http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports.cfm Canadian Jewish News column about Middle East media coverage by Paul Michaels, Director of Communications, CIC en-us http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110616.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110616.cfm 16 June 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - June 16, 2011 - A well-known media cliche "If it bleeds, it leads," was certainly in evidence early last week in stories about the June 5 protests at the Syrian-Israeli border... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110602.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110602.cfm 02 June 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - June 2, 2011 - On May 25, the day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress, the contrast in the front-page headlines of Canada's two national newspapers could not have been starker... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110526.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110526.cfm 26 May 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 26, 2011 - While historical events are always open to reinterpretation upon new evidence, some events are so well corroborated as established fact that efforts to re-write them for a political agenda are nothing short of contemptible... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110519.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110519.cfm 19 May 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 12, 2011 - The capacity of the media to convey vital information, along, occasionally, with misinformation, is well known. But when misinformation is disseminated... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110512.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110512.cfm 12 May 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 12, 2011 - What has Margaret Wente's April 26 Globe and Mail column, "Can you handle the truth?" to do with the coverage of the Middle East?... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110505.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110505.cfm 05 May 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 5, 2011 - Last Tuesday (April 27), when Fatah and Hamas made their surprise announcement about having reached a unity agreement in Cairo... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110428.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110428.cfm 28 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 28, 2011 - The April 16 National Post editorial, "A better way to build a Palestinian state," presented what might appear to be a reasonable case... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110421.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110421.cfm 21 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 21, 2011 - "Violence Rises as Israel and Hamas Trade Blows," the headline to the April 9 New York Times story by Fares Akram and Ethan Bronner... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110414.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110414.cfm 14 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 14, 2011 - In an article written for the Jewish Daily Forward (April 4) about Judge Richard Goldstone's recanting the central and most damaging charge in the Goldstone report about the Gaza war... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110407.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110407.cfm 07 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 7, 2011 - The heavy focus on the war for control of Libya and upheavals in several other Arab countries overshadowed reports that the Palestinians' pursuit of a unilateral declaration of statehood... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110324.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110324.cfm 24 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - March 24, 2011 - An unusual set of events occurred last week involving Israel, Egypt and Turkey in the seizure of weapons headed for Gaza... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110317.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110317.cfm 17 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - March 17, 2011 - An unusual article appeared in the Mar. 10 issue of the New York Review of Books - unusual in the sense that when it comes to discussing the Middle East... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110309.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110309.cfm 09 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - March 9, 2011 - Since Israel isn't directly involved in the internal Arab revolts that are creating upheavals in the Middle East, it hasn't been the focus of recent media attention... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110303.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110303.cfm 03 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - March 3, 2011 - While considering what might transpire in Egypt now that President Hosni Mubarak has been forced from office... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110224.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110224.cfm 24 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 24, 2011 - Following the media's adrenaline rush in covering the aspirations of Egyptians for freedom, culminating in president Hosni Mubarak's being forced from office... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110217.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110217.cfm 17 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 17, 2011 - As coverage of the Egyptian crisis entered its second week, several analysts argued that the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is a voice of moderation... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110210.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110210.cfm 10 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 10, 2011 - Images of mass demonstrations of Egyptian civilians in the streets of Cairo and other cities against the nearly 30-year autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak captured the hearts and minds... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110203.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110203.cfm 03 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 3, 2011 - The "Palestine Papers," leaks of unverified conversations concerning Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations, ostensibly showed that PA leaders offered unprecedented compromises only to be met by Israeli intransigence... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110120.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110120.cfm 20 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 20, 2011 - The Jan. 12 collapse of Lebanon's year-old national unity government following the decision of Hezbollah and its allies to bolt the coalition captured media attention around the globe... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110113.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110113.cfm 13 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 13, 2011 - An important Mideast development that has largely been ignored for years by Western media, the plight and decline of Christian communities... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110106.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_110106.cfm 06 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 6, 2011 - The Dec. 23 column criticized Noam Chomsky for something he said last month on TVO... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101223.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101223.cfm 23 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Dec. 23, 2010 - Under the title, "A disturbing desecration of Jewish values" (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 12), Rabbi David Rosen, the Jerusalem-based director of interreligious affairs... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101216.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101216.cfm 16 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Dec. 16, 2010 - The disclosure, via WikiLeaks, that several Arab leaders have urged U.S. action against Iran has provided additional ammunition to Mideast analysts who have long argued against linking a resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict (or indeed the larger Arab-Israeli conflict) to a resolution... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101209.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101209.cfm 09 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Dec. 9, 2010 - Last week saw a flood of media analyses and commentary about the fallout of WikiLeaks' release of the first batch of a quarter million confidential U.S. diplomatic dispatches... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101205.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101205.cfm 02 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Dec. 2, 2010 - A major CBC News investigation of what it claims has been a substantially bungled and compromised United Nations inquiry into the February 2005 car-bombing assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri has made waves internationally... