HonestReporting Canada

Jerusalem is more than just the capital of Israel, and the home to the holiest sites in Judaism, as well as locations of huge importance for Christianity and Islam. It is also a diverse, cosmopolitan city, but also deeply religiously conservative. Despite this, Jerusalem is also host to a large Pride Parade every year, attracting as many as 25,000 revelers. This year on June 1, Jerusalem’s Pride Parade is held, showcasing Israel’s commitment to tolerance and equal protection under the law for all its citizens.

At a recent United Nations conference on the “Nakba,” the Arabic word meaning "catastrophe", in regard to Israel’s independence in 1948, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas compared Israel to Nazi Germany, specifically Nazi Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels. Only months after Abbas claimed that Israel had committed “50 Holocausts” against the Palestinians, it’s time for the news media – and the world at large – to hold the Palestinian leader to account for his false and inciting words.

In early April, 23-year-old Zuhair al-Ghaleeth was shot and dumped into an unmarked grave outside the city of Nablus. According to Lion’s Den, a Palestinian terrorist group that claimed responsibility for his murder, he was a “collaborator” with Israel. Even after his death, his family refused to accept his body for burial, and all but disowned him. Where is the news media coverage when it comes to Palestinians murdered by their own?

Calgary’s Mount Royal University (MRU) is scheduled to present the “Calgary Peace Prize” on May 18 to Mohammed El-Kurd, one of the world’s most prominent anti-Israel activists. The prize claims to recognize El-Kurd’s “exemplary contribution toward peace and justice,” but El-Kurd is no human rights activist; he has frequently shared anti-Israel disinformation and even antisemitic propaganda with his large social media following and regularly glorifies Palestinian terrorists. Why is a publicly-funded institution presenting this prize to such an individual, and where is the media coverage?