Lake Country Calendar: Mel Wilde: "The demonizing of Israel" (26/1/2011) "For the past few years I have watched and read media reports that paint a picture of Israel that is far from the truth. Given the bias that many writers and newscasters have this tendency to mislead the public is not surprising and in most cases, we just have to turn off the television or turn the page and presto… poof, they’re gone."
Montreal Gazette: Aydin Yurtcu (letter to the editor) "Growing tensions" (26/1/2011) "The Israeli commission’s report is not a final verdict on the May 31 Israeli armed raid on a Turkish ship. The report is to be presented to a United Nations panel. Besides heartfelt sorrow for the nine Turkish civilians killed during the raid, I regret to see growing tensions between Turkey and Israel, which have been on friendly terms since Israel’s founding in 1948. I hope the UN panel will assess the raid in the light of fairness, equal representation and international law." Send letter to editor
National Post: Stephen Tannenbaum (letter to the editor) "Credible observers" (26/1/2011) "This story devotes a considerable amount of space to Turkey’s attack on the credibility of Israel’s Turkel Commission. However, apart from a brief mention of "two international observers," it omits the one fact that gives the commission complete credibility — the identity of those observers. William David Trimble is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Northern Irish first minister, while Canadian Ken Watkin is a former military judge. Neither of these prominent personalities could afford to lend his name to a report that showed bias, sub-standard investigating or a misunderstanding of international law."
CBC.ca: AP: "Hezbollah PM choice sparks Lebanon protests" (25/1/2011) "Thousands of angry Sunnis took to the streets of Lebanon on Tuesday to protest the nomination of Hezbollah-backed candidate Najib Mikati as the next prime minister."
CBC.ca/AP/CP: "Al-Jazeera leak spurs Abbas supporters" (25/1/2011) "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas returned to a hero’s welcome in the West Bank on Tuesday, making his first public appearance at home since Al-Jazeera published embarrassing documents showing him offering to make broad concessions to Israel in peace talks."
Globe and Mail: John Silverstein (letter to the editor) "Historic leap" (26/1/2011) "So, what’s the problem? The Palestinians deny having made concessions (How Concessions Failed To Move Israel – Jan. 24). The Israelis deny having rejected them. At last the two sides have agreed on something. Why aren’t we celebrating this historic leap forward in the peace process?
Embassy Magazine: Carl Meyer: "Parsing the principles" (26/1/2011) "But there is the flip side to the use of the term, such as in Canada’s bid for a UN Security Council seat in 2010 and its support for Israel and Israeli policy, where it has applied the approach, met with opposition, and decided to dig in its heels." Send letter to editor
CTV.ca: AP: "Holocaust historical data goes digital" (25/1/2011) "The world’s largest collection of Holocaust documents is going digital. Israel’s Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, is teaming up with Google to make its photographs and documents interactive and searchable on the Internet. The first 130,000 photos hit the web Wednesday"
CBC National: Diana Swain: "Russian President calls for Israeli-like security measures" (26/1/2011) "Russian President called for security Measures Similar to those in place in israel and in the united states. "they have complete control of passengers and baggage. we have to do the same," he said" Clip unavailable
CBC The Current: Anna Maria Tremonti: "Palestine Papers" (26/1/2011) "Al Jazeera has released thousands of Palestinian documents covering more than a decade of negotiations with Israel and the United States. It’s a rare glimpse into the machinery behind the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. And we’ll look at what it reveals about the industry that has grown up around the talks." Contact CBCSubmit online comment
Embassy Magazine: Mike Fegelman, Honestreporting Canada (letter to the editor) "Israel does not occupy Gaza" (26/1/2011) "Your front-page caption (RE: “A fine line between Palestinian remembrance, radicalization,” Jan. 19) said Israel is occupying the West Bank and Gaza. For quite some time now, a popular myth has been promulgated by Israel’s enemies and has unfortunately been accepted as fact by the Canadian media. The myth is that of Israel as the “occupiers” of the Gaza Strip. Contrary to this caption, occupation implies being able to impose your will on the occupied and as Israel removed over 8,500 settlers from Gaza in the summer of 2005 and doesn’t have any soldiers on the ground, this claim doesn’t have any merit. Although Israel does carry out military incursions to thwart and disrupt terror cells, this does not qualify as “occupation,” nor does any other claims that because Israel controls the sea/air access to Gaza that it’s an “occupier.” Currently, the only non-Palestinian force in Gaza is the UN and we don’t presume that the media would claim that the UN is “occupying” the Gaza Strip."
Vancouver Sun: Jonathan Manthorpe: "Egyptians tests Tunisia’s Twitter revolution" (26/1/2011) "The papers are capable of nuanced interpretations, but appear to show the Palestinian Authority was prepared to give up almost all claims to East Jerusalem and abandon several vehemently defended positions on Palestinian rights in the West Bank and Gaza in the hopes of getting a deal with Israel" Send letter to editor
Montreal Gazette: Reuters: "Negotiator says Al Jazeera put his life in danger" (26/1/2011) "Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Al Jazeera television yesterday of putting his life in danger with "a vicious smear campaign" alleging major concessions in peace talks with Israel. Erekat said the Qatar-based network had misrepresented quotes and made up others in covering "The Palestine Papers" -its name for what it says are leaked documents showing the Palestinians giving way on major issues to Israel." Send letter to editor
Ottawa Citizen: David Warren: "Obituaries can be written only one person at a time" (26/1/2011) "The Israelis openly "profile" because they have no choice. Speak to any Israeli security professional and he will tell you that the contents of the traveller’s bag are the least interesting thing about him. Of course we need technology to scan for bombs, when possible; but first we need to spot the likeliest bomber" Send a letter to editor
