Correcting Canadian Columnists' Canards
March 9,
2009
By: Mike Fegelman
Dear HonestReporting Canada
subscriber:
Syndicated columnists are paid to put forward highly opinionated and sometimes
controversial points of view. In contrast to reporters these pundits are not
neutral. Their commentaries are printed in various Canadian newspapers to
reflect a diverse range of opinion, to add to the marketplace of ideas, and to
articulate the various shades of gray on any given subject, especially one as
polarized as the Middle East.
While columnists are entitled to their opinions, their own personal politics
cannot
supersede
adherence to strict standards of ethical, accurate, and honest journalism.
A columnist who gives expert opinion must also base it on accurate
information – anything short of that requires swift corrections.
Haroon
Siddiqui Strikes Again
Toronto
Star columnist Haroon Siddiqui (well known for his
criticisms of Israel) recently claimed in a column he authored on
March 1 that Israeli forces had
carried out an “attack on a UN-run school.”
Contrary to
this statement, Israel never attacked the UN-run school. An
investigative report by the Globe &
Mail’s Patrick Martin confirmed underreported Israeli accounts that the IDF
accurately returned fire to the location from which it was being shelled by
Hamas terrorists who were located across the street from the school.
HonestReporting Canada brought this matter to the attention of Toronto Star
editors who commendably acknowledged that Mr. Siddiqui’s statement could have
been written in a clearer manner. On March 4 the Star promptly issued the
following
clarification to remedy Mr.
Siddiqui’s error:
Simpson
Skews BBC Poll
Writing
in the Globe and Mail on
February 9, columnist Jeffrey Simpson
(pictured) commented on a recently released BBC World Service Poll which judged
the popularity (or lack thereof) of various countries around the World.
In reference to Israel
Mr. Simpson wrote:
“Israelis
likely do not care and Iranians probably do not know, but theirs are two of the
least popular countries in the world. Throw Pakistan into the mix, and the
annual BBC World Service poll gives us three of the world's least popular
countries.”
“Israelis are
accustomed to believing that most of the world is against them, so the poll's
result will hardly surprise them. To be precise, the poll asked respondents in
21 countries whether other countries were playing a “positive” or “negative”
role in the world. Only 21 per cent of respondents said Israel played a positive
role; 71 per cent said it played a negative one. In only one
country – the United States – did Israel receive a slightly positive rating.”
Contrary to
this statement, only “51 per cent” of
those polled in the BBC’s World
Service Poll indicated that Israel played a “negative role” not 71
per cent. Mr Simpson was off by a whopping 20% margin.
In light of
this information, we asked Globe and Mail editors to correct Mr. Simpson’s
factual error. On February 11, the Globe issued the following
correction to set the record
straight:
Rick
Salutin Peddles "Israel Apartheid Week's" 4 Myths
Keeping
with the Globe & Mail, columnist Rick Salutin’s
March 5 column peddled four of the big myths promulgated by “Israel
Apartheid Week” organizers. HonestReporting Backspin editor Pesach Benson
fisked Salutin’s polemic:
Myth:
The "apartheid" label stems from the security fence. Salutin writes:
“Cabinet
minister
Jason Kenney calls Israel Apartheid Week “a systematic effort to
delegitimize the democratic homeland of the Jewish people” by linking it to
racism, a line virtually mouthed by Opposition Leader
Michael Ignatieff. That is way too cute. Any “settler state,” such as
Canada, which took someone else's land, can be seen as illegitimate. But it's an
abstract point. “Apartheid” became widely used in this context only when
Israel began building what came to be called an apartheid wall, looming over
Palestinians, sequestering more land, cutting them off from each other.”
Fact:
The
apartheid label was generated by the rabid participants of the
2001 Durban conference, nearly a whole year
before Israel decided to build its security fence.
Myth:
The security fence divides the West Bank into "Bantustans." According to Salutin:
“The usage grew
as Israel expanded settlements, built Israeli-only roads and set up
checkpoints so Palestinians would at best be left with “Bantustans,”
such as those that apartheid South Africa offered blacks, rather than a true
state of their own.”
Fact:
The fence, checkpoints and roads are for Israel's security, not to segregate
people. In 2007, Islamic Jihad chief
Ramadan Shalah confirmed as much to Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV that the
Israel's security measures effectively thwarts terror attacks.
Myth:
Jewish students shouldn't be overly concerned by the campus debate's invective.
Salutin says:
“Most of the
specifics come down to shouts at protests. As in: “Cries of ‘Die, Jew' and ‘Get
the hell off campus' were heard.” The Canadian Jewish Congress's Bernie Farber
says he's “never” seen it this bad “on the streets of Toronto and university
campuses.” Well, I spend lots of time on streets in Toronto and it doesn't look
like Kristallnacht to me. But wait, that's glib. It's these images that scare my
friends: They evoke Nazi Germany. I know that.
But Nazi
Germany wasn't about name-calling and group hate. Those will persist, perhaps
always. The Holocaust occurred largely because anti-Semitism was historically
rooted and respectable there: religiously, socially, intellectually,
politically. Writers and politicians were proudly anti-Semitic. Here,
anti-Semitism is unacceptable in all those ways. This whole debate proves it. We
should be glad for that, and keep it in perspective.”
Fact:
The Jewish students of 1930s Germany received similar reassurances by people no
less well-meaning or enlightened than Salutin. See more sober reactions from
McGill's
Professor Gil Troy and Israeli Bedouin diplomat
Ishmael Khaldi.
Myth:
Hamas can accommodate the existence of Israel. According to Salutin:
“Even
Hamas has a (nuanced) position on living with Israel.
You can look it up.”
Fact:
Okay, I looked up
the Hamas charter. Here's what Salutin confuses for "nuance." According to
the charter: “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam
will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it" (The
Martyr, Imam Hassan al-Banna, of blessed memory) . . . [Peace] initiatives, the
so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the
Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance
Movement. . . There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by
Jihad.”
Moreover, on closer look, the charter notes early on Hamas' identification with
the
Muslim Brotherhood, an international movement with branches in
Egypt,
Jordan, even the
US, and
UK. International movements like the Muslim Brotherhood don't have a
track record for the kind of nuance Salutin puts his faith in.
How You
Can Make A Difference
While Mr. Salutin is entitled to fair
comment, he is not immune from receiving legitimate criticism for his
comments.
Please send
your thoughts to the Globe and Mail by pointing out one of the
aforementioned myths and refer to Mr. Salutin’s March 5th op-ed
entitled "Israel, Apartheid, anti-Semites”. Letters to the editor should be
sent to
letters@globeandmail.com
Please
remember to include your name, address and daytime
telephone number to ensure your chance for publication on the letters page.
