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NEW! HonestReporting Weekly Update
Gil Hoffman

May 19, 2023

Welcome to HonestReporting's new Friday recap where we will highlight egregious anti-Israel reporting found in traditional mainstream and social media.

This week marks the end of Operation Shield & Arrow, in which Israel struck back against senior Islamic Jihad terrorists who targeted Israeli civilians with 1,469 rockets. Predictably, the media presented it as an offensive war by Israel, and irresponsibly conflated terrorist and civilian deaths.

Yet, the most offensive claim made by a journalist had nothing to do with Operation Shield & Arrow.

In the lead up to this operation, Israel had faced a seemingly endless series of terrorist attacks. In our monitoring of mainstream media, we were shocked to find that CNN’s Christiane Amanpour described Lucy, Maia and Rina Dee’s brutal death at the hands of a Palestinian terrorist as being “killed in a shootout.”

HonestReporting contacted CNN and demanded a public apology; a demand soon joined and bolstered by Rabbi Leo Dee and Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As we waited for CNN to respond, we took our case directly to the people. So far, more than 1.1 million people have seen our posts on Amanpour, and joined the demands for an apology.

Social media is the most efficient and effective way to reach new, younger audiences and combat viral anti-Israel lies. This year alone, our content has reached more than 18 million people.

You can help us make an even bigger impact by following us on social media and sharing our content.

Who HonestReporting is Reaching on Social Media
Women: 41% | Men: 59% 18-24: 25% 25-34: 23% 35-44: 10% 45-54: 8% 55-64: 21% 65+: 13%
2022 (Jan-Dec) 4,053,538 | 2023 (Jan-May) 18,548,870
 

Gil Hoffman

Executive Director and Executive Editor

https://go.honestreporting.com/webmail/915271/351670047/8b8d9b0f0801269ad54eb4bcbeb2614aa2e3579ee1d1e361cba68c5bdf5fd7ee

The Media's Unhealthy Nakba Day Obsession

Like clockwork every year on May 15, the international media pump out articles about the so-called "Nakba Day" -- a day that marks the "catastrophe" that many Palestinians view as the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948.

This year has seen a flurry of Nakba-themed activity by mainstream media outlets seemingly competing against each other for who can find a new lens through which to cover a day that could just as easily be observing 75 years of Palestinian rejectionism.

+ Distortions and falsehoods


Holocaust Distortion, Erased: Major News Outlets Omit Palestinian Leader's Antisemitism From Reports


Much of the ensuing media coverage focused on the UN's Nakba commemoration in New York. Among other high-level attendees, the first-of-its-kind event featured an hour-long speech by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas who, in his usual antisemitic fashion, used the international podium to promote anti-Jewish tropes.

Yet in a seeming attempt to blatantly sanitize Abbas' incessant diplomatic antisemitism, prominent news organizations simply omitted his outrageous remarks.

+ 'Israelis lie like Goebbels'

Israel vs. Islamic Jihad: No Ceasefire For Skewed Reporting


A shaky ceasefire brokered on Saturday night put a stop to days of intense cross-border fighting between the IDF and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, restoring relative calm after the Iran-backed terrorist organization launched over 1,400 rockets at Israeli territory, with some missiles reaching as far as the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas.

Here's how the press covered the days leading up to and immediately following the truce. Spoiler alert: Once again, they found a way to make Israel out to be the aggressor.


+ Appalling moral equivalence
https://honestreporting.com/israel-vs-islamic-jihad-no-ceasefire-for-skewed-reporting/

https://go.honestreporting.com/webmail/915271/350341227/8b8d9b0f0801269ad54eb4bcbeb2614aa2e3579ee1d1e361cba68c5bdf5fd7ee
HonestReporting

Washington Post Whitewashes Islamic Jihad and Misleads on Gaza Operation


Aside from an apparent justification for Islamic Jihad’s terrorism as steeped in a decades-old territorial dispute, the most glaring flaw in this analysis is the failure to mention Islamic Jihad’s raison d’etre: The destruction of Israel and its replacement with an Islamic state.

+ Inaccurate Portrait

BBC Blame Game: Broadcaster Faults Israel For Islamic Jihad Rockets Preventing Urgent Cancer Care


As Islamic Jihad stepped up its rocket attacks against Israel over the weekend, the BBC was busy cooking up a new angle from which to cover the conflict: how to apportion blame for cancer patients dying in Gaza.

Offering readers little context, the BBC suggests Israel has decided to cut off and further isolate the Gaza Strip for no other reason than sheer malevolence.

+ Burying facts


Recommended Reading
Israel, US, UN Thank Egypt For Role in Mediating Ceasefire With Islamic Jihad in Gaza | Times of Israel
Here Are 800 More Reasons to Question The United Nations - Opinion | Kenneth L. Marcus, Newsweek
Analysis: Israel’s Complex Victory Against Gaza's Islamic Jihad | Ariel Schmidberg, i24News
A Congressional Nakba Day Debacle - Editorial | Jerusalem Post

https://go.honestreporting.com/webmail/915271/349977297/8b8d9b0f0801269ad54eb4bcbeb2614aa2e3579ee1d1e361cba68c5bdf5fd7ee
May 12, 2023

“When the [media] response to a [terror attack] is to condone it or not to condemn it, the next terror attack occurs.” - Rabbi Leo Dee

Israel is under attack. A civilian in Rehovot was killed in a rocket attack, and children are sleeping in bomb shelters.

Islamic Jihad has fired over 800 rockets from Gaza into Israel this week, after firing 104 rockets into Israel last week.

Why? Because a terrorist went on a hunger strike and died in an Israeli prison.

Yet, here's how the media covered his death:


HonestReporting called out each of these outlets for this horrific whitewashing of terrorism. We exposed and publicized these egregious inaccuracies, and educated the public on the facts behind these fictions.

Donate to HonestReporting
To counter the media's lies, HonestReporting published a video reminding the world that Islamic Jihad is a terrorist organization.


Since January, HonestReporting has reached over 17 million people on 5 continents, and across every age demographic.

We need your help today to ramp up the content we are creating to combat anti-Israel deceptions in traditional mainstream and social media. Your tax-deductible donation will give us the resources to produce and promote more graphics, videos, and social media content to educate the public about the context behind the clickbait.

Please donate to our emergency appeal today, and join our movement. And, help spread the word by forwarding this email to a friend.

Gil Hoffman

Executive Director
HonestReporting

https://honestreporting.com/israel-vs-islamic-jihad-media-outlets-are-getting-it-wrong-as-terrorist-rockets-rain-down/
HonestReporting

Israel vs. Islamic Jihad: Media Outlets Are Getting It Wrong as Terrorist Rockets Rain Down


Gaza-based terrorists continued to pound Israel with rockets on Thursday as Operation Shield and Arrow — Israel's defensive strike against Islamic Jihad — entered its third day.

