"To uncritically label these raids as “arrest raids” and further frame them as being in response to “Palestinian attacks” falsely equates Palestinian armed resistance to occupation—a right which any occupied people has the legal right to—with Israeli institutional aggression against a besieged people. Such framing ignores the crucial context of Israel’s occupation, the absurd asymmetry of power at play, and unacceptably absolves Israel of any accountability for its ongoing brutality against the Palestinian people."
August 2, 2023
To:
Andrea Bailie, Editor-in-Chief, Canadian Press
Tim Cook, Assistant Managing Editor, Canadian Press
Hannah Scott, Reporter, Richmond Sentinel
Dear Ms. Bailie, Mr. Cook, and Ms. Scott,
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 for an article written by Canadian Press and published August 1 on the Richmond Sentinel website entitled “Israel holds over 1,200 detainees without charge. That's the most in 3 decades, a right[s] group says.”
While Israel’s abhorrent and systematic mistreatment of Palestinian detainees is often overlooked because it pales in comparison to Israel’s more glaring rights abuses, its administrative detention policy is no less heinous and should therefore figure prominently in any complete criticism of Israel. We were especially pleased to see the article explicitly mention Israel’s regime as one of apartheid, a designation given by leading human rights groups both within Israel and internationally.
There were, however, several errors—both factual inaccuracies and an instance of insufficient context—which we believe weaken the article:
- The statement, “The West Bank has been under Israeli military rule since Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast war” is incorrect as the use of the word “captured” could mislead readers into thinking that Israel has a legitimate claim to these lands. In fact, Israel occupies the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in violation of international law—Palestinians there live under Israeli military law and have no right to vote for the government that rules them. I would therefore suggest that the statement be updated to read: The West Bank has been under Israeli military rule since Israel occupied the territory in the 1967 Mideast war. Please refer to CJPME’s essay for a thorough analysis of why Israel’s occupation of the West Bank should never be described as a “capture” of territory.
- Relatedly, the United Nations Human Rights Council found earlier this year that the number of Israeli settlers living illegally in the occupied West Bank (which includes East Jerusalem) is 700,000—a figure which has grown from 520,000 in 2012. I would therefore ask that the number of Israeli settlers in the article be changed from 500,000 to 700,000 for accuracy’s sake.
- The article asserts that “the number of administrative detainees has more than doubled since early last year, when Israel began staging near-nightly arrest raids into Palestinian cities and towns following a series of Palestinian attacks.” To uncritically label these raids as “arrest raids” and further frame them as being in response to “Palestinian attacks” falsely equates Palestinian armed resistance to occupation—a right which any occupied people has the legal right to—with Israeli institutional aggression against a besieged people. Such framing ignores the crucial context of Israel’s occupation, the absurd asymmetry of power at play, and unacceptably absolves Israel of any accountability for its ongoing brutality against the Palestinian people. As such, I would insist that that statement be revised to read: The number of administrative detainees has more than doubled since early last year, when Israel began staging near-nightly attacks/raids into Palestinian cities and towns following a series of Palestinian acts of resistance.
Once again, we thank you for your reporting on Israeli abuses of Palestinians and welcome your continued efforts at providing Canadians with this essential and critically lacking perspective. Should you wish, you contact me at 438-380-5410 for more information on this and any future stories.
Sincerely,
Bāssel Abdel-Qader
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East