No mention of Jerusalem as occupied territory in coverage of Israeli raid on Al-Aqsa Mosque

"The legal status of East Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory is firmly established under international law and has been repeatedly confirmed by United Nations Security Council Resolutions. By omitting this fact, you have excluded important context that explains why the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque is contested, and why events there can lead to an escalation of violence, as evident by the rocket strikes and Israeli violence over the last 48 hours."

 


April 7, 2023

To:

Henriette Chacar, Journalist, Reuters

Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Journalist, Reuters

Brian Moss, Trust Principles, Reuters

Aileen Donnelly, News Editor, National Post

Rob Roberts, Editor-in-Chief, National Post

 

Dear Ms. Chacar, Mr. Al-Mughrabi, Mr. Moss, Ms. Donnelly, and Mr. Roberts,

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 prompt update to the article “Israeli strikes target Hamas in Lebanon and Gaza after rocket attack” written by Henriette Chacar and Nidal al-Mughrabi and published by the National Post on April 6, 2023.

I appreciate that your article addresses recent developments in Jerusalem with the attack on Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque and the airstrikes in Gaza and South Lebanon. I also appreciate that your article correctly states that the West Bank is occupied. However, your article fails to state that the Al-Aqsa Mosque (and the Old City of Jerusalem) is located in East Jerusalem – which is also occupied Palestinian territory.

The legal status of East Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory is firmly established under international law and has been repeatedly confirmed by United Nations Security Council Resolutions. By omitting this fact, you have excluded important context that explains why the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque is contested, and why events there can lead to an escalation of violence, as evident by the rocket strikes and Israeli violence over the last 48 hours.

Excluding the fact that East Jerusalem is occupied also misinforms readers who may be led to believe that Al-Aqsa Mosque is located in Israel. This can be particularly confusing as your article discusses the actions of “Israeli police.”

Moreover, by correctly referring to the West Bank as “occupied” but failing to do so in context to East Jerusalem falsely implies that it is also not occupied, misrepresenting the fact that the site and the city has been militarily occupied since 1967.

As such, I insist that you update the article to state that Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the entire City of Jerusalem is located in occupied East Jerusalem. This should be noted prominently at the top of the article.

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