In response to today’s post of an interview with the Israeli Ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, Canadaland journalists Cherise Seucharan and Noor Azrieh present the following analysis.
…and a fact check of the statements made in the interview.
Responsible journalism is more than simply showing up for an interview and broadcasting whatever lie the subject wants you to share for them. If he’s not going to fact-check the ambassador immediately, then he’s operating as a defacto mouthpiece for his subject. Attaching a fact-checking document, after the fact, in an entirely different medium that outlines just how much of the interview was obvious propaganda is not journalism.
The worst part is that Jesse has levelled this very criticism in the past against other journalists! Specifically in reference to how Trump is covered, but others as well. You can’t just hand your mic, your platform over to a 3rd party and claim that you’re doing journalism when you’re really being complicit in the distribution of propaganda.
I agree it’s strange and possibly inappropriate that the fact check was a text document, not a podcast.
But I really don’t think he was acting as a mouthpiece the way you’re accusing him. He repeatedly asked about the head of the Israeli military characterizing events as Jewish terrorism.
I think it’s important to ask what responsibility Israel has for the safety of Jewish Canadians when hatecrimes rise as a result of Israeli military operations.
It’s Israel’s favourite shield: to claim that their actions are linked to Jews everywhere. They use it to smear any opposition to their war crimes as antisemitism, and lines of questioning like this only reinforce this link. You just can’t bemoan how Jews are being linked to war crimes while starting from the position that Israel is inherently linked to Jewish identity. What you get is a conversation where both parties agree that Israel is both inexorably linked to Jews everywhere but that they’re also not responsible for their safety because they can’t be – they’re not Israelis.
To put it another way, no one would do an interview with the Iranian ambassador and suggest that they’re somehow responsible for Islamophobia in Canada. That would be absurd, but because it’s in Israel’s interest to claim representation of all Jews everywhere, you get this ridiculous session where both parties agree on a distorted version of reality. Since journalism is supposed to be about distributing factual information, beginning an interview on such a flawed position is both illogical and irresponsible.
Canadaland focuses on Canada, so Jesse tries to ask questions that are relevant to Canadians
journalism is supposed to be about distributing factual information
I have a friend in Canada that I know is trying to figure out if he should send his daughter to public school (eventually, she is still quite young) where she could face anti-Semitic treatment from peers/teachers, or Jewish day school where she could be murdered by extremists. (I think he was already more inclined towards public schools)
His concern is because of the increase in attacks on centers of Jewish community (eg schools & synagogues) in Canada. The increase in those attacks is because of Israel’s disproportionate response to the Oct 7th attacks.
The question of Israel’s accountability is probably quite relevant to him.
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The former.
Responsible journalism is more than simply showing up for an interview and broadcasting whatever lie the subject wants you to share for them. If he’s not going to fact-check the ambassador immediately, then he’s operating as a defacto mouthpiece for his subject. Attaching a fact-checking document, after the fact, in an entirely different medium that outlines just how much of the interview was obvious propaganda is not journalism.
The worst part is that Jesse has levelled this very criticism in the past against other journalists! Specifically in reference to how Trump is covered, but others as well. You can’t just hand your mic, your platform over to a 3rd party and claim that you’re doing journalism when you’re really being complicit in the distribution of propaganda.
I agree it’s strange and possibly inappropriate that the fact check was a text document, not a podcast.
But I really don’t think he was acting as a mouthpiece the way you’re accusing him. He repeatedly asked about the head of the Israeli military characterizing events as Jewish terrorism.
I think it’s important to ask what responsibility Israel has for the safety of Jewish Canadians when hatecrimes rise as a result of Israeli military operations.
Actually, this is one of the things that drives me crazy about Jesse’s take on this. Putting aside for the moment the base selfishness that would lead someone to ask: “how does your committing genocide affect me?”, he’s taking Israel’s position from the start that their actions are directly tied to the lives of Jews around the world. There are millions of Jews out there who are (a) not Israeli citizens, (b) are not Zionists, and © even actively condemn its actions purportedly in their name, but Jesse always starts with the position that Jews == Israel.
It’s Israel’s favourite shield: to claim that their actions are linked to Jews everywhere. They use it to smear any opposition to their war crimes as antisemitism, and lines of questioning like this only reinforce this link. You just can’t bemoan how Jews are being linked to war crimes while starting from the position that Israel is inherently linked to Jewish identity. What you get is a conversation where both parties agree that Israel is both inexorably linked to Jews everywhere but that they’re also not responsible for their safety because they can’t be – they’re not Israelis.
To put it another way, no one would do an interview with the Iranian ambassador and suggest that they’re somehow responsible for Islamophobia in Canada. That would be absurd, but because it’s in Israel’s interest to claim representation of all Jews everywhere, you get this ridiculous session where both parties agree on a distorted version of reality. Since journalism is supposed to be about distributing factual information, beginning an interview on such a flawed position is both illogical and irresponsible.
Canadaland focuses on Canada, so Jesse tries to ask questions that are relevant to Canadians
I have a friend in Canada that I know is trying to figure out if he should send his daughter to public school (eventually, she is still quite young) where she could face anti-Semitic treatment from peers/teachers, or Jewish day school where she could be murdered by extremists. (I think he was already more inclined towards public schools)
His concern is because of the increase in attacks on centers of Jewish community (eg schools & synagogues) in Canada. The increase in those attacks is because of Israel’s disproportionate response to the Oct 7th attacks.
The question of Israel’s accountability is probably quite relevant to him.