In the third paragraph of a story today on Israeli efforts to remove eight Palestinian communities from the West Bank to make way for the army, Jodi Rudoren in the New York Times comes close to describing ethnic cleansing– a “broader government effort to reduce the number of Palestinians living in parts of the West Bank.”

Advocates for the Palestinians contend that it is part of a broader government effort to reduce the number of Palestinians living in parts of the West Bank known as Area C, which is under Israeli control, and prevent them from building new homes or businesses there. “It was never a declared Israeli policy to take over Area C, it was a policy that was taking hold on the ground,” said Shlomo Lecker, a lawyer who, along with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, represents about 200 families in the area. “It’s in many ways retreating from any agreements with the Palestinians, with the U.S., any kind of arrangement of two states. Where will be the two states if Israel will take over?”

Ilene Cohen pointed the phrase out to me and says that the term ethnic cleansing, which many Palestinian advocates use, is simply taboo in the mainstream discourse with regard to Israel; but through such descriptions as this one, it’s edging its way in, right after “apartheid.” I would add that Sasha Polakow-Suransky of the New York Times regularly described Israel as a “pariah state” in his book published before he took up work at the old gray lady– The Unspoken Alliance. My search of the Times archives demonstrates that they don’t call Israel a “pariah state.” So Polakow-Suransky will presumably keep these insights to himself. In this case, Rudoren has telegraphed the deeper meaning to the reader. And lest you think this is not an important battle, note the vehement rejection given her by Israeli spokesman Mark Regev– “I deny totally that there’s any effort to get Palestinians out of Area C.”