"The segment incorrectly describes the West Bank as 'disputed' and Gaza as a 'conflict zone.' According to international law, both the West Bank and Gaza strip constitute Palestinian territories under Israeli military occupation. This is not an opinion but represents the international legal consensus as confirmed by the United Nations Security Council, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention. We insist that future reporting correctly identifies the West Bank and Gaza as Palestinian territories occupied by Israel."
February 13, 2023
To:
Dan Ahlstrand, News, CityNews 95.7 Radio
Dear Mr. Ahlstrand,
I’m writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) regarding two issues in your recent news segment on developments in Palestine and Israel, which aired on the morning of February 13, 2023.
First, there is a problem of inaccurate language. The segments incorrectly describe the West Bank as “disputed” and Gaza as a “conflict zone.” According to international law, both the West Bank and Gaza strip constitute Palestinian territories under Israeli military occupation. This is not an opinion but represents the international legal consensus as confirmed by the United Nations Security Council, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention. We insist that future reporting correctly identifies the West Bank and Gaza as Palestinian territories occupied by Israel.
Second, the segment fails to cite any Palestinians, using only Israeli military sources. As a result, the military violence committed by Israel is always framed as a response, ignoring the greater recent violence against Palestinians. Further, according to Reuters, Palestinians in Gaza dispute the claim that a Hamas target was attacked, claiming that a wedding hall was struck.[1] According to Al-Jazeera, Israelis have killed at least 42 Palestinians this year, while ten people on the Israeli side have been killed during the same period.[2]
We ask that you make the following an on-air correction:
“In our previous coverage, we described Palestine’s West Bank and East Jerusalem as ‘disputed.’ However, under international law, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza are considered Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
We also ask that you consider using a different news service for your broadcast. We understand that this segment originates from ABC, but given the many errors, we expect that you do your due diligence to meet widely shared Canadian journalistic ethics guidelines by making corrections where necessary or changing service.[3]
Thank you for making these corrections.
Respectfully,
Jason Toney
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
[1] Person. (2023, February 13). Israeli forces kill Hamas man in West Bank Clash, Bomb Gaza after rocket. Reuters. Retrieved February 13, 2023, from https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/explosions-rock-gaza-israel-says-it-hit-hamas-rocket-factory-2023-02-13/
[2] Al Jazeera. (2023, February 13). Explosions rock Gaza after Israeli air strikes. Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera. Retrieved February 13, 2023, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/13/explosions-in-gaza-after-israeli-air-raids
[3] Canadian Association of Journalists. (2023). Ethics Guidelines. https://caj.ca/ethics/.