"For decades, Palestinians have been under violent occupation, dispossession, and ethnic cleansing by Zionist militias, starting with the Nakba where more than 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their lands. I have serious concerns with The Sudbury Star disregarding the Palestinian narrative and only beginning the timeline from October 7th."
June 25, 2024
To the Editors of Sudbury Star,
I am writing from Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East to express concern about the article “Pro-Palestinian group in Sudbury wants Canada to ban nickel sales to Israel” published on June 21, 2024.
First, while the article reports on a petition by a pro-Palestinian group in Sudbury asking the Canadian government to ban the sale of nickel to Israel and arms manufacturers supplying Israel, I believe it overwhelmingly gives voice to the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) while marginalizing the views of those supporting the petition.
Your article briefly acknowledges the petition’s concerns about the ethical implications of Canadian nickel being used in weaponry that contributes to the ongoing genocide in the occupied Gaza Strip. However, it unfortunately favors Israeli narratives – excessively quoting CIJA’s Judy Zelikoovitz who criticizes the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and dismisses the petition as counterproductive, suggesting they are veiled attacks on Israel’s legitimacy.
While it is crucial to include the perspectives of those who oppose the petition, it is equally important to provide a space for the petitioners and their supporters to explain their rationale and respond to the criticisms leveled against them. By predominantly featuring the perspective of CIJA and not sufficiently representing the views of the petitioners and their supporters, the article risks perpetuating a one-sided narrative.
I, therefore, encourage you to add perspectives of those supporting the petition to make your reporting fairer. You could have, for example, included expert opinions on the role of nickel in military manufacturing and the feasibility/positive implications of implementing such a ban.
Second, I take issue with the sentence: “Israel’s response was triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas militants in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 taken hostage.” Israel’s “response,” as you write, did not start on October 7th. For decades, Palestinians have been under violent occupation, dispossession, and ethnic cleansing by Zionist militias, starting with the Nakba where more than 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their lands. I have serious concerns with The Sudbury Star disregarding the Palestinian narrative and only beginning the timeline from October 7th.
- Prior to October 7thand for nearly 20 years, Israel and Egypt have regulated all air, land, and sea borders of the Gaza strip, restricting the number and types of goods permitted to enter and exit.
- This blockade on both goods and people has strangled Gaza’s economy and collectively punished Palestinians living in Gaza. For this reason, many human rights NGO’s have referred to Gaza as an “open-air prison.”
To say that Israel’s response was triggered on Oct. 7 and failing to mention the decades of Israel’s brutal occupation of Palestine preceding it is inaccurate and misleading. I, therefore, recommend that you add context regarding Israel’s decades of brutal occupation of Palestine and begin this problematic sentence, instead, with “Israel’s most recent escalation of its military invasion and occupation of Gaza was in response to Oct. 7, when Hamas…”
I hope The Sudbury Star takes my edits into consideration now and in future reporting on the genocide in Gaza in the name of reporting accurately and fairly.
Sincerely,
Lynn Naji
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East