The Media Accountability Project  

"I commend you for rightfully highlighting the criticism of Israel’s 'questionable democratic credentials' due to their treatment of Palestinians. This is an important critique, one backed effectively by a 200+ page Amnesty International report titled 'Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel system of domination and crime against humanity.' Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians is necessary context for understanding the nature and quality of Israel’s democratic institutions, and this should be included in all coverage of Israel’s judicial reforms." Continue reading

"Israel has not promised that it will not approve any more West Bank outposts. In fact, multiple Israeli ministers have vowed that last week’s settlement expansion and outpost authorization is just the beginning. Instead, as the story itself makes clear, Israel has made a significantly weaker promise to temporarily ‘hold off’ on such activities for the next few months." Continue reading

"The article is about a workshop organized by the Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation (OSSTF) entitled “Anti-Palestinian racism: Nakba denial.” Unfortunately, the article fails to provide a Palestinian perspective nor to explain what the Nakba represents, leaving the reader with a single perspective. Below, I will outline two areas in this article that urgently require an update. First, your article fails to include a Palestinian perspective, even though the workshop in question is about anti-Palestinian racism. While you mention that the session presenters did not respond to requests for comment, more efforts should have been made to provide a Palestinian point of view on the importance of this workshop and the concepts under discussion. Following the Canadian Association of Journalist’s (CAJ) ethics guidelines on diversity, news organizations and journalists should seek to “include views from all segments of the population.”"     Continue reading

"The notion that more guns and armed civilians in Israel will lead to greater safety is not only misguided but downright dangerous. A more sustainable and just solution lies in ending the apartheid policies that have been in place in Israel for decades and respecting the basic human rights of Palestinians." Continue reading

"Your article describes the occupied West Bank as 'lands the Palestinians seek for a future state.' Your article also mentions that Israel 'captured' the West Bank in 1967. Referring to the West Bank in this way gravely obscures the reality that it is militarily-occupied territory. This is not an opinion but a matter of a settled consensus at the international level, as confirmed by the United Nations Security Council, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention. Israel’s military occupation of these Palestinian territories is critical context for interpreting the nature of, and motivations behind, the new far-right government’s plan to expand illegal settlements. We, therefore, insist that you correctly identify the West Bank as Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) under international law and change 'captured' to 'occupied.'" Continue reading

"We believe that your news article does a good job of detailing the consequences of this racist law for Palestinians. However, the headline is misleading and inaccurate for several reasons, and we are requesting an immediate change. First, your use of the term 'Arab' in the headline is problematic, as it refers specifically to Palestinians. 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. We, therefore, urge you to follow the widely used and respected Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association (AMEJA) guidelines on covering issues related to Israel and Palestine, which encourage journalists to avoid the language of 'Arab-Israeli' or 'Arab' and instead use the more appropriate term 'Palestinian citizens of Israel,' or simply 'Palestinian.'" Continue reading

"Even though the article powerfully tells the story of 17-year-old Wadi’ who was killed by Israeli forces, the article references more attacks on Israelis than on Palestinians, and the overall framing of a 'cycle of violence' similarly obscures the asymmetrical nature of the violence. This could have been mitigated if you had included data on the casualties this year: since the beginning of 2023, at least 50 Palestinians have been killed, including 11 children, while 12 Israelis have been killed, including at least 2 children." Continue reading

"When describing the 'near-nightly arrest raids,' it should be noted that these are often deadly and violent military invasions. This year, at least 29 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces during these raids, including five children. These raids often involve excessive use of force, including the use of live ammunition, which violates international law and can result in unnecessary loss of life. The article only briefly mentions that 'youths protesting the incursions... have also been killed.' It is important to acknowledge and be specific that the violence committed by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians includes numerous children." Continue reading

"We insist that any discussion of Israel’s 'democracy' must come with a qualification that it is not extended to everyone under Israeli rule, and should note the findings of apartheid from the human rights sector. We expect that this critical aspect of Israel’s judicial reforms, and the broader impact on Palestinians generally, will be touched on in future reporting." Continue reading

"In fact, the main issue with the definition are the 11 “examples” provided with the definition, 7of which focus on the state of Israel rather than on Jews as a group. The definition, with its examples, disserves Jews because it conflates real antisemitism with criticism of Israel. And it disserves Palestinians and Palestinian-Canadians because it smears themas antisemites for sharing their stories of dispossession at the hands of Israel and Zionism.It is for this reason that theBC Civil LibertiesAssociation, Independent Jewish Voices and many other civil liberties groups are so concerned about the IHRA definition" Continue reading