Unfortunately, some media outlets can always be counted on for a botched job when it comes to their coverage.

+ What they got wrong

Once Again, New York Times Whitewashes Islamic Jihad


The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization has taken center stage in recent weeks. The death of its prominent member Khader Adnan from a hunger strike, the over 550 rockets fired by the organization at Israel in response, and now Israel's launching of Operation Shield and Arrow, have prompted the media to explain to their audiences what Islamic Jihad is.

Some have done a reasonable job. Unsurprisingly, The New York Times is not one of them.

+ Islamic Jihad's raison d'etre

'Caught in the Crossfire' or 'Killed in a Shootout': Media Distort Murder of the Dee Family


In April 2023, Palestinian terrorists opened fire on a car in the Jordan Valley forcing it to crash on the shoulder of the highway. The terrorists fired at the vehicle again at close range killing sisters 20-year-old Maia and 15-year-old Rina Dee. Their mother Lucy Dee, 48, was rushed to a hospital in critical condition but died three days later.

The Dees were unarmed Israeli civilians murdered by armed Palestinian terrorists -- yet some media outlets suggested they were "caught in crossfire" or "killed in a shootout."

+ CNN & ITV News

'The Power of the Unicorn': Israel Haters Use Eurovision Song Contest To Bash Jewish State


Five years after Netta Barzilai brought the Jewish state its fourth Eurovision victory, another Israeli contestant has taken Europe's extravagant musical competition by storm.

On Tuesday, pop star Noa Kirel's energetic performance of "Unicorn" gathered enough votes to proceed to the final, which will take place on May 13. What followed was an avalanche of online abuse directed at Israel.

+ Saturday surprise?

Recommended Reading
Netanyahu Says IDF 'at Height of Battle,' as Resumed Fighting Sinks Ceasefire Bid | Carrie Keller-Lynn, Times of Israel
Israel Accuses Islamic Jihad of Killing Four Gazans With Failed Rocket Launches | Jewish News Syndicate
Israel's Uphill Battle for Its Reputation | Naveh Dromi, Ynetnews
What the BBC Gets Wrong About Israel | Stephen Daisley, The Spectator
As Israel Turns 75, 'Foreign Affairs' Publishes a Call To Eliminate It | Elliott Abrams, Council on Foreign Relations

HonestReporting

Why Can't The Guardian Stop Publishing Antisemitic Cartoons?

When is one antisemitic cartoon too many? That's the question Guardian editors should be asking themselves after the newspaper was forced into a retraction this weekend over cartoonist Martin Rowson's latest hideous attempt at satire.

The sketch, which aimed to provide a comment on the recent resignation of BBC chairman Richard Sharp over his previously undisclosed financial dealings with former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, would not have looked out of place in Nazi Germany.

+ No unintentional slip

World Press Photo Jury Blames Israel for 'Lack of Press Freedom' in 'Palestine'


In a Middle East characterized by authoritarian regimes, and in the face of ongoing conflict with Arab neighbors, Israel's unwavering commitment to free media is something to be celebrated.

Yet World Press Photo Foundation recently peddled the claim that Israel suppresses the civil liberties of Palestinians in the eastern part of its capital, as well as the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

+ Distortion of the facts


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HonestReporting Top Tweets – April 2023


With an ever-growing social media presence, HonestReporting is active on Twitter, where the journalists, opinion formers and influencers are. Here are HonestReporting's top tweets for April 2023.

+ Top 16
Recommended Reading
US House Speaker Arrives in Israel, To Address Knesset | Jewish News Syndicate
https://www.jns.org/us-house-speaker-visiting-israel-to-address-knesset/
The Guardian Apologizes for Running Antisemitic Cartoon of Ex-BBC Chairman | Ariella Marsden, Jerusalem Post
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-741646
Remembering San Remo: When the World Powers Recognized Our Rights to the Land | Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom
https://www.israelhayom.com/2023/04/30/remembering-san-remo-when-world-powers-recognized-our-rights-to-the-land/
Overlooking Israel From Lebanon Border, Iran's FM Says 'Zionist Collapse' Is Near | Times of Israel
Israel's Pop Star Noa Kirel on Her Way to Eurovision 2023 in UK | Mor Elen, i24NEWS
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/culture/1682839151-israel-s-pop-star-noa-kirel-on-her-way-to-eurovision-2023

https://www.israelunwired.com/watch-who-really-blew-up-the-nordstream-pipeline-this-man-takes-on-the-msm/?
WATCH: WHO REALLY BLEW UP THE NORDSTREAM PIPELINE? THIS MAN TAKES ON THE MSM
written by David Mark April 27, 2023 239 views
Watch below as an audience member participating in an executive media panel challenges the managing editors of various newspapers to explain their lack of truth telling when it comes to stories that matter.

From the NordStream Pipeline attack to the COVID-19 coverup, the MSM appears far more like a government backed propaganda outlet than the independent guard of democracy that it is meant to be.

The now famous Pentagon leaks released by Jack Douglas Teixeira, an American airman in the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard in early April of 2023 show how the USA and its allies are heavily invested in the Ukrainian conflict – with US special forces working on the ground in Ukraine in active combat roles.

While the MSM has helped the government downplay the leaks, the damage has already been done. Although the leaks did not mention the US involvement in the Nord Stream pipeline attack, the MSM has covered that up in the same way it has about any US premeditated involvement or provocation that caused the Russia to invade Ukraine.

Longtime investigative journalist Seymour Hersch who broke the Watergate story, released what has become a scathing reveal on America’s direct involvement on the Nord Stream pipeline attack. The article published on Substack on February 8th of this year, paints in detail how the USA planned to take out the NordStream pipeline well in advance of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Hersch writes in his now famous article: “Biden’s decision to sabotage the pipelines came after more than nine months of highly secret back and forth debate inside Washington’s national security community about how to best achieve that goal. For much of that time, the issue was not whether to do the mission, but how to get it done with no overt clue as to who was responsible.”

Hersch details the plot and strategy on exactly how the USA carried out the NordStream bombing.

Why has the managing editors of America’s leading newspapers sidelined Hersch’s assertions?
Unfortunately, like everything else, America’s media has no answer.

https://honestreporting.com/
Happy Israel Independence Day!

From all of us at HonestReporting, we wish all of our subscribers a happy Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel Independence Day!

Israeli Independence: How Did the Press React in 1948?


On May 14, 1948, as the British Mandate of Palestine came to a close, political representatives of the Jewish community gathered in Tel Aviv to hear David Ben-Gurion proclaim the establishment of the State of Israel and the re-establishment of Jewish independence in the Land of Israel after nearly 2,000 years.

How did the international press react to the founding of the State of Israel and the subsequent Arab invasion? Which aspects of Israeli independence did the news focus on, and which aspects did they ignore?

