"Gaza is being destroyed presently. And yet, protest signs are treated by the AP as more worthy of context than the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza."
April 23,2024
To:
Nick Perry, Journalist, Associated Press
Dave Collins, Journalist, Associated Press
Michelle L. Price, Journalist, Associated Press
John Daniszewski, Standards Editor, The Associated Press
Dear Nick Perry, Dave Collins, and Michelle L. Price,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East to express a small concern regarding a recent article titled “Pro-Palestinian protests sweep US college campuses following mass arrests at Columbia,” published on April 23 in the Associated Press.
It is unfair that the concerns of “antisemitism” at college campuses are reported on by the Associated Press more explicitly than the actual genocide that students are protesting against on university campuses. Reading this article felt to me like the world had been flipped on its head. It quotes someone claiming that they “saw signs indicating that Israel should be destroyed.” Gaza is being destroyed presently. And yet, protest signs are treated by the AP as more worthy of context than the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Columbia University’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment's clearly stated demands should be reported at the beginning of the article, not at the end. While a representative of the MIT encampment is quoted at the end of the article, the demand for divestment and an end to Columbia’s complicity in genocide is never reported at any point.
This article is one-sided and violates journalistic standards. Please consider adding Palestinian or pro-Palestinian testimonies, as the current ratio of 2:6 inundates the reader with pro-Israel talking points and leaves them with the impression that Zionist discomfort takes precedence over free speech condemning a state’s genocidal actions.
Sincerely,
Rose Mardikian,
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East