The Honest Report

Israel has been called the Start-Up Nation, a country which has taken technological innovation to the next level.

But Israel's technological boom has meant more than just a growing economy for Israel; it has helped pave the way for peace between Israel and a growing number of its Arab neighbours.

To help understand how technology has break down barriers, we are joined by Hillel Fuld, Israel's foremost high-tech ambassador.

Welcome to the Honest Report podcast. Please subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share our show. If you are interested in sponsoring a podcast, visit the HonestReporting Canada website.

By a large margin, Facebook is the world's largest social media platform, with about two billion users around the world - that's one in four human beings alive today.

Unfortunately, Facebook is also home to an enormous amount of hatred and disinformation. And while governments around the world have struggled with how to manage Facebook, Israel - as always - is at the forefront.

In recent days, Israel has reportedly launched a task force aimed at identifying how Facebook can be made legally liable for hatred which is disseminated on its platform. 

In this episode of the Honest Report podcast, we discuss this ground-breaking Israeli effort, and just how bad hatred is on Facebook.

Welcome to the Honest Report podcast. Please subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share our show. If you are interested in sponsoring a podcast, visit the HonestReporting Canada website.

Whether it's the LGBTQ cause, Black Lives Matter, or more recently, the indigenous and native rights causes, anti-Israel activists are somehow always there, pushing their own narrow agenda.

How have these groups had the success that they have, and is there any hope at all for a return to a time when liberals and conservatives alike could look to Israel as a reflection of their values - and not as a wedge issue?

In this week's edition of the Honest Report podcast, we are joined by Blake Flayton, co-founder of the New Zionist Congress.

Welcome to the Honest Report podcast. Please subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share our show. If you are interested in sponsoring a podcast, visit the HonestReporting Canada website.

It's a well-known trope: the Palestinians are the world's largest refugee population, numbering in the millions, and more than 70 years stateless. And while the facts don't back up those extravagant claims, why are they still being repeated?

The biggest reason is because of the voices and organizations pushing and promoting this refugee claim, including UNRWA. In this week's edition of the Honest Report podcast, we are joined by Asaf Romirowsky, the executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME). 

Welcome to the Honest Report podcast. Please subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share our show. If you are interested in sponsoring a podcast, visit the HonestReporting Canada website.

The 2021 Canadian federal election has come and gone, and the results are virtually identical to the 2019 election results. But that doesn't mean the issues aren't new. Antisemitism on the campaign trail and against Green Party leader Annamie Paul, the case of Jenica Atwin, the Green-turned-Liberal MP who changed parties due to her views on Israel, all made the news.

But what were other issues related to Israel and antisemitism which the media missed?

In this edition of The Honest Report podcast, we sat down with Noah Shack, a Vice President at CIJA to discuss what this election means for Israel and Jewish issues in Canada.

Welcome to the Honest Report podcast. Please subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share our show. If you are interested in sponsoring a podcast, visit the HonestReporting Canada website.

This summer, Iran installed a new president, Ebrahim Raisi.

What does Iran's new president mean for the Iranian nuclear deal, Israel and wider prospects for peace and stability in the Middle East? And is the news media covering this incredibly important issue with a critical eye?

In this week's edition of the Honest Report podcast, we were joined by Meir Javedanfar, a world-renowned expert in Iranian affairs, and now teaching at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC).

Welcome to the Honest Report podcast. Please subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share our show. If you are interested in sponsoring a podcast, visit the HonestReporting Canada website.

Less than two weeks ago, 13 Afghan civilians were accidentally killed in a US air strike in the capital city of Kabul. The dead - half of whom were children - were killed by a US drone, likely mistaking them for a target related to the Islamic State.

Despite the tragedy, media coverage of the incident was limited. Meanwhile, during Israel's most recent conflict with Hamas, the Jewish State faced incessant condemnations when civilian casualties occurred, and widespread media coverage. Why the difference?

In this week's edition of the Honest Report podcast, we explore the world of media double standards, and seek to understand why Israel's self-defense is held to a different standard than every other country.

Welcome to the Honest Report podcast. Please subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share our show. If you are interested in sponsoring a podcast, visit the HonestReporting Canada website.

Across the Arab world on a daily basis, media outlets, including both state media and social media, blast out anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda demonizing Israel and the Jewish People in general.

In recent months, as Arab countries like Morocco, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates deepen their ties with Israel, the anti-Israel misinformation being spoonfed to hundreds of millions of citizens of Arab countries on a daily basis becomes all the more disjointed from reality.

In this week's edition of the Honest Report podcast, we welcome Mark Halawa, who grew up as a Muslim in Kuwait before discovering his Jewish identity and becoming a pro-Israel activist. Today, he lives in Jerusalem and is a sought after speaker around the world.

Welcome to the Honest Report podcast. Please subscribe to our show, leave a review, and share our show. If you are interested in sponsoring a podcast, visit the HonestReporting Canada website.

In recent weeks, there has been a rash in antisemitic graffiti targeting bus stop advertisements, a synagogue, and even election signs. The vandalism was condemned by politicians, reported to police, and covered in the news media. And while antisemitism, and antisemitic graffiti, is nothing new, some of the vandalism reflects a new and changing technique of antisemitism, and how it seeks to change to hide behind a veneer of anti-Zionism.

In this week's edition of the Honest Report podcast, we discuss the recent graffiti incidents, and while they may look like other similar incidents, in reality they reflect a significant change in tactics on the part of antisemites.

Welcome to the Honest Report podcast. Please subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share our show. If you are interested in sponsoring a podcast, visit the HonestReporting Canada website.

This week, the Taliban retook Afghanistan in a whirlwind blitz, shocking observers with their speed and ferocity. But while the international news media (correctly) identifies the Taliban as a regressive, misogynistic and brutal regime, other terrorist groups seem to avoid that same label.

Hamas and Hezbollah, for example, both Islamist terrorist groups in the Middle East, are often seen by the mainstream news media as actors in specific circumstances, and not as part of the same hateful ideology as the Taliban. But why?

In this week's edition of the Honest Report podcast, we welcome Terry Glavin, journalist, author and columnist, for his thoughts on the future of Afghanistan under the Taliban and how Gaza's experience under Hamas can serve as a template for understanding the Taliban.

Welcome to the Honest Report podcast. Please subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share our show. If you are interested in sponsoring a podcast, visit the HonestReporting Canada website.