Why is the Israeli occupation of Palestine left out of Toronto Star news article?

"Your article describes the occupied West Bank as 'lands the Palestinians seek for a future state.' Your article also mentions that Israel 'captured' the West Bank in 1967. Referring to the West Bank in this way gravely obscures the reality that it is militarily-occupied territory. This is not an opinion but a matter of a settled consensus at the international level, 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. Israel’s military occupation of these Palestinian territories is critical context for interpreting the nature of, and motivations behind, the new far-right government’s plan to expand illegal settlements. We, therefore, insist that you correctly identify the West Bank as Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) under international law and change 'captured' to 'occupied.'"


February 17, 2023

To:

Donovan Vincent, Bureau of Accuracy/Public Editor, Toronto Star

Dear Mr. Vincent,

I’m writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to express my concerns regarding your article yesterday titled “U.N. draft resolution demands halt to Israeli settlements.”

I appreciate that the article sheds light on the draft UN Security Council resolution to demand a halt to Israel’s settlement activities. However, I believe that some of the description in the article is misleading and inaccurate.

First, your article describes the occupied West Bank as “lands the Palestinians seek for a future state.” Your article also mentions that Israel “captured” the West Bank in 1967. Referring to the West Bank in this way gravely obscures the reality that it is militarily-occupied territory. This is not an opinion but a matter of a settled consensus at the international level, 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. Israel’s military occupation of these Palestinian territories is critical context for interpreting the nature of, and motivations behind, the new far-right government’s plan to expand illegal settlements. We, therefore, insist that you correctly identify the West Bank as Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) under international law and change “captured” to “occupied.”

Second, your article describes the new right-wing government’s decision to authorize nine illegal settler outposts as a way to “expand its authority” in the occupied West Bank. This framing severely downplays the danger of this decision. In fact, since 1967, Israel has established at least 132 illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory according to the Israeli Peace Now watchdog group.[i] These settlements are in direct violation of the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, therefore constituting a war crime.[ii] Further, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has stated that nine settlements are simply “not enough” and that he “want[s] much more.”[iii] We, therefore, insist that you include more context on the severity of these illegal settlements by adding the following sentence: “Israel has constructed at least 132 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank which are all in direct in direct violation of the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, therefore constituting a war crime.”

Thank you for making these changes. Should you wish, you can contact me at 438-380-5410 for more information.

Sincerely,

Reem Majid

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

 

[i] Peace Now, “West Bank Settlements – Facts and Figures,” (2009), https://peacenow.org.il/en/west-bank-settlements-facts-and-figures

[ii] United Nations Office of the High Commissioner, “Israeli Settlements Amount to a War Crime, Special Rapporteur Tells Human Rights Council,” (2021), https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/07/israeli-settlements-amount-war-crime-special-rapporteur-tells-human-rights#:~:text=Under%20the%20Fourth%20Geneva%20Convention,floor%20as%20a%20country%20concerned