+ 'Hebrew dances of joy'

The War of Independence: The Sin of Israel's Creation?


Israel's War of Independence isn’t so well-understood in the West. The prevailing narrative is probably best articulated by the late US comedian, Alan King, who said, "A summary of every Jewish holiday: They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat!"

But a closer look at the war sheds light on a number of controversies still unsettled since the Israeli state's founding in 1948.

+ Honest look at history

Recommended Reading
Israel at 75: The Sun Is Shining | David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom
Rare Photos: Jewish Brigade | Do You Recognize Anyone? | Korin Elbaz-Alush, Ynetnews
Israel Independence Day: Reconnecting Our Core Values After 75 Years - Opinion | William Daroff, Jerusalem Post
Five Israelis Injured in Car-ramming Attack | Jewish News Syndicate
West Bank: Terrorist Shot at Joggers Commemorating the Israeli Memorial Day | Jonathan Regev, i24NEWS

https://honestreporting.com/
Happy Israel Independence Day!

From all of us at HonestReporting, we wish all of our subscribers a happy Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel Independence Day!

Israeli Independence: How Did the Press React in 1948?


On May 14, 1948, as the British Mandate of Palestine came to a close, political representatives of the Jewish community gathered in Tel Aviv to hear David Ben-Gurion proclaim the establishment of the State of Israel and the re-establishment of Jewish independence in the Land of Israel after nearly 2,000 years.

How did the international press react to the founding of the State of Israel and the subsequent Arab invasion? Which aspects of Israeli independence did the news focus on, and which aspects did they ignore?

+ 'Hebrew dances of joy'

The War of Independence: The Sin of Israel's Creation?


Israel's War of Independence isn’t so well-understood in the West. The prevailing narrative is probably best articulated by the late US comedian, Alan King, who said, "A summary of every Jewish holiday: They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat!"

But a closer look at the war sheds light on a number of controversies still unsettled since the Israeli state's founding in 1948.

+ Honest look at history


Recommended Reading
Israel at 75: The Sun Is Shining | David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom
Rare Photos: Jewish Brigade | Do You Recognize Anyone? | Korin Elbaz-Alush, Ynetnews
Israel Independence Day: Reconnecting Our Core Values After 75 Years - Opinion | William Daroff, Jerusalem Post
Five Israelis Injured in Car-ramming Attack | Jewish News Syndicate
West Bank: Terrorist Shot at Joggers Commemorating the Israeli Memorial Day | Jonathan Regev, i24NEWS

https://honestreporting.com/cnn-omits-antisemitism-in-flattering-profile-on-pro-palestinian-celebrities/
CNN Omits Antisemitism in Flattering Profile on Pro-Palestinian Celebrities
“A group of celebrity activists are trying to destigmatize being Palestinian, telling the human stories of an oppressed nation in a new documentary,” is how CNN gushingly describes a recent film collaboration by a handful of…
Rachel O'Donoghue
April 24, 2023 3:00 pm
“A group of celebrity activists are trying to destigmatize being Palestinian, telling the human stories of an oppressed nation in a new documentary,” is how CNN gushingly describes a recent film collaboration by a handful of A-list antisemites.

Featured in the arts section of the news outlet’s website, the piece by multimedia producer Zeena Saifi, who was notably the lead byline on CNN’s criminally flawed “investigation” that concluded Israel forces deliberately killed Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, claims British graffiti artist Banksy’s headline-grabbing Bethlehem hotel venture “inspired celebrity activists to tell the Palestinian story.”

So, who are these celebrities selling the Palestinian plight to their starry-eyed fans?

According to CNN, they include none other than former Pink Floyd musician Roger Waters, and the model, musician and general nepotism beneficiary Anwar Hadid.
Roger Waters
Of course, readers may already be familiar with them both for another reason than their celebrity status: they have publicly expressed antisemitic and/or anti-Israel views.

Waters, for example, once claimed the United States is controlled by Jewish-American billionaire Sheldon Adelson, that a “Jewish lobby” controls the music industry, and likened Israel to Nazi Germany.

Yet, this is how Saifi sanitizes Waters’ virulently anti-Jewish opinions:

Waters has been a years-long advocate for Palestinian rights but has stirred controversy at times, with some critics accusing him of antisemitism. He has rejected that, saying his antipathy is toward Israel’s government, not the Jewish people.” [Emphasis added]

Fact check, CNN, Waters’ antisemitism is not alleged — it is proven.
Then there is Anwar Hadid, the lesser-known brother of fashion models Gigi and Bella Hadid, who once made light of the murder of a 13-year-old Israel girl who was stabbed to death by Palestinian terrorists and stated that he wished to see every member of the IDF “erased from the planet.”

Anwar Hadid (screenshot)
Worryingly, the piece ignores Anwar Hadid’s appalling views and states that he has “repeatedly spoken out for Palestinians, and often faced a backlash for it.”

If only CNN readers were told that the only rights of Palestinians the young Hadid has promoted, is the “right” of a Palestinian terrorist to murder Israelis.
CNN is, of course, welcome to publicize what will undoubtedly be an all-out attack on the Jewish state disguised as a documentary telling “Palestinian stories.”
But rebranding individuals to make them more palatable to readers amounts to nothing short of a PR campaign, not serious journalism.

Media Omit Terrorism From Munich Olympic Massacre
https://honestreporting.com/massacre-terror-missing-from-media-munich-massacre-coverage/
Following a concerted campaign by relatives of the slain Israeli athletes, Germany announced that it had convened an international commission of experts to analyze the events surrounding the Munich Massacre.

Some mainstream news organizations, however, softened the language in their coverage, effectively downplaying the terrorist nature of the atrocity.

+ Terrorists become 'militants'
https://honestreporting.com/massacre-terror-missing-from-media-munich-massacre-coverage/

The Harvard Crimson at 150: How the Nation's Oldest Student Newspaper Went off the Anti-Israel Deep End
https://honestreporting.com/the-harvard-crimson-at-150-how-the-nations-oldest-student-newspaper-went-off-the-anti-israel-deep-end/

The Harvard Crimson, the prestigious student-run newspaper at America's most elite university, has produced journalists who have gone on to populate positions of power in major news organizations throughout the nation, including The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and Foreign Policy.

That is, perhaps, what makes the recent radical shift in its editorial stance on the Arab-Israeli conflict especially disconcerting.
Related Posts
MSM Still Using Casualty Figures Hamas Conceded Were Wrong
Hariri Assassination: CBC Points Finger At Hezbollah
Straight From the Source
Quote of the day
WashPost Gets It
Tags: Anwar Hadid, Banksy, Bethlehem, CNN, Roger Waters
Rachel O'Donoghue
Born in London, England, Rachel O'Donoghue moved to Israel in April 2021 after spending five years working at various national newspaper titles in the UK. She studied law at the University of Law, London, and gained a master's degree in multimedia journalism at the University of Kent.

