"The 1948 Nakba is a historical event just like the Holocaust. Why teach one but not the other? The Nakba is what led to the establishment of the State of Israel, as the ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide of Canada's First Nations is part of our country's foundation. Teaching one but not the other shows a double standard."
April 23, 2024To:
Francis Plourde, Journalist, CBC news
Nancy Waugh, Sr. Manager, Journalistic Standards & Public Trust, CBC News
Dear Mr Plourde and Ms Waugh,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME.org), Saskatoon Chapter, about your news segment: "B.C. teachers launch campaign to include education on Palestinian history," which aired on CBC News Vancouver on April 23, 2024.
I appreciated that you included diverse, relevant voices, and I liked the order in which you presented them. Members of "Teachers for Palestine," we learn, don't feel comfortable answering questions about "The Middle East" in the classroom without guidelines. With the Nakba on the curriculum, teachers would get education on the subject.
However, the teachers get little airtime to talk about the nature of their challenges. Much more time is allotted to CIJA and a Jewish parent.
We hear concerns that adding the Nakba to the curriculum would "target marginalized students," "compromise the safety of Jewish children and teachers facing intimidation in school," and that the Nakba is a "complex topic," which, when simplified, would become "political propaganda."
Nico Slobinski, who represents the pro-Israel lobby group CIJA, expresses being offended, seemingly thinking that the term "Nakba" or "catastrophe" is applied to the "return of the Jews," and expresses what teaching the Nakba would mean for him. There is misinformation in Mr. Slobinsky's claims, which you leave unchallenged, namely that Jewish Canadians "overwhelmingly support Israel." A 2023 survey shows that 59% of Jewish Canadians think Israel is "moving in the wrong direction," 54% oppose expansion of the illegal West Bank settlements, and 31% want establishment Jewish organizations like CIJA to be more critical of Israel.
Also, claims of Jewish teachers and children not being safe are unsubstantiated.
While Canadian media did report on intimidation and humiliation of Palestinians and their allies, for instance, in Halifax, where children wearing keffiyehs on cultural day were told to remove them, I have not seen media reports with evidence that Jewish children or teachers are not safe in school. As we see from US campus reports, it is the police and administration that are harming Jewish students and faculty, not Palestine advocates.
The 1948 Nakba is a historical event just like the Holocaust. Why teach one but not the other? The Nakba is what led to the establishment of the State of Israel, as the ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide of Canada's First Nations is part of our country's foundation. Teaching one but not the other shows a double standard.
I ask for a follow-up segment where Palestinian Canadians and teachers of Teachers for Palestine tell how they feel about it, what teaching the Nakba would mean to them, and how having the Nakba added to the curriculum would impact the support they get and feel. Members of the Jewish community get plenty of airtime to express their views, but I am disappointed that we only hear one Palestinian voice in this segment. Workplace retaliation and intimidation against professionals who show solidarity with Palestine is well-documented by Jewish academic Judy Haiven in a "campaign of civil terror." A fair and balanced report needs to present Palestinian perspectives to illustrate the silencing Palestinians and their allies have been subjected to and the consequences they face for speaking up.
I do thank you for reporting on the B.C teachers' campaign, and I look forward to a follow-up story that does not focus almost solely on the Jewish Canadian perspective.
Renée Nunan-Rappard