HonestReporting Canada

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?

Recently, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, visited southern Lebanon and was within striking distance of Israel, where he proclaimed that recent events in the region “will lead to the collapse of the Zionist entity.” His words are more than just rhetoric; Iran’s regime is an active funder and supplier to Hezbollah, the Shiite Islamist terrorist group operating in southern Lebanon, which threatens Israel’s existence. It’s time the news media shine a light on Iran and Hezbollah’s genocidal aims.

This past week, Israel commemorated Yom Hazikaron, its annual day of remembrance and memorial for its fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism. Since 1860, more than 24,000 Israelis and those visiting Israel have died as a result of attacks. On Yom Hazikaron, much of Israel comes to a complete standstill at 11 am local time, when sirens across the country blare for one minute in remembrance of those who fell. While the news media doesn’t always show, it's an image that tells the true story of Israel: persistence in the face of adversity and a solemn and powerful reminder of Israel’s sacrifices.

When Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948, the country’s future wasn’t necessarily guaranteed. Almost immediately, it was invaded by surrounding Arab armies, intent on destroying Israel. But since then, Israel has more than just survived – it has thrived, into a vibrant economy, a free society, and a beacon of assistance for other countries around the world. As Israel turns 75 years old, it’s time to recognize how far the country has come, and how much promise still lies ahead.

In early April, a spate of Palestinian terror attacks engulfed Jerusalem, throughout Israel and in Judea & Samaria. From violent rioting inside Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque, shooting and car-ramming attacks, and rocket fire from Lebanon, Gaza and Syria; Israel was under attack from multiple locations. And while the violence may appear to be spontaneously-generated, behind the scenes, Iran was actively involved in arming, funding and training its terrorist proxies in the region, all dedicated to destroying Israel. It’s time the news media show the true face of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s leadership and its terror tentacles across the Middle East.

It’s a common phrase uttered at anti-Israel rallies around the world: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” While anti-Israel groups maintain the chant is little more than a call for support for the Palestinian cause, the truth is much darker: it’s a call for the destruction of Israel, the world’s only Jewish State. It’s time that the news media show the true face and intent of this hateful chant.

In early March, the Islamic Fatwa Council, an Islamic judicial body based in Najaf, Iraq, released a fatwa, or Islamic edict, condemning the Hamas terrorist group for its “inhumane actions” in oppressing the two million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. Representing a wide spectrum of Sunni and Shiite Muslims, the Islamic Fatwa Council also banned followers from supporting Hamas in any way. Importantly, when a noteworthy Islamic group condemns Hamas for its inhumane treatment of Palestinians, the mainstream media must take notice.

In late February, a Palestinian terrorist shot and killed two Israeli brothers as they were driving on a highway near their home in Samaria (northern “west bank”). After the terrorist was later killed during an exchange of fire with Israeli troops, his family was paid a condolence call by a number of high-ranking figures in the Palestinian Authority (PA), including a local governor, whose office described the terrorist as having committed an act of “martyrdom.” When the Palestinian leadership endorses murder against Israeli civilians, where is the media coverageand outrage?

On Friday, March 3, a poster appeared in the Yorkville neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, showing a Star of David alongside the words "anti apartheid is not antisemitism.” Without showing an Israeli flag, or even the word Israel, the phrase clearly associated Jews with apartheid, a brutal system of oppression widely used in South Africa. While the unapproved poster was promptly removed and condemned by the city’s acting mayor, the incident highlights the increasingly brazen tactics used by anti-Israel groups.

Over two days in mid-February, two Jewish men were shot in drive-by shootings in Los Angeles, California. The suspect, 28-year-old Jaime Tran, is alleged to have previously sent threatening antisemitic texts to a Jewish former classmate. The two victims were treated at hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, but the attack could have been far worse: reports say multiple weapons were allegedly found in Tran’s possession. While this attack did not claim any lives, experts say that tackling antisemitic hate will help to stem the tide of antisemitic attacks.

In early February, a devastating earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, killing at least 40,000 people and injuring more than 100,000 others. Following the deadly natural disaster, relief teams began pouring into the region from across the world. One of the largest groups came from Israel, a tiny country smaller than Vancouver Island. But this humanitarian effort from Israel is only the latest example of the Jewish State using its expertise to assist innocent people around the world after enduring a natural disaster, regardless of the politics at play.

More than two years afterstatingtheir intention to establish diplomatic relations, Israel and Sudan have recently announced that they plan to finalize a peace agreement by the end of 2023. Such a deal between the two countries would be very significant, not only due to the size and influence of Sudan but because the African country has long been hostile to Israel’s existence, sending soldiers to fight Israel in 1948 and being host to a famous summit in 1967, opposing all ties with the Jewish State.

