"The present article reads like a summary of the CAM report with some quantum leaps in applying the data and conclusions without adequate description of the source of the data and the assumptions made in analyzing it. Surely future opinion pieces will have better standards than that."
May 27, 2025
Dear Mr. Kinsella and Ms. Batra,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) regarding the article Vast majority of antisemitism coming from far-left, report finds that was published on May 26, 2025.
I can appreciate this is an opinion piece. However, even op-eds must be "based in fact" and this article fails that standard, because it is based in bias and sweeping assumptions based on extremely flawed data.
The data collected by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) is both unreliable and biased. Not only was the data collected from self-reported incidents of antisemitism but examination of the categories used to classify the incidents show that the largest number (72%) were related to “… language or actions accusing Israel of being inherently racist, committing genocide, or maintaining apartheid”.
There are a growing number of international organizations using the words genocide and apartheid to describe the behaviour of the government of Israel. It is misleading to the reader to conflate criticism of Zionism and the behavior of Israel as antisemitic.
Furthermore, the article uses ‘far-left’ and ‘Islamic extremists’ without defining either of those terms and then concludes that the two groups have joined forces since October 7. All of this again based on data and conclusions from the CAM report.
The present article reads like a summary of the CAM report with some quantum leaps in applying the data and conclusions without adequate description of the source of the data and the assumptions made in analyzing it. Surely future opinion pieces will have better standards than that.
Sincerely,
Debbie Hubbard
CJPME: Okanagan
Kelowna, British Columbia