To The Daily Californian editors:

On Sept. 23, the Daily Cal published an open editorial authored by Michaela Fried, which condemned the growing movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions on the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Fried presented herself as “the president of Tikvah, a campus club that advocates Zionism.” She did not, however, mention she is also a Hasbara fellow who is sponsored by the Israeli government and related organizations to deliver pro-Israel messages on North American campuses.

Every student on campus is entitled to free expression, and indeed, open editorials at the Daily Cal are important spaces for discussions among students, faculty and staff. Yet, op-ed authors must also respect the journalistic standard of full disclosure. We expect public-relations people employed by tobacco companies to be transparent about their affiliation. Propagandists of foreign governments should follow the very same ethical standard.

This incident is particularly dismaying, because it is not the first time the Daily Cal failed to inform its readers about its author’s affiliation with the Israeli government. In November 2012, an op-ed by Baruch Nutovic also omitted the author’s affiliation with the very same Hasbara Fellowship.

I shall therefore conclude this letter by quoting the words of my friends, Taliah Mirmalek and Sharee Rivera, who back in 2012 pointed out to the Daily Cal’s editors this omission: “standards of ethical journalism behoove the Daily Cal to issue a public apology in the paper for not disclosing this invaluable information to its readers and ensure that this lack of transparency does not continue.”

Roi Livne is an Israeli graduate student of sociology at UC Berkeley. He is a member of Students for Justice in Palestine.

Contact the opinion desk at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter: @dailycalopinion.