"Your headline makes it seem like Hezbollah is behind the killing of 12 children in the Occupied Golan Heights when it has denied it is behind the attack as you mentioned in your 9th paragraph. As many experts have already indicated, it would make no sense for Hezbollah to launch an attack on the Golan Heights when it is an occupied Syrian territory by Israel since 1967, and Hezbollah has been an ally of Assad’s Syria."
July 29, 2024
To:
Mark Mackinnon, Senior International Correspondent, Globe and Mail
David Walmsley, Editor-in-Chief, Globe and Mail
Sandra E. Martin, Standards Editor, Globe and Mail
Dear Mark Mackinnon, David Walmsley, and Sandra E. Martin,
I’m writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to express our concerns regarding the article: “Israel vows to make Hezbollah pay after rocket kills 12 children,” published on July 28, 2024, on Globe and Mail.
Although there are several issues in your article, there are two main issues that I would like to focus on.
First, your headline is misleading.
Your headline reads: “Israel vows to make Hezbollah pay after rocket kills 12 children.”
Your headline makes it seem like Hezbollah is behind the killing of 12 children in the Occupied Golan Heights when it has denied it is behind the attack, as you mentioned in your 9th paragraph. As many experts have already indicated, it would make no sense for Hezbollah to launch an attack on the Golan Heights when it is an occupied Syrian territory by Israel since 1967, and Hezbollah has been an ally of Assad’s Syria. Several eyewitnesses have claimed that they saw the Iron Dome misfire and cause the destruction. Others have claimed that the missile was likely a misfire by Hezbollah and fell on the camp accidentally. In any case, the exact facts are in dispute, and it is irresponsible to run a headline that sloppily assigns responsibility to Hezbollah.
I, therefore, ask you to change your headline to make it more accurate and less misleading. I suggest the following headline: Israel vows to attack Lebanon after a rocket kills 12 children in the Israeli-Occupied Golan Heights.
Second, you do not accurately describe the status of the Golan Heights.
The caption of your picture reads: “In the village of Majdal Shams at the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights on July 28, 2024.”
You write: “Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the strike but acknowledged targeting a nearby Israeli base on Saturday in the Golan Heights, which Israel seized and annexed from Syria in a 1967 war.”
The Golan Heights can not be accurately described as controlled, seized, or annexed by Israel. They have been occupied by Israel since 1967. Canadian foreign policy even recognizes Israel’s presence in the Golan Heights as an “occupation.” Global Affairs Canada explicitly states, “Canada does not recognize permanent Israeli control over territories occupied in 1967 (the Golan Heights, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip).[1] Simply put, Israel’s attempt at annexing the Golan Heights is not recognized by the international community, including many of Israel’s closest allies.
I, therefore, ask you to change the words “controlled,” “seized,” and “annexed” to “occupied” to accurately describe the status of the Golan Heights and make more sense with Canada’s foreign policy.
As a closing statement, I would like to point out that Hezbollah denying the responsibility for the attack is buried in the article. It is only mentioned after nine paragraphs when it should be clarified early on.
A lot of essential background information is also omitted in your article, which makes it one-sided and more complaisant with the Israeli side of the story when it is the opposite:
- The 12 children who were killed are Syrian Druze and do not have and refuse to get Israeli citizenship
- The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to arrange a meeting with the victims’ families, but they refused to meet with him.
- A video shows one Syrian Druze from Majdal Shams preventing Israeli ministers from attending the funeral of the 12 children killed in the attack, and one person is filmed shouting, “Get out of here, you criminal, we don’t want you in the Golan.”
Please consider providing the essential information at the start of your article, as not doing so indicates prejudice to one side of the story.
I hope that Globe and Mail will make these changes and not conceal essential elements of context when reporting on the escalation between Israel and Lebanon.
Sincerely,
Fatima Haidar
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East