HonestReporting.com
https://honestreporting.com/poisoning-the-american-mind-aj-reimagines-violent-gaza-riot-in-twitter-propaganda-film/
Poisoning the American Mind: AJ+ Reimagines Violent Gaza Riot in Twitter Propaganda Film

A video recently posted by Al Jazeera's US-based social media arm AJ+ on Twitter posed what it presumably thought was a challenging and provocative question: "If Palestinians protested for democracy and human rights in Tel Aviv, what would happen?"

Aside from the sheer inanity of the question (why would Palestinians be protesting for their rights in Tel Aviv and not, say, Palestinian cities such as Ramallah or Gaza City?), AJ+ ludicrously attempts to equate the recent judicial reform protests in Israel to the infamous Palestinian "Great March of Return" demonstrations in 2018.

+ Al Jazeera by stealth

NBC News Misleads About IDF Draft Refusal
https://honestreporting.com/nbc-news-misleads-about-idf-draft-refusal/

Since its founding in 1948, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been a conscription army, drafting its members from within the general Israeli population. And as long as the IDF has been drafting Israeli citizens for service, there has been a tiny minority that refuses to serve.

For NBC News, however, the decades-old phenomenon of some Israelis refusing to serve in the IDF for ideological reasons is newsworthy if it can be somehow attributed to the current Israeli government.

+ Baseless and unfounded

World Media Partially To Blame for Terrorism Against Israelis
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-739596

Rabbi Leo Dee, who lost his wife and two daughters to terrorism, dared the foreign press to treat Israel fairly. HonestReporting Executive Director Gil Hoffman says that dare should become the baseline for media reporting about Israel from now on.

+ Read HR's executive director in JPost


Recommended Reading
FM Cohen Meets Turkmenistan's President, Will Open Country's First Israeli Embassy | i24NEWS
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy/1681987155-fm-cohen-meets-turkmenistan-s-president-will-open-country-s-first-israeli-embassy

Palestinian Terrorists Open Fire at Israeli Bus in Samaria | Jewish News Syndicate
https://www.jns.org/palestinian-terrorists-open-fire-at-israeli-bus-in-samaria/

Iran Proxy Samidoun Should Be Designated as a Terror Organization by the EU - Opinion | Nigel Goodrich, Jerusalem Post
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-739656

Twitter Responds To Rampant Antisemitism With Hate Speech Policy Change | Emily Schrader, Ynetnews
https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/hyj8q7hg2

CNN Middle East Producer 'Agreed To Delete' Anti-Israel Posts After Watchdog Report | Tim Pearce, Daily Wire
https://www.dailywire.com/news/cnn-middle-east-producer-agreed-to-delete-anti-israel-posts-after-watchdog-report
https://www.dailywire.com/news/cnn-middle-east-producer-agreed-to-delete-anti-israel-posts-after-watchdog-report

https://honestreporting.com/
HonestReporting

How Media Outlets Failed Amid Heightened Tensions During Passover, Ramadan & Easter

The religious festivals of Passover, Easter and Ramadan coincided this year at a time of already heightened tensions in Israel following a spike in terror attacks in recent months.

As flawed coverage spiked online and elsewhere, HonestReporting responded in real time, calling out the worst bias.

+ Defending Israel on the media battlefield

Fake News Easter: BBC Airs Orthodox Jew 'Spitting on Nuns' Disputed Footage, Media Parrot Lie About Israeli Police
https://honestreporting.com/fake-news-easter-bbc-airs-orthodox-jew-spitting-on-nuns-false-footage-media-parrot-lie-about-israeli-police/

Easter should be a time of celebration in Israel, which guarantees freedom of religion and worship to all citizens and visitors.

Yet as Easter celebrations in the Holy Land culminated in the Holy Fire ritual on Saturday, the international media jumped at the opportunity to lambast Israel with discredited allegations of poor treatment of Christians by authorities.

+ HonestReporting complains to BBC
https://honestreporting.com/fake-news-easter-bbc-airs-orthodox-jew-spitting-on-nuns-false-footage-media-parrot-lie-about-israeli-police/

Media Jump the Gun: Who Killed Palestinian Sameh Aqtash?

Sameh Aqtash was allegedly shot on February 26 under disputed circumstances, as the IDF and police worked to contain vigilante violence in the wake of a terror attack that saw two Israeli brothers murdered.

According to a widely-cited statement by Aqtash's brother, he was shot in the abdomen by Israeli troops, "not the settlers" who were rioting in the area. But minimal scrutiny of the evidence reveals cracks in the prevailing media narrative.

+ Conflicting accounts
https://honestreporting.com/media-jump-the-gun-who-killed-palestinian-sameh-aqtash/
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From the Archives: Israel Marks Yom HaShoah

At 10 AM on Tuesday, Israel comes to a standstill as people remember the horrors of the Nazi-perpetrated genocide.

+ Watch video https://honestreporting.com/holocaust-remembrance-day-israel-marks-yom-hashoah-video/

HonestReporting

Not Again: CNN Producer Tamara Qiblawi Promotes Anti-Israel Conspiracy Theories, Jokes About Jewish State's Destruction


A CNN journalist shared a string of offensive, anti-Israel and pro-terror comments on social media, HonestReporting revealed, following up on six other revelations of blatantly antisemitic journalists since last August.

A slanted April 8 CNN International article headlined "Attacks in West Bank, Tel Aviv as tensions remain high following Israeli strikes" initially failed to note that the airstrikes were in response to acts of aggression from terrorist groups in Gaza and Lebanon.

An examination of one of the names on the byline reveals a possible explanation.

Watering Down the Facts: Israel, the Palestinians & Access to Water

One of the most pernicious lies that continues to be spread about Israel is the claim that the Jewish state purposefully denies the local Palestinian population access to drinking water, effectively creating a water-related humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza.

As outlined in this article, all of these allegations have no basis in fact and are solely meant to taint Israel’s reputation in the international arena.

+ False & misleading assertions

The Guardian Features Gaza Journalist Who Wrote Pro-Terrorist, Antisemitic Social Media Posts

In the last month alone, HonestReporting has called out and complained about numerous pieces published by the Guardian, including an "investigation" that simultaneously sought to downplay Palestinian terrorism and conflated the deaths of terrorists with that of their victims and a story comprising mostly agency copy that had been carefully edited to twist the facts.

Our latest analysis of the Guardian's Israel-related output has uncovered another disturbing finding: the outlet has worked with a Palestinian journalist with a history of praising terrorists who were behind several horrific terror attacks that killed dozens of innocent Israeli civilians.

