"Gaza has been living under a brutal 15-year-long illegal blockade and siege by Israel, preventing basic goods and medicine from entering the occupied territory. In fact, since 2007, Israel has imposed a land, sea and air blockade on the strip. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Occupied Palestinian territory, Israel’s blockade on Gaza amounts to a 'denial of basic human rights in contravention of international law and amounts to collective punishment.'"
May 8, 2023
To:
Nidal al-Mughrabi, Journalist, Reuters
Brian Moss, Reporting Standards, Reuters
Steve Bartlett, Senior Managing Editor, Saltwire
Dear Mr. al-Mughrabi, Mr. Moss and Mr. Bartlett,
I’m writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to request an update regarding your news article titled “World Food Programme to suspend aid to Palestinians due to funding shortage” published by Saltwire on May 7, 2023.
I appreciate your coverage of the recent food aid shortages for Palestinian refugees. However, your article is missing a key point of context.
Your article mentions that “the most impacted families are in Gaza, where food insecurity and poverty are the highest.” While this is true, you fail to mention why the conditions in Gaza are so unliveable.
Gaza has been living under a brutal 15-year-long illegal blockade and siege by Israel, preventing basic goods and medicine from entering the occupied territory. In fact, since 2007, Israel has imposed a land, sea and air blockade on the strip. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Occupied Palestinian territory, Israel’s blockade on Gaza amounts to a “denial of basic human rights in contravention of international law and amounts to collective punishment.”[1]
As such, I insist that you update your article to include the following sentence:
“The Gaza strip has been under a 15-year-long illegal blockade by Israel preventing basic goods and medicine from entering the occupied territory.”
Thank you in advance for making this change. Should you wish, you can contact me at 438-380-5410 for more information.
Sincerely,
Reem Majid
Policy Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
[1] United Nations Office for the Coordinated of Humanitarian Affairs in Occupied Palestinian Territory, “Humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip Fast facts,” (2011). https://www.un.org/unispal/humanitarian-situation-in-the-gaza-strip-fast-facts-ocha-factsheet/