Robyn Bresnahan, a guest host for CBC’s As It Happens, interviewed Israeli Lt.-Col. Amos Davidowitz on July 24th. Mr. Davidowitz spoke proudly about his time serving Israel’s wars and expressed his commitment to showing up as an army reservist despite his participation in ongoing protests. His perspective was, by all accounts, profoundly one-sided.
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A CJPME Media Researcher has launched a media alert for the following article. Please submit a quick response to the media, even if it’s just a sentence or two: Title of Piece: Robyn Bresnahan: "Why this Israeli army reservist is protesting in the streets" Media Outlet: CBC As It Happens Comments of the CJPME Media Researcher: Robyn Bresnahan, a guest host for CBC’s As It Happens, interviewed Israeli Lt.-Col. Amos Davidowitz on July 24th. Mr. Davidowitz spoke proudly about his time serving Israel’s wars and expressed his commitment to showing up as an army reservist despite his participation in ongoing protests. His perspective was, by all accounts, profoundly one-sided. There were two primary issues with the interview. First, his unchallenged descriptions of Israeli democracy. Second, the failure of Palestinian concerns to enter the conversation at all. When Mr. Davidowitz said “this is a democracy, which has a Jewish character, and this is what we are defending,” Ms. Bresnahan left these remarks unchallenged. Human rights groups like B’Tselem and Amnesty International describe Israel as an apartheid state, not a democracy. Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and numerous UN experts have reached the same conclusion. There is no excuse for journalists to not question descriptions of Israel as a democracy given the abundance of evidence to the contrary. Ms. Bresnahan also has a duty to raise questions about Palestinian concerns, as they are essential to the story. Palestinians will likely face dramatic consequences as a result of Israel’s judiciary reforms. Israel’s far-right government is dedicated to the vast expansion of settlements and these judicial reforms remove one of the final challenges Israel’s extremist coalition faces in achieving their destructive goals. Palestinian Citizens of Israel also are at risk, as the courts have sometimes ruled in favor of their rights. There is too much at stake to invite a guest like Lt.-Col. Amos Davidowitz and let his remarks go unchallenged, all while omitting any consideration of Palestinians. Please click here to launch an email in which you can draft a response to this media coverage. If this link does not work for you, simply open an email in your email program, address it to [email protected], [email protected] , and draft and send your email. You may find the following CJPME resources to be of help:
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