+ 'Arabs should be liberated from Jews'

Recommended Reading
Netanyahu Announces Gallant Will Stay Defense Minister, Vows to Tackle Terror | Jewish News Syndicate
https://forward.com/opinion/542772/the-murder-of-two-sisters-shattered-israel-rina-maya-dee/

The Tragic and Bloody Passover and Ramadan That Hamas Planned All Along | Zina Rakhamilova, Jerusalem Post
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-738904
https://forward.com/opinion/542772/the-murder-of-two-sisters-shattered-israel-rina-maya-dee/
The Murder of Two Sisters Shattered Israel. The Words of Their Father Gave Us Hope | Laura Ben-David, The Forward
https://forward.com/opinion/542772/the-murder-of-two-sisters-shattered-israel-rina-maya-dee/
Israel Isn't Perfect, but It's an Example for the Mideast | Nadim Koteich, The Wall Street Journal

Prominent Fox News Journalist Joins the Jewish Tribe | Emily Schrader, Ynetnews
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1hshpt112

HonestReporting

Israel on the Brink: Rockets Fired From Gaza and Lebanon, Riots on Temple Mount & Israeli Sisters Murdered in Terror Attack


As Passover celebrations began in the Holy Land, a crisis was brewing as Palestinian leaders encouraged rioting on the Temple Mount under the pretense of protecting the religious site from Israeli incursions.

On Tuesday evening, Palestinian agitators armed with rocks, fireworks and other projectiles barricaded themselves inside the Al Aqsa mosque, forcing Israeli police to enter the compound and evacuate worshipers using stun grenades and rubber bullets to repel rioters.

The media response was quick and somewhat inevitable.

+ 98 Rockets Fired at Israel

Recommended Reading
Terror Shooting in Jordan Valley: Two Israelis Murdered, One Wounded | Tzvi Joffre, Jerusalem Post
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-738668
Israel Boosts Police Presence in Jerusalem to Curb Ramadan Unrest | i24News
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/defense/1680810665-israel-preparing-for-tense-friday-in-jerusalem-set-to-boost-police-forces

In North, 50,000 Residents Without Rocket Shelters Brace for Escalation With Lebanon | Canaan Lidor, Times of Israel
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-north-50000-residents-without-rocket-shelters-brace-for-escalation-with-lebanon/
Did Israel Walk Into Another Tehran Trap With Recent Tensions? - Analysis | Seth J. Frantzman, Jerusalem Post
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-738671

https://honestreporting.com/how-one-word-changes-everything-the-guardian-mangles-agency-copy-to-twist-the-truth/
HonestReporting

How One Word Changes Everything: The Guardian Mangles Agency Copy to Twist The Truth
Here are the facts as we know them. On Saturday evening, three Israeli soldiers were injured in what is believed to be a deliberate car-ramming attack carried out by a Palestinian man near Beit Umar…
Rachel O'Donoghue
April 2, 2023
4:22 pm

On Saturday evening, three Israeli soldiers were injured in what is believed to be a deliberate car-ramming attack carried out by a Palestinian man near Beit Umar in the West Bank.

Wire agency AFP, which supplies news copy to thousands of organizations, reported the incident thus: "A suspected assailant was killed by Israeli soldiers after a West Bank car ramming Saturday, the army said."

Yet, when the Guardian reprinted AFP's news copy, editors at the outlet made one very small change to the paragraph that profoundly altered its meaning.

+ Devoid of factual substance

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HonestReporting

Was Journalist & Podcast Host Terrell Starr Duped Into Believing Israel Is a Racist 'Apartheid' State?


Within days of his first-ever trip to Israel and the West Bank, Terrell Starr seemingly became a full-blown pro-Palestinian activist, accusing the Jewish state of maintaining a system of "apartheid" and downplaying antisemitism while retweeting some of the most rabid Jew-haters.

A closer examination of the journalist's incorrect claims on Twitter reveals the possibility that he was duped by radical anti-Israel groups that work to delegitimize the country's very existence.

+ Debunking myths https://honestreporting.com/was-journalist-podcast-host-terrell-starr-duped-into-believing-israel-is-a-racist-apartheid-state/

“I’m in Israel and Palestine [sic] to learn more about what’s happening here so I can speak intelligently about the conflict,” independent journalist and popular podcast host Terrell Jermaine Starr told his 324,000 Twitter followers shortly after disembarking the plane in Tel Aviv on March 16, 2023.

Yet within days of his first-ever trip to Israel and the West Bank, Starr seemingly became a full-blown pro-Palestinian activist, accusing the Jewish state of maintaining a system of “apartheid” and downplaying antisemitism while retweeting some of the most rabid Jew-haters, including Mariam Barghouti, Etan Nechin, and Muhammad Shehada.

What happened to Starr’s promise to be “as responsible and educational as possible”?

A closer examination of the journalist’s incorrect claims on Twitter reveals the possibility that he was duped by radical anti-Israel groups that work to delegitimize the country’s very existence. In this in-depth piece, we will dissect three of the worst lies fed to Terrell Starr by the likes of B’Tselem and Breaking the Silence.

MYTH: ‘Palestinians Are Living Under an Apartheid State’

Terrell Starr was introduced to the region by B’Tselem, a Jerusalem-based NGO that receives over half of its funding from (primarily European) governments. In January 2021, B’Tselem published a false report arguing that Israel was no longer a democracy but, rather, an “apartheid regime” devoted to cementing the supremacy of Jews over Palestinians.

Starr admitted to receiving the report, titled “A Regime of Jewish Supremacy From the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This Is Apartheid,” as part of this month’s press junket.

Aside from changing the very definition of the word “apartheid,” B’Tselem put Israel in the docket by misconstruing well-established facts. As the Irish actor Rory Cowan wrote in response to Starr’s distressing tweets about Israel: “I visited Gaza and Judea and Samaria (aka West Bank) many times. I visited all over before the intifadas. And I spoke to people from all backgrounds. [I] never saw what Terrell claims.”

Despite B’Tselem’s clearly politicized agenda and instances where it has been caught fabricating events in an effort to demonize Israeli troops and civilians, its “investigations” and statements — often adorned with the European Union logo — have nevertheless been taken at face value by journalists around the globe, with Starr being only the latest reporter to fall prey to B’Tselem’s hostile propaganda campaign.

MYTH: Israel Turned Hebron Into a ‘Segregated’ Ghost Town

During his March 23 visit to the West Bank city of Hebron, Terrell Starr was guided by Breaking the Silence (BtS), another fringe Israeli organization with a history of spreading false and misleading allegations against Israel and its military, usually based on anonymous and unverifiable testimony.

BtS tour participants are shown a very restricted fragment of the old town area, and unfailingly leave Judaism’s second-holiest city under the impression that it is a “ghost town” suffering due to IDF restrictions on movement. In fact, it’s nothing of the sort: Hebron is a bustling, thriving place, and serves as one of the main economic hubs for West Bank Palestinians. It counts 17,000 factories and workshops, four hospitals, three universities, and a 4,000-seat basketball stadium.

