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Israel’s Kan calls Galilee ‘Occupied Northern Palestine’

The public broadcaster’s Arabic-language site dropped the phrase following a public outcry.

A view of the Upper Galilee as seen from the city of Tzfat, Feb. 4, 2018. Photo by Yaakov Lederman/Flash90.
A view of the Upper Galilee as seen from the city of Tzfat, Feb. 4, 2018. Photo by Yaakov Lederman/Flash90.

The Arabic-language website of Israeli public broadcaster Kan recently published an article calling the Galilee “Occupied Northern Palestine.”

Makan, Kan‘s Arabic-language news site, posted the article on Aug. 3 about a car accident in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel.

Following public outcry, the wording of the story was changed.

Middle East expert Dr. Edy Cohen posted a screenshot of the original article to X, formerly Twitter. In his post, Cohen described the incident as part of a “Palestinianization process” at the taxpayer-funded news organization.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi sent a letter over a month ago to Kan expressing concern about the anti-Israel language being used in its Arabic-language broadcasts.

The Btsalsmo human rights organization sent a letter to Kan management demanding an investigation into the incident and that the employees responsible for the post be suspended if it was accidental and fired if it was deliberate.

“Anyone who calls the State of Israel an ‘occupied’ country has no place in the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation but should find employment on Al Jazeera or on Hezbollah’s TV channel,” Btsalsmo CEO Shai Glick wrote.

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