"Hamas does play an important role in Gaza in the same way that an inmate in a prison cell has a certain autonomy in his own cell. Nevertheless, just as it is the prison warden who is truly in control of the prison, Israel is truly in control of what happens in Gaza. Hamas does not control who or what goes in and out of Gaza, and any influence it may have over energy, water, airspace, cell access, etc. is at the pleasure of Israel – the occupying power."
April 17, 2023
To:
Fares Akram, Journalist, Associated Press
Josef Federman, News Director (Jerusalem), Associated Press
David Walmsley, Editor-in-Chief, Globe and Mail
Sylvia Stead, Public Editor, Globe and Mail
Dear Mr. Akram, Mr. Federman, 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 express my concern about the article “In first, Iran’s president Raisi addresses Palestinians in Gaza” written by Fares Akram of the Associated Press and published in The Globe and Mail on April 14, 2023.
The article addresses the celebration of Al-Quds Day and relations between Iran, Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority. However, your article overstates the degree of control enjoyed by Palestinians over their lives and fails to make any mention that the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are under Israeli military occupation.
In your article you write that Hamas is a “militant group that rules” the Gaza Strip – a highly misrepresentative claim. In 1967, Israel militarily occupied the Gaza Strip along with the West Bank and East Jerusalem. While Israel withdrew its illegal settlements and army posts from the Gaza Strip in 2005, it has imposed and maintained a land, air, and sea blockade since 2007. The United Nations and its various bodies, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the Human Rights Watch have reaffirmed that Israel is an occupying power considering that under international law, an occupation does not depend on whether a foreign power has a direct ground troop presence in a territory, but on whether it asserts “effective control.”
This international consensus is also reflected in the Canadian government’s policy which acknowledges that Gaza is part of “occupied Palestinian territory.”[1]
Hamas does play an important role in Gaza in the same way that an inmate in a prison cell has a certain autonomy in his own cell. Nevertheless, just as it is the prison warden who is truly in control of the prison, Israel is truly in control of what happens in Gaza. Hamas does not control who or what goes in and out of Gaza, and any influence it may have over energy, water, airspace, cell access, etc. is at the pleasure of Israel – the occupying power.
As such, I insist that you update your article to state that “Hamas, is a political party elected by Palestinians, including those who live in the Gaza Strip.”
In your article, you also state that the Palestinian Authority “rules parts of the West Bank not controlled by Israel.” According to the report Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: published by Amnesty International in 2022, “In addition to failing to end the occupation, the Oslo Accords divided the West Bank into three different administrative areas, with varying levels of Palestinian and Israeli military and civil jurisdiction, fragmenting and segregating Palestinians even further to Israel’s benefit.”[2] Thus, while the Palestinian Authority governs parts of the West Bank, “the entirety of the West Bank and Gaza Strip remains under Israeli military occupation, with Israel controlling the Palestinian population living there…”[3]
The occupation of both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are in violation of international law, as confirmed by High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the International Criminal Court, and the United Nations Security Council.
As such, I insist you update your sentence to read:
“… the Palestinian Authority has an administrative and security role in certain parts of the West Bank, which is overall militarily occupied by Israel.”
I look forward to seeing these changes promptly made and hope these concerns are addressed in all future reporting on the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
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
[1] Government of Canada, Canadian policy on key issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, last updated 2023-01-20, https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/international_relations-relations_internationales/mena-moan/israeli-palistinian_policy-politique_israelo-palestinien.aspx?lang=eng#a06
[2] Amnesty International, “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel system of domination and crime against humanity,” February 1, 2022, https://amnesty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Israel-Apartheid-Against-Palestinians-Final-Full-Report-Feb-1-Amnesty-International.pdf
[3] Amnesty International, “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel system of domination and crime against humanity,” February 1, 2022, https://amnesty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Israel-Apartheid-Against-Palestinians-Final-Full-Report-Feb-1-Amnesty-International.pdf