The few streets in which Palestinian civilian movement is restricted (in view of ongoing terror threats) comprise less than one percent of the entire city. Meanwhile, Jewish Israelis are explicitly banned from entering the 80% of Hebron that falls under Palestinian Authority (PA) control.

Unfortunately, Starr’s tweets amplify the one-sided narrative that Breaking the Silence sold him. In one post from March 23, he said to have witnessed a Palestinian home that “settlers took… over with IDF support.” The homes in question, however, are Beit Rachel and Beit Leah, two buildings near the Tomb of the Patriarchs that were legally purchased from an Arab family in 2012.

A PA court at the time sentenced the man who reportedly arranged the sale, Muhammad Abu Shahala, to death for the crime of selling property to Jews. Did anyone say apartheid?

MYTH: Israel Is a Racist, Colonial State

In addition to charging the Jewish state with “pure racial segregation” because it upholds the mutually-agreed Hebron Protocol, Terrell Starr also retweeted a post implying that Israel’s recently restructured national guard would, for some reason, be deployed to “attack Arab and Black Israelis first.”

The two tweets seemingly seek to frame the Israeli-Arab conflict through the lens of American race relations, echoing attempts by a small subset of antisemitic “social justice” activists to paint Israel as a racist, colonial project. The conflict, however, is neither based on race nor the exploitation of natural resources. It is a centuries (even millennia) old conflict mainly rooted in religion and control over the Holy Land.

Jews, Muslims, and Christians in this region are multi-ethnic and from all races. Israeli policies and security forces distinguish not by skin color or ethnicity but by civic identity i.e. Israeli citizens and non-citizens.

Like every country, Israel struggles with informal societal tensions; between Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews, between Jews and Israeli Arabs, as well as between secular and religious people. Ethiopian Israelis have also suffered from discrimination. Yet state-sanctioned racism is not only absent, but it is furiously combatted by Israel’s laws — including the semi-constitutional Basic Laws — and judicial system.

Israel’s re-establishment cannot be dismissed as a colonial enterprise since Jews have lived in the Land of Israel for millennia. And those Jews who, more recently, immigrated to what would become the modern State of Israel were actually returning to their roots.

Related Reading: Black History Month: Dr. King, Black Lives Matter… and Israel

Starr is planning to return to the region with the purpose of “building Israel and Palestine into [his] core foreign affairs knowledge base” and producing journalistic content on the subject “very soon.”

May we suggest he drop by our Jerusalem office for a more balanced viewpoint?

Found this article informative? Follow the HonestReporting page on Facebook to read more articles debunking news bias and smears, as well as others explaining Israel’s history, politics, and international affairs. Click here to learn more! https://www.facebook.com/HonestReporting/


REVEALED: Al Jazeera Violated DOJ Directive Over Disturbing 'Anti-American, Anti-West, Anti-Israel' Propaganda

A bombshell report published this month investigating Al Jazeera's American-based social media arm Al Jazeera Plus (AJ+) has uncovered many disturbing albeit unsurprising revelations.

According to the Zachor Legal Institute, AJ+ has flouted a directive that was issued by the United States Department of Justice in September 2020 for it to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) within 30 days.

+ Pernicious manipulation
https://honestreporting.com/revealed-al-jazeera-violated-doj-directive-over-disturbing-anti-american-anti-west-anti-israel-propaganda/

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Indonesia, Booted as U-20 World Cup Host, Sees Backlash Against Anti-Israel Leaders | Times of Israel
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Two Settlers Arrested for Purim Riots in Huwara, Indicted on Terrorism Charges | Tzvi Joffre, Jerusalem Post
Israel Launches Spy Satellite Into Space | Yoav Zitun, Ynetnews

New York Times Reporter's Biased Temple Mount Piece Latest in History of Misinformation


In anticipation of the concurrence of the upcoming Jewish holiday of Passover and the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, as escalating tensions could possibly spill over into further violence, the New York Times' Palestinian affairs correspondent recently published a piece on the fears of the Muslim artisans who renovate the Muslim shrines on the Temple Mount.

However, instead of providing a balanced and nuanced piece of journalism, Raja Abdulrahim's report is full of misleading statements and claims that reek of an anti-Israel bias.


+ Par for the course


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Ken Roth & Peter Beinart Gaslight Jewish Community With Antisemitism Tweets


In two separate tweets, Ken Roth and Peter Beinart, both known for their animus toward the Jewish state, addressed the noticeable rise in antisemitic incidents in the United States and around the world.

Both public personalities, however, used their popular social media platforms to gaslight the Jewish community and belittle its concerns about the increase in anti-Jewish hate.


+ Narrow view of antisemitism


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Hollywood-Style 'Documentary' Invites Sympathy for Paranoid Palestinian Terrorists


Imagine a scenario in which a global news organization released a slick movie trailer that glorified a murderous terror group like ISIS, for example. Picture the outrage as viewers were invited to sympathize with balaclava-clad militants as they sharpened their blades before executing a weeping hostage crouched before them in an orange jumpsuit.

Unfortunately, one need not envisage such a scene considering Al Jazeera just released something very similar.


+ Dramatic music & spliced footage


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Whitewashing Terror, The Guardian Lumps Together Palestinian Murderers and Their Victims


Some ten months after the death of Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, The Guardian published a lengthy report that deceivingly seeks to present her death as a symptom of Israel's "occupation" of the West Bank.

Yet rather than revealing anything about Jerusalem's alleged occupation of the disputed territory, a close read of The Guardian's article lays bare an effort by the newspaper to twist the facts and whitewash Palestinian terrorism in the most appalling ways.


+ Affront to honest journalism


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Toyota's Electric Cars Will Have Wireless Charging, Thanks To Israeli Tech | Zachy Hennessey, Jerusalem Post

https://honestreporting.com/vice-investigation-alleges-conspiracy-to-cover-up-palestinian-rioters-death-but-fails-to-prove-anything/
HonestReporting

VICE 'Investigation' Alleges Conspiracy to Cover Up Palestinian Rioter’s Death — But Fails to Prove Anything

In a documentary that aired on March 18, deceivingly titled "Death of a Palestinian Protester," VICE charges the Israeli police with shooting dead rioter Walid Al-Sharif, despite medical officials insisting that his body showed no signs of an external injury caused by live ammunition.

By insinuating — without a shred of solid evidence — a sinister cover-up that includes the Israeli government, police, forensic pathologists, and doctors at Jerusalem's top hospital, VICE World News has once again proven that its only goal is to tarnish Israel.

+ VICE's unqualified 'experts'

New York Times Publishes Creepily Compassionate Piece About Genocidal Iranian Regime

A recent New York Times article about the Saudi-Iran deal opens with what could almost be described as a lamentation inviting sympathy from readers: "For years, Iran's standing as a Mideast power has been battered on a number of fronts."

