The Media Accountability Project  

The use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism is unchallenged despite its attempt to conflate criticism of Israel’s apartheid policies with antisemitism and silence human rights organizations and pro-Palestinian activists.

On March 27, 2023, the Winnipeg Free Press published an article about Israel’s Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and Delegitimization, Noa Tishby about an upcoming speaking event. However, the headline incorrectly identified Tishby as an “activist,” reading “Distressing rise of hate on agenda for activist’s lecture,” even though the event description highlights her role as an Israeli Official. Moreover, the piece failed to identify Tishby as an Israeli Official until the 12th paragraph.

CJPME wrote to the WPF to notify them about this error, arguing that the failure to identify Tishby as an Israeli Official would fundamentally alter a reader's understanding of the event. The letter also noted that the article had omitted reference to some of her controversial statements (more here). While the WFP claimed that Tishby would be attending the event as a “private citizen,” the event description itself did not make this claim.

On April 3, the Winnipeg Free Press corrected this error by changing the headline to read “Distressing rise of hate on agenda for Israeli official’s lecture.” Unrelatedly, that same day, Tishby was fired from her role as Israel’s Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and Delegitimization by Benjamin Netanyahu, presumably for her relatively mild criticisms of Israel’s judicial reforms.

"Noa Tishby is an Israeli government official. Israel’s Foreign Minister appointed Noa Tishby as the “Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and Delegitimization.” Again, this is an official role in the Israeli government. Tishby is not acting as an activist in her forthcoming talk in Winnipeg, but rather acting in her role as an Israeli Official."

In the article, you mention that a Palestinian man wounded an Israeli man in Huwara on Sunday, but you choose not to mention that Amnesty International accuses Israel of maintaining an apartheid regime against Palestinians. By only citing an attack by a Palestinian, you fail to provide the necessary context for your readers. I insist that you counterbalance your example of the Palestinian attack with mention of Israel’s brutal apartheid regime.

"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."

"Israel has not promised that it will not approve any more West Bank outposts. In fact, multiple Israeli ministers have vowed that last week’s settlement expansion and outpost authorization is just the beginning. Instead, as the story itself makes clear, Israel has made a significantly weaker promise to temporarily ‘hold off’ on such activities for the next few months."