"Failing to say that Israel may have tortured Palestinians to obtain false confessions demonstrates The Globe and Mail’s tendency to purport Israel’s allegations with little to no skepticism."
March 11, 2024
To:
Marie Woolf, Reporter, Globe and Mail
David Walmsley, Editor-in-Chief, Globe and Mail
Dear Marie Woolf,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East to express a deep concern about self-censorship in a recent article titled “Canada to resume funding for UN Palestinian relief agency,” published on March 8 in Globe and Mail.
This article was written in response to the Canadian government resuming funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. It touches on Israel’s claims that 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks but fails to mention reports that Palestinian employees of UNRWA were tortured into confessing links with Hamas. Failing to say that Israel may have tortured Palestinians to obtain false confessions demonstrates The Globe and Mail’s tendency to purport Israel’s allegations with little to no skepticism.
Israel released on January 26 its six-page dossier alleging that 190 UNRWA employees were affiliated with Hamas’ attacks on October 7.[i] Despite the inconsistencies and lack of hard evidence, the shoddy allegations were widely circulated, prompting a wave of funding suspensions for UNRWA, including the US, Canada, Australia, etc.[ii] The information included in Israel’s dossier was initially claimed to have been gathered from “interrogations of Palestinian prisoners,” and yet, the reports that UNRWA employees were tortured for confessions of alleged ties with Hamas suggests that such Israeli “proof” is tenuous at best, and potentially fraudulent. The claims made by these UNRWA employees have not only been excluded from this particular article but have not, to CJPME’s knowledge, been covered in any online written reporting by the Globe and Mail.
This exclusion may have been deliberate or just a sign of poor research. In either case, it’s poor journalism. Please adjust your article and The Globe and Mail’s broader lack of coverage regarding these recent developments.
Near the end of your article, you write that “more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict…” The “beginning of the conflict” did not begin in October, as the Gaza Strip has been blockaded and occupied by Israel for 17 years, and Palestinians suffered under Israeli apartheid and dispossession for decades. Even so, referring to recent events as a “conflict” falsely implies a power symmetry between the two parties involved. Further, it obfuscates Israel’s highly disproportionate share of the killing since Oct. 7. To make this sentence more accurate, perhaps you can write: “Since the beginning of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza…”
The word “conflict” in your article links to a page titled “Israel-Hamas war.” The words that follow read:
On Oct. 7 a surprise attack by militant group Hamas left around 1,200 Israelis dead, and hundreds were taken hostage. Israel responded with air strikes and a ground campaign in the Gaza Strip that has killed thousands.
The term “thousands” undermines the gruesome reality of Israel’s military assault on Gaza. Over 31,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israel since Oct. 7. Considering this page is still being linked in recent articles, the statistics should be maintained to avoid the dehumanization of Palestinians through obfuscating language.
Sincerely,
Rose Mardikian,
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
[i] Dan Williams and Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber, Reuters, “Israel accuses 190 UN staff of being ‘hardened’ militants,” January 29, 2024.
[ii] The New Arab Staff, The New Arab, “Inconsistencies appear in Israel UNRWA 7 October allegations, casting doubt their veracity,” February 1, 2024.