"It is unfortunate that an article dedicated to reporting on a case of Islamophobia diverts attention to antisemitism, which already receives extensive coverage. This double standard in media reporting fails to give justice to the severity of the Islamophobic incident and dilutes the necessary discourse around the discrimination and challenges faced by the Muslim community in Canada."
June 20, 2024
To:
Heather Wright, Senior Correspondent, CTV News
Dan Taylor, Managing Editor, CTV News
Michael Stittle, Managing Editor, CTV News
I’m writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to express my concerns regarding your recent article: “Wake up Canada' truck playing 'Islamophobic' video under investigation in Toronto: police”, published by CTV News on June 19, 2024.
First, the video in question asked, “Is this Yemen? Is this Syria? Is this Iraq? and then proceeded to show images of Muslims praying, followed by the text declaring, “Wake up Canada. You are under siege”.
As rightly pointed out by Amira Elghawaby, the federal government’s Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia, this incident is a blatant attempt to portray Canadian Muslims and communal prayer as threatening and dangerous. Such content is undeniably Islamophobic and contributes to the growing climate of fear and hostility towards the Muslim community in Canada.
However, I am deeply troubled by the shift in focus halfway through the article, where the discussion transitions to antisemitism. While antisemitism is a serious issue deserving attention, this abrupt change is both inappropriate and misplaced in the context of an article meant to address a clear case of Islamophobia.
Using the media monitoring tool Cision, I found that antisemitism has been mentioned over 48,000 times in Canadian media in the last 90 days (including TV, web and print articles, and radio) compared to just 7,000 mentions of Islamophobia across the same platforms. This significant disparity highlights a troubling trend: Islamophobia does not receive the coverage and attention it deserves.
It is unfortunate that an article dedicated to reporting on a case of Islamophobia diverts attention to antisemitism, which already receives extensive coverage. This double standard in media reporting fails to give justice to the severity of the Islamophobic incident and dilutes the necessary discourse around the discrimination and challenges faced by the Muslim community in Canada.
I urge CTV News to reconsider how such sensitive topics are reported and to ensure that the focus remains appropriately on the issue at hand.
Second, the article’s framing (antisemitism contrasted with Islamophobia) suggests that there is a conflict between Islam and Judaism. This framing fosters unnecessary divisions and animosity by promoting a false narrative of religious conflict. In Islam, we recognize that Prophet Muhammad respected Jewish teachings and coexisted peacefully with Jewish communities. Moreover, the Quran and Hadith emphasize respect for all people, regardless of their background (Quran, 17:70). Your current framing, therefore, perpetuates tensions between Islam and Judaism without any basis.
I recommend that CTV News reconsider its approach when reporting on sensitive issues like Islamophobia and religious relations. It is crucial to ensure accuracy in portraying religious interactions rather than inadvertently contributing to division and misunderstanding.
Finally, I noticed that while there is mention of antisemitism, there is no mention of anti-Palestinian racism. One way to make this article more fair would be to bring attention to the highly related issue of anti-Palestinian racism. This was done by the CBC in an article on the same topic.
I am urging you to include reference to anti-Palestinian racism in your article.
I look forward to seeing more balanced and focused reporting on issues affecting the Muslim community.
Lynn Naji
Junior Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East