Why the NY Times' journalists have chosen to present the Iranian regime as a victim of Israeli aggression is simply baffling.

+ Iran's genocidal goals

Associated Press On Palestinian Terror Wave: 'Many Settlers Carry Guns'


In an article about Palestinian terrorist attacks, which have repeatedly targeted Israeli drivers on the highway crossing the West Bank town of Hawara in recent weeks, the Associated Press inserts a claim that could be perceived as an underhanded jab at some of the terror victims.

The AP's insertion in a piece about Palestinian violence, while presumably intended to explain how a terror victim was able to return fire during a Palestinian shooting attack, is inaccurate and potentially inflammatory.

+ Minority owns guns

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Shin Bet Reveals Foiling of Jerusalem Shooting Attack by Gaza Terrorist Network | Matthias Inbar, i24NEWS
Avi Mayer Named New Editor-in-Chief of 'The Jerusalem Post' | Jerusalem Post

HonestReporting

https://honestreporting.com/a-year-of-palestinian-violence-the-numbers-behind-the-headlines/
A Year of Palestinian Violence: The Numbers Behind the Headlines


This March marks one year since the beginning of the current wave of anti-Israeli violence and terrorism that has claimed the lives of 45 Israeli citizens and residents of the Jewish state and has wounded scores of others.

While the international media have reported on major instances of Palestinian terrorism, the vast majority of violent incidents that have occurred over the past year continue to go unreported.

+ Month-by-month breakdown

The Great Big Palestinian Brainwash: Why Children Are Turning Toward Terrorism


There is an issue with indoctrination in Palestinian society. Scores of children are being taught by both their teachers and educational materials that Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth and that they should seek "martyrdom" by perpetrating deadly terror attacks against Israelis and Jews to do this.

And despite the problem being well documented — including pieces by HonestReporting — little has been done to tackle it.

+ Damning findings


Obstacle to Peace? Palestinian Authority Approves 'Terrorists-only' Settlement


Israeli communities in the West Bank are, perhaps, one of the media’s favorite talking points. In the first quarter of 2023 alone, 18 top-tier news websites produced over 500 articles that raised the issue, blaming much of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict almost solely on Jewish settlers and settlements.

However, as a result of this incessant fixation on "bricks over blood," journalists have all too often overlooked Palestinian steps that jeopardize future negotiations and breach signed agreements between the two sides.

+ Palestinian terror town

https://honestreporting.com/msnbcs-ali-velshi-lamely-nods-along-as-former-plo-adviser-diana-buttu-spouts-lies/
MSNBC’s Ali Velshi Lamely Nods Along As Former PLO Adviser Diana Buttu Spouts Lies


Despite being, or perhaps thanks to her background as an ex-adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization, Diana Buttu has managed to carve herself out a respectable career as an academic and a media rent-a-quote on all things Israel-related.

Unsurprisingly, Buttu rarely has anything nice (or accurate) to say about the Jewish state.

And her recent appearance on Ali Velshi's MSNBC talk show was no different.



+ Lies, half-truths & distortions


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Backgrounder: 5 ‘New’ Terror Groups Threatening West Bank Intifada


Violence in Israel and the West Bank has once again spiked as Palestinian terror groups attempt to propel the region into a third intifada.
Terrorism against the Jewish state continues to evolve, with genocidal groups like Islamic Jihad and Hamas making common cause to attract young Palestinians.

The emergence of new terror militias that are centered around territory rather than political affiliation, like the Lions’ Den and the Jenin Battalion, increasingly poses a threat to Israeli security forces.


+ Threat to Israelis

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https://honestreporting.com/warped-headlines-how-the-media-use-title-tricks-to-shape-public-opinion/
HonestReporting
Warped Headlines: How the Media Use Title Tricks to Shape Public Opinion


The headline is undoubtedly the most important element of a news story, with studies indicating that nearly 50 percent of news consumers scan the headline and little else.

It is, therefore, concerning to see how some of the world’s largest media outlets use headlines to distort the truth and further a specific narrative with regard to acts of violence, terrorism and security issues in Israel.

+ Concealing, distorting & framing


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Washington Post 'Investigation' More Hit Piece Than Serious Analysis


In its recent investigation of an Israeli counter-terror operation in Nablus at the end of February 2023, the Washington Post claimed to show that Israeli forces purposefully and needlessly fired into a group of civilians while exiting the West Bank city.

However, a closer examination of the Post's evidence and analysis exposes much more about the newspaper's own biases than about the Israeli army's actions.

+ Read our analysis


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From Ramallah to Tehran: Palestinian Ties to Iran Throughout History | Emily Schrader, Ynetnews
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HonestReporting


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Mohammed El-Kurd Destroys His Own Credibility With 'Apartheid Israel' Confession


If you heard a loud thud on Wednesday, that was the sound of the jaws of HonestReporting staff hitting the floor as we heard a shocking confession from the media’s most beloved Palestinian activist Mohammed El-Kurd: he knows that Israel is not an apartheid state.

In footage of his appearance at Adelaide Writers' Week, El-Kurd suggested he uses the loaded term to describe Israel because of the weight it carries in terms of shaping public opinion and admitted he is "less concerned with the accuracy of the word."

+ Facts don't matter


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The Palestinian Refugees: 1948 to Today


In discussions about the decades-long Arab-Israeli conflict, one of the most heavily debated topics is that of the Palestinian refugees. Even today, the issue of the refugees continues to be examined at academic conferences, analyzed in scholarly texts and profiled by mainstream media organizations.

In this piece, we will take a look at the origins of the Palestinian refugees, their continued exploitation for political purposes and their unique status vis-a-vis other refugee populations.

+ The eternal refugees


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How South Africa's Anti-Israel PR Stunt Failed Spectacularly


On Tuesday, South African lawmakers voted to downgrade the status of the South African embassy in Israel as a "gesture of solidarity" with the Palestinian people. However, it would appear that the resolution did not have the desired effect for those who wish to demonize and ostracize the world’s only Jewish state.

+ 'Surprisingly little coverage'

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HonestReporting
https://honestreporting.com/media-miss-mark-following-surgical-anti-terror-raid-in-jenin/
Media Miss Mark Following 'Surgical' Anti-Terror Raid in Jenin


Israeli security forces entered the terror stronghold of Jenin on Tuesday with an eye to capturing a suspect in the murder of Hallel and Yagel Yaniv, two brothers who were fatally shot while driving through the West Bank on February 26.

Six Palestinians were killed in the arrest raid. In a press release, Hamas described all casualties as "martyrs," "combatants," and "fighters," and independent researchers soon confirmed that no civilians died.

Yet rather than highlighting Israel's "surgical" action and devotion to protecting innocents in challenging circumstances, some major media outlets opted to omit crucial facts about the operation in Jenin.

