April 18, 2002

Dear NPR News,

For the second day in a row, in the 7 AM ET news bulletin, NPR's Linda Gradstein said that Israel had offered Palestinians besieged by Israeli occupation forces in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity the choice of being tried or "deported."

She also referred to all the Palestinians inside the Church as "gunmen," when it is a fact that not everyone sheltering there fits that description.

The normal usage of the the verb "to deport" refers to the removal of a non-native person from a country. When a native person is expelled from his or her own land he or she is exiled, banished or expelled.

Gradstein's usage of the term "deport" stands out since all other NPR reports on the same story that I heard correctly used the term "exile."

It seems that just as Gradstein accepts Israel's claim that East Jerusalem is part of Israel, she also accepts the view of right-wing Israeli settlers that Palestinians living under occupation in their own homeland are "strangers" or "aliens."

NPR should ensure that Gradstein reports accurately and does not continue to inflame the situation with her outrageous pro-Israeli positions disguised as reporting.