WEST HARTFORD – Eitan Garfield of Springfield, Mass., a junior at the Hebrew High School of New England in West Hartford, was recently awarded the Media, Advocacy, Journalism & Government Relations Grant from PRIMER-CT (Promoting Responsibility in Middle East Reporting – Connecticut). PRIMER-CT is a media watchdog organization whose members monitor local publications to detect and address biased reporting against Israel.

The grant of $500 enabled Garfield to attend the annual AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. last month, and will further support his participation in other Israel education projects. As the award recipient, Eitan will receive one-on-one media monitoring and advocacy training, participate as a student speaker at PRIMER-CT and related events, and organize high school student media advocacy events, with guidance and assistance from the organization.

“I am extremely grateful to PRIMER-CT for this generous award and for the group’s guidance in helping me in this important mission,” said Garfield. “We cannot control how the media portrays Israel, but we have the power to counter the distortions and the lies with facts, by writing letters to the editors and demanding that Israel be treated fairly, no more and no less. I hope to be involved not only this year, but when I attend college as well.”