The Media Accountability Project  

"I take issue with the language used to discuss the legal status of Israel’s colonial settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). In the article you state “Since then, more than 700,000 Israelis have moved into dozens of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — which most of the world considers an obstacle to peace.” In an article by Ilan Ben Zion published by Associated Press, he states that “Most of the international community considers Israel’s West Bank settlements illegal and an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.” Just as Ilan Ben Zion mentions these two points, I believe it is important and necessary that you do." Continue reading

"In the article, you state that “Hawara lies on a busy road in the northern part of the West Bank that is used by Israeli residents of nearby Jewish settlements. Many settlers carry guns.” The statement lacks context and fails to properly present the illegal nature of settlements. It also fails to capture the dynamic between incoming Jewish settlers and indigenous Palestinian residents of the occupied West Bank." Continue reading

"First, I take issue with the language used to discuss the legal status of Israel’s colonial settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT). The article says, “The international community, including Israel’s closest ally, the United States, considers settlements illegal.” Regrettably, this phrasing presents the issue as if it is a matter of mere opinion. In fact, Israel’s settlement enterprise is a direct violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that an occupying power “shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” There is no ambiguity about this question." Continue reading

"88.1% of Jewish Israelis trust the IDF, the number 1 ranking institution. However, only 33.9% of Arab Israelis (Read: Palestinian citizens of Israel) trust the IDF, which ranks 5th in terms of trust. The authors do not combine this data and explicitly warn against it, so as far as I can tell it is unclear whether or not the IDF would still be the most trusted institution if the data was combined. In any case, the statement should be properly qualified, as it is currently misleading and potentially false." Continue reading

"There have been different interpretations of Jama’s comments with many groups, including Jewish ones, contesting her comments as being antisemitic. However, you assert this in your headline as fact whereas it is way more accurate to describe it as an 'antisemitic controversy' for sparking debate. As such, I insist that you change the headline from 'antisemitic comments' to 'antisemitic controversy' to better reflect the fact that this is a news article." Continue reading

"While the above lines from the readout may amount to implicit or indirect criticism of current actions by the Israeli government, this requires a significant degree of subjective interpretation. Ultimately, nothing in the readout (nor in the quotes from a GAC source) suggests that Joly’s comments were intended to “call out” Israel’s actions, or that she is “pushing” for them to stop. Instead, they appear to be included as an indirect acknowledgement of controversies which she is obliged to reference, the absolute bare minimum that one might expect." Continue reading

"While Cohen argues that the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) is not representative of Canadian Jews, his decision to exclude mention of Independent Jewish Voices reflects his own myopia around Canadian Jews of different backgrounds, occupations and affiliations, especially those who are committed to social justice and human rights." Continue reading

"Unfortunately, this single reference to amateur footage describes a violent crowd of Palestinians, which frames the gunshots as a form of self-defence. However, all of the surrounding context and other alarming footage is ignored. In fact, there is footage of live rounds being fired into the crowd of civilians (a bullet coming from the direction of the car can be seen striking a civilian near the end of the clip) and the subsequent scene of casualties in a local hospital." Continue reading

"Cohn claims that the phrase, 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' is controversial 'because it speaks for liberation from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea – with no Israel to speak of.' The reality, however, is that Israel is the occupying power, ‘from the river to the sea.’" Continue reading

"You have also failed to provide any balancing perspective on whether Sarah Jama’s comments are antisemitic and have therefore failed in your journalistic mandate to provide diversity in your news reporting.  By comparison, the Globe and Mail, in an article about Jama and her comments published March 14, cited Independent Jewish Voices which supports Jama, as well as Michael Bueckert of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, who describes the ruckus as a “smear campaign.”"  Continue reading