On April 25, 2023, many Canadian media outlets published a story by the Associated Press on Israel’s Memorial and Independence Days, which was originally titled “Israel marks Memorial Day plagued by divisions, violence.” It claimed that “This year, as Israel turns 75 years old, it has much to celebrate.”
While depicting Israeli history in a positive light, the article failed to mention the Nakba, Israel’s role as an occupying power, or the fact that human rights groups consider Israel to be an apartheid state. As CJPME wrote in a letter to AP: “The Nakba is an essential pillar of the story of Israel’s creation and must be included in all reporting on Israeli “Independence Day.”
Later in the day, there were major updates to the story to include more information about Israel’s “Independence Day,” and the revised article also included a mention of the Nakba:
Palestinians generally commemorate what they call the “nakba,” or the “catastrophe,” of 1948 — in which hundreds of thousands of them fled or were forced from their homes during the war surrounding Israel’s creation — on May 15.