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101125.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101125.cfm 25 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Nov. 25, 2010 - With last week's announcement that Israel might accept a new 90-day moratorium on West Bank housing in exchange for enhanced U.S. security and diplomatic guarantees, Western media focused, once again, on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101111.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101111.cfm 11 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Nov. 11, 2010 - The Oct. 21 column touched on a controversial issue worthy of further examination. It claimed that the Palestinians, in Algiers in 1988, by accepting the UN's 1947 Partition Resolution that called for the creation of "Jewish" and "Arab" states... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101104.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101104.cfm 04 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Nov. 4, 2010 - The Oct. 21 column touched on a controversial issue worthy of further examination. It claimed that the Palestinians, in Algiers in 1988, by accepting the UN's 1947 Partition Resolution that called for the creation of "Jewish" and "Arab" states... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101028.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101028.cfm 28 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Oct. 28, 2010 - Never before, it appears, has a vote at the United Nations concerning Canada resulted in such an avalanche of domestic media attention... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101021.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101021.cfm 21 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Oct. 21, 2010 - As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began his provocative visit to Lebanon last week, analysts were busy assessing its impact both locally and regionally... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101014.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_101014.cfm 14 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Oct. 14, 2010 - Pundits who fixate solely on settlements as the crux of the impasse in the peace process are providing only a very partial account of what's at the root of the regional problem... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100922.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100922.cfm 22 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Sept. 22, 2010 - The Sept. 13 Time magazine cover story by Karl Vick, "Why Israel Doesn't Care About Peace," has caused a storm of protest... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100916.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100916.cfm 16 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Sept. 16, 2010 - Last week's column described the widespread skepticism that characterized media reports leading up to the Sept. 1-2 Washington summit... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100908.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100908.cfm 08 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Sept. 8, 2010 - The period leading up to the Netanyahu-Abbas summit in Washington, D.C., starting on Sept. 2, was marked by a surprising discrepancy in tone and content... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100902.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100902.cfm 02 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Sept. 2, 2010 - This column appears just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are scheduled to meet for direct talks in Washington D.C... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100826.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100826.cfm 26 Aug 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - August 26, 2010 - In the July 29 CJN, this column presented Mideast analyst Jim Lederman's reflections... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100812.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100812.cfm 12 Aug 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - August 12, 2010 - We frequently read these days that news is getting dumbed down because, among other reasons, in the highly competitive 24/7 news cycle, many journalists simply don't have time to do their homework... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100805.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100805.cfm 05 Aug 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - August 5, 2010 - Something surprising appeared recently in The Nation magazine, the oldest American weekly - founded in 1865 - and solidly on the left to far-left... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100729.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100729.cfm 29 Jul 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - July 29, 2010 - In a July 12 Globe and Mail opinion piece, Is Israel a normal country?, Ian Buruma raised a number of important questions about why Israel... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100715.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100715.cfm 15 Jul 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - July 15, 2010 - The report, first carried in the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah on July 6, stated that Mexican officials had thwarted efforts by Hezbollah cells, operating among drug cartels... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100709.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100709.cfm 09 Jul 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - July 9, 2010 - Yet another surprise from the Economist magazine. In its editorial, Pakistan, India and the anti-nuclear rule (June 26), the publication took a strong stand against the Egyptian-led effort to single out Israel... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100630.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100630.cfm 30 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - June 30, 2010 - Given the extent and the intensity of the international condemnation of Israel following Israel's botched May 31 seizure of the Mavi Marmara... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100624.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100624.cfm 17 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - June 24, 2010 - Israel's seizure of the Turkish registered ship Mavi Marmara on May 31 thrust Turkey and its controversial Prime Minister Recep Erdogan into the international spotlight... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100617.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100617.cfm 17 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - June 17, 2010 - That Israel walked into a trap on May 30 in its effort to prevent the Mavi Marmara from running its blockade of Gaza is not in dispute, and it's a valid subject of criticism... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100610.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100610.cfm 10 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - June 10, 2010 - At the time this column was being written, on the evening of June 2, the popular news aggregator Google showed close to 18,000 items on Israel's May 31 military operation... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100527.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100527.cfm 27 May 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 27, 2010 - This column has recently criticized major elements of the mainstream media for failing to deal adequately with the complexity of the Middle East peace process... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100521.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100521.cfm 21 May 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 21, 2010 - While western attention remains substantially focused on Iran's nuclear program as the major threat to instability in the Middle East... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100506.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100506.cfm 06 May 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 6, 2010 - The "linkage" argument won't go away. If anything, it only seems to grow stronger... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100429.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100429.cfm 29 Apr 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 29, 2010 - In the April 6 Globe and Mail, Ian Brown wrote about his interview with New Yorker editor David Remnick, author of the recently released and much praised biography of U.S. President Barack Obama, The Bridge... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100422.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100422.cfm 22 Apr 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 22, 2010 - With very few exceptions, the coverage of the two-day Nuclear Security Summit, held in Washington D.C. early last week, remained focused on the summit's stated goal: to secure loose nuclear material worldwide and prevent its falling into the hands of terrorist groups... