"By describing this territory as “the area inhabited by Palestinians,” you are erasing the existence and history of Palestine and, therefore, reinforcing Robinson’s harmful anti-Palestinian comments. Please replace 'the area inhabited by Palestinians' with 'Palestine'."
February 6, 2024
To:
Charlie Carey and Hana Mae Nassar and Pippa Norman, Reporters, City News Vancouver
Dean Recksiedler, Managing Editor, City News Vancouver
Dear Mx. Carey, Ms. Nassar, and Ms. Norman,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East to express my concern about an article titled “Selina Robinson steps down as minister, remains in BC NDP caucus despite calls for resignation” published by City News Vancouver on February 5, 2024.
At the start of your article, you write that Selina Robinson is stepping down from her cabinet position for calling “the area inhabited by Palestinians” as a “‘crappy piece of land with nothing on it.’” The region to which you are referring is Palestine, both from a modern-day perspective and a historical perspective. By describing this territory as “the area inhabited by Palestinians,” you are erasing the existence and history of Palestine and, therefore, reinforcing Robinson’s harmful anti-Palestinian comments. Please replace “the area inhabited by Palestinians” with “Palestine.”
Further, your article fails to outline how and why her comments are particularly racist and harmful. It would be helpful for readers to understand that her comments are reminiscent of the ideological underpinnings of colonialism in North America, in which the idea of “Terra Nullius” was used to justify the ethnic cleansing of Indigenous peoples. Her claim that the land was “crappy” and had “nothing on it” perpetuates a key feature of Zionist political discourse: asserting that Palestine was a “land without a People for a People without a Land” and, therefore, ideal for the creation of the state of Israel. I would recommend adding this information to your article, as it helps further contextualize how Robinson’s comments are anti-Palestinian.
Calls for her resignation have extended far beyond leadership from Muslim and First Nations communities. Some groups include the Canadian Association of University Teachers, the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC, the Jewish Faculty Network, the Pakistan Canada Association, Independent Jewish Voices, and my own organization, CJPME. A petition of signatories can be found here. Please edit your article better to convey the widespread and diverse support for her resignation. You should also mention the protest outside the B.C. NDP caucus retreat at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel in Surrey, as well as the petition for Robinson’s resignation that reached over 11,000 signatures.
Information regarding Israel’s ongoing aerial and ground campaign against Gaza is not mentioned in your article, which is a significant contextual omission. Of course, Robinson’s comments are completely unacceptable with or without a war being waged against Palestinians. Still, they are particularly offensive considering the mass dispossession and genocide inflicted on Palestinians by Israel in Gaza. Please provide context regarding Israel’s current four-month ground and aerial offensive in Gaza.
To uphold standards of journalistic integrity, I recommend that you make these edits promptly.
Sincerely,
Rose Mardikian,
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East