"How do these facts not justify the CBC using the phrase anti-Palestinian racism? Unless there is a double standard at play, it seems inarguable that using the language of anti-Palestinian racism is not only justified, but essential for readers to clearly understand the nature of this incident. The police clearly identified this as an investigation into an anti-Palestinian hate crime."
June 13, 2024
To:
Nancy Waugh, Managing Editor, CBC News
Paul Moore, Senior Advisor for Journalistic Standards and Language, CBC News
Brodie Fenlon, News Editor in Chief, CBC News
Ombudsman, CBC
Dear CBC team,
I am writing to express my disappointment with the response I received from Paul Moore, CBC's Senior Adviser of Journalistic Standards and Language, regarding my complaint about the article “Police search for arson suspect in alleged hate-motivated fire in northwest London”, published by CBC News on June 9, 2024. His response is included in this email thread.
I took issue with the headline that reads: “Police search for arson suspect in alleged hate-motivated fire in northwest London”. I also noted that the phrase “anti-Palestinian racism” should have been included in the article, just like “antisemitism” is included in articles about antisemitic issues.
Mr. Moore replied that the article would not be updated in any way to include reference to anti-Palestinian racism (APR) or anti-Palestinian hate:
Appropriately, it specifies that this is a case of an alleged arson and is being investigated as potentially motivated by hate. Nobody the CBC spoke with, including but not limited to police, identified this as an incident of anti-Palestinian hate. It is the CBC’s role to provide the verifiable facts of the case as they are currently known, which is what our journalists did.
Given CBC’s alleged efforts to take issues of anti-Palestinian racism seriously, this is an alarming reply.
On June 9 at 4:40pm (before the last update to the article was made), the London Police Services released a video statement making clear that this was a case of anti-Palestinian racism. At the 1:21 mark of a video statement, Detective Inspector Alex Krygsman explains numerous anti-Palestinian events leading up to the arson. After listing off the incidents, he states that the signs that were removed were “signs that expressed support for Palestine. We are treating this investigation as a hate-motivated incident.” His claim that this is being investigated through a hate motivated lens is specifically because there were anti-Palestinian incidents surrounding the fire. This is a very clear case of anti-Palestinian racism. If CBC is going to take APR seriously, it should not be afraid to name it.
This incident clearly meets the definition of anti-Palestinian racism as defined by the Arab Canadians Lawyer Association, as the perpetrator is using violence to threaten the community into silencing their expressions of solidarity with Palestinians. Given that antisemitic acts are typically denoted as such in headlines, I demanded that the same treatment should be done for instances of anti-Palestinian racism and urged CBC to change their headline to “Police search for arson suspect in alleged anti-Palestinian hate-motivated fire in northwest London''.
How do these facts not justify the CBC using the phrase anti-Palestinian racism? Unless there is a double standard at play, it seems inarguable that using the language of anti-Palestinian racism is not only justified, but essential for readers to clearly understand the nature of this incident. The police clearly identified this as an investigation into an anti-Palestinian hate crime.
It is concerning to learn that CBC requires the police to specifically use the phrase "anti-Palestinian hate/racism" before acknowledging the nature of the incident. This sets an alarming standard. CBC’s role as a public broadcaster includes ensuring its news is fair, unbiased, and reflective of Canada’s diverse communities as best described by Amira Elghawaby. Acknowledging and accurately reporting on incidents of hate and bias are vital parts of this responsibility.
Finally, I want to end this email by expressing my deep concern that this type of reporting is commonplace for CBC News. CJPME has regularly reached out and requested that hate crimes against Palestinians be explicitly named as anti-Palestinian racism; yet, I have never seen any changes. I believe CBC is endorsing a pattern of anti-Palestinian bias.
It is worth noting that on May 30, I emailed Nancy Waugh and Rachelle Elsiufi requesting to specify in this article that a 74-year-old local woman removed the hijab from a “Palestinian muslim woman”, not “demonstrator” as Rachelle wrote. I argued that this omission not only undermines the severity of the incident, but also overlooks the intersectional nature of the hate crime, which is both islamophobic and anti-Palestinian. I politely asked to (i) emphasize that this incident amounts to anti-Palestinian racism and (ii) add the definition of Anti-Palestinian racism; however, I received no response and observed no changes in question.
Based on my complaints, it is evident that CBC must address the special standards for naming “anti-Palestinian racism” as opposed to other forms of hate.
I hope CBC will take good-faith steps to resolve these serious concerns and improve its reporting on incidents of hate against Palestinians and on the genocide unfolding in Gaza.
Sincerely,
Lynn Naji
Junior Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East