Factual Error and Curiosities in May 6 Boston Globe Article

Dear Editor and Mr. Cotter:

I noticed a factual error and some curious language in the May 6 article "For protesters, networks of support," by Sean Cotter and Lila Hempel-Edgers and Alexa Coultoff, Globe Staff and Globe correspondents. I did not find emails for Ms. Hempel-Edgers and Ms. Coultoff on the Boston Globe website, so I would appreciate it if you would forward this message to them along with others on the Globe staff and any Globe correspondents who contributed to the article, since I obviously have no idea of who was responsible for error and curious language.

The error was in the second paragraph, in which there was a reference to what was incorrectly called "Israel's retaliatory war." The war was started by Hamas with the massacre it perpetrated (along with PIJ, Fatah, other terror groups in Gaza and thousands of ordinary Gazans) on October 7. What Israel has done is a response to Hamas' opening attack, but cannot be called a retaliation.

Curious: Referring to the encampment at MIT as "pro-Palestinian," given that when participants in encampments and protests have been interviewed, many actually had no idea of what they were protesting for or against. The rhetoric of participants have indicated a variety of motivations, including being anti-Zionist (effectively a form of antisemitism), antisemitic, pro-Hamas, pro-terror, pro-anarchy and anti-American, or just being interested in having a good time.

Curious: The National Lawyers Guild is described simply as "a progressive advocacy organization" without any mention of his history as a communist front.

Curious: Including a quote from Suhail Parker that "The student movement has reinvigorated the entire antiwar movement," given that the protesters are described as supporting the terrorists who started the war.

Curious: Mentioning the Israel American Council is "funded by donors with the highest tier of giving listed on its website topping $100,000," while no mention is made of where the anti-Israel groups get their funding, despite it being known that they get large amounts of funding from foreign entities.

Curious: The parenthetical comment "(The affiliations of the counterprotesters remain unclear.)," given that the affiliations of the "pro-Palestinian" protesters is no clearer.

Ironic: The reference noting Camera on Campus "focuses on countering what it deems anti-Israel narratives on campus and in the media," given that the Boston Globe is notorious for its spreading of anti-Israel narratives; indeed, the systemic anti-Israel bias of the Boston Globe was one of the primary motivations for the establishment of CAMERA.

Ironic: Isa Liggans, a student at MIT referring to the encampments there, saying "We really try to keep it MIT-only at night," given that he was arrested at Emerson.

I did enjoy the way the article ended with such an amusing quote.

Sincerely,

Alan Stein

Sent to the Boston Globe May 7, 2024.

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