The Media Accountability Project  

"Specifying that settlements are “illegal,” provides important context about why Palestinians may be hostile to settlers and why they may support armed resistance groups like the Lion’s Den. To ignore such context fails to capture the dynamic between Jewish settlers and indigenous Palestinian residents of the occupied West Bank and the near impunity of settlers who are backed by the Israeli army."  Continue reading

"During the conversation, Mr. Eisenberg falsely claimed that Khader Adnan, the subject of the retweet by Sarah Jama in question, was a “Palestinian terrorist.” This is demonstrably false and was not challenged by Mr. Brady." Continue reading

"Grant LaFleche’s article titled “Hamilton Centre MPP Sarah Jama’s retweet condemned by party” misleads readers and omits critical context to understanding the nature of Jama’s tweets. Sarah Jama has publically supported Palestinian rights and the rights of all oppressed communities making her the target of a smear campaign. Jama retweeted the news of the death of Khader Adnan, a Palestinian prisoner who died as a result of being on a hunger strike for 90 days and of medical negligence by Israeli authorities." Continue reading

"First, it is unacceptable that the reporting in this story is entirely one-sided and notably lacks comment from Palestinians themselves or their allies, who support Jama’s positions on Palestinian human rights. This article would have been strengthened, for example, if it had included the perspective of Noura Erakat, whose tweet is at the centre of this story. Instead, the only perspectives in this story are from Jama’s critics, who are opposed to her pro-Palestinian activism." Continue reading

"First, the story does not provide any information about Khader Adnan’s case or the broader context of the Israeli military court system and its practices of administrative detention. Those details would have helped readers understand why his hunger strike campaign has received so much sympathy from Palestinians and support from human rights organizations. In the absence of details, the story gives the impression that he was a “convicted terrorist,” in the words of B’nai Brith, and readers may assume that he enjoyed a fair legal process, neither of which is true." Continue reading

"Jama’s retweet was not fringe or extreme, as her critics want to suggest, but consistent with key voices in the human rights community. The ONDP should stand up against the smears." Continue reading

"I appreciated your honest approach in including the word ‘torture’ in your reporting. Thank you for putting the spotlight on Palestinian political prisoners in Israel where even children are routinely held in solitary confinement." Continue reading

"If Israel’s military court system and practices of administrative detention had been mentioned as part of the story, listeners would have a much better understanding of why many human rights experts have said that Adnan’s history of imprisonment is unfair, why he decided to embark on repeated hunger strikes in the first place, and why Palestinians have expressed widespread support for his protest. Instead, the use of the term “jail” could imply to listeners that Adnan had been convicted of a crime as part of a fair legal process. The omission of this context is therefore highly misleading." Continue reading

"Arrested and administratively detained twelve times over two decades, Adnan became a prisoner leader when he began to use hunger strikes as a non-violent tactic to protest Israel’s administrative detention. By omitting the fact that Adnan was under administrative detention, you prevent the listener from understanding why Adnan had become such an inspiration to Palestinians, and why rocket attacks were launched against Israel in support of Adnan." Continue reading

"The use of the phrase ‘so called’ in the context of Israel’s use of administrative detention laws is misleading. 'So called’ brings into question the validity and reality of ‘administrative detention’ as a widespread practice of the Israeli military. Israel’s use of administrative detention has been documented by both the United Nations and human rights and civil society organizations. There is nothing ‘so called’ about the administrative detentions." Continue reading