The result of putting this pressure on universities runs a real risk of punishing or freezing free speech when it comes to criticizing Israel or even advocating for Palestine. All of this context is missing from the article, making it highly one-sided and misleading.
Poor coverage - Media outlet to be critiqued
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Title of Piece: Marie Woolf: "MPs challenge university chiefs to say if calling for genocide of Jews violates their conduct codes"
Media Outlet: Globe and Mail
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Comments of the CJPME Media Researcher:
(Note: Please do not copy and paste the material below as the content to your message to the media - put all comments in your own words):
Please help us challenge Globe and Mail and Marie Woolf for an incomplete and one-sided article.
A handful of Canadian politicians are calling on universities to say whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates their code of conduct. While it sounds like an obvious issue — that calling for the genocide of anyone is intolerable — it is complicated by the fact that the Israel lobby is unfairly conflating calls for Palestinian freedom with calls for the genocide of Jewish people. Popular chants like "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" are described by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) as being genocidal, and CIJA is not alone.
The result of putting this pressure on universities runs a real risk of punishing or freezing free speech when it comes to criticising Israel or even advocating for Palestine.
All of this context is missing from the article, making it highly one-sided and misleading.
- The article doesn’t make clear what constitutes a call for genocide of Jews. It simply states that there are calls for genocide in universities, which takes statements of those who described them as such at face value. It also conflates the criticism of the State of Israel with antisemitism.
- Woolf fails to mention that some of the 5 Liberal MPs who sent a letter to the presidents of Canada’s largest universities are pro-Israel figures. The journalist ought to raise the question of the motive behind this call. It is not clear if it is really about antisemitism or the prevention of any form of criticism against the State of Israel, which are two different issues.
- Similarly, as the Israel lobby is trying to push a genocidal narrative for the “from the River to the Sea” chant, Woolf leaves out the whole question about the impact on free speech or the implications for pro-Palestine protests and protesters of such conflation. This is dangerous for any democracy.
- Woolf inaccurately and unfairly described the incident at Concordia University between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine students. It states as fact that pro-Palestine students were at fault and that pro-Israel students were victims. Many reputable outlets covered the events and found the truth to be much more complicated. The journalist shouldn't be giving her opinion and pretending it is unbiased news.
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