It’s no accident that the media generally give Israel favourable coverage and virtually ignore the daily lives of Palestinians.

The vast majority of news and feature stories on Israel/Palestine fail to mention the illegal occupation and seldom quote Palestinians in their coverage. 

Why is that?  What influences the coverage locally, nationally and internationally?

These questions will be explored at a panel discussion on Thursday, May 24 t 7 p.m.  at Sobey Building Room 255, St. Mary’s University, 903 Robie Street.

Author Dr. Jon Thompson, journalists Bruce Wark and Miles Howe, Jane MacMillan of Canadians, Arabs and Jews for a Just Peace, which is sponsoring the event. 

Dr. Thompson is Professor emeritus of mathematics and statistics, University of New Brunswick and the author of the recent book, “No Debate: The Israel Lobby and Free Speech at Canadian Universities”.  He was Chair of the independent investigation of the unfair treatment of medical researcher Dr. Nancy Olivieri at Sick Children's Hospital, Toronto and wrote the Olivieri report.

Bruce Wark is a freelance journalist and retired journalism professor who now lives in Parrsboro.  He taught the history and ethics of journalism at the University of King's College in Halifax for 15 years. Before that, he worked for 19 years at CBC Radio news serving as a producer in charge of such network programs as World at Six, World Report and The House. He also produced Media File, a national program that looked critically at the performance of the news media.

Miles Howe is a Halifax-based freelance journalist who covered the Canadian Boat to Gaza and whose CBC Radio interview and feature article in The Coast  generated considerable reaction.

Jane MacMillan is a member of the Halifax organization Canadians, Arabs and Jews for a Just Peace that conducts local educational events and speaking events on the Middle East.