The Media Accountability Project  

As such, I insist that you make more explicit mention of the Palestinians, and the reason they are on the sidelines, literally and figuratively. You mention the Palestinian citizens of Israel, and how they are sitting out the protests, but you don’t mention why. You also don’t mention the 2.5 million Palestinians living under military occupation and apartheid in the territories, and why the protests in Israel are effectively irrelevant to them, even though their every action is controlled by Israel.

I was alarmed to see the original article was reframed to treat the Palestinian man who was killed in an Israeli raid as secondary by pushing the information down in the article and removing reference to the killing of Suleiman Ayesh Awaid, or the Israeli arrest raid, from the headline entirely. I am aware that it is common practice for the AP to update existing articles rather than create new ones when stories are related — I find that it is a reasonable practice in general — but in this case, the AP has essentially overwritten a story about yet another deadly Israeli raid, making it about something else entirely.

"I appreciate that your coverage included an interview with Elyanna, quoting her pride to perform in Arabic, her inspiration in Palestinian poetry and the donning of the keffiyeh. I am also especially happy that you include Palestinian voices such as Masa Qzaih and Sam Agha. Palestinian arts, culture, and voices are frequently excluded from Canadian public discourse and media."

"However, you mention that the Al-Aqsa mosque sits on a “contested hilltop” revered as the third-holiest site in Islam and the holiest site in Judaism. This characterization fails to note that Al-Aqsa mosque is located in East Jerusalem which is an occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) under international law. This is not an opinion but a matter of a settled consensus at the international level, as confirmed by the United Nations General Assembly, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention." 

Your headline “Israeli police absolved in killing of Palestinians at Al-Aqsa” is inconsistent with the content in your article. Your article provides Palestinian as well as Israeli accounts of the killing of Alasibi. In fact, your article states that there is no evidence to corroborate the Israeli police’s account asserting that Alasibi attacked an Israeli police officer.

"By omitting the fact that East Jerusalem is in Israeli-occupied territory, you exclude important context about the dynamic between Palestinians and Israeli forces, evidenced by the most recent incident in which Israeli forces restricted and assaulted Christian Palestinian worshippers and clerics wishing to visit the Holy Sepulchre for Easter prayer. As an occupying power, Israel does not have the right to interfere with the religious practices of the civilian population."

The term “separation barrier” is used by Israel to defend its construction. However, many Palestinians view this “barrier” as a restriction to their freedom of movement due to its annexation of Palestinian land. Therefore, Palestinians suggest the terms “annexation wall,” “segregation wall” or even “apartheid wall.” As such, I urge you to adopt one of these terms to describe this abhorrent structure violating the utmost basic human rights of Palestinians.

"Thanks to Rick Salutin for his insightful piece, “Is a potential civil war brewing among Israeli Jews?”  Salutin collapses a lot of history and religious lore into his piece, and provides an insightful read for people wanting to understand how Israel arrived at its current political and societal crisis."

"You rightfully call attention to criticism of IHRA in its use to repress and silence Palestine activism. It is very critical for Canadian audiences to be aware of this criticism seeing as IHRA has been adopted in many forums with little or no debate. Unfortunately, it has subsequently been used to undermine the free expression of many activists and human rights organizations fighting for Palestinian rights."

The omission of the fact that the reported events are taking place in occupied Palestinian territory may inadvertently mislead readers into thinking that the site is located within Israel, especially due to the references to “Israeli police.” Most readers are likely not aware that Israeli “police” would be operating in occupied territory.