I am writing as an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota, where on March 8, the Minnesota Student Association voted to strike two resolutions from the forum agenda.
One resolution asked our University to invest responsibly and therefore divest from companies that profit from human rights violations in Palestine. The Minnesota Daily stated that the resolution was “calling for the University to divest from companies involved with certain Israeli interactions with Palestine.”
The wording here is extremely troubling, as using the phrase “certain Israeli interactions with Palestine” downplays the severity of human rights violations and creates a rather one-sided journalistic piece. This piece screams yellow journalism by unethically ignoring facts and understating the severity of U.N.-recognized human rights violations.
Journalistic practices such as this should not be happening at an esteemed publication such as the Minnesota Daily. It does not provide an audience with the proper information on the issue.
A piece such as this has effectively minimized the Minnesota Daily into being a platform where words can be manipulated in an effort to foster exclusion and create unwarranted backlash towards certain student groups.
Jennah Kassem
University student
