"Mr. Braid must certainly understand, and should have made clear in his article, the composition of the many protests across Canada includes many factions. By far the majority of those protesting want the war being waged by Israel to end and wish an immediate ceasefire. These individuals are not pro-Hamas and are not antisemitic. They simply want political difficulties to be resolved by diplomacy and negotiation."
November 22, 2023
Dear Editor,
I am responding to the article in the Taber Times by Cal Braid, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, entitled "Poll reveals mixed concern and apathy over Israel-Hamas conflict" .
Mr. Braid quotes accurately from the Aurora Strategy Global [ASG] survey "Canadians (57 per cent) are expressing their concern over the pro-Hamas protest taking place in Canada". However, with deep regret, Mr. Braid does not investigate the basis upon which ASG came to this conclusion.
In examining the ASG report I find a simple, bold, unfair, biased question was presented to the individuals interviewed, "Protests Support: Do the recent pro-Hamas protests and demonstrations across multiple cities in Canada and elsewhere concern you, do you support the protests and demonstrations, or are you indifferent?"
Mr. Braid must certainly understand, and should have made clear in his article, the composition of the many protests across Canada includes many factions. By far the majority of those protesting want the war being waged by Israel to end and wish an immediate ceasefire. These individuals are not pro-Hamas and are not antisemitic. They simply want political difficulties to be resolved by diplomacy and negotiation.
The next largest group are those who support the human rights of all Palestinians bearing in mind the actual membership of Hamas is a small percentage of the overall Palestinian population. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the United Nations and Israeli, Jewish human rights organizations B'Tselem, Yesh Din and others call Israel an Apartheid nation wherein the indigenous Arab population is discriminated against.
Moreover, the Arab populations in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza [the open air prison] live under a military rule which deprives them of many human rights we take for granted. These people want the government of Canada to change their current policy of blind support of Israel to a balanced policy wherein the Palestinians are included into Canada's striving for universal human rights.
Since these two groups comprise the vast majority of the protesters, the question as phrased cannot differentiate between any protests which are comprised of antisemites and supporters of Hamas.
The second problem with the interview question as stated rests with the wording "concern you" being interpreted as very concerned about pro-Hamas protests. Are the respondents indicating 'concern' means
negative views of the protesters? Or do the respondents interpret 'concern' as being they are concerned about the muddle-headed stance of the federal government, to whom the protest is aimed.
Mr. Braid would do the readership of the Taber Times a large favour by undertaking an investigative approach into the various protests within Canada. He could start by interviewing individuals at the Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East https://www.cjpme.org/
Or, as Editor, perhaps you would accept a Letter to the Editor of similar length to Mr. Braid's column to explain the composition of the protest and the demands being made upon the federal government.
Please advise me of your choice in this matter as I am sure you wish to clarify the situation to the readership of the newspaper.
Tom Beckett