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100415.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100415.cfm 15 Apr 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 15, 2010 - In the aftermath of 9/11, when it was fashionable in many circles to link Muslim "outrage" over Israel and U.S. Mideast policy to these horrific attacks, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman would have none of it... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100408.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100408.cfm 08 Apr 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 8, 2010 - In his March 28 New York Times column, "Hobby or Necessity," Tom Friedman wrote that the recent clash between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100401.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100401.cfm 01 Apr 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 1, 2010 - Can Israel be covered journalistically with equanimity – that is, a sense of calmness and perspective... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100318.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100318.cfm 18 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - March 18, 2010 - U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel last week was met with controversy when Israel’s Interior Ministry announced plans for 1,600 new homes in east Jerusalem, prompting Biden and the U.S. administration in Washington to strongly criticize the announcement... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100311.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100311.cfm 11 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - March 11, 2010 - In "Fanning the winds of war" (Winnipeg Free Press, March 2) Samuel Segev wrote about how, following the appointment of Robert Ford as the first U.S. ambassador to Syria in five years, the Obama administration was counting on Damascus to distance itself from Tehran and to stop arms transfers to Hezbollah... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100304.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100304.cfm 04 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - March 4, 2010 - In his Feb. 19 Globe and Mail opinion piece, “The latest U.S. Mideast position: lots of noise signifying nothing,” Michael Bell argued the following points, which express a widely-held view in the West about the current diplomatic impasse in Israeli-Palestinian affairs.. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100225.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100225.cfm 25 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 25, 2010 - Early last week, the media's foreign affairs gaze was fixed on the way Iran marked the 31st anniversary of Iran's Islamic Revolution - in particular, its increasingly repressive domination of its citizens and its open defiance of the international community over its nuclear program... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100218.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100218.cfm 18 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 18, 2010 - Last week, Iran once again dominated foreign news coverage, this time with its announcement that it was pushing ahead with higher-grade nuclear fuel enrichment for "medical" research and was planning to start construction of 10 nuclear sites this year... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100211.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100211.cfm 11 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 11, 2010 - Assassinations, even alleged assassinations, in the Middle East are bound to attract a lot of media attention, especially if Israel is deemed to have carried them out... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100204.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100204.cfm 04 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 4, 2010 - From time to time reports appear in the media indicating that Hamas is in the midst of moderating its rejectionist stand against Israel... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100128.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100128.cfm 28 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 28, 2010 - The devastating earthquake in Haiti dominated the news last week. And on the U.S. television networks, several news reports focused on the speed with which Israel – although 7,000 miles away from Haiti – managed to establish a sophisticated field hospital... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100121.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100121.cfm 21 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 21, 2010 - Even a few years ago, radical British MP George Galloway's PR stunt earlier this month to pressure Cairo into allowing his pro-Palestinian "aid" convoy into Gaza at the Rafah crossing would likely have received substantial media coverage... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100114.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_100114.cfm 14 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 14, 2010 - Two-and-a-half years ago, Israeli analyst Manfred Gerstenfeld wrote an essay for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs titled “What the West Should Learn from the Assault on Israel and the Jews.”... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091224.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091224.cfm 24 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Dec. 24, 2009 - It was widely reported in the Canadian media last week that Israel's Kadima Party leader and former foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, had to cancel a planned visit to Britain earlier this month... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091217.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091217.cfm 17 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Dec. 17, 2009 - On Dec. 9, the BBC reported from Cairo that, according to unnamed intelligence sources, Egypt, helped by American army engineers, has started building a 10- to 11 kilometre- long "super-strength steel" wall along its border with Gaza... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091210.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091210.cfm 10 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Dec. 10, 2009 - A new book, Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle, by Dan Senor and Saul Singer, is receiving a lot of attention in the North American media... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091203.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091203.cfm 03 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Dec. 3, 2009 - The recent announcement that Israel intended to build 900 housing units in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Gilo was met with the most critical Canadian coverage... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091126.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091126.cfm 26 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Nov. 26 2009 - In "Hamas: The unlikely peacemaker" (Nov. 14) the Globe and Mail's Patrick Martin drew attention to a survey indicating that 57 per cent of Israelis... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091119.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091119.cfm 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Nov. 19 2009 - Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' announcement on Nov. 5 that he planned to resign his post and wouldn't stand for re-election next January received heavy media coverage... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091112.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091112.cfm 12 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Nov. 12 2009 - On Nov. 4, the Israeli Navy intercepted the "Francop" cargo ship, which was laden with a massive amount of Iranian-supplied weapons, hidden among civilian cargo and bound for Hezbollah... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091105.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091105.cfm 05 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Nov. 5 2009 - The Goldstone report, which accused Israel of war crimes during last winter’s Gaza conflict, continues to wend its way through the United Nations, and the General Assembly was set to debate it on Nov. 4... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091029.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091029.cfm 29 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Oct. 29, 2009 - The controversial Goldstone report, released in mid-September, remains a hot news topic. Written under a mandate crafted by the notorious UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), it principally accused Israel of war crimes... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091008.