Stop Whitewashing Israel’s Crimes in Gaza

Important context is excluded, including Israel striking, murdering and displacing Palestinians in Rafah refugee camps, the IDF’s recent slaughter of Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp, and the Al-Shifa hospital massacres that happened in November and in March where Caroline El-Khalidy worked.  


June 10, 2024

To:
Jason Miller, Crime Reporter, Toronto Star

Donovan Vincent, Public Editor, Toronto Star

Anne Marie Owens, Editor-in-Chief, Toronto Star 

 

Dear Mr. Miller, Mr. Vincent and Mrs. Owens,  

I am writing to express my concern regarding your recent article titled '‘I feel safe’: Palestinian girl and her two young brothers join family in Toronto after their mother was killed in Gaza” published by The Toronto Star on June 8, 2024. 

While I commend Mr. Miller for his harrowing report which humanizes Palestinian children meeting their grandfather after their mother was murdered in Gaza, the article subsequently whitewashes Israel’s crimes in Gaza which amount to Genocide.  

You report on Israel’s besiegement of Gaza, which you disingenuously frame as merely a conflict between two sides. This framing downplays the Genocidal actions carried out by Israel as well as the asymmetry in power.

Important context is also excluded, including Israel striking, murdering and displacing Palestinians in Rafah refugee camps, the IDF’s recent slaughter of Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp, and the Al-Shifa hospital massacres that happened in November and in March where Caroline El-Khalidy worked.  

Recontextualizing your article to include this information is essential for providing a comprehensive and accurate portrayal of the situation.

Additionally, I take issue with the claim in your article that “more than 36,700 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, according to Gaza’s health ministry which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.” Your claim that the health ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians is untrue or at least misleading. UNOCHA reports casualties in Gaza, distinguishing between military-age men, children, women, and elderly. In effect, we can safely says that women, children, and elderly are civilians. These three categories constitute the majority of the deaths in Gaza. On June 9, 2024, UNOCHA reported the following death toll: 10,006 men, 7,797 children, 4,959 women, and 1,924 elderly. This means that women, children, and elderly (civilians) constitute 60 per cent of the identified death toll. That means at least 60 per cent of the deaths are civilian, with a proportion of the male death toll likely driving that percentage up considerably. Over 10,000 Palestinian victims remain unidentified due to the collapse of the health care system and other restrictions.

Please update your article to make clear that Gaza’s health ministry does categorize identified deaths and some of these are civilian categories.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We hope you consider these corrections and that the necessary revisions are made to ensure a clear presentation of this issue.

Sincerely,

Anthony Issa 

Media Analyst 

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East