CBS News has reportedly instructed its staff not to refer to Jerusalem as part of Israel as the network faces growing internal pressure over its handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Mark Memmott, CBS News’ senior director of standards, sent an email to all CBS News employees in late August with a list of terms to be careful with when “talking or writing about the news” related to with the war in Gaza. according to a Free Press report.
“Jerusalem” made the list of controversial terms.
“Do not refer to it as being in Israel,” Memmott reportedly wrote in the memo.
Memmott acknowledged the US Embassy in Jerusalem and that the Trump administration had recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the report said.
“But his status is debatable,” Memmot is said to have written. “The status of Jerusalem goes to the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
“Israel considers Jerusalem its ‘eternal and undivided’ capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem – captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war – as the capital of a future state.”
CBS News did not respond to requests for comment.
Congress recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 1995 when it passed the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act.
In 2017, President Donald Trump officially recognized the holy city as the capital of Israel.
But instead of instructing reporters not to refer to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Memmott’s memo told reporters not to acknowledge that Jerusalem is in Israel at all.
Meanwhile, tensions have flared on the network after CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil grilled journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates on his anti-Israel book “The Message.”
Dokoupil, a convert to Judaism whose ex-wife lives in Israel with their two children, said Coates’ book “wouldn’t be out of place in an extremist’s backpack” because of its stance on Israel.
During the CBS interview, Coates argued that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians was abhorrent and compared their experiences to those of blacks in the United States and Africa.
In his book, he condemns what he called Israeli “apartheid” in the administration of the territories occupied in the 1967 Six Day War.
CBS brass reportedly chided Dokoupil for his harsh line of questioning to Coates.
“Why not forget that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it? Why leave out the fact that Israel deals with terrorist groups that want to eliminate it?” Dokoupil had asked Coates.
On Tuesday, the morning show anchor told staff during a tearful meeting that he was “sorry” for putting them in a difficult position, especially fellow journalists who are overseas and at risk, The Post previously reported.
A CBS employee told the Free Press that the controversy surrounding Dokoupil has revealed a double standard at the network.
“There is a big difference between how all ethnic or minority groups are treated and how Jews and Jewish issues are treated,” the CBS insider said. “The general rule is: If you’re Jewish and you’re interested in reporting on Jews or Jewish affairs, that’s an ‘abstain’ or a ‘no,’ while for any other group it would be an enthusiastic ‘yes.'”
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