Ever since the Jewish community of Hevron announced that it had purchased a large building between Kiryat Arba and Hevron, state-run radio and television, as well as several leading papers, have refused to use the building’s official name, Beit HaShalom (Peace House), calling it instead Beit HaMeriva (Conflict House).
Formal complaints filed by the Israel Media Watch organization have resulted in a formal recommendation by the Israel Broadcast Authority that the recently purchased and inhabited house in Hevron be called the “Peace House,” in accordance with its given name.
“The IBA’s code of ethics mandates that the name used by those involved be used in broadcasts,” wrote Amos Goren, head of the IBA’s complaint department in response. “I have passed the matter on to the IBA chairman and the Administration Committee and if they authorize my recommendation to use the term ‘Peace House’ the recommendation will be passed on to the editors and broadcasters.”
Israel Media Watch was founded 12 years ago by Professor Eli Pollack, but the group’s websites in Hebrew, English and Russian have made it one of the most potent grassroots tools used to combat media bias within Israel.
The response by IBA, though not a commitment but a recommendation, is but one of the hundreds of results of IMW’s system of following up on listeners’ complaints.
Adva Naveh, a resident Sha’arei Tikva, filed the original complaint about the terminology used to refer to the Peace House through the IMW website in the early days of the episode. It is hard to discern where use of the term began. Peace Now sent out a press release almost immediately after word of the Hevron purchase reached the anti-settlement group calling the house 'Conflict House.' The complaint was dispatched to the relevant authorities by IMW, resulting in the reply from IBA’s complaint department.
“Since we do this all the time, spokesmen cannot give us the common answer they give citizens of ‘you are the only one who took offense,’” says Nili Ben Gigi-Wolf, one of IMW’s senior staff members. She says Goren is very responsive. “We don’t always agree with everything he says, but he is very fair and honest.”
“We are not limited to Hebrew-language material,” says Ben Gigi-Wolf, who says IMW has received and followed up on complaints against Russian papers, as well as English publications like Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. “Sometimes it is regarding a mistranslation and sometimes it is about a slanted article,” she says.
The organization does not stop at filing complaints. A Supreme Court petition brought by IMW against Israel Radio’s belligerent talk show host Gabi Gazit was compiled almost completely via grassroots input and reporting through the group’s website.
“It is vital that individuals who see or hear inaccurate or biased reporting in Israel report it via our website,” Ben Gigi-Wolf says. “We are here to make sure that the voices for truth and balance can no longer go ignored.”