RAMALLAH, Dec 23 (JMCC) - An investigation by The Electronic Intifada has revealed a former Haaretz reporter was bankrolled by a Dutch Zionist group to promote the group and it's mission todelegitimize Palestinian issues. According to EI, Cnaan Liphshiz wrote about 50 articles for Haaretz quoting the Centre for Documentation and Information on Israel (CIDI), using extensive research from the group and it's executive director Ronny Naftaniel.
Liphshiz attempted to conceal online his professional connections to the group.
What is now clear is that Liphshiz has maintained for an extended period an employment relationship with both Haaretz and CIDI that should have been disclosed to readers and was not. Liphshiz continues to try to evade giving his editors or the public clear answers about the status of his relationship with CIDI. This is not a case of a freelancer writing one or two articles and failing to disclose a passing relationship with an organization that might have been mentioned once or twice, but a regular writer who has contributed dozens of articles favorable to the organization for which he worked, and advancing its advocacy agenda...
Liphshiz's dual role with CIDI is both a matter of public interest, and conflict of interest for Haaretz. In his reports for the newspaper, Liphshiz frequently cites information provided by CIDI without any countervailing view or analysis and without disclosing his own relationship to the group, as a few examples illustrate.
A 9 September 2009 story headlined Dutch Jews suffered tenfold increase in anti-Semitic attacks during Gaza war relies entirely on statistics provided by CIDI.
In a 27 June 2008 profile of Dries van Agt, a former Dutch prime minister and outspoken critic of Israel's human rights violations, Liphshiz counters van Agt's charges that Israel is making frequent and excessive use of deadly force against the Palestinians, by citing CIDI. Liphshiz then cites accusations of anti-Semitism against van Agt from various accusers, some of whom are unnamed ('Dutch Jimmy Carter' accuses Israel of terrorism in new book). Many criticisms and questions Liphshiz directs against van Agt appear to be lifted from an article written in Dutch by CIDI founder Ronny Naftaniel (Van Agt heeft selectief geheugen).
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