On February 15, 2023, CBC News published an article by the Associated Press with the problematic headline, “Israeli parliament approves law that could strip some Arab attackers of citizenship.” (Click here to see the archived version with the original headline).
CJPME wrote to the CBC taking issue with three problems in the headline: First, the headline incorrectly used the term “Arab,” even though it refers specifically to Palestinians. CJPME noted that “Israel’s preferred use of the politicized terms ‘Arab-Israeli’ or simply ‘Arab’ is intended to downplay or erase the ‘Palestinian’ identity of the vast majority of the members of this group.” Second, the headline used the term “attackers,” even though the law applies to a range of offences which is much broader than violence, including various actions which allegedly constitute “a breach of trust to the State of Israel.” Third, the headline did not specify that the law was racist, even though it is only directed at Palestinian citizens of Israel and not Jewish Israelis.
CJPME is pleased that CBC News agreed to act on the first two out of the three issues, and on March 17 changed the headline to: “New Israel law allows stripping residency of Palestinians convicted of 'breach of trust.'” For the third point, CBC declined to take our suggestion, pointing out that the perspective that the law is racist is included prominently in the subheading and text of the article.