+ Journalistic faux pas

AFP Publishes Weirdly Sympathetic Piece About Murderous Palestinian Teenage Terrorists


The latest example of 'terrorism apologist journalism' came from the global wire service AFP, which published a piece this week that attempts to understand why young Palestinians have perpetrated several terror attacks.

The article, "Hardened and hopeless, young Palestinians commit bloody attacks," describes how over the past few weeks there have been a number of knife and gun attacks on Israelis by Palestinian teenagers, including one in which a police officer was stabbed to death by a 13-year-old.

+ Glaring omissions


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HonestReporting

The New York Times' 'Non-Threatening' Terrorists

In a "visual investigation" whose goal is to disprove Israeli accounts of events and promote alternative versions that incriminate Israel in supposedly criminal acts, The New York Times charges Israel with the killing of "at least four people who did not appear to pose a threat" during a major exchange of fire in the West Bank terror hub of Nablus.

Who are some of the terrorists America's paper of record deems to be non-threatening?

+ Pre-determined framing

Deconstructing the Israeli Genocide Libel


One of the most pernicious lies that continues to be spread about Israel is the claim that the Jewish state has committed the crime of genocide against the local Arab population, including the Palestinians.

Whether it's being advanced by Hollywood superstars, noted legal scholars, or United Nations officials, the genocide claim is one of the most popular and harmful libels about Israel to be spread in the 21st century. Here we deconstruct the genocide libel.

+ Proven to be fiction

Do Israeli Arrest Raids in the West Bank 'Violate International Law'?


Ever since Israel launched Operation Break the Wave in the West Bank following a series of brutal street attacks that killed 31 Israelis, media pundits and social media users have frequently decried IDF counterterrorism raids on Palestinian cities, often claiming that these actions somehow violate international law.

In this article, we will explore the legality of Operation Break the Wave under applicable international law and agreements.

+ Obligation to save lives

https://honestreporting.com/sham-source-honestreporting-research-shows-media-rely-on-al-jazeera-for-israel-reports/

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Sham Source: HonestReporting Research Shows Media Rely on Al Jazeera for Israel Reports
It’s no secret that Al Jazeera isn’t exactly the most trustworthy source of information regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Qatar-owned broadcaster routinely depicts Palestinian suicide bombers as “self-sacrificing fighters,” has repeatedly been forced to take down false stories…
Akiva Van Koningsveld
February 27, 2023
5:39 pm
It’s no secret that Al Jazeera isn’t exactly the most trustworthy source of information regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Qatar-owned broadcaster routinely depicts Palestinian suicide bombers as “self-sacrificing fighters,” has repeatedly been forced to take down false stories about the Jewish state, and stands accused of coordinating with the US-designated Hamas terrorist organization.

In 2011, a local Al Jazeera employee even admitted to being a senior operative in the Gaza Strip-based terror group.

Al Jazeera’s allegiance was further made explicit in the aftermath of the May 2021 Gaza war when Hamas leader Yahya Al-Sinwar praised the channel’s reporting. “Allow me to extend a special salutation to Al Jazeera… Al Jazeera has been the best pulpit to give accurate voice to our position. All hail to you, heroic fedayeen [of Al-Jazeera],” the terror chief stated at a press conference.

In 2010, the US ambassador to Doha explained that Al Jazeera is “heavily subsidized by the Qatari government and has [proven] itself a useful tool for the station’s political masters,” and a former bureau chief for the network once called Al Jazeera “a mouthpiece for Qatari intelligence.” Much like Russia Today and Iran’s Press TV, the network serves as the PR arm of a dictatorship that severely limits freedom of expression within its own borders.

Qatar, which does not recognize Israel’s right to exist and funds Hamas and the international boycott movement against the Jewish state, also has strong ties to the Iranian regime.

Needless to say, Al Jazeera’s lack of independence, coupled with its long history of bias, should disqualify it from ever being used as a primary source by bureau reporters. After all, as the NPR Ethics Handbook warns: “Too often, incorrect information is passed down from one news story to another because of the failure of the first outlet to get it right.”

However, an analysis by HonestReporting indicates that many mainstream media organizations nevertheless rely on Al Jazeera to supplement their reporting on events in the region, often without noting the network’s apparent ideological bent.



An HonestReporting big data search found that in 2022, 16 top-tier news outlets used Al Jazeera at least 116 times as a source in reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the Washington Post, Agence France-Presse (AFP), and the Associated Press (AP) being the most eager to cite Al Jazeera in their online content.

Yet at the same time, fewer than one in four articles mentioned Al Jazeera’s ties to Qatar. Of these 24 pieces, 21 described the broadcaster as “Qatar-based,” while two spoke of “Qatar’s Al Jazeera.” Only one article, a story published by the AFP wire service, correctly noted that Al Jazeera is a “state-owned” enterprise — albeit in the eighth paragraph.

This count, carried out using professional media intelligence tracking software, excludes the numerous TV and radio reports about Israel and the Palestinians that quoted Al Jazeera.

HonestReporting has been at the forefront of addressing Al Jazeera’s slanted coverage of the conflict, especially when its incessant libels make their way into the mainstream press.

Our relentless quest to expose anti-Israel bias even forced Al Jazeera to pull a deceptive tweet that suggested Jewish worshippers “stormed” the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. In reality, 50 Jews peacefully visited Judaism’s holiest site, the Temple Mount, and were escorted by police for their own protection.

Qatar’s state-sponsored anti-Israel propaganda is “journalism” in name only. So why do mainstream media outlets regard it as anything more than that?

For more details on Al Jazeera’s misleading reporting:

What if Al Jazeera Was Put On Trial? (VIDEO)
HonestReporting EXCLUSIVE: Shireen Abu Akleh Death ‘Witness’ Turns Out To Be Islamic Jihad Terrorist
Al Jazeera Puts Terror Teen Front and Center in Mangled Report of IDF Raid to Capture Palestinian Islamic Jihad Commander
Media Parrot Al Jazeera Lie: Reporter Arrested ‘For No Apparent Reason’ Pushed Israeli Officer (VIDEO)
HonestReporting Forces Al Jazeera to Pull Deceptive Tweet, Rephrase Misleading Headline
Al Jazeera Deletes Israel Report About Fake Emirates Pilot (VIDEO)
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Tags: Al Jazeera America, Al-Jazeera, Al-Jazeera English
Akiva Van Koningsveld
Akiva Van Koningsveld
Originally from The Hague, Akiva Van Koningsveld left The Netherlands for Israel in the fall of 2020. Before joining the HonestReporting team, he worked as a policy officer at the Center for Information and Documentation Israel, a Dutch organization dedicated to combating antisemitism and spreading awareness of the Arab-Israel conflict. Akiva studied journalism at the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht. In 2020, he graduated from Utrecht University with a law degree, focusing on the intersection of human rights and civil liability.