"Many Jewish students at York and elsewhere do not support Israel nor its ongoing actions in Gaza, which are plausibly genocidal. To obscure the essential and relevant information that Hillel is not merely a Jewish student group, but a Zionist one, is to profoundly mislead your viewers."
January 31, 2024
To:
Angie Seth, CTV News
Sean Leathong, CTV News
Dear Angie Seth and Sean Leathong,
I’m writing to express concern about a recent CTV News segment on “This Hour with Angie Seth” about York’s Hillel chapter.
You describe Hillel only as a “Jewish student group.” While this is true, it is not the most relevant information about the group as it pertains to this story.
Hillel International describes itself in the following terms:
“We envision a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel…. To achieve our mission and vision, our work focuses on core facets of Jewish life including Jewish learning, holiday and Shabbat celebration, arts and culture and building a meaningful, ongoing relationship with Israel.”
York’s Hillel chapter reflects these values. They advertise themselves as a group that helps students build closer ties with Israel, through offering opportunities like Birthright, and explicitly advocates for Israel.
Many Jewish students at York and elsewhere do not support Israel nor its ongoing actions in Gaza, which are plausibly genocidal. To obscure the essential and relevant information that Hillel is not merely a Jewish student group, but a Zionist one, is to profoundly mislead your viewers.
Please air a correction to clarify that Hillel is a pro-Israel student group on campus.
Next, you made clear that you attempted to reach out to a local group and the York Federation of Students but did not get a response. This is unfortunate, but it is nonetheless irresponsible to air a story like this without any sense of the other side. Could more groups or students not have been contacted?
Palestinian perspectives are erased from a story about teaching about Palestinian. Erasing Palestinians from these stories is a form of anti-Palestinian racism, intentional or not.
I would urge you to air a follow up story that includes Palestinian perspectives.
Sincerely,
Jason Toney
Director of Media Advocacy, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East