The Media Accountability Project  

The sale of the land is contentious because this was the sale of land on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal according to international law. This land is not available for purchase by Palestinians. Your summary is, unfortunately, misleading to readers who do not already understand the contentious nature of settlements

"Also, the language in this paragraph makes it seem as if the person with the nail gun is a pro-Palestinian protestor, when, in fact, it is a person threatening the protestors.  You should rephrase, 'when a man allegedly brought a nail gun to a pro-Palestinian protest and fired it at demonstrators,' as 'when a bystander threatened pro-Palestinian protestors with a nail gun, firing it at demonstrators'."

"Although I appreciate you giving voice to pro-Palestine protesters, please provide details about the situation in Gaza in future reporting, as it would help your viewers make more sense of the intentions behind the pro-Palestine protests and protesters."

Thank you for underscoring the leverage public voices have over their political leaders to hold Israel accountable for its ‘immoral war’ on Palestinians in Gaza.

On March 6, 2024, CJPME sent a letter to City News Montreal, pushing the media outlet to make some changes regarding an article about a protest in Montreal to an event hosting a panel of IOF members. We asked them to make it more accurate and precise.

CJPME wrote that the article had a misleading headline, didn’t use the correct terms to properly assess who the guests of the event were, did not mention who the organizers of the event were, and could have added voices from the protesters themselves and mentioned who the organizers of the protest were.

CJPME asked City News Montreal to add the words “hosting Israel occupation forces members” after the words “Israel speaking tour event” to the headline.

City News Montreal changed the words “Israel speaking tour” to “IDF speaking tour.”

CJPME asked City News Montreal to change the words “three Israeli advocates” to “three members of Israel’s occupation forces.”

City News Montreal changed the words “three Israeli advocates” to “three Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reservists.”

CJPME asked to change the words “Montreal’s Jewish community” to include the exact name of the event organizers: “Montreal’s Jewish community and DiploAct.”

City News Montreal added this sentence: “It was organized by Startup Nation, DiploAct and Hillel Concordia, per the poster.”

These changes were important to set the record straight on how controversial the event was and to not further mislead City News Montreal readers.

"This land is not simply a place where 2 million Palestinians live. It is land on which Israel is explicitly forbidden from settling parts of their population. All settlements and outposts are considered illegal under international law."

 But Israel is virtually alone in this view, and obviously has a geo-political agenda in describing the West Bank as “disputed.” As such, by adopting Israel’s language on this point, the media inappropriately favour a view that undermines the right of Palestinians to this land and contradicts the legal and diplomatic consensus.  

"They were not protesting in front of synagogues because of what they represent to the Jewish people. They were protesting in front of the synagogue because of the events they were hosting: a “real estate event” advertising stolen land for sale in the broader context of genocide in Gaza and the rise of illegal settlements in the West Bank."

I also appreciated that you reported on the main reason for the protest – that the invited guests were members of the Israeli military, which has been accused of committing war crimes and of massacring 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

"While the protests were indeed “noisy,” this is the nature of protests, and such freedom of expression is a cherished right in a democratic society, even when some other people may disagree with what is being expressed."