"I urge the AP to be far more skeptical of Israeli military sources when it reports on developments related to Israel-Palestine. The Washington Post’s recent analysis of the March 16 raid in Jenin which led to the murder of 14-year-old Omar Awadin provides a case study in how Israeli military sources can provide highly misleading accounts of the actions of their forces. So much about the current story makes the Israeli account extremely suspect, and results in the AP article likely serving as a whitewash of the actual events."
June 02, 2023
To:
Josef Federman, News Director, Associated Press
Anne Marie Owens, Editor-in-Chief, Toronto Star
Donovan Vincent, Public Editor, Toronto Star
Dear Mr. Federman, Ms. Owens, and Mr. Vincent,
I’m writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to express my concerns regarding the article “Palestinian toddler critically wounded in West Bank, Israeli military says shooting unintentional,” by the Associated Press (AP) and published by the Toronto Star on June 2, 2023.
Your article about the recent Israeli military raid in the village of Nabi Saleh fails to cite Palestinian sources, which contradict the official Israeli military narrative.
The article, which relies entirely on information from the Israeli military, fails to mention that the toddler and his father were shot afront their home. According to Palestinian sources, Israeli forces indiscriminately opened fire at a vehicle located at the entrance of the village – hardly an “unintentional” incident. According to Middle East Monitor, Naji Tamimi, the head of the Nabi Saleh Village Council said that Israeli forces “locked the iron gate at the village entrance and proceeded to invade several neighbourhoods and fire live rounds at protesters.”
I urge the AP to be far more skeptical of Israeli military sources when it reports on developments related to Israel-Palestine. The Washington Post’s recent analysis of the March 16 raid in Jenin which led to the murder of 14-year-old Omar Awadin provides a case study in how Israeli military sources can provide highly misleading accounts of the actions of their forces. So much about the current story makes the Israeli account extremely suspect, and results in the AP article likely serving as a whitewash of the actual events.
It is imperative that AP update this article to include authoritative Palestinian sources.
The AP must also re-assess its sourcing policies, especially in cases in which Israeli military forces injure or kill Palestinian children.
To include that the Israeli military “regrets harm to non-combatants” and does “everything in its power to prevent such incidents” gravely obscures the reality that Israeli military raids into various villages and towns in the occupied West Bank regularly result in the avoidable injury or death of civilians.
On a separate note, you state that “Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem, along with the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war.” The status of these territories as “occupied” is firmly established under international law and confirmed by international bodies including the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention. International law does not recognize the “capture” of territory by armed force, as confirmed by Article 2, Section 4 of the UN Charter which provides no avenue for a country to violate or infringe on the territorial integrity of another country.
As such, I ask that you update your sentence to read:
“Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war.”
Thank you for making these changes. Should you wish to discuss this matter further, you can contact me at 438-380-5410.
Sincerely,
Tayla Shair
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East