"I request that you revise this section, rejecting racist language that rationalizes violence against civilians."
May 30, 2025
Dylan Robertson, Journalist, The Canadian Press
Andrea Baillie, Editor-in-Chief, The Canadian Press
Tim Cook, Managing Editor, The Canadian Press
Matt Goerzen, Managing Editor, The Brandon Sun
Dear Canadian Press and Brandon Sun newsrooms,
I am writing to your team to express my appreciation for your coverage of orthopedic surgeon Deirdre Nunan and other physician witnesses in Gaza demanding that Canada halt all military trade with Israel.
I was, however, surprised that the article uncritically repeats Israel’s claims that its actions in Gaza are “meant to stop a threat posed by Hamas,” and that there exists “a campaign of disinformation serving terrorists” by international organizations. These would, I suppose, include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, and the International Criminal Court, which has issued a warrant for the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes.
This week even former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wrote of the death and destruction in Gaza, “[I]t's the result of government policy – knowingly, evilly, maliciously, irresponsibly dictated. Yes, Israel is committing war crimes.” (https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-05-27/ty-article-opinion/.premium/enough-is-enough-israel-is-committing-war-crimes/00000197-0dd6-df85-a197-0ff64a5c0000).
I was also disturbed by this paragraph: “On Tuesday, Palestinians were required to line up in pens monitored by armed contractors, but they rushed a food-distribution site. Israeli troops opened fire, injuring dozens. On Wednesday, hundreds stormed a UN food warehouse in Gaza, and hospital officials said four died in the chaos.”
The UN’s humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher has said people in Gaza are being subject to forced starvation by Israel. The BBC reports that the newly created US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) “has been roundly condemned and boycotted by aid agencies and the UN.”
According to Francesca Albanese, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, on May 27, thousands of Palestinians flocked toward the distribution site after several days without food: “Within hours, horrifying images and videos emerged from Gaza demonstrating how this mechanism functions and how the Israeli army fired on unarmed Palestinian civilians.” Yet, your account blames unarmed hungry Palestinians for their own victimization.
The Israeli government is knowingly starving the population in a campaign of ethnic cleansing. The purpose of the bombardments, as Benjamin Netanyahu has articulated, is to impel the emigration of Palestinians from Gaza. “Our problem is [finding] countries that are willing to absorb Gazans, and we are working on it.”
I request that you revise this section, rejecting racist language that rationalizes violence against civilians.
I await your response,
Sincerely,
Richard Fung