The Media Accountability Project  

Failure to mention the Palestinian casualties since Oct. 7

"While you give the number of Israeli casualties, you fail to mention the number of Palestinian casualties. According to OCHA, between October 7, 2023, and January 30, 2024, at 12:00, at least 26,751 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, and 65,636 Palestinians were injured."

January 31, 2024

To:

Paul Cherry, Journalist, Montreal Gazette

Marilena Lucci, Editor in Chief, Montreal Gazette

Jeff Blond, Managing Editor, Montreal Gazette

Dear Paul Cherry, Marilena Lucci, and Jeff Blond,

I am writing to express concern for your article: “B’nai Brith Canada calls for tougher measures against antisemitism,”published on January 31 in Montreal Gazette.

First, you write: “Houssem Hammami, 37, of St-Léonard, who was recently named in an arrest warrant accusing him of spreading hatred toward Jewish people.”

This is a vague statement that does not help your readers clearly understand the accusations against him. More information should have been provided to make sense of the accusations and the case.

I, therefore, suggest adding more details about the accusations against Houssem Hammami and his case to make your article more accurate.

Second, you write: “Days after members of Hamas entered Israel on Oct. 7 and killed around 1,200 people in a surprise attack as well as taking hostages.”

While you give the number of Israeli casualties, you fail to mention the number of Palestinian casualties.

According to OCHA, between October 7, 2023, and January 30, 2024, at 12:00, at least 26,751 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, and 65,636 Palestinians were injured.

I, therefore, suggest adding the most updated number of Palestinian casualties to make your article more fair and balanced.

Third, while you write about the hate crimes against the Jewish community with this sentence: “Bullets have been fired into Jewish schools and fires have been set at Jewish community centres,” you fail to mention the rise in Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism. This would make more sense of Topas’s quote at the very end, which is that the provincial government should allow special constables to be armed in Muslim institutions.

I, therefore, suggest adding that there is a rise in anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia to make your article more fair and balanced.

I hope Montreal Gazette will make these changes and report on hate crimes in a fair, accurate and balanced way.

Sincerely,

Fatima Haidar,

Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

The Media Accountability Project is an initiative of:
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), 580 Sainte-Croix, Suite 060, Saint-Laurent, QC H4L 3X5
©2007-2023 CJPME

CJPME acknowledges that our offices, located in Montreal, are on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk), whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.  CJPME recognizes the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka as the customary keepers and defenders of the St. Laurence River Watershed and its tributaries. We honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.  Further, CJPME respects and affirms the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land. CJPME has and will continue to honour the commitments to self-determination and sovereignty we have made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.  CJPME also acknowledges the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believes that its work should contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together.

Created with NationBuilder