"I do not understand how citing the intention of the song (being in solidarity with Palestinians) and introducing its name (“RIVER 2 THE SEA”) could possibly violate CBC’s standards. I believe any argument suggesting it does would rely on an unfair interpretation that represents a double standard against Palestinians. It is unimaginable that CBC would go to lengths like this if an artist had made a song in “solidarity with the people of Ukraine” for instance."
May 23, 2024
To:
Jack Nagler, CBC
George Achi, CBC
Nancy Waugh, CBC
Tara Mora, CBC
Dear Jack Nagler, George Achi, and Nany Waugh,
I’m writing to express serious concern about the editing on a segment originally aired by CBC’s Reclaimed on April 3.
According to details shared by Honest Reporting Canada and an artist known as Handsome Tiger, Honest Reporting Canadacomplained to CBC about a song being:
- Introduced as being recorded “in sonic solidarity with the people of Palestine;”
- Being named “RIVER 2 THE SEA.”
Following this complaint, the episode was temporarily unpublished, until it was re-published without the comment by the host that it was in solidarity and the announcement of the song title removed.
Honest Reporting Canada announced the unpublishing of the episode as a major success. Handsome Tiger, an indigenous artist, lamented the decision to unpublish the episode, calling it censorship. He also launched a petition asking CBC to stop censoring him and republish the episode as it was.
Honest Reporting Canada alleges the Tara Mora, CBC’s Senior Director of Radio, Talk and Music Programming defended the introduction given by the host, Jarret Martineau. Despite defending the comments, Mora still took the exceptional step of removing the episode and reuploading it with the controversial section removed.
There is no editor’s note to indicate the audio was edited for political reasons and there is no mention of this incident on CBC’s corrections and clarifications page.
Honest Reporting Canada’s political views fall far outside of the Canada’s political mainstream in the context of Israel and Palestine. It supports Israel’s most far-right figures and encourages media to adopt language that does not meet CBC’s standards and often perpetuates anti-Palestinian racism. Unfortunately, this is a case in which it appears that Honest Reporting has successfully encouraged CBC to engage in anti-Palestinian racism. The Arab Canadian Lawyers Association(ACLA) defines anti-Palestinian racism as “Anti-Palestinian racism is a form of anti-Arab racism that silences, excludes, erases, stereotypes, defames or dehumanizes Palestinians or their narratives.” Unfortunately, CBC has literally erased Palestinians from this radio segment. This is also doubly offensive, as it also constitutes the censoring of an Indigenous person.
I do not understand how citing the intention of the song (being in solidarity with Palestinians) and introducing its name (“RIVER 2 THE SEA”) could possibly violate CBC’s standards. I believe any argument suggesting it does would rely on an unfair interpretation that represents a double standard against Palestinians. It is unimaginable that CBC would go to lengths like this if an artist had made a song in “solidarity with the people of Ukraine” for instance.
To be sure, here is the exact change that occurred:
Original:
This week we're going to keep things moving with club beats and dance music, dub sounds and soul songs and some dreamy atmospheres that only First Nations artists could conjure. I want to play another Handsome Tiger song for you now. He's been decolonizing bass music by mashing up indigenous voices, powwow drums and speaker rattling low end. And this one's a brand new drop that does something a bit different. It samples from other vocal traditions and it carries his sound across borders. This one in sonic solidarity with the people of Palestine. This is “River 2 the Sea.”
Edit:
This week we're gonna keep things moving with club beats and dance music, dub sounds and soul songs and some dreamy atmospheres that only First Nations artists could conjure. I want to play another Handsome Tiger song for you now. He's been decolonizing bass music by mashing up indigenous voices, powwow drums and speaker rattling low end. And this one's a brand new drop that does something a bit different. It samples from other vocal traditions and carries his sound out across borders and continents.
I am urging CBC to restore the original segment.
Sincerely,
Jason Toney
Director of Media Advocacy, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East