Update
Several hours after this critique was posted, Newshub removed the references to “Israeli Occupation Forces” and “IOF.”
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The latest Palestinian attempt to symbolically break the Israeli blockade of Gaza made news in New Zealand because a prominent union leader was aboard one of the intercepted boats. Mike Treen, the national director of Unite, says he was tasered repeatedly by Israeli forces who boarded the Al Awda. In previous flotillas, the ships were taken to Ashdod and the foreigners eventually deported, which is presumably Israel’s plan for Treen.
Israel maintains a blockade of Gaza to prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas.
Unfortunately, Newshub‘s coverage refers to the “Israeli Occupation Forces.”
In the reporter’s voice.
With further repeated references to the “IOF.”
There’s no such proper noun as the IOF. It’s just a provocative slur used by Palestinians and their supporters — including the Unite press release which was the basis for Newshub’s report.
Memo to Newshub: The Israeli military’s proper name is the Israel Defense Forces, or IDF for short. Misleading terminology violates the basic tenets of journalism.
Other NZ news sites such as the New Zealand Herald, Radio New Zealand and Stuff correctly referred to the IDF or Israeli military. (Israeli Navy is also appropriate.)
There’s no excuse for Newshub editors to have allowed the “IOF” reference to be published like this.
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