The Media Accountability Project  

"Your readers do deserve to know that Smotrich is an advocate of hate speech and hateful policy. You write that after the mob assault on Hawara earlier this year, “Smotrich said the town should be ‘erased’”; he added, which you do not mention, that it was his intention to inflict such cruelty with state powers: “the state should do it,” he said."

"Your coverage of the unabated settlement expansion in the West Bank, land that is internationally recognized as being Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967, provides your readers with the necessary context in understanding the obstacles to peace that the Israeli government continues to lay down."

"I urge you to include more context to the second paragraph that clearly indicates that settler attacks have been ongoing this year and are not responses to one singular event."

"As such, I strongly urge Reuters to be far more critical of the Israeli government and military sources when reporting on developments in Israel-Palestine. The quotes by Gallant and Herzi-Halevi are highly contradictory to statements made by other Israeli officials, most notably Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is a staunch supporter for the expulsion, and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homes."

"Hamas did not “overrun” the Gaza Strip but was voted into power by Palestinian citizens who, among various reasons, support its resistance towards Israel’s military occupation and appropriation of land."

It is insufficient to state that the Palestinians “seek” to establish an independent state in the West Bank; this is occupied land which they “claim” as an integral part of any future state.

This statement downplays and misrepresents the rule of law and consensus among the international community which recognizes the establishment of Jewish-Israeli settlements as a violation of international law.

"Your news article claims that the Israeli killed has been identified as 'Meir Tamari, a 32-year-old resident of the settlement.' However, your headline identifies Tamari as a 'civilian' rather than a 'settler.' It is important that your headline correctly identifies Tamari as a 'settler' in order to place the attack by Palestinian gunmen within the context of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank."

Nevertheless, the article fails to fully describe the significance of the Knesset’s vote to revoke the 2005 law on the four settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israel promised the US in February that it would halt settlement expansion for six months in exchange for the US blocking a scathing UN Security Council resolution. This is such a betrayal that the Biden administration sought to summon Israel’s ambassador in Washington. 

On March 22, 2023, the Associated Press published an article in the Toronto Star on Israel’s repeal of the “Disengagement Law,” which allows settlers to return to four colonial outposts in the northern West Bank. However, the article failed to acknowledge that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) are illegal under international law. Further, it did not mention the recent context in which Israel reneged on a promise to pause the approval of settlements. Click here for an archive of the original article.

After a complaint from CJPME, the article was promptly updated the following day to include this context. The AP added the line, “Most of the international community considers Israel’s West Bank settlements illegal and an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.” Further, a hyperlink was added to direct readers to an AP article about Israel’s recent promotion of over 7,000 illegal settlement units. While this is not the language that CJPME prefers, as it suggests that the illegality of settlements is a matter of opinion, rather than an international legal consensus, it is nonetheless an important improvement over the original.