"Thank you Hill Times for publishing this opinion article, I hope you will continue to give space to the plight of Palestinian women, especially at a time when they are facing genocide."
March 08, 2024
To:
Katherine Bullock, Guest columnist, Hill Times
Tazeen Hasan, Guest columnist, Hill Times
Nawel Hamidi, Guest columnist, Hill Times
Kate Malloy, Editor, Hill Times
Charelle Evelyn, Managing Editor, Hill Times
Dear Katherine Bullock, Tazeen Hasan, Nawel Hamidi, Kate Malloy, and Charelle Evelyn,
I am writing to thank you for the opinion article: “Trudeau’s feminist policies have failed Palestinian women and girls,” published on March 8 in Hill Times.
As a media analyst focused on ensuring that media coverage of Palestine is factual, diverse, and balanced, I found this long-awaited opinion article very refreshing.
As I have been monitoring articles about sexual violence since October 7, I saw and read a lot of articles in Canadian media about the alleged sexual violence committed by Hamas on October 7. However, the same cannot be said regarding threats of sexual violence and rape committed by Israelis against Palestinian women until I came across this opinion article.
After five months of seeing a genocide unfolding under my eyes, I came to the same conclusion as Bullock, Hasan, and Hamidi that Trudeau’s feminist policies have deeply failed Palestinian women and girls.
So, it does leave a bitter taste that we had to wait on International Women’s Day for such an article to get published and for people to reflect on the plight of Palestinian women, which has been long ignored for 75 years.
As Bullock, Hasan, and Hamidi have pointed out, it’s about Canada upholding our collective moral responsibility and truly being intersectional in our feminism.
Thank you Hill Times for publishing this opinion article, I hope you will continue to give space to the plight of Palestinian women, especially at a time when they are facing genocide.
Sincerely,
Fatima Haidar,
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East