"This is not merely an Israeli “counteroffensive” on the occupied Gaza Strip. Israel has been waging a year of genocide. Please name it as such, or at the very least, refrain from perpetuating euphemistic language that downplays Israel’s one-year of brutal attacks and violence on Gaza."
October 8, 2024
To:
Samantha Wright Allen, Digital editor, The Hill Times
Kate Malloy, Editor-in-Chief, The Hill Times
Dear Ms. Allen and Ms. Malloy,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) to express concerns regarding the article titled: “So much pain, and there’s been no winners’: MPs mark Oct. 7 anniversary.”
First, I am concerned by the word-choice in the statement: “In recent weeks, Israel’s counteroffensive has expanded to Lebanon where Iran-backed Hezbollah has been launching attacks, sparking fears of an escalating regional conflict.”
Referring to the genocide in Gaza as a "counter-offensive" is not merely misleading; it is an egregious euphemism that journalists should avoid. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world’s highest court, has ruled that it is plausible that Israel's actions could constitute genocide and has established six provisional measures. These measures compel Israel to take all necessary actions to prevent genocidal acts, including stopping and penalizing incitement to genocide, ensuring that aid and services reach Palestinians under siege in Gaza, and preserving evidence of crimes committed in Gaza.
Labelling Israel’s genocide in Gaza as a “counter-offensive” diminishes the suffering Palestinians have been facing for an entire year. For an entire year, we have been witnessing Israel bombing civilian residential neighborhoods and schools, which is illegal under international law.
Merriam-Webster defines a "counteroffensive" as “a large-scale military offensive undertaken by a force previously on the defensive.” While one might argue that Israel was on the defensive for a single day on October 7, this assertion overlooks the decades of Israel’s brutal occupation of Gaza and near-immediate recovery of strong defenses by October 8. For decades, Israel has subjected Gaza to a suffocating blockade lasting 16 years. For decades, Israeli settlers have been looting and setting Palestinians aflame. For decades, Israel has been forcibly expelling Palestinians from their own homeland. Israel’s brutal military actions have turned Gaza into the world’s largest open-air prison, resulting in limited military capabilities and severe economic suffering. Therefore, even if one accepts the notion that Israel was on the “defensive” for a single day, the criteria for labeling subsequent actions as a counteroffensive must be questioned, especially in light of the ICJ's ruling on the plausibility of genocide. Ultimately, continuing to use this type of language editorializes the situation for your readers in a way that takes a side and undermines impartiality.
This is not merely an Israeli “counteroffensive” on the occupied Gaza Strip. Israel has been waging a year of genocide. Please name it as such, or at the very least, refrain from perpetuating euphemistic language that downplays Israel’s one-year of brutal attacks and violence on Gaza. I propose a more accurate phrasing: “In recent weeks, Israel’s genocide on the occupied Gaza Strip has expanded to Lebanon where Iran-backed Hezbollah has been launching attacks, sparking fears of an escalating regional conflict.”
Second, I take issue with your reliance on B'nai Brith’s report to show the rising trend of antisemitism. B’nai Brith’s report is not reliable as there are discrepancies between B'nai Brith's figures and other sources , such as the data collected by Global News. While B'nai Brith's 2023 report claimed 5,791 documented acts of violence, harassment, and vandalism aimed at Jews, an investigation by Global News found significantly fewer incidents when examining police data from seven major Canadian cities. Global News reported 465 antisemitic incidents in these cities, highlighting a vast difference between the two sources' figures. Such a discrepancy raises concerns about the methodology and accuracy of B'nai Brith's reporting.
This concern is not new. Scholars such as Robert Brym from the University of Toronto and Rhona Lenton from York University have highlighted this issue. Their study of B’nai Brith’s 2022 report points out that it “lumps together under the rubric of antisemitism actions that are antisemitic with various types of action that are critical of Israel,” urging readers to “temper our alarm” over the findings. Here are three examples of the conflation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism in the 2021 and 2022 B’nai Brith reports.
- 2021: Labeling criticism of Israel as antisemitic. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have labeled Israel’s policies as apartheid, not antisemitic.
- 2022: Misidentifying a flag. The reported “ISIS flag” translates to: “There is none worthy of worship except Allah (God), and that the prophet Mohammad is the messenger of Allah.”
- 2022: Mislabelling graffiti with a Palestinian flag and the phrase “Palestine—from the river to the sea”. This phrase is a common expression of Palestinian liberation.
It is neither fair nor responsible for Canadian media to uncritically repeat B’nai Brith’s unfounded allegations against human rights activists and others who support Palestinian rights. I, therefore, urge you to revise this article to clarify that B’nai Brith’s audit conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. This crucial distinction must also be incorporated into future reporting to prevent perpetuating the harmful and inaccurate conflation between antisemitism and anti-Zionism.
I await your prompt response and expect to see the necessary changes made in the interest of accurate reporting.
Sincerely,
Lynn Naji
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East