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091008.cfm 08 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Oct. 8, 2009 - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Sept. 23 address to the United Nations General Assembly was a vicious, if predictable, screed. Canada set a principled example. In anticipation of its contents, the Canadian delegation, led by Foreign Affairs minister Lawrence Cannon, boycotted Ahmadinejad's address... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091001.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_091001.cfm 01 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Oct. 1, 2009 - A recent upsurge of anti-Israel activity from a number of radical quarters - Israel boycott movements from union and certain Church groups; "Israel Apartheid Week" on campus; the protest over the Toronto International Film Festival's spotlight on Tel Aviv... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090924.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090924.cfm 24 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Sept. 24, 2009 - A recent New York Times op-ed by Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi ambassador to the United States, highlights why there has been no progress toward Middle East peace by Saudi Arabia... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090917.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090917.cfm 17 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Sept. 17, 2009 - The "Toronto Declaration" group's attempt to hijack the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to serve its political agenda against Israel fell flat. Mainstream media uniformly and resoundingly rejected the ploy... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090910.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090910.cfm 10 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Sept. 10, 2009 - Two recent newspaper pieces - one in Canada and one in Lebanon - made the same argument: that U.S. President Barack Obama has failed to develop a cohesive, effective policy for the Middle East... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090827.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090827.cfm 27 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - August 27, 2009 - An Aug. 11 New York Times op-ed with the provocative title "The Two-State Solution Doesn't Solve Anything" brought authors Hussein Agha and Robert Malley back into the Mideast media spotlight... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090820.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090820.cfm 20 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - August 20, 2009 - It's hard to imagine two news reports appearing the same day, about the same subject - in this case the Fatah congress which concluded last week in Bethlehem - that are more opposite in their accounts... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090806.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090806.cfm 06 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - August 6, 2009 - The recent visit to Israel by U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell put substantial media focus on Israel's settlements - specifically, U.S. President Barack Obama's insistence that Israel stop all settlement activity, be it in the West Bank or east Jerusalem... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090730.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090730.cfm 30 July 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - July 30, 2009 - On July 8, the New York Times printed an excerpt from Myths, Illusions, and Peace, a book on the Arab-Israeli peace process by Dennis Ross and David Makovsky.... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090709.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090709.cfm 09 July 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - July 9, 2009 - Efforts to delegitimize Israel continue to run amok: UN anti-racism conferences being used as forums to single out and vilify Israelis in racist terms; Israel Apatheid Week as an annual Israel hate-fest on various campuses; Canadian Union of Public Employees (Ontario) and other Canadian unions and organizations working feverishly to isolate Israel... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090618.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090618.cfm 18 June 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - June 18, 2009 - New York Times columnist David Brooks is as shrewd and erudite an observer of world affairs as one can hope to find in journalism today. In his June 5 column ("The Chicago View" ) about U.S. President Barack Obama's Cairo speech, Brooks argued that Obama is a pragmatist, not a rigid ideologue, who tries to combine diplomatic idealism with hard-core political realism... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090611.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090611.cfm 11 June 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - June 11, 2009 - Since the White House meeting on May 18 between U.S. President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there has been intense media focus on their disagreement over the issue of settlements. While accepting a halt to new settlement construction, Netanyahu has rejected Obama's opposition to "natural growth" of existing settlements... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090528.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090528.cfm 28 May 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 28, 2009 - Two weeks ago (May 14 issue) this column focused on the controversy over Caryl Churchill's short play Seven Jewish Children. That should have been enough on that subject. This week's column was supposed address the media's treatment of the May 18 meeting in Washington between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama. However... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090514.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090514.cfm 14 May 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 14, 2009 - Criticism of Israel is reaching a state of hysterical overreaction, devoid of rational analysis of events on the ground. Even decent, well-meaning people have been swept up in this frenzy to such a degree that they are now willing to entertain, as legitimate discussion, the most vile caricatures of Israelis and Jews... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090507.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090507.cfm 07 May 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 7, 2009 - Recent headlines in Israeli and Canadian newspapers seemed to tell of a remarkable development: "Iran will honor any two-state decision made by Palestinians" (Jerusalem Post, April. 26); "Ahmadinejad 'fine' with two-state solution" (Ynetnews, April 26); "Iran prepared to back Palestinian deal with Israel, Ahmadinejad says" (Globe and Mail, April 27)... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090430.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090430.cfm 30 Apr. 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 30, 2009 - The April 20 opening session of the UN-sponsored "Durban II" anti-racism conference in Geneva quickly became a farce, as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the podium for an anti-Jewish and anti-Israel tirade... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090417.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090417.cfm 17 Apr. 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 17, 2009 - Israel's new foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman's announcement that the Jewish state would not be bound by the Annapolis "shelf" agreement was criticized by much of the international media. Lost among the condemnation was Lieberman's declaration that Israel would adhere to the 2002 "road map" peace plan... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090409.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090409.cfm 09 Apr. 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 9, 2009 - Last week, this column looked at how the Canadian and international media jumped on allegations that Israeli soldiers acted improperly during the war in Gaza. As it turned out, an investigation by the Israeli military police into the charges found they were based on rumour and hearsay rather than eyewitness reports, and so were factually groundless... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090402.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090402.cfm 02 Apr. 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 2, 2009 - Allegations that some Israeli soldiers wantonly violated the Israel Defence Forces' code of conduct during the Gaza military campaign, recklessly killing Palestinian civilians, broke first in the Israeli press... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090326.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090326.cfm 26 Mar. 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - March 26, 2009 - Yossi Klein Halevi, a contributing editor to The New Republic magazine and a senior fellow at the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies of the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, is a respected Israeli political analyst, known for providing a passionately moderate viewpoint... