The article would lead readers to believe that the conflict started with the Hamas attack of October 2023.
To the Toronto Star newsroom,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East to express my thanks for your article, despite some of my issues with the framing of the story.
Although the article recounts the recent shift in the Canadian stance and that of the European Union and other nations, who are finally speaking out against the Gaza famine, its framing consistently fails to distinguish between the documented findings of international bodies that in contravention of international law, Israel is deploying starvation as a weapon of war, and unsupported assertions by Israeli spokespeople that attempt to evade responsibility. According to CAJ ethics, journalists must “distinguish between assertions and facts.”
This article abundantly fails to do so. Israel has also not “failed to prevent the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” It has engineered this
crisis in order to accomplish its ongoing campaign to expand its borders and ethnically cleanse the occupied territories. This was illustrated once again in this week’s Knesset vote to annex the West Bank (which so far has gone unreported in the Star). The article would lead readers to believe that the conflict started with the Hamas attack of
October 2023. The conflict began with the expulsion of half the indigenous Palestinian population in 1948 and Israel’ refusal to allow them to return to their homes. And while the
piece quotes western leaders such as Carney, Macron and Starmer, it fails to include any voices of Palestinians or aid workers on the ground.
Sincerely
Tim McCaskell
Toronto
416-534-2799