On Friday evening, January 27 – coinciding withInternationalHolocaust Remembrance Day – a Palestinian terrorist murdered seven innocent Israelis outside a Jerusalem synagogue.While the attack was condemned bycountries around the world, theattackwas celebratedthroughout the Palestinian territorieswhere residents passed out candies, honked horns in celebration, andset offcelebratory fireworks. While such scenes are sickening, it’s important for the news media to show the world this ghoulish reality that when Jews are murdered,throngs ofPalestinians celebratein the streets. Watch our latestRumble.com videoand please share it to help make it go viral!

Recently, Harvard University re-extended an invitation to Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), to join the school as a fellow, after reportedly initially canceling the original invite ostensibly due to his anti-Israel bias. But while Harvard apparently caved to pressure in re-admitting Roth, it shone a light on how Roth and Human Rights Watch in general have become so prominent, despite their problematic anti-Israel biases.

On January 14, the Iranian regime announced that it had executed Alireza Akbari, a dual Iranian-British national who had previously served as the country’s deputy defense minister, on charges of spying for the British government. Prior to his execution, Akbari was recorded stating that the Iranian government had tortured a confession out of him. Will Akbari’s execution finally lead to Iran’s leaders being held to account?

Israel has kicked off 2023 with a major initiative, announcing that the government was investing tens of millions of Israeli shekels in an effort to combat climate change in the Jewish State. The investments are aimed at planting more trees across the country and helping local municipalities strengthen their infrastructure in the face of potential damage caused by climate change.

The United Nations, hardly known for its balance when it comes to Israel, has sunk to a new low. On December 30, 2022, the last weekday of the calendar year, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution calling on the world body’s affiliated court, the International Court of Justice, to weigh in on a host of alleged misdeeds on Israel’s part, including attempting to change the “character and status” of Jerusalem, the Jewish State’s capital. While the court cannot enforce any findings, it represents only the latest attempt by the United Nations to demonize Israel on the world stage.

Around Christmas time every year, news outlets put a spotlight on the status of Christian populations in Israel and beyond, often describing it as suffering. But while this describes the plight of Christians living under Hamas or the Palestinian Authority (PA) rule, the exact opposite is true for Israeli Christians, who enjoy full religious freedoms, and whose numbers, according to recent statistics, are growing and flourishing. It’s time for the media to show what life for Israeli Christians is really like.

This week, Jews around the world celebrate the holiday of Chanukkah. More than two thousand years ago, King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Hellenistic Greek leader of the Seleucid Empire, sought to forcibly assimilate the Jews living in Judea & Samaria (sometimes referred to as the "West Bank" by the news media). Those who refused would be put to death. But the Jews fought back, and against all odds, they won. This victory commemorating the Jewish People’s self-determination in their historic homeland, remains incredibly potent today, particularly in the face of those who seek to erase the Jewish connection to their ancestral homeland.

When a Palestinian is killed in armed conflict with Israel, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its affiliates offer a knee-jerk response: that the deceased is an innocent person murdered by Israel in cold blood. But when speaking in Arabic to local audiences and media outlets, the truth often comes out: that the deceased was a terrorist with links to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party. That’s exactly what happened in a recent appearance by a senior Palestinian official, who bragged that “90 per cent” of recent Palestinian deaths by Israel were members of Fatah. But will Canadian news outlets share this shocking news with its audiences?

Since the World Cup games kicked off in Qatar in mid-November, repeated ugly scenes have erupted of Israeli journalists being harassed, yelled at, or otherwise treated rudely once they identified themselves as being from Israel. These scenes of rejection demonstrate that, regardless of the increasing number of peace agreements Israel is signing with its neighbours, true peace will only come when widespread populations in the Middle East accept Israel’s right to exist.

Whenever a public figure or celebrity makes antisemitic comments, they are invariably invited to visit a Holocaust museum in order to learn and correct the error and harm of their statements. And while there is indisputably value in learning about the Nazi Holocaust against Europe’s Jews, what if there’s a better way to combat antisemitism and help educate public figures about the dangers of anti-Jewish hatred?

Since being approved by dozens of countries and mainstream Jewish communities around the world in 2016, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism has become widely accepted around the world, Canada included and increasingly by Canadian provinces and cities with Vancouver being the latest to adopt it. But the IHRA definition is aggressively opposed by anti-Israel groups, who misrepresent it. This leads to the ultimate question: why are these groups so threatened by the IHRA definition?

Each year, the World Cup attracts legions of fans in person, and viewers worldwide cheer on their home country. The games also attract a massive amount of media attention. This year, the World Cup takes place in Qatar, the small oil-rich kingdom in the Persian Gulf. And while the country's immense oil wealth has attracted widespread attention, it's critically important that the news media doesn't ignore the kingdom's true face: its abuse of foreign labourers, its support for the Hamas terrorist group, and its founding of Al Jazeera, the anti-Israel broadcasting juggernaut.

On the heels of the antisemitism controversy surrounding rapper Kanye West, now, Kyrie Irving, a basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets, is in hot water for sharing a link to a rabidly anti-Jewish “documentary” on his social media channels. Fortunately, his employer took action, and publicly called out Irving and suspended him without pay, showing what steps the corporate world needs to take when anti-Jewish hatred rears its ugly head.