"Civilians were definitely impacted by the airstrikes. Your online segment reported that “13 people were killed’ as a result of the airstrikes. However, you failed to mention that most of the casualties were Palestinian civilians including at least 4 children and 4 women; and that 18 people were injured. Included in that death toll was a well-known dentist, Dr. Jamal Khaswan and his family. They lived on the top floor of one of the residential buildings that Israel ‘targeted’."
To:
Steve Dankoff, Senior News Producer, CP24
Kathleen Peroff, News Writer, CP24
Dear Mr. Dankoff and Ms. Peroff,
I’m writing to you as a member of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to request an on-air clarification to your news segment regarding the airstrikes on Gaza aired by CP24 on May 9, 2023.
In the news segment, you use the term “targeted killing” to describe Israel’s air strikes on Gaza. The International Press Institute (IPI) issued a document entitled “Use with Care: A Reporter’s Glossary of Loaded Language in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”[i] which highlights terms that may be offensive either to Israelis or Palestinians. Using the term “targeted killing” “gives the impression that the airstrikes caused little or no damage to personal property and no injuries to civilians.”
This was not the case for the May 9 airstrikes and your use of the term ‘targeted’ is misleading for a couple of reasons. Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on earth and all three of the airstrikes were ‘targeting’ residential buildings and densely populated neighbourhoods.
Civilians were definitely impacted by the airstrikes. Your online segment reported that “13 people were killed’ as a result of the airstrikes. However, you failed to mention that most of the casualties were Palestinian civilians including at least 4 children and 4 women; and that 18 people were injured. Included in that death toll was a well-known dentist, Dr. Jamal Khaswan and his family. They lived on the top floor of one of the residential buildings that Israel ‘targeted’.[ii]
I request that you issue an on-air correction to include the following sentence; “In a previous news report we reported that 13 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes on May 9 in Gaza. We want to clarify that most of the people killed were Palestinian civilians, including 4 women and 4 children. In addition to the 13 people killed, 18 people were injured.
Thank you in advance for making this change. If you wish, you can contact me at 250-469-4468.
Sincerely,
Debbie Hubbard
CJPME-Okanagan
[i] “Use with Care: A Reporter’s Glossary of Loaded Language in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” International Press Institute, Oct. 23, 2013, p. 26, https://ipi.media/use-with-care-reporters-glossary-of-loaded-language-in-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict/.
[ii] Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights (2023, May 9) Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 13 Palestinians, including four children, and injure 18: Al Mezan condemns Israel’s aggression and calls on the international community to intervene promptly. (Press release). https://mezan.org/en/post/45884.