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090312.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090312.cfm 12 Mar. 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - March 12, 2009 - Overwhelmingly, journalists describe Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Israeli President Shimon Peres has asked to form a governing coalition, as opposing statehood for the Palestinians. However, Netanyahu actually holds a more nuanced view that's not being accurately portrayed in most media accounts... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090305.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090305.cfm 05 Mar. 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - March 5, 2009 - In "Iran: the enemy that almost isn't," (Globe and Mail, Feb. 21) Doug Saunders argued that Tehran could well return to its halcyon days under former president and "pro-Western reformist" Mohammed Khatami, who is again a candidate for president of Iran... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090226.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090226.cfm 26 Feb. 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 26, 2009 - During the violent years of what became known as the second intifada, CBC coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially its television news, was mainly one-sided. The CBC often depicted Israel as a callous oppressor and the Palestinians as helpless victims... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090212.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090212.cfm 12 Feb. 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 12, 2009 - Patrick Martin's Jan. 29 Globe and Mail report, "Account of Israeli attack doesn't hold up to scrutiny," has attracted a lot of attention because it reveals what journalism does at its best when it investigates and establishes the truth... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090205.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090205.cfm 05 Feb. 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 5, 2009 - A Jan. 28 report from the Reuters news service, titled "Egypt attacks Iran and allies in Arab world," looked at a critical but under-reported development in the Arab world: the growing schism between "radical" players aligned with Iran and "moderate" forces aligned with Egypt... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090129.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090129.cfm 29 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 29, 2009 - As the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza ended, media analysis of who won and who lost began. Not surprisingly, there were widely differing views on the outcome for each side... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090122.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090122.cfm 22 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 22, 2009 - "Israel's diplomats know that if journalists are given a choice between covering death and covering context, death wins... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090108.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_090108.cfm 8 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 8, 2009 - On Dec. 29, two days after Israel launched its assault on Gaza, both the Globe and Mail and the New York Times presented what appeared to be much the same story. Both were front-page reports and both were presented as "analysis." But there the similarity ended... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081218.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081218.cfm 18 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Dec. 18, 2008 - Clashes between settler radicals and Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron escalated earlier this month, when Jewish residents refused to leave a disputed building. While media coverage of the events was relatively brief, it was also fair and accurate... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081211.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081211.cfm 11 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Dec. 11, 2008 - For three days in late November, the world watched as terrorists attacked hotels, restaurants and other public places in Mumbai, killing 173 civilians. At the city's Chabad House, six Jews, many of them Israeli, were murdered... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081204.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081204.cfm 04 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Dec. 4, 2008 - Acknowledging that peace with Syria would significantly change the regional strategic balance and shore up existing peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, successive Israeli leaders have engaged in long and detailed negotiations with Damascus... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081127.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081127.cfm 27 Nov 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Nov. 27, 2008 - Last week, Associated Press reporter Robert Barr described two meetings that were being held at around the same time, in two capitals. Israeli president Shimon Peres was in London speaking with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and others, while David Miliband, Brown's foreign secretary, was in Damascus meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081120.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081120.cfm 20 Nov 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Nov. 20, 2008 - Not only did Barak Obama win a decisive victory in the U.S. presidential elections, according to many news reports, he also enjoyed tremendous support in virtually every country in the world - with the exception of Israel... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081106.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081106.cfm 06 Nov 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Nov. 6, 2008 - The Canadian media responded quickly to Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's decision to call for elections after her efforts to form a coalition government proved unproductive... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081030.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081030.cfm 30 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Oct. 30, 2008 - Iran continues to make news, most recently because the United Nations rightfully denied it a seat it had eagerly sought on the Security Council... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081023.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081023.cfm 23 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Oct. 23, 2008 - The big news from the Middle East last week did not involve Israel - at least not directly. On Oct. 14, Syrian President Bashar Assad announced that his country would establish diplomatic relations with Lebanon... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081016.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081016.cfm 16 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Oct. 16, 2008 - Although Iran is not currently dominating the headlines - largely because of the world financial crisis - international news agencies nonetheless continue to monitor Tehran's nuclear ambition... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081010.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_081010.cfm 10 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Oct. 10, 2008 - Two recent reports in the Globe and Mail illustrate a lack of context which, when dealing with the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, make for inaccurate and one-sided journalism... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080925.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080925.cfm 25 Sept 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Sept. 25, 2008 - As of this writing, media reports and analysis of Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's narrow (one percent) victory in the September 17 Kadima primary were just beginning to appear... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080911.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080911.cfm 11 Sept 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Sept. 11, 2008 - One of the most common and valid concerns about media coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict is that because Israel is a free, democratic country, it has become a victim of its own openness... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080904.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080904.cfm 04 Sept 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Sept. 4, 2008 - On Aug. 25, Israel freed almost 200 Palestinian prisoners. The event got a fair amount of media attention but not all reports told the full story... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080828.