The Honest Report

When exactly did the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbours begin? Some detractors say that following the Six Day War, when Israel gained eastern Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria (sometimes called the West Bank), among other areas, the conflict truly kicked off, but others say Israel's establishment in 1948 was the genesis. Still, the seeds of the conflict were planted before that, in...

Arabs represent more than 20 percent of Israel's total population, and members of Israel's Arab minority have been represented across Israeli society, including politics, the judiciary, business, and the arts. But despite enjoying equal rights under Israeli law, Israeli Arabs today face lower incomes and higher levels of violence in their community, leading some critics to falsely accuse t...

While international commentators and journalists around the world rhetorically ask what it will take for peace to take place between Israel and the Palestinians, arguing that complex issues such as Jewish settlements are the main obstacle to peace, a much simpler factor is at play: the Palestinian Authority’s payments to Palestinian terrorists and their families. This complex system, nicknamed “Pa...

There are few terms in the English language which have been as widely misunderstood and misrepresented as Zionism. While anti-Israel detractors claim that Zionism is synonymous with racism, settler-colonialism, and oppression, in reality, it refers to the national liberation movement of the Jewish People. But what exactly does that mean, and in particular, what does Zionism mean for Israel today,...

Palestinian incitement against Israel has been long established as the main obstacle to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. But this incitement - in Palestinian media, school textbooks and mosques, is only part of the equation. Palestinian incitement has also manifested in the continued rejectionism of the Palestinian leadership, which is sending an unmistakable message to the Palestinians, t...

Beginning primarily in the late 1940s, hundreds of thousands of individuals living in the Middle East were expelled from their homes, under threat of violence, and on occasion, more than just threats. And while the image that may come to mind for many people are Arab refugees who left Israel following the Jewish State’s independence in 1948, these refugees were Jews who left their homes in Arab co...

The end of June marks the start of summer, as well as the end of the academic year for high school students across Canada. Many of these high school graduates will then pursue further education in college or university, while others will enter the workforce. Regardless of whether they will be heading to higher education or into the world, what will these graduates know about Israel and the Jewish...

Israel's ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain are often pointed to as a model for what Israel-Arab relations can look like if they reach their full potential: extensive economic and cultural ties, and an open embrace of open relations. But why is it that some Arab countries have accepted Israel's existence, even enthusiastically adopting ties, while other states have refuse...

On May 30, Jan Grabowski, a Polish-Canadian professor and historian at the University of Ottawa, was scheduled to deliver a lecture in Warsaw on the Holocaust, specifically on government attempts to suppress the degree of Polish collaboration during the war. But before Grabowski could start, a Polish politician smashed his microphone and began toppling speakers, accusing Grabowski of spreading &qu...

On March 10, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced that they had agreed to resume diplomatic relations, in an agreement brokered by the Chinese government. As part of the negotiations, they agreed to continue official visits between the countries, as well as re-open mutual embassies. In recent years, Iran and Saudi Arabia have been jostling for power across the Middle East as regional rivals and as Isla...

In late June 1976, a group of terrorists belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and a German allied group hijacked a plane with more than 250 people on board as it made its way from Tel Aviv to Paris, with a stopover in Athens. The hijackers demanded cash payments and the release of Palestinian prisoners and eventually made their way to Entebbe Airport, in Kampala, U...

Despite its tiny size and shortage of natural resources, or in fact, as a result of it, Israel has become a widely-recognized leader in the usage of solar power and water use. Rooftops across Israel feature solar-powered water heaters, and Israel boasts that 90 percent of its water is recycled, four times higher than any other country in the world. According to the famous proverb, necessity is the...

On May 14, 1948, David Ben Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, proclaimed the Jewish State's independence. Across Israel, euphoria erupted as crowds celebrated the country's rebirth after two thousand years of exile. While today, Israel’s rebirth and subsequent successes seem ordinary, it was not too long ago that the concept was far-fetched; But thanks to Theodor Herzl, an Austrian...

On September 30, 2000, Muhammad al Dura, a young Palestinian boy, was caught on film dying in the crossfire between Israeli troops and Palestinian terrorists, in the Gaza Strip. Even before the spread of social media networks like Facebook, Tiktok or Twitter, the video of his death went viral. Almost instantly, Israel was accused of intentionally murdering the boy, though no such evidence exists....

Throughout North America, and indeed much of the Western world, college and university campuses are a fulcrum of anti-Israel activism and campaigning. These efforts can manifest through BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) referendums, anti-Israel disinformation being spread in the classroom or by the student government, and also through campus media outlets. Claire Frankel knows this all too well....

In early April, only days before the onset of the Passover and Easter holidays, Palestinian rioting broke out in and around the Al Aqsa Mosque, on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. The riots also coincided with the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when the holy city can become a tense flashpoint and sometimes even erupt in open rioting. And while news outlets across Canada and the world covered the viol...

In an increasingly interconnected world, no country is an island. Today, that is arguably no truer in the Middle East than anywhere else on the planet. As the war between Russia and Ukraine rages, a number of countries, including the European Union (EU) have pledged to decrease their consumption of Russian oil and gas, and now Israel may be able to play a central role in helping to supply these mu...

It's not unusual to read headlines that say "Israeli soldier shoots Palestinian," but provides no context about what was actually taking place. Frequently, news media reports omit key details about dead or injured Palestinians, suggesting that they were civilians, when they may have been active combatants. In short: Israeli soldiers are used to getting an unfair and inaccurate story...

On February 6, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey, near the Syrian border. Almost 60,000 people eventually died, and nearly 130,000 were injured. In the immediate aftermath, international aid and relief efforts flooded Turkey, providing much-needed medical aid and rescue. One of the largest delegations in the world came from Israel. Rescue personnel from Israel weren't just from the Isra...

In January 2019,  during a town hall-style meeting in St. Catharines, Ontario, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blasted the BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) movement as antisemitic, and said it ran contrary to "Canadian values." While Canada has been a vocal opponent of antisemitism in general and movements like BDS in particular, having been one of the first countries to adopt the IHRA (...

In recent years, Israel has celebrated a number of high-profile peace agreements with Arab and Islamic countries in the Middle East and Africa, including Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Morocco, Sudan, and others. And while these normalization agreements have been widely celebrated in Israel, they don't provide a complete picture of what's happening beneath the surface regarding rela...

Antisemitism has been called the world's oldest hatred. But that doesn't mean there aren't modern tools available for combatting it. In Canada, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism has been accepted by the federal government, as well as a number of provinces and municipalities as well. But is simply adopting the definition sufficient for comb...

The nefarious activities of Iran's theocratic leadership are well known, from funding Islamist terrorist activity in the Middle East and beyond to brutally suppressing dissent within its own borders. But lesser-known is the details of the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions. While global negotiations over Iran's nuclear program are frequently in the news, the details are often less clear, includi...

Ken Timmerman is an author and former foreign correspondent who was once held captive by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1982 during the First Lebanon War. He's also worked as a journalist in Egypt and Iraq. His newest book, "And the Rest is History, Tales of Hostages, Arms Dealers, Dirty Tricks and Spies", is a biographical account of his experiences as a war correspondent in the M...

While the BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) movement portrays itself as a grassroots campaign using legal means to combat alleged Israeli crimes, at its core, the movement is radically different. In addition to spreading anti-Israel disinformation, BDS campaigners also frequently use tools of discrimination in their attempt to demonize the Jewish State. While these efforts can take place anywhere...