A group of 11 European journalists was recently invited on a six-day tour of Jerusalem and the West Bank in a trip that was ostensibly aimed at briefing them on the kind of aid the European Union and its member states give to the Palestinian people.
Organized by the Office for the European Union Representative in Jerusalem, the EU-funded invitation was only extended to those journalists who were prepared to submit a one-page declaration that explained why they wanted to participate and how they would use the trip to inform their work.
The request, which appeared to be an indirect way of pre-vetting future published pieces, was an early indicator of what kind of press trip this would turn out to be: a fully-fledged, pro-Palestinian propaganda tour.