"First, I note that your article does not provide a link to an account of Hamas attacking an aid convoy. If you have compelling, independent evidence of any such attack by Hamas, please provide a link for it. Otherwise, please remove the assertion as it would be inaccurate and/or unsupported."
July 19, 2024
To:
Nancy Waugh, Managing Editor, CBC News
Dear Ms. Waugh,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East to express concerns about the CBC article titled: “U.S. shutters problem-plagued temporary aid pier in Gaza, claiming mission accomplished” published on July 17, 2024.
I find this sentence particularly problematic: “Aid groups also were terrorized by attacks, from Hamas, gunmen who stripped convoys of supplies and the Israeli military.”
First, I note that your article does not provide a link to an account of Hamas attacking an aid convoy. If you have compelling, independent evidence of any such attack by Hamas, please provide a link for it. Otherwise, please remove the assertion as it would be inaccurate and/or unsupported.
Second, the United Nations defines “terrorism” as criminal acts against civilians with the purpose to “intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing an act.” If indeed Hamas or unidentified gunmen have stolen aid, it would not be for any political purpose, but rather to feed starving people. As such, the characterization of such attacks being by nature “terror” would be inaccurate. Thus, please correct this sentence, such that the modifier “terror” not longer applies to “Hamas” or “gunmen.”
Israeli attacks on aid convoys can be labelled as terrorist, as there are multiple instances where Israeli leaders have called for the restriction of aid to Palestinians with the express intent of pressuring Palestinian leaders to capitulate politically in some fashion.
Please make the modifications I suggests above, and consider them in future reporting.
Sincerely,
Thomas Woodley, MPA, President, CJPME