The Media Accountability Project  

Article needs to mention that tearing a hijab off a Palestinian woman amounts to anti-Palestinian racism

"Unfortunatley, many Palestinians or their supporters have faced professional, personal, and legal backlash for their solidarity, their stories ignored, and their motives mischaracterized."

May 27, 2024

To:

Andrea Baillie,  Editor-in-Chief, Canadian Press

Tim Cook, Managing Editor, Canadian Press

Ben Simon, Ontario Bureau Chief, Canadian Press

Dear Ms Baldor, Mr Gambrell, Mr Federman and Mr Taylor,

I’m writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to politely ask you to add a small correction regarding your recent article: “Woman, 74, charged with assault for tearing hijab scarf from woman's head at demonstration”, published on May 23, 2024.  

I appreciate that you reported on a recent incident in Ottawa where a 74 year old-woman was charged with assault after pulling off a protestor’s hijab during a demonstration at Ottawa City Hall. Unfortunatley, many Palestinians or their supporters have faced professional, personal, and legal backlash for their solidarity, their stories ignored, and their motives mischaracterized.

 I, therefore, politely ask you to (i) emphasize that this incident amounts to anti-Palestinian racism and (ii) add the definition of Anti-Palestinian racism. You can use the definition by the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA):

Anti-Palestinian racism is a form of anti-Arab racism that silences, excludes, erases, stereotypes, defames or dehumanizes Palestinians or their narratives. Anti-Palestinian racism takes various forms including: denying the Nakba and justifying violence against Palestinians; failing to acknowledge Palestinians as an Indigenous people with a collective identity, belonging and rights in relation to occupied and historic Palestine; erasing the human rights and equal dignity and worth of Palestinians; excluding or pressuring others to exclude Palestinian perspectives, Palestinians and their allies; defaming Palestinians and their allies with slander such as being inherently antisemitic, a terrorist threat/sympathizer or opposed to democratic values.

I hope that you will keep this in mind when reporting and covering issues related to Palestine.

 Sincerely, 

Lynn Naji

Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

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