"The workers were expressing their support for the people of Palestine while condemning Israel's actions that amount to genocide, as expressed in their public statement. The workers claimed to have made their comments after the customer became erratic, yelling at employees."
December 12, 2023
To:
Denette Wilford, Journalist, Calgary Sun
Lorne Motley, Editor-in-Chief, Calgary Sun
Dear Denette Wilford and Lorne Motley,
I am writing to express concern about the article: “Anti-semitic café workers fired for blocking Jewish customer from washroom” published on December 11 in Calgary Sun.
I want to bring your attention to two specific issues that need to be corrected.
First, the headline and article accuse café workers of being antisemitic. This is an opinion, not a statement of fact. It is language unsuitable for an article tagged as news. It is especially concerning, given that no clear antisemitic language was used and the employees have pushed back against the accusations made against them, claiming important context is missing from the video. Your claim of antisemitism seems to be based on the language they used in support of Palestine. This is a dangerous and questionable conflation, beyond violating journalistic standards.
The workers were expressing their support for the people of Palestine while condemning Israel's actions that amount to genocide, as expressed in their public statement. The workers claimed to have made their comments after the customer became erratic, yelling at employees.
I, therefore, ask you to change the headline to café workers fired for voicing solidarity with Palestine.
Second, your article does not give the full picture of the event and is deeply one-sided towards the owners' side of the story.
You refer to the owners' public statement, even though it was published on December 9 after all the harassment their workers faced and calls to protect them were left unheard, including their ask to remove the graffiti.
It does not give a fair voice to the former workers and their side of the story.
As read in the former and current workers' public statement, the workers blocked the customer from re-entering one of the restrooms and the customer had already complained to the manager. The manager had already been aware of the graffiti for two months prior, and the café had no plans to remove it. The customer refused to cooperate and decided to make a scene instead of leaving like she was told to.
You only start your timeline with the customer's video that circulated around social media. At this point, she specifically wanted to use that bathroom to film the graffiti while she was offered to use another restroom in a café and a neighbouring business.
I, therefore, ask you to add the workers' side of the story by referring to their public statement.
I hope Calgary Sun will make these changes and cover issues related to pro-Palestine solidarity accurately.
Sincerely,
Fatima Haidar,
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East