"Palestinian perspectives, especially those that challenge established power structures and narratives, such as that of the Israeli military and government are often silenced or deliberately excluded from Canadian media. It is important for Canadian audiences to hear directly from Palestinians who live under an Israeli military occupation and are subjected to Israeli acts of violence and aggression as evidenced by the brutal raid on the Jenin refugee camp."
July 5, 2023
To:
Jeanne Armstrong, Producer, CBC As It Happens
Chris Howden, Host, CBC As It Happens
Nil Köksal, Host, CBC As It Happens
Dear Ms. Armstrong, Mr. Howden and Ms. Köksal,
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 appreciation regarding a radio segment on As It Happens with Nil Köksal & Chris Howden that aired on CBC Listen on July 4, 2023.
I was pleased to hear co-host Nil Köksal interview Mustafa Sheta, Palestinian director of the Freedom Theatre in Jenin, who provided an eyewitness and personal account of the impact of Israel’s military raid on the Jenin refugee camp. It was insightful to hear Sheta discuss how the Israeli military prevented displaced Palestinians within the camp from using the theatre as a site of refuge and instead turned the theatre into a military base for Israeli soldiers and their vehicles – a perspective of the military raid that has not been covered by mainstream media.
More importantly, I was extremely happy that Sheta was able to counteract the official Israeli military narrative which claimed that the raid into Jenin was a “military operation” rather than a means to suppress Palestinian resistance, of which Jenin has been a stronghold for over two decades.
Palestinian perspectives, especially those that challenge established power structures and narratives, such as that of the Israeli military and government are often silenced or deliberately excluded from Canadian media. It is important for Canadian audiences to hear directly from Palestinians who live under an Israeli military occupation and are subjected to Israeli acts of violence and aggression as evidenced by the brutal raid on the Jenin refugee camp.
I was, however, disappointed that Ms. Köksal’s questions were largely framed around the Israeli military’s narrative about Palestinian “terrorism” and “militants” rather than the Palestinian resistance centered in Jenin and Palestinian experience of living under the Israeli military occupation.
I urge you to consider these framing issues in future segments about events in occupied Palestine.
Nevertheless, I appreciate that the CBC interviewed Mostafa Sheta and I hope to see Palestinian voices and guests more frequently included in the future, both on As It Happens and CBC Radio.
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