Failure to mention how Israel's judicial reforms will impact Palestinian citizens

"Your reporting on the matter has a very narrow scope since there is no mention of the effect that these reforms will have on the lives of millions of Palestinians vis-à-vis the unchecked expansion of illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land, in which the courts play a central role. This has been the case in more or less all of the recent segments I’ve heard aired by CBC about protests in Israel."


July 18, 2023

To:

Marcia Young, Host, World Report CBC Radio One

Idil Mussa, Producer, World Report, CBC Radio One

Dear Ms. Young, Mr. Mussa,

I’m writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to express concern regarding an excerpt from a July 18 broadcast of CBC’s World Report with Marcia Young, John Northcott.

When describing the ongoing protests taking place in Israel against the controversial judicial overhaul bill by the far-right government you only mention how it will affect the lives of Israeli citizens and particularly how it may affect women’s rights. Your reporting on the matter has a very narrow scope since there is no mention of the effect that these reforms will have on the lives of millions of Palestinians vis-à-vis the unchecked expansion of illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land, in which the courts play a central role. This has been the case in more or less all of the recent segments I’ve heard aired by CBC about protests in Israel.

It is a widely held view that Israeli annexation of Palestinian land through settlement expansion and judicial reform are inextricably bound. Despite the fact that Israel’s Supreme Court is widely seen by Palestinians and Israeli human rights groups as a whitewashing mechanism for Israel’s crimes against Palestinians,[i] it has nonetheless provided some limited restraints on Israel’s settlement enterprise, as recently reported by the New York Times.[ii] The engineer of the current reforms, Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin, has publicly supported reforming the courts in order to expand annexation efforts.[iii]

We expect that this critical aspect of Israel’s judicial reforms, and the broader impact on Palestinians generally, will be covered on in future reporting.

To ensure CBC’s coverage is balanced, your future reporting on judicial reform should strive to include a Palestinian perspective.

Should you wish to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to contact me at 438-380-5410.

Sincerely,

Mohamed Khalaf

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

Director of Strategic Operations

[i] B’Tselem, “The Supreme Court of the Occupation,” February 25, 2020, https://www.btselem.org/supreme_court_of_occupation

[ii] Kingsley, P., & Kershner, I. (2023, February 13). Netanyahu's judicial overhaul sparks huge protests in Israel. The New York Times. Retrieved February 14, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/13/world/middleeast/israel-judicial-protests-netanyahu.html

[iii] Omer-Man, M. (2023, February 13). Why Israel's 'democratic' opposition is doomed. DAWN. Retrieved February 14, 2023, from https://dawnmena.org/why-israels-democratic-opposition-is-doomed/