HonestReporting Canada Secures Excalibur Apology

March 26, 2008

By: Mike Fegelman

Dear HonestReporting Canada subscriber:

Less than one week ago, HonestReporting Canada broke the news that York University’s campus newspaper, The Excalibur, had featured an opinion piece that justified the deadly terrorist attack at the Mercaz Harav seminary in Jerusalem while accusing the Israel Defense Forces of carrying out a “Holocaust in Gaza.”

We condemned the publication of a column endorsing the murder of innocent children, and asked the paper to issue a formal apology in the next edition. Our members from across Canada responded to our alert, sending hundreds of letters voicing their concerns over several inaccuracies contained in the op-ed by contributor Lama Aggad.

 

 

Today, the Excalibur printed this apology and removed the op-ed from their website:

 

HonestReporting Canada would like to commend the Excalibur for publishing this necessary apology and thank our members, including students and community leaders, for their support and prompt action.

We would also like to acknowledge those organizations that received our alert and mobilized their members to follow up with the Excalibur. They include: Hasbara Fellowships, Betar Tagar, Media Action Group, CIJR, B'nai Brith Canada, and Hillel (click here to read Hillel's excellent letter to the editor published in today's Excalibur).

HonestReporting Canada will continue to monitor Canadian campus media, holding them accountable for unfair and inaccurate coverage of the Middle East, in the goal of sensitizing them to the need for factual and impartial reporting.

How You Can Make a Difference

HonestReporting Canada — the only organization dedicated exclusively to ensuring fair and accurate Canadian media coverage of Israel and the Middle East — needs your support. For the last five years, HRC has depended on the good will and generosity of concerned individuals like you, who help us to combat anti-Israel media bias worldwide. The battle for public opinion is key for Israel, and one in which HRC, working hand-in-hand with informed, committed people like you, is making a difference.