"Naturally, not being able to list their actual place of birth is an upsetting and distressing experience for Palestinians. Good journalism on this news development would have explored the trauma experienced by the Palestinian community and the controversial nature of Immigration Canada’s approach to this question."
To:
Jenna Legge, Journalist, CBC News
Philip Ling, Senior Producer, Parliamentary, CBC News
Nancy Waugh, Sr. Manager, CBC News
Dear Jenna Legge, Philip Ling, and Nancy Waugh,
I am writing to express concerns about the article “Passport Canada apologizes after 90-year-old woman mistakenly told she can’t have ‘Palestine’ on passport” published on March 4 on CBC News.
First, you write: “Applicants can still list ‘Palestine’ as a place of birth on Canadian passport applications.” This subtitle is misleading, as some readers might discover by reading the article that Palestinians born after 1948 still cannot list Palestine as their place of birth on their passport. You write: “ʻIf applicant was born on or after May 14, 1948, Palestine cannot be entered as the country of birth. The country must be entered as Jordan, Israel, Gaza Strip or Jerusalem as the case may be.’” Only the ones born before 1948 can list Palestine as their place of birth on their passport. You write: “ʻIf applicant was born before May 14, 1949, Palestine may be entered upon request.’”
I, therefore, suggest adding the words “born before May 14, 1948” after the word “applicants” in your subtitle to make your article more accurate and less misleading.
Second, although the article is centered around the incident of a 90-year-old woman mistakenly understanding that she could not list Palestine as her place of birth, the fact is that the government policy is still a form of anti-Palestinian racism (APR), as was the suggestion of the agent at Passport Canada of listing Israel instead.
According to the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA),
Anti-Palestinian racism is a form of anti-Arab racism that silences, excludes, erases, stereotypes, defames or dehumanizes Palestinians or their narratives. Anti-Palestinian racism takes various forms including: denying the Nakba and justifying violence against Palestinians; failing to acknowledge Palestinians as an Indigenous people with a collective identity, belonging and rights in relation to occupied and historic Palestine; erasing the human rights and equal dignity and worth of Palestinians; excluding or pressuring others to exclude Palestinian perspectives, Palestinians and their allies; defaming Palestinians and their allies with slander such as being inherently antisemitic, a terrorist threat/sympathizer or opposed to democratic values.
Yet, the article brushes these forms of APR. It only focuses on how her being still able to list Palestine as her place of birth is not a form of APR.
Naturally, not being able to list their actual place of birth is an upsetting and distressing experience for Palestinians. Good journalism on this news development would have explored the trauma experienced by the Palestinian community and the controversial nature of Immigration Canada’s approach to this question.
I, therefore, suggest adding that the incident was a form of APR and that the Canadian government policy is still controversial for a lot of Palestinians.
I hope CBC will make these changes and consider these suggestions when reporting on APR in the future.
Sincerely,
Fatima Haidar,
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East