One of the primary tenets of journalism is: Do not deceive. Unfortunately, the San Antonio Express-News, a Hearst newspaper located in Texas, violated this tenet when it refused to correct numerous errors in an Op-Ed by pro-Palestinian activist Jacob Nammar posted online March 13 ("Israel's Policy Keeps Mideast Conflict Alive").

First, demonstrating his ignorance about Israel and the Palestinian areas, Nammar absurdly claimed that Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth are becoming "Jewish" cities. In Bethlehem, there are few if any Jews. Israeli law prohibits Israeli citizens from entering Palestinian Authority-controlled territory including Bethlehem.

The city is populated mostly by Muslims and a significantly smaller, declining number of Christians. In a piece titled "O, Muslim Town of Bethlehem," published on Dec. 16, 2006, the British Daily Mail reported that the town's Christian population "has dwindled from more than 85 percent in 1948 to 12 percent of its 60,000 inhabitants in 2006." The remainder of the inhabitants are Muslim.

Nammar's claim that Nazareth is becoming a "Jewish" city is likewise nonsense. According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, the total population for Nazareth in 2005 was 64,800, of which 64,100 were Arab, including 20,000 Christian Arabs. The number of Jews is unavailable, underscoring the small number of Jews in this city. Jews live in a nearby town called Nazareth Illit (Upper Nazareth). This city, adjacent to Nazareth, numbers 43,700 inhabitants - 33,400 Jews and 5,200 Arabs. Approximately 4,300 Christians (mostly Arab) live in Nazareth Illit as well.

Jerusalem is indeed a Jewish-majority city, but it is becoming more Arab and less Jewish. As the Arab's population is growing at a faster rate than its Jewish population, the Jewish share of the city's total population is decreasing, not increasing...