"By omitting the fact that East Jerusalem is in Israeli-occupied territory, you exclude important context about the dynamic between Palestinians and Israeli forces, evidenced by the most recent incident in which Israeli forces restricted and assaulted Christian Palestinian worshippers and clerics wishing to visit the Holy Sepulchre for Easter prayer. As an occupying power, Israel does not have the right to interfere with the religious practices of the civilian population."
April 18, 2023
To:
Isabel Debre, Journalist, Associated Press
Josef Federman, News Director (Jerusalem), Associated Press
Anne Marie Owens, Editor-in-Chief, Toronto Star
Donovan Vincent, Public Editor, Toronto Star
Dear Ms. Debre, Mr. Federman, Ms. Owens, and 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 concern about the article “Holy Land Christians say attacks rising in far-right Israel” written by Isabel Debre of the Associated Press and published in the Toronto Star on April 13, 2023.
The article addresses the concerns of religious figureheads in Jerusalem regarding the policies of the right-wing Israeli government, especially as attacks towards Christians in Palestine increase. Your article, however, fails to provide important context regarding Israel’s military occupation of East Jerusalem.
First, you make several references to the Old City of Jerusalem - Christian Palestinian worshippers, religious figureheads, and churches (i.e., Church of the Flagellation) but fail to specify that they are all located in occupied East Jerusalem – which is occupied Palestinian territory. You write:
“The scorn heaped upon minority Christians is nothing new in the teeming Old City, a crucible of tension that the Israeli government annexed in 1967.”
The status of East Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory is not a matter of opinion but of settled consensus among international bodies including the United Nations Security Council and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention. East Jerusalem is recognized by the international community as being militarily occupied – not annexed – by Israel since 1967. By omitting the fact that East Jerusalem is in Israeli-occupied territory, you exclude important context about the dynamic between Palestinians and Israeli forces, evidenced by the most recent incident in which Israeli forces restricted and assaulted Christian Palestinian worshippers and clerics wishing to visit the Holy Sepulchre for Easter prayer. As an occupying power, Israel does not have the right to interfere with the religious practices of the civilian population.
As such, I insist you update all references to Jerusalem and the Old City as “occupied.”
Second, your article, while referring to Christian worshippers, fails to describe them as “Palestinian,” erasing their identity and separating them from other Palestinians.
You write:
“Many Christians feel squeezed between Jews and Muslims, Israelis and Palestinians.”
Palestinian Christians although a minority within the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel, experience and are subjected to colonial-settlement policies, racist legislation, and violence from Israeli forces just as Palestinians of other faiths are.
As such, I ask that you remove mention of Muslims and Palestinians in the “feel squeeze” sentence. I also ask that all future reporting on Palestinian Christians, you correctly refer to them as “Palestinian.”
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