PSC and MEMO statement on event

The PSC and MEMO meeting on media bias, taking place on 23 May as an external event in Amnesty’s building in London, has come under fire by pro-Israeli Government supporters.

In a blog published at the end of April in the Daily Telegraph, Michael Weiss, spokesperson for the pro-Israeli Government think tank Just Journalism, attempts to smear MEMO and asks why Amnesty would host such an organisation. At the end of his blog, Weiss asks readers to call the human rights organisation posing the same question.

From this one article, it is clear that the recommendations of the Israeli think tank The Reut Institute, published in December 2010, to attack and split the solidarity movement in London and worldwide are being put into effect.

PSC and MEMO are pleased at the high level of registration for the meeting, titled Complicity in Oppression: Do the Media Aid Israel?. Following the BBC Trust’s ruling last month that its Panorama Death in the Med programme breached the BBC’s own guidelines on accuracy and impartiality in three instances, this meeting is especially timely and even more necessary.

With pro-Israeli Government supporters finding it increasingly difficult to justify Israel’s Apartheid and racist policies and its continued violations of international law, they are now attempting to shift the focus by attacking campaigners using peaceful, non-violent means to bring justice to the Palestinian people. In the past this has included attacking Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. The Telegraph blog sinks to a new level with an attempt to sabotage a meeting discussing media bias.

PSC is dedicated to achieving justice, freedom and equality for the Palestinian people. We campaign against the Israeli authorities’ racism and Apartheid, and both PSC and MEMO condemn all forms of racism, anti-Jewish prejudice and Islamophobia. We await an equal condemnation of all such prejudice from those who purport to speak on behalf of Israel, and their clear support for universal human rights and international law.

Palestine Solidarity CampaignMiddle East Monitor