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_0800828.cfm 28 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Aug. 28, 2008 - This week, a look at two newspaper columns, one that challenges conventional wisdom on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and another one that seeks to assure us that the Iranian mullahs think like secular liberals... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080821.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080821.cfm 21 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Aug. 21, 2008 - News last week from the Beijing Olympics and Russia's conflict with Georgia pushed stories from Israel to the margins. Still, references to Israel emerged from time to time... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080814.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080814.cfm 14 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Aug. 14, 2008 - The Canadian media recently covered accusations by Human Rights Watch and other non-government organizations that rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas routinely torture their prisoners... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080807.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080807.cfm 07 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Aug. 7, 2008 - Recently, Israel has been visited by a slew of world leaders and would-be leaders. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and United States Senator and presidential hopeful Barak Obama have all held meetings with Israeli leaders... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080731.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080731.cfm 31 July 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - July 31, 2008 - Media analysts have long observed that Israel tends to receive more positive coverage when it's seen to be a victim. However, while the media focus on the recent prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah was both extensive and intense... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080717.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080717.cfm 17 July 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - July 17, 2008 - In pursuit of a hot story, the media sometimes rely on speculation rather than facts. This has certainly been the case in many recent reports about the likelihood of Israel attacking Iran's nuclear facilities... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080710.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080710.cfm 10 July 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - July 10, 2008 - The recent flurry of diplomatic activity from Israel has attracted a fair amount of media coverage. Among the initiatives: overtures, by way of Turkey, to Syria about resuming peace talks... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080703.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080703.cfm 03 July 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - July 3, 2008 - Canadian media paid substantial attention to last week's news that Israel and Hamas had reached a truce. The reporting reflected a mixed optimistic and pessimistic, but ultimately skeptical, attitudes among many Israelis and Palestinians that the truce would hold... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080619.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080619.cfm 19 June 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - June 19, 2008 - Thomas L. Friedman's column "People vs. dinosaurs" (New York Times, June 9, reprinted in the National Post, June 10) is a must-read... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080612.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080612.cfm 12 June 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - June 12, 2008 - Iran, already under a third round of (albeit tepid) UN Security Council sanctions due its refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment program, is in the spotlight again regarding its nuclear ambitions... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080605.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080605.cfm 05 June 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - June 5, 2008 - The recent revelation that Israel had begun indirect peace negotiations with Syria brought a flurry of media analysis, including an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail by Michael Bell, a former Canadian ambassador to (at different times) Egypt, Jordan and Israel... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080522.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080522.cfm 22 May 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 22, 2008 - The Canadian news media gave substantial attention to Israel's 60th anniversary, much of it more positive than some might have expected given the media's well-known predilection for emphasizing the negative... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080508.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080508.cfm 8 May 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 8, 2008 - As Israel approaches its 60th anniversary, many in the media are looking at the danger that Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons poses to the very survival of the Jewish state... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080424.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080424.cfm 24 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 24, 2008 - As Israel's 60th anniversary approaches, the media have begun filing in-depth reports and analyses on the state of the nation, both internally and regionally... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080410.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080410.cfm 10 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 10, 2008 - A recent front-page >New York Times article provided an in-depth look at an under-reported story: the indoctrination of Gaza's youth in anti-Israel and anti-Jewish propaganda... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080403.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080403.cfm 03 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 3, 2008 - It wasn't surprising that when Eric Margolis was interviewed recently about the situation in Tibet, he took the opportunity to unfairly compare the plight of the Tibetans to that of the Palestinians. As a foreign affairs analyst, Margolis is well known for singling out Israel for gratuitous and misleading criticism... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080327.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_0800327.cfm 27 Mar 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Mar. 27, 2008 - Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East, a new book by veteran Middle East correspondent Robin Wright, has garnered mixed reviews due to its seemingly misplaced optimism about the future of the region... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080320.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_0800320.cfm 20 Mar 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Mar. 20, 2008 - The Palestinian Authority has long had two different official voices. Its leaders, such as PA President Mahmoud Abbas, send moderate messages to the Western media. Meanwhile, the Palestinian media - controlled by the PA - incites the general public with strident anti-Israel propaganda... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080313.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_0800313.cfm 13 Mar 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Mar. 13, 2008 - Last week, while other world events took the media spotlight off Israel, Kosovo's declaration of independence found its way into the discourse about Israel-Palestinian peace talks... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080228.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_0800228.cfm 28 Feb 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 28, 2008 - Last week, while other world events took the media spotlight off Israel, Kosovo's declaration of independence found its way into the discourse about Israel-Palestinian peace talks... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080214.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_0800214.cfm 14 Feb 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 14, 2008 - On Feb. 4, in Dimona, the first suicide bombers to penetrate Israel in more than a year killed one woman and wounded at least 11. Several Palestinian terrorist groups were quick to claim responsibility, including the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080207.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_0800207.cfm 07 Feb 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 7, 2008 - Last week, this column looked at initial media reaction to Hamas' carefully staged breach of the barrier separating Gaza from Egypt. As events continued to unfold, in-depth articles and analysis explored the broader regional implications of Hamas' gambit... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080131.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080131.cfm 31 Jan 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 31, 2008 - Recent events in Gaza were played out front and centre in the international media. The focus was mainly on the downtrodden Palestinians, although the security threats to Israel were given at least some coverage... