Palestinians are "detained" by Israel, they are not "prisoners"

"It is as if Reuters is randomly choosing which term to use each time. This inconsistency is not a minor linguistic issue—it reinforces the inaccurate narrative that all Palestinians in Israeli custody are convicted criminals, when in reality, many are held without charge or trial and cannot be considered “prisoners” according to the normal definition."


January 30, 2025

To:

Nancy Waugh, Managing Editor, CBC News

Brodie Fenlon, Editor-in-Chief, CBC News

Chris Brown, Foreign correspondent, CBC News

To the CBC Newsroom,

On behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, I am writing to raise concerns about the misleading language used in a January 30, 2025 Reuters article published by CBC News titled “Israel delays prisoner release after chaotic handover of 8 hostages. 

The article inconsistently refers to Palestinians detained by Israel as both “prisoners” and “detainees”, creating a misleading portrayal of their legal status. For example, the subheading states: 

“Expected release of some 110 Palestinian detainees paused, buses instructed to return to prisons.”

 However, the opening sentence then refers to Palestinians as prisoners:

Hamas handed over three Israelis and five Thai hostages in Gaza on Thursday, but Israel delayed the expected release of Palestinian prisoners after chaotic scenes at one of the handover points, where large crowds swarmed around the captives.” 

Later in the article, the term “detainees” reappears:

“An Israeli official involved in the operation said buses carrying the detainees had been instructed to return to prisons in an apparent response to the chaotic handover.”

It is as if Reuters is randomly choosing which term to use each time. This inconsistency is not a minor linguistic issue—it reinforces the inaccurate narrative that all Palestinians in Israeli custody are convicted criminals, when in reality, many are held without charge or trial and cannot be considered “prisoners” according to the normal definition.

Why does this distinction matter?

Many Palestinians in Israeli custody are held under administrative detention, a practice that violates international human rights law—specifically, Article 9(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a legally binding UN treaty ratified by Israel in 1991:

Article 9(1): “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedures as are established by law.”

Administrative detention allows Israeli authorities to detain Palestinians indefinitely without charge or trial, based on secret evidence not disclosed to the detainee or their lawyer. According to Amnesty International:

“Israel has systematically used administrative detention as a tool to persecute Palestinians, rather than as an extraordinary and selectively used preventative measure.”

This means that many Palestinian detainees are not prisoners in the conventional sense. They are being arbitrarily detained, often without due process, which means referring to them as “prisoners” is not only misleading but, arguably, factually incorrect. 

CBC recognizes the complexity of these terms, as seen in its article “Hostage, prisoner or detainee? In the latest Israel-Hamas exchange, it's not always clear.” Such an article deals with these critical questions. Reuters should also make sure its reporting includes some reference to this nuance. If Reuters is not willing to acknowledge this essential information in its reporting, CBC should intervene in Reuters content and add some acknowledgement of this issue.

Misrepresenting the legal status of detained Palestinians risks reinforcing misleading narratives and obscuring the broader context of Israel’s military occupation in which, as Amnesty International concluded, systematically uses administrative detention to suppress Palestinian aspirations for liberation.

As a public broadcaster committed to fair, accurate, and balanced reporting, CBC has a responsibility to uphold clarity and accuracy in its coverage as outlined by their journalistic standards.

Warm regards,

Lynn Naji

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East