab Legion in 1948-49.

Balmer asserts that most world powers consider settlements illegal, but this is false.  In fact, even officials at the U.S. State Department, not known for their pro-Israel sentiment, go to great pains to avoid using the word "illegal" when describing Jewish communities in the territories, opting instead for rhetoric like "unhelpful" or "an obstacle to peace".

This is by design because these officials know, as does Balmer, that Jews have every right in international law to settle in the territories:

The Administration of Palestine, while ensuring that the rights and position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced, shall facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions and shall encourage, in co-operation with the Jewish agency referred to in Article 4, close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes.

But when you're committed to advocacy journalism, rather than to your company Mission Statement, propaganda will always win the day.