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080124.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080124.cfm 24 Jan 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 24, 2008 - With the recent visit by U.S. President George W. Bush to Israel and Ramallah came a barrage of media coverage and commentary about the prospects for peace in the Middle East - some of it hopeful but most of it skeptical... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080117.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080117.cfm 17 Jan 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 17, 2008 - The Jan. 6 New York Times Sunday Book Review was titled "The Islam Issue." Notable writers and academics contributed 12 book reviews and several essays on the topic... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080103.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_080103.cfm 03 Jan 2008 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 3, 2008 - If there was any trend that marked the media's coverage of the Middle East in 2007, it was what we may call the opening of the camera's lens onto the region as a whole in a way that was sustained as never before... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071220.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071220.cfm 20 Dec 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Dec. 20, 2007 - The recently released summary report by the United States' National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran's nuclear program was met with widespread skepticism by the media... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071213.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071213.cfm 13 Dec 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Dec. 13, 2007 - TVO's four-part series Israel and Palestine: 60 Years On (Nov. 26 to 29) provided something all-too-rare in media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: serious, intelligent and informative debate, free of the rancor that often consumes this topic... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071206.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071206.cfm 06 Dec 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Dec. 6, 2007 - What a difference a few days can make. Articles leading up to the U.S.-sponsored meeting between Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams at Annapolis (Nov. 26-27) reflected low expectations for what, at that point, the United States was describing as merely a meeting to set the stage for future unspecified talks. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071122.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071122.cfm 22 Nov 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Nov. 22, 2007 - The headline on Steve Erlanger's Nov. 12 New York Times story, "U.S. and Israel Play Down Hopes for Peace Talks," reflected the low expectations for the U.S.-sponsored meeting between Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071115.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071115.cfm 15 Nov 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Nov. 15, 2007 - As of the end of October, the Canadian and international media were paying limited attention to Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak's warning of a pending military operation in Gaza to counter the incessant firing of Qassam rockets into southern Israel. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071108.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071108.cfm 08 Nov 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Nov. 8, 2007 - A recent "According to Reports" column ("Consensus grows that Iran is a global threat," Nov. 1) described how the United States and France were applying diplomatic and economic pressure on Iran as it pursues its quest for nuclear weapons. These efforts included strong warnings from U.S. President George Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071101.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071101.cfm 01 Nov 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Nov. 1, 2007 - While reports from Iran indicate that it remains firm in its quest for nuclear weapons, recent news stories and analysis also indicate that a growing number of countries are determined to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071025.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071025.cfm 25 Oct 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Oct. 25, 2007 - One of the main complaints about journalism is that it dwells far too much on the negative, especially on conflict-driven stories which, though newsworthy, tend to overwhelm less sensational but equally newsworthy positive stories. A recent CBC news documentary went against the trend, putting a human face on the Mideast conflict. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071011.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071011.cfm 11 Oct 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Oct. 11, 2007 - In all the controversy surrounding Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent appearances in New York, one key fact is starting to receive more media attention: Iran is a major problem for the West in general and not just for Israel in particular... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071003.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_071003.cfm 03 Oct 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Oct. 3, 2007 - For the past few weeks the media have been full of speculation about what precisely occurred on Sept. 6 when Syria complained that its airspace had been violated by Israeli fighter aircraft. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070912.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070912.cfm 12 Sep 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Sept. 12, 2007 - Last week, considerable media attention was focused on an Israeli Supreme Court ruling that the military must reroute part of its security barrier near the West Bank village of Bilin. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070906.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070906.cfm 06 Sep 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Sept. 6, 2007 - CNN recently (and repeatedly) aired the documentary God's Jewish Warriors, the first in a three-part series titled God's Warriors, anchored by Christiane Amanpour. The program was so sensational and so lacking in perspective as to leave its audience confused and ill-informed about the extent and impact of Jewish religious extremism. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070830.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070830.cfm 30 Aug 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Aug. 30, 2007 - With so much media attention focused on Israel's entanglement in Middle East conflict, it's refreshing when journalists file a story on other, positive developments within the Jewish state, including its booming science and technology sector. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070823.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070823.cfm 23 Aug 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Aug. 23, 2007 - Last month, following the release of Gaza-based BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, who had been held hostage for 114 days until Hamas forced his captors to let him go, the organization put on a "charm offensive" for the sake of western audiences. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070816.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070816.cfm 16 Aug 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Aug. 16, 2007 - Supporters of Israel often complain that foreign correspondents ignore the genuine security threats facing the tiny Jewish state. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070809.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070809.cfm 09 Aug 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Aug. 9, 2007 - Naomi Klein (CJN, letter to editor, Aug. 2) would have a valid complaint about what was written in this column on July 5, "Klein's Thesis on Israel is 'Total Rubbish'," if she had accurately presented the facts of her case. But she did not. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070719.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070719.cfm 19 Jul 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - July 19, 2007 - There is a frightening. amount of disinformation about Israel being promoted in some media circles. For example, this column recently spotlighted a piece by Canadian writer Naomi Klein, published in the Nation (where she is a columnist), and picked up by the Guardian newspaper, and Canadian alternative weeklies, including Vancouver's Georgia Straight and Toronto's Now magazine... http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070712.