Failure to specify that an Israeli killed in an illegal settlement was a "soldier"

"By failing to specify that he was a soldier, you mislead readers into thinking that he was a civilian rather than a combatant. This creates a double standard, considering that the Palestinian who carried out the shooting is labeled a “militant.” Provided that this is a direct response to Israel’s military invasion of the Jenin refugee, it is essential to provide this information."


July 7, 2023

To:

Julia Frankel, Journalist, Associated Press

Josef Federman, News Director, Associated Press

Anne Marie Owens, Editor-in-Chief, Toronto Star

Donovan Vincent, Public Editor, Toronto Star

Dear Ms. Frankel, 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 request an immediate headline change and correction to the article titled “A Palestinian militant kills an Israeli in the West Bank, a day after Israel’s military raid in area,” by Julie Frankel of the Associated Press and published by Toronto Star in print and on its website on July 6, 2023.

The article reads:

“A Hamas militant on Thursday opened fire near an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, killing one Israeli a day after Israeli forces withdrew from the largest military operation in the West Bank in two decades.”

You fail to state in the headline and in the article that the Israeli killed was in fact an Israeli soldier, - not a settler or civilian as many readers would assume - as reported by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Haaretz Newspaper. By failing to specify that he was a soldier, you mislead readers into thinking that he was a civilian rather than a combatant. This creates a double standard, considering that the Palestinian who carried out the shooting is labeled a “militant.” Provided that this is a direct response to Israel’s military invasion of the Jenin refugee, it is essential to provide this information.

As such, I insist that you correct both the headline and the article to specify that an “Israeli soldier,” was killed.

Both the print and online version of the article have these mistakes and must be corrected.

I expect the Associated Press and Toronto Star to take immediate action to make these corrections.

Should you wish, you can contact me at 438-380-5410 for more information.

Sincerely,

Tayla Shair

Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East