"A project close to my heart has been raising awareness about the difference between Palestinian prisoners and detainees, and the need for media outlets to provide essential context on Israel’s abhorrent policy of administrative detention."
July 21, 2025
To the CityNews Toronto Newsroom,
I am writing from Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East regarding the short news segment published on July 20, 2025 titled: “Dozens killed after Israeli forces open fire on people seeking food in Gaza.”
I would like to thank you for this balanced news segment that raises questions about the US and Israeli backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that is essentially a death trap for Palestinians seeking aid in the besieged occupied Gaza Strip. I especially appreciated that you mentioned towards the end that part of the ceasefire negotiations involves Israel’s release of Palestinian detainees.
A project close to my heart has been raising awareness about the difference between Palestinian prisoners and detainees, and the need for media outlets to provide essential context on Israel’s abhorrent policy of administrative detention.
For some context, administrative detention allows Israel to detain Palestinians for renewable periods of up to six months, based on secret evidence withheld from both the detainee and their lawyer . If Israeli officials believe that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that the same reasons “still require the retention of the detainee in detention”, they are able to extend the original order for an additional six-month period “from time to time.” There is no limit on the overall time that a person can be held in administrative detention, so the detention can be extended over and over. This means that Palestinians can spend months or even years in prison without ever knowing the accusations against them or having the chance to contest their detention in a fair trial.
Even for Palestinians who do face trial, Israel’s military courts are heavily biased, consistently ruling against them and serving as tools to uphold an apartheid system that continues to dispossess and dehumanize them in an ongoing Nakba. One such case is that of Ahmad Mansara, a Palestinian political prisoner from Beir Hanina in occupied Jerusalem. In 2015, at just thirteen years old, Ahmad was arrested over accusations that he was involved in a stabbing carried out by his cousin in Pisgat Ze’ev—an illegal settlement built in occupied Jerusalem. Although he harmed no one, an Israeli military court convicted him of attempted murder and sentenced him to nine and a half years in prison. His confinement has been repeatedly extended, and since 2021, he has spent 23 hours a day in solitary confinement.
This is why your use of the term detainees instead of prisoner is so important. The word prisoner implies a lawful conviction following due process—yet thousands of Palestinians, including children, activists, and journalists, are held indefinitely without charge or trial in inhumane conditions.
If I may; however, draw your attention to one issue: the headline fails to name who was killed—dozens of Palestinians, which risks erasing the Palestinian identity of victims. Balanced reporting requires naming both the victims and the perpetrators.
I kindly ask that the the headline be amended to: “Dozens of Palestinians killed after Israeli forces open fire on civilians seeking food in Gaza.”
Thank you for your overall balanced reporting and I await your response.
Kind regards,
Lynn Naji
Media Analyst
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East