In the third issue of the Highlander, we published an article titled “Timeline: A Brief History of Palestine and Israel.” This article was always intended to be an ongoing project for the News team and The Highlander. This piece was painstakingly sourced and researched. The timeline was never meant to include every event and nuance of the history of Israel and Palestine. To do so would require far more than the number of pages we are permitted to print.
As a news organization, it is the goal of The Highlander to be factual and to provide readers with information. Our goal is to give students and writers a platform to speak their minds and hone journalistic skills. The Highlander Editorial Board strongly believes that information is one of the few powers people have in history. Since the events of Oct. 7, the world’s eyes have turned to Israel and Palestine. Information on the ongoing situation has been confusing, and even major news organizations struggle to maintain reliability and credibility. This makes it even harder for news consumers who are trying to make sense of historical context and current events. It also means that readers must be more vigilant when identifying bias.
The Editorial Board, after exhaustive internal discussion, has concluded that we have significant concerns when it comes to the sourcing of the Letter to the Editor published in this issue. This is not to say that the Highlander does not deserve to be questioned and be held accountable. This Letter is not wrong in saying that the article “Timeline: A Brief History of Palestine and Israel” failed to include all events. But, just as our readership has questioned and should question our work in an effort to further inform the UCR campus community, we have a responsibility to question the sources of writers and hold writers accountable for their rhetoric.
We have strong concerns when it comes to using the U.S. government and its agencies as a source of unbiased and unmotivated information on this subject. These sources are not useless and should not automatically be thrown out, but they should not be automatically accepted as fact either. Think critically and do not take information at face value. We would like to encourage our readers to look beyond a narrow field of information and adopt a more global-thinking approach.
