This passage omits important key context. Students in Canada and all across North America organized encampments to demand that their universities divest from weapons manufacturers and companies complicit in Israel’s genocide. These are the same companies that produce parts for F-35 fighter jets used in the bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza. This context is critical for readers to understand why encampments happened in the first place.
To the CBC News newsroom,
I am writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East regarding your article titled: “In pictures: How the war in Gaza has resonated on the streets of Montreal.”
First, the article states that:
“An independent commission out of the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner found in a report last month that Israel’s actions in Gaza since the Oct. 7 attacks amounted to genocide — an accusation pro-Palestinian protesters have echoed repeatedly in the last two years.”
It’s refreshing to see the CBC adding the important context that the UN Commissioner found that Israel’s extermination campaign against the people of Gaza amounts to genocide, concluding that Israel has been subjugating Palestinians into conditions that bring about their calculated physical destruction.
However, I would like to offer one piece of constructive feedback: it would be more accurate to say “conclusion” rather than “accusation.” An accusation implies speculation or lack of factual grounding, whereas the Commission’s finding is grounded in documented evidence and reflects the legal definition of genocide. Referring to it as a conclusion in this case is therefore both fairer and more precise.
Second, the article notes that
“Protesters demanded that McGill divest from companies with ties to Israel, following in the steps of students who had done the same across the U.S. in the months prior.”
This passage omits important key context. Students in Canada and all across North America organized encampments to demand that their universities divest from weapons manufacturers and companies complicit in Israel’s genocide. These are the same companies that produce parts for F-35 fighter jets used in the bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza. This context is critical for readers to understand why encampments happened in the first place. Please add the demands of the students.
Third, the article mentions that
“Shortly after the two-year anniversary, Israel and Hamas both approved a plan for a ceasefire, setting the stage for an exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners in the coming days. Israel had said it believed 48 hostages were still in Gaza, including 20 who were alive. Desperately needed aid is expected to flow into Gaza.”
There is a double standard and lack of context in this passage.
While it is mentioned that 48 Israeli hostages were released as part of phase one of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, it fails to mention that the same agreement included the release of around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Israeli prisons. Even more troubling is the omission of the grave human rights abuses that Palestinians are subjected to in Israeli prisons: conditions that amount to systematic torture, psychological terror, and dehumanization. Detainees are routinely beaten, denied medical and hygienic care, and held in solitary confinement. One recently released Palestinian detainee testified:
“They allowed us to go to the bathroom once every two months. We used to urinate in our clothes, and we only had the clothes we were wearing. They gave us a vest every six months, and every single day they tortured us physically in every possible way. They put us in solitary cells measuring half a square meter in area and one and a half meters in height, leaving us there for weeks.”
I kindly ask this necessary context to be added; otherwise, it is one-sided.
Thank you for your attention to these matters and I await your response.
Lynn Naji
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East