"The term “clash” implies that the Calgary Police Service (CPS) and unarmed U of C students both engaged in violence in the midst of their confrontation. However, nonviolent protesters were brutally attacked and dispersed by riot police. There is a clear unequal power dynamic between heavily armed CPS and unarmed U of C students. Given how many readers only look at the headline, this has the potential to be highly misleading."
May 10, 2024
To:
Nancy Waugh, Sr Manager, Journalistic Standards, CBC News
Dear Nancy Waugh,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East to express concerns regarding your article: “Police clash with University of Calgary pro-Palestinian protesters left after encampment removal,” published on May 9.
I take foremost issue with your headline not properly reflecting the police’s actions at the University of Calgary encampment Thursday night.
While you describe that the “Police with shields and riot gear forcibly removed some protesters from area,” and that they used “shields, batons, and flashbag explosives,” your headline reads: “Police clash.”
The term “clash” is deeply misleading and inappropriate in this situation.
The term “clash” implies that the Calgary Police Service (CPS) and unarmed U of C students both engaged in violence in the midst of their confrontation. However, nonviolent protesters were brutally attacked and dispersed by riot police. There is a clear unequal power dynamic between heavily armed CPS and unarmed U of C students. Given how many readers only look at the headline, this has the potential to be highly misleading.
Please change the word “clash” to words that more accurately portray the reality on the ground, which is that the pro-Palestinian protesters were violently cleared by police.
Second, your article reflects this power imbalance as it only gives voice to the university and the CPS when it should have given voice to the U of C students to describe in a balanced manner what happened Thursday night. There is footage about what happened on their Instagram page: uofc_divest4pal.
You barely give voice to the U of C students and you do so by giving voice to them at the very end of your article regarding the intentions behind the encampments. A Calgary Herald article cites Wesam Cooley saying: “It’s insane, we were negotiating.” It also cites an activist, Salam Kafri, saying: “We were peaceful and they showed up in riot gear.”
Please give voice to U of C students to set the record straight on what happened on Thursday night when CPS did a violent crackdown on their encampment as it also inserts itself in the violent police crackdown on the encampments across the US. Please elaborate on this unfortunate pattern observed in the United States and Europe.
I hope CBC will make these changes and consider my suggestions in future reporting of the crackdown on student encampments.
Sincerely,
Fatima Haidar
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East