"Eviction’ suggests to a Canadian audience that this is a disagreement between a landlord and tenant. In reality, the Gahith-Sub family’s experience is the ongoing effort of the Israeli government to forcibly displace Jerusalem’s Palestinian population."
June 28, 2023
To:
Isabel Debre, Journalist, Associated Press
Anne Marie Ownes, Editor-in-Chief, Toronto Star
Donovan Vincent, Public Editor, Toronto Star
Dear Ms. Debre, Ms. Owens, and Mr. Vincent
I am writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org ) to express my appreciation regarding your article: “As a lengthy legal battle ends, a Palestinian family braces for eviction from Jerusalem home” that was published in the Toronto Star on June 28, 2023.
Personal stories of the impact of the Israeli occupation on Palestinian families are not frequently told in Canadian media. Nora’s description of her house as a ‘prison cell’ which she has been confined to since May 2023 was heartbreaking to read. Your explanation of the term ‘protected tenant status’, the family’s tenancy and their legal fight to remain in their home clearly illustrated the hypocriscy of the Israeli government policy. The hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled or were forced from their homes in 1948 and 1967 do not have the equivalent right to remain in or return to their homes; unlike Jewish families.
However, I do have one critique of your article. That is, in your use of the word ‘eviction’ in both the headline and the body of the article. “Eviction’ suggests to a Canadian audience that this is a disagreement between a landlord and tenant. In reality, the Gahith-Sub family’s experience is the ongoing effort of the Israeli government to forcibly displace Jerusalem’s Palestinian population.([1])([2]) This intentional displacement of Palestinians is further supported by your quote from Yonatan Mizrahi.“It’s more than just, ‘Oh, I have this problem with my neighbor downstairs.’ You are talking about a political and national conflict”. The terms ‘forced removal’ and ‘forced displacement’ more adequately describe what is happening to the Ghaith-Sub Lenan family. I would ask that you replace ‘eviction’ in this article with one of those terms and that those terms be used in future articles relating to the intentional displacement of Palestinians in both Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Thank you again for your article and for considering a change in the word ‘eviction.’
If you wish, you can contact me at 250-469-4468.
Sincerely,
Debbie Hubbard
CJPME-Okanagan
Kelowna, British Columbia
[1] Amid International Inaction, Israel’s Systematic ‘Demographic Engineering’ Thwarting Palestinians’ Ability to Pursue Justice, Speakers Tell International Conference. July 2021. https://press.un.org/en/2021/gapal1439.doc.htm
[2] UN independent experts spotlight ‘prima facie war crime’ in East Jerusalem. April 2023. https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/04/1135602