"Failing to add a Palestinian perspective to this issue leads to a highly incomplete picture of the judicial overhaul’s implications. In fact, Palestinians under Israeli control are largely excluded from its democracy."
September 18, 2023
To:
Michael Connor, Legislative Reporter & Assistant News Director, CJON-DT
Mark Dwyer, Director of News & Current Affairs, CJON-DT
Bart Fraize, Producer, CJON-DT
Guy Campanile, Producer, 60 minutes, CBS News
Dear Michael Connor, Mark Dwyer, Bart Fraize and Guy Campanile,
I’m writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to express our concerns regarding a segment on your September 17, 2023 broadcast which was aired around 9:40 pm.
The segment reports on Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul and the resulting protests. It presents military reservists from the so-called “brothers and sisters in arms” group, as well as arguments regarding women, gay rights and military exemptions. It also includes an interview with a member of government. The presenter starts by stating that “it is not about the Palestinian conflict, it’s about Israelis fighting Israelis”. Further along, the presenter mentions Israeli occupation of the West Bank and asks the military reservists about Palestinian rights, but there is no Palestinian perspective presented whatsoever, despite their central importance in these reforms.
Failing to add a Palestinian perspective to this issue leads to a highly incomplete picture of the judicial overhaul’s implications. In fact, Palestinians under Israeli control are largely excluded from its democracy. Of the 6.8 million Palestinians in Israel and Palestine, only a small minority of them (1.6 million) hold Israeli citizenship and have the right to vote in national elections (albeit with a second-class status and significant restrictions). The remaining 5.2 million Palestinians under Israeli military occupation in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, have no right to vote in Israel’s elections.[1]
Further, the criticism doesn’t shed light on the judicial overhaul’s impact on the threats of settlement expansion and annexation. It is a widely held view that annexation 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,[2] it has nonetheless provided some limited restraints on Israel’s settlement enterprise, as reported by the New York Times.[3] The engineer of the current reforms, Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin, has publicly supported reforming the courts in order to expand annexation efforts.[4]
We expect that a Palestinian perspective will be included in future reporting on this issue.
Thank you for making these changes. Should you wish, you can contact me at 438-380-5410 for more information.
Sincerely,
Fatima Haidar
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
[1] Human Rights Watch, “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and persecution,” April 27, 2021, https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid- and-persecution
[2] B’Tselem, “The Supreme Court of the Occupation,” February 25, 2020, https://www.btselem.org/supreme_court_of_occupation
[3] 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
[4] 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/