The Canadian Jewish News is wrong to accuse the public broadcaster of journalistic malpractice.
Leading Canadian Jewish spokesmen seem to have declared an ill-conceived war against CBC. In an editorial on Oct. 12, The Canadian Jewish News (CJN) took vigorous exception to CBC’s airing of a radio programme on a “One-State Solution” – as did Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA; the successor organization of both the Canadian Jewish Congress and the Canada Israel Committee). Yet, anyone who actually listened to CBC’s “The Current” on Tuesday, Oct. 4 would be hard-pressed to understand why these spokesmen are accusing CBC of “journalistic malpractice.” Far from endorsing the one-state option, the programme’s interviewer and guests left listeners with no doubt that this view enjoyed the support of only a tiny minority on either side. Those who believe in some harmonious amalgam of Israelis and Palestinians into one democratic state, thereby eliminating Israel, are fortunately very few in number. Still, anyone who listened to the programme would have found the tone of the discussion tame and sober, admirably lacking the stridency and venom that have come to characterize too many public-affairs treatments of Israel-Palestine issues.
When I submitted a version of this piece as an op-ed to CJN, the editor who had harshly criticized CBC for offering only a single view of the subject (when, in fact, CBC had sensibly presented two critical views before the programme) refused to grant me the space necessary for an adequate reply to his views. The irony in CJN’s own lack of pluralism seems to escape him.
A few radio listeners may have found the attacks from CJN and Fogel appealing. But what is truly worrisome in this whole affair is the heavy-handed overreaction from official voices in the Jewish community. This is likely to arouse unhelpful and unhealthy controversy in Canada going far beyond the substance of the one-state/two-state debate.
For one thing, the subject matter of the programme did not arise from anti-Israel malice. It is recent events – and not misguided or malicious CBC news editors – that are unfortunately bringing the one-state proposition to public attention. As a spokesperson for Peace Now, the most consistent proponent of the two-state solution, I am keenly aware of the changes that seem to make the disastrous option of one state more palatable.
A look at the history of this protracted conflict will reveal that whenever hopeful prospects for a two-state solution seem to recede from the public agenda, counsels of despair become more prominent, leading some frustrated individuals to reopen discussions about a “one-state solution.” Palestinian and Israeli representatives today are once again deadlocked, each party reluctant to take the necessary steps towards peace. Any peace talks now would be meaningless, and with the Americans firmly backing an intransigent Israel, at least until after November 2012, there is no “honest broker” to knock their heads together. So, with hopes for peace receding, more settlements being expanded, the Israeli hold on greater Jerusalem firmed up, and growing Palestinian frustration (both with Israel and with the Palestinians’ own corrupt leadership), more Palestinians and their well-wishers may be tempted by the prospect of a “one-state solution.” Little wonder, then, that media, like CBC, would consider this a legitimate issue to explore.
Fogel and the editors of CJN are as aware as I am that not every controversial CBC programme is, or should be, presented as a debate. On the other hand, there is an expectation that, over time, the broadcaster will explore the various positions. I am not aware that CIJA has undertaken a content analysis of CBC programming to clearly demonstrate an anti-Israel bias. However, by singling out one particular programme, CIJA and CJN have supplied the kind of anecdotal evidence that CBC bashers will feed off of. It is unfortunate that this attack from representatives of the Jewish community comes just as our public broadcaster finds its budget under serious threat by the Conservative government and its ally, Sun Media. Many of us would hope that this timing is only a coincidence, and not a sign of shared hostility, or even animus, towards CBC.
Since Fogel and the editor of CJN are such staunch opponents of combining Israel and Palestine into a single state, I invite them to sign up for Peace Now memberships, joining the organization that consistently fights for two states. Every time CIJA and CJN fail to criticize either Israeli or Palestinian intransigence in peacemaking, they aid the “one state” camp. Every time the two fail to join the critics of new settlement building, or to condemn unnecessary violence by either side, they ally themselves with the movement towards one state. They should join the good fight, in good faith, for an independent and unarmed Palestine living peacefully with a strong, secure, and democratic Israel. “Give Peace a Chance,” and give CBC a break.
Origin
Source: the Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment