"Please change the words “preparing a strike” to “preparing a ground invasion” and “gathered after escaping violence elsewhere in Gaza” to “forcibly expulsed after seeking shelter from Israel’s incessant and indiscriminate bombing campaign” since they better reflect Israel’s intentions and actions and the reality of Palestinians."
April 24, 2024
To:
Nathan Vanderklippe, International Correspondent, Globe and Mail
David Walmsley, Editor-in-Chief, Globe and Mail
Sandra E. Martin, Standards Editor, Globe and Mail
Dear Nathan Vanderklippe, David Walmsley, and Sandra E. Martin,
I am writing to express my concern about the article: “Israel marks fraught Passover Seder as hostages remain in Gaza, and Rafah offensive looms,” published on April 22 in Globe and Mail.
First, you write: “In the southern city of Rafah, meanwhile, doctors readied a move to other parts of the strip, fearful that Israel is preparing a strike against a city where roughly 1.5 million Palestinians have gathered after escaping violence elsewhere in Gaza.”
The language in this paragraph undermines Israel’s actions for which the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese, has said that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating Israel’s commission of genocide is met” in her latest report.
Israel is not “preparing a strike,” it is preparing a ground invasion where Palestinians have not “gathered after escaping violence elsewhere in Gaza” but have been forcibly expulsed because Israel has left no place unattacked in its genocidal campaign.
Writing “gathered” makes it seem like Palestinians are reuniting and having a gathering in Rafah because of voluntary choice, which is not true and obfuscates Israel’s responsibility and actions that led to Palestinians going to Rafah.
Palestinians are being forcibly displaced to Rafah because Israel has been targeting everyone everywhere and has left no safe zone from its bombardment campaign. As early as November 10, 2023, The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories Volker Turk told during a press conference in Amman, Jordan, that: “At the moment, nowhere is safe, as bombardments are being reported in all parts of the Strip.”
Please change the words “preparing a strike” to “preparing a ground invasion” and “gathered after escaping violence elsewhere in Gaza” to “forcibly expulsed after seeking shelter from Israel’s incessant and indiscriminate bombing campaign” since they better reflect Israel’s intentions and actions and the reality of Palestinians.
Second, you write: “More than 34,000 Palestinians have already died in the war, according to local authorities.”
It is inappropriate to use passive language when citing the Palestinian death toll, as it undermines the extent to which Israel’s multifaceted actions have inflicted death on Palestinians, including civilians. Palestinians in Gaza are being targeted and killed by airstrikes, gunshots, and tanks, as well as fatal conditions that have caused mass death and accusations of genocide due to a lack of medicine, starvation, dehydration, and malnutrition resulting from Israel’s blockage of aid from entering Gaza.
Please change the words “have already died in the war” to “have been killed from Israel’s incessant and indiscriminate campaign” since they better reflect Israel’s actions and the death it has inflicted on Palestinians.
I hope Globe and Mail will make these changes and use precise language when reporting on Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Sincerely,
Fatima Haidar,
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East