"Accusations of antisemitism against Hamas’s new charter cannot be made that easily. Yet, you choose to mention their 1988 charter to accuse it of anti-Semitism and, again, further your point that the Edmonton Pride Center has praised them and that it’s being antisemitic. Please remove this sentence from your article, as it is not relevant and accurate to write outdated information to prove your point."
April 2022, 2024
To:
Tyler Dawson, Journalist, National Post
Rob Roberts, Editor-in-chief, National Post
Aileen Donnelly, News Editor, National Post
Dear Tyler Dawson, Rob Roberts, and Aileen Donnelly,
I am writing to express concern about the article, “Jewish groups call for end to funding for Edmonton Pride centre over its response to Hamas attack,” published on April 22 in National Post.
I take foremost issue with your article being identified as news yet seeming to select what to report on as an attempt to vilify the Edmonton Pride Center and depict it as antisemitic.
You write: “ [The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA)] argues that the non-profit has violated the federal anti-racism strategy, praised attacks by listed terrorist entities and ‘issued written support for the sexual violence waged against Jews.’”
You provide no evidence to back any of the claims made by CIJA. You only take its claims at face value, which is not good journalism. You should provide evidence to back the allegations or a counter perspective to balance the record.
Suppose one takes a look at Edmonton Pride Center’s Instagram page. In that case, one will only find an October 21 postsaying: “ We at the PCE stand against apartheid, genocide, colonization, and state violence,” and linking social media accounts, with the first one being Jewish Voice for Peace. The fact that they included Jewish Voice for Peace does put into question that they violated the federal anti-racism strategy. Also, them signing a letter that said “Jagmeet Singh repeated the unverified accusation that Palestinians were guilty of sexual violence” does not mean “supporting sexual violence waged against Jews.” It simply means that they are questioning the claims that “Palestinians were guilty of sexual violence.”
At the very least, you ought to include evidence to prove CIJA’s claims or add voices to balance the claims made.
You write: “Hamas, in its founding charter in 1988, calls for the destruction of Israel and its nakedly antisemitic.”
The fact that your article is identified as news but only selects the information it wants to make it fit into the narrative you want to push is concerning.
Hamas adopted a new charter in 2017, which indicated its struggle against Zionists and does not call explicitly for the destruction of Israel, as you report. Accusations of antisemitism against Hamas’s new charter cannot be made that easily. Yet, you choose to mention their 1988 charter to accuse it of anti-Semitism and, again, further your point that the Edmonton Pride Center has praised them and that it’s being antisemitic.
Please remove this sentence from your article, as it is not relevant and accurate to write outdated information to prove your point.
You mention the alleged sexual violence on October 7 and the United Nations report. Yet, you don’t mention the sexual violence against Palestinian women for which the UN released a press release. Again, you only choose the information you want to report on without providing some balance as journalism asks you to.
To balance the record, please mention that the United Nations also released a press release on the sexual violence against Palestinian women.
I hope the National Post will make these changes and be balanced when reporting on allegations against organizations in solidarity with Palestine.
Sincerely,
Fatima Haidar,
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East