"Palestinian worshippers including men, women, children, and elderly people were peacefully praying when Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque prayer hall and began to assault dozens of worshippers who were beaten with batons and riot guns, stamped on, and arrested. While it is true that some worshippers responded to the invasion in self-defence with rocks and firecrackers, the framing of this as a clash obscures the highly asymmetrical nature of the violence and obscures Israel’s role as the aggressor party. It implies that the nominal act of self-defence by Palestinians is equivalent to the aggressive violence of Israel’s raid on a place of worship."
April 6, 2023
To:
Ian Bailey, Journalist, Globe and Mail
David Walmsley, Editor-in-Chief, Globe and Mail
Sylvia Stead, Public Editor, Globe and Mail
Dear Mr. Bailey, Mr. Walmsley, and Ms. Stead,
I’m writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to request a correction in the Politics Briefing newsletter “Trudeau weighs into the issue of conflict in Jerusalem” written by Ian Bailey and published by The Globe and Mail on April 5, 2023.
I appreciate your report on the recent attacks by Israeli forces against Palestinian worshippers in Al-Aqsa Mosque. However, your briefing omits critical context and information that must be included.
First, your article fails to specify that the Al-Aqsa Mosque (and the entire Old City of Jerusalem) is located in East Jerusalem, which is occupied Palestinian Territory. This is not a matter of opinion but settled consensus among international bodies including the United Nations Security Council and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention.
In fact, East Jerusalem has been militarily occupied by Israel since 1967, in breach of international law. This is an essential piece of context for understanding the incident and its implications.
As such, I insist that you update your sentence to state: “On Wednesday, Mr. Trudeau, unprompted, spoke out after Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is located in occupied East Jerusalem …”
Second, while you state that Israeli forces stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, you also state that they “clashed” with Palestinians who “hurled stones and firecrackers in a burst of violence.” This is inaccurate and a misrepresentation of the events that took place.
Palestinian worshippers including men, women, children, and elderly people were peacefully praying when Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque prayer hall and began to assault dozens of worshippers who were beaten with batons and riot guns, stamped on, and arrested. While it is true that some worshippers responded to the invasion in self-defence with rocks and firecrackers, the framing of this as a clash obscures the highly asymmetrical nature of the violence and obscures Israel’s role as the aggressor party. It implies that the nominal act of self-defence by Palestinians is equivalent to the aggressive violence of Israel’s raid on a place of worship.
As such, I insist you update your sentence to remove the word “clashed” and instead state that “Israeli forces brutally stamped on, assaulted worshippers with batons and riot guns and arrested at least 400 Palestinians, some of whom responded by hurling stones and firecrackers.”
I look forward to seeing these changes promptly made.
Should you wish, you can contact me at 438-380-5410 for more information.
Sincerely,
Tayla Shair
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East