"In order to be more accurate, efforts should be made to clarify the asymmetrical nature of violence by providing death toll numbers where appropriate, rather than burying them at the end of articles. In this case, death toll numbers should immediately follow the quote in question."
September 20, 2023
To:
Tia Goldenberg, Journalist, AP
Josef Federman, News Director, AP
Donovan Vincent, Public Editor, Toronto Star
Dear Tia Goldenberg, Josef Federman, and Donovan Vincent,
I'm writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to express concern about the AP article “Six Palestinians are killed in latest fighting with Israel, at least 3 of them militants,” published in the Toronto Star on September 20, 2023.
The first sentence of your article reads:
“Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank and unrest in the Gaza Strip have killed six Palestinians…”
“Unrest in the Gaza Strip” did not kill a Palestinian protester. He was killed by a bullet fired by an Israeli soldier. Such passive language without attribution leads to misleading reporting. This is, of course, clarified later in the article, but it nonetheless ought to be clarified up-front.
The lead sentence should read: “Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank and Israeli fire during unrest in the Gaza Strip have killed six Palestinians…”
Also concerning is the article’s framing of violence as symmetrical:
“Israel has stepped up its raids on Palestinian areas and Palestinian attacks against Israelis have been mounting. Tensions also appear to be spreading to Gaza.”
When one considers the dramatic difference in casualties, such statements serve to obscure the asymmetrical nature of violence for ordinary readers.
In order to be more accurate, efforts should be made to clarify the asymmetrical nature of violence by providing death toll numbers where appropriate, rather than burying them at the end of articles. In this case, death toll numbers should immediately follow the quote in question.
An all-too-common theme in AP’s articles on the file is that Israeli military officials are given the opportunity to comment on the violence itself, whereas Palestinian officials (typically health officials) only comment on the victims. This article is an example.
- “The Israeli military said Wednesday that troops opened fire toward a Palestinian who was throwing explosives at them while they were on an overnight arrest raid in the refugee camp of Aqabat Jabr.”
- “The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli forces killed 19-year-old Dhargham al-Akhras in the raid.”
The issue is that Israel is consistently given the opportunity to comment on or define the narrative of events, whereas Palestinians merely speak to elements of its outcome. This leads to, over time, coverage that is heavily one-sided, despite occasional efforts to give Palestinians more prominent voices in your articles.
I insist that the AP make efforts in future coverage to acquire substantive comment from Palestinians involved in the incidents in question.
Please contact me at 438-380-5410 for more information or additional comment.
Sincerely,
Jason Toney
Director of Media Advocacy, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East