The article is one-sided. It quotes Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada at length, in three separate passages, and closes with a direct quote from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), a pro-Israel lobby group. No pro-Palestinian perspective is included anywhere in the piece. This is unbalanced reporting.
To:
Dan Laxer, Reporter, The Suburban
Jennifer Cox, Editor, The Suburban
Dear Mr. Laxer and Ms. Cox,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to express our concerns regarding the article "City of Montreal approves motion, removes 'genocide,' 'apartheid,' and cutting ties with Israel", published in The Suburban on August 25, 2026, regarding Projet Montréal's anti-apartheid motion.
The article is one-sided. It quotes Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada at length, in three separate passages, and closes with a direct quote from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), a pro-Israel lobby group. No pro-Palestinian perspective is included anywhere in the piece. This is unbalanced reporting.
In the interest of balanced reporting, the article should have included other perspectives as well. A pro-Palestinian perspective was readily available: the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) issued a public statement on August 25, 2026, the same day the motion passed, noting that the original motion had "earned unprecedented mass support," with over 1,000 Quebec artists, major unions including the CCMM-CSN, and organizations such as Amnesty International Canada publicly calling on the city to adopt it. PYM further stated that the amendments passed "stripped the motion of its core provisions," removing explicit recognition of apartheid and genocide and offering no concrete actions.
In the interest of balanced reporting, future coverage of this motion and related issues should include a pro-Palestinian perspective alongside the perspectives already featured.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Meghan Raza
Media Advocate, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East