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070712.cfm 12 Jul 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - July 12, 2007 - The Hamas children's television show featuring Farfur, a Mickey Mouse clone, made the news again when the mascot, who spouts extreme anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rhetoric, met his untimely death. In the show's finale, Farfur was beaten to death by a fictionalized Israeli Shin Bet agent while attempting to reclaim family property in modern Tel Aviv from "the criminal, plundering Jews." http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070705.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070705.cfm 05 Jul 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - July 5, 2007 - Journalists and writers who contribute to the commentary pages of newspapers and magazines are, by definition, involved in advancing opinion, even strongly held views. Few do that more prominently than Naomi Klein. But when they push their polemics so far that they violate - even butcher - basic facts, they also violate a core tenet of journalistic responsibility: maintaining intellectual integrity. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070628.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070628.cfm 28 Jun 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - June 28, 2007 - The Canadian and international media have devoted a lot of attention to the recent violence between Hamas and Fatah, which resulted in a division of rule in Gaza and the West Bank, respectively. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070614.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070614.cfm 14 Jun 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - June 14, 2007 - The common complaint that much of the media has a short attention span and an even shorter historical memory, even for its own coverage, was clearly illustrated by the influential Economist magazine in its lead editorial "Israel's wasted victory" (May 26). http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070607.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070607.cfm 07 Jun 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - June 7, 2007 - On May 23, Carol Off, host of CBC Radio's As It Happens introduced a segment on Iran's nuclear program with the following statement: "A report issued today by the International Atomic Energy agency (IAEA) does not mince words. Iran has not scrapped its nuclear program. Rather, the program continues to expand." http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070531.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070531.cfm 31 May 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 31, 2007 - As of early last week, most media reports about Israel's renewed but limited military operations in Gaza focused on the impact of the Israel Defence Force's actions against the Palestinians. Only briefly did they note the reasons for Israel's limited strikes: to stop more Qassam fire on its southern communities. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070525.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070525.cfm 25 May 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 25, 2007 - As of this writing, renewed factional fighting in Gaza, from May 13 to 16, had claimed two dozen Palestinian lives, and wounded many more. Much media attention focused on the violent events and weakening political situation. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070517.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070517.cfm 17 May 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 17, 2007 - On May 8, the Canadian Press carried an Associated Press report from Gaza City, titled "Hamas 'Mickey Mouse' calls for Muslim world domination." It described a weekly Hamas children's show broadcast on Al-Aqsa TV calling for Islamic domination and "armed resistance." http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070510.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070510.cfm 10 May 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 10, 2007 - It was no surprise that last week's release of the interim Winograd report on the political and military shortcomings of Israel's war last summer with Hezbollah elicited a huge reaction within its borders. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070503.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070503.cfm 03 May 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - May 3, 2007 - In the April 19 CJN, "According to Reports" examined two very different columns about the prospects for peace between Israel and the Arab world. David Brooks' New York Times column argued that Israeli and Arab narratives fail to intersect in any meaningful way, whereas Globe and Mail columnist Shira Herzog wrote that, with effective leadership and vision, reconciliation remains possible. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070419.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070419.cfm 19 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 19, 2007 - Two recent columns on ending the Arab-Israeli conflict gave readers a choice between total pessimism and guarded optimism. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070412.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070412.cfm 12 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - April 12, 2007 - This column was being written just as the Arab League summit in Riyadh (March 28 to 29) concluded with the unanimous adoption of the Saudi peace plan in its original, unmodified form. Media reports leading up to the event were divided: it was either a fresh opportunity for peace or another doomed initiative. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070329.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070329.cfm 29 Mar 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - March 29, 2007 - In the last two issues of The Canadian Jewish News, editor Mordechai Ben-Dat drew attention to a recent BBC poll that ranked Israel among the least-liked countries on a list that included Iran and North Korea. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070322.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070322.cfm 22 Mar 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - March 22, 2007 - The Arab League summit, scheduled to be held in Riyadh on March 28 and 29, was the subject of considerable Israeli media attention last week, and it also started to attract western media interest. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070315.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070315.cfm 15 Mar 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - March 15, 2007 - As recent "According to Reports" columns have noted, there has been a shift in international media attention on the Middle East away from Israel specifically and toward developments in the region as a whole. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070208.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070208.cfm 08 Feb 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 8, 2007 - Last week, the Canadian media paid close attention to the ongoing violence between Hamas and Fatah factions in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. In just four days prior to a Jan. 29 ceasefire, more than two dozen Palestinians were killed and more than 50 were wounded. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070201.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070201.cfm 01 Feb 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Feb. 1, 2007 - Last week's visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah by Foreign Minister Peter MacKay resulted in front-page Globe and Mail attention. It seemed that only the lurid trial of alleged British Columbia mass murderer Robert Pickton could bump Israel from page A1. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070118.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070118.cfm 18 Jan 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 18, 2007 - A sensational 2,250-word report in the Jan. 7 Sunday Times in Britain, "Focus: Mission Iran," by Uzi Mahnaimi and Sarah Baxter, claimed that Israel was planning tactical nuclear strikes against Iranian nuclear weapons sites. Officially denied by Israel, the piece sparked a mixed reaction in the Canadian media. Some outlets buried the story while others featured it prominently. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070111.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070111.cfm 11 Jan 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 11, 2007 - If there's one thing that characterized the media's coverage of the Middle East in the past year, it was the attention paid to the region as a whole, as compared with the nearly obsessive attention it has frequently paid to Israel. http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070104.cfm http://www.cicweb.ca/publications/reports/reports_070104.cfm 04 Jan 2007 08:00:00 EST CJN - Jan. 4, 2007 - On CBC Radio's The Current (Dec. 19) host Anna Maria Tremonti interviewed Robert Fisk, the Beirut-based Middle East correspondent for Britain's The Independent newspaper, about developments in the Middle East over the past year.