As an Exigent Voice he is expected to promote “Exigent’s educational mission and public-interest work.” All of the above constitutes not only the appearance of bias, but a material conflict.
Dear Rob Roberts,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) regarding the article “Hamas cracks down on anti-Hamas dissidents in Gaza” by Dave Gordon.
The article relies heavily on Hadeel Oueis, who is introduced solely as “a U.S.-based Syrian-born journalist and editor of Jusoor News, an Arabic-language outlet that reports on Middle East news.” However, the article fails to mention that Hadeel Oueis is also a prominent leader of Center for Peace Communications (CPC), which is widely regarded as a pro-Israel advocacy group. This is essential context and ought to be added.
The article states “According to Oueis’ sources, at least half of Gazans want Hamas out.” No sources are named or linked to — that’s likely because they don’t exist. The journalist does nothing to add appropriate qualification to this baseless claim, and the framing that Oueis even has sources is misleading. Polling is notoriously difficult during a genocide in which the majority of a population has been forcibly displaced and nearly all infrastructure is destroyed.
Given that Hamas is facing serious allegations of misconduct in this article based on mostly anonymous sources, it is standard practice that a group facing such accusations be offered the right to respond. There is no indication that this happened. The Canadian Association of Journalists’ (CAJ) ethics guidelines state, "We strive to give those who are publicly accused or criticized the opportunity to respond before we publish those criticisms or accusations. We make a genuine and reasonable effort to contact them, and if they decline to comment, we say so.” There is no indication in the article that this standard was met.
The article makes hardly any mention of Israel’s ongoing assaults or the extent of its destruction of Gaza. Again, this is essential context for readers to consider.
Finally, Dave Gordon is an Exigent Voice. Publishing his work as news and without a clear disclosure violates the CAJ’s guidelines regarding independence. Exigent foundation is a pro-Israel advocacy group funded by the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Exigent Voices are provided with free trips to Israel. Exigent promotes the writing of Gordon on its website under his bio. As an Exigent Voice he is expected to promote “Exigent’s educational mission and public-interest work.” All of the above constitutes not only the appearance of bias, but a material conflict.
Sincerely,
Jason Toney
Director of Media Advocacy, CJPME