"I counted six specific examples of supposed harassment, three of which were pro-Palestinian protestors. Why is there a disproportionate number of examples involving these types of protests? Further, some of the examples of actions perpetrated by “pro-Palestine protestors” are perfectly reasonable, peaceful forms of protest that you frame as violent or dangerous."
February 23, 2024
To:
Elizabeth Thompson, Reporter, CBC News
Nancy Waugh, Editor-in-Chief, CBC News
Dear Elizabeth Thompson,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East to express concern regarding a recent article titled “Senators receive panic buttons in response to rising concerns about security on Parliament Hill,” published on February 20 by CBC News.
To make your argument that there are rising security concerns on Parliament Hill, you use pro-Palestine protestors as a scapegoat. Although the article is supposed to be about security threats more generally, you begin it by referring to Senator Don Plett’s car being surrounded “by pro-Palestinian protestors.” Only a couple paragraphs later do you mention that senators began to feel an initial security threat during the “convoy protest that paralyzed downtown Ottawa for weeks in early 2022.” Repeatedly throughout your article, you refer to “pro-Palestine protestors” as the perpetrators of actions that make senators feel “unsafe” but fail to make the same type of generalizations for other protesting groups.
I counted six specific examples of supposed harassment, three of which were pro-Palestinian protestors. Why is there a disproportionate number of examples involving these types of protests? Further, some of the examples of actions perpetrated by “pro-Palestine protestors” are perfectly reasonable, peaceful forms of protest that you frame as violent or dangerous. For example, you include Sen. Paula Simons’ testimony that she felt unsafe when a group of pro-Palestinian protestors came to an event she was emceeing and “disrupted” it. Simons is a Canadian senator and, thus, has a degree of influence over Canadian political outcomes, making her a reasonable target of protests. To include this testimony in an article about panic buttons, which have been distributed to mitigate harm to MPs and senators, is inappropriate and typecasts pro-Palestine protestors as “dangerous.”
I hope you will consider these critiques and recommendations for this article and future ones.
Sincerely,
Rose Mardikian,
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East