"While Hezbollah maintains an armed wing outside the authority of the Lebanese state, describing it simply as unelected obscures its role as both a political and military actor within Lebanon's complex political landscape."
Dear Toronto Star Editorial Team,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) regarding Martin Regg Cohn's June 12 opinion piece, "West Bank's plight lost in Mideast conflict."
Mr. Cohn deserves credit for drawing attention to the escalating violence faced by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. However, several claims in the article misrepresent important facts and ultimately weaken the analysis.
First, Mr. Cohn describes Hezbollah as an unelected force sabotaging the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel. Whatever one's views of Hezbollah, this characterization is inaccurate. Hezbollah participates in Lebanon's political system through its parliamentary bloc and holds elected seats in the Lebanese Parliament. While Hezbollah maintains an armed wing outside the authority of the Lebanese state, describing it simply as unelected obscures its role as both a political and military actor within Lebanon's complex political landscape.This section needs to be corrected.
Second, the article claims that "Israel withdrew from Gaza nearly a quarter-century ago." This is factually and legally incorrect.While Israel redeployed its ground troops and removed settlements in 2005, international law dictates that the status of an occupation depends on "effective control," not a permanent troop presence. Prior to October 2023, Israel maintained continuous, exclusive control over Gaza’s airspace, territorial waters, land crossings, electricity grid, and population registry. Because of this, a comprehensive consensus of international authorities which includes the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UN General Assembly, the European Union, the International Criminal Court (ICC), Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, have maintained that Gaza has remained occupied Palestinian territory since 1967.
Furthermore, since October 2023, Israel has re-established full ground troop presence and imposed a total siege. Any lingering legal debates regarding "effective control" prior to this period are now entirely moot. By all recognized definitions, Gaza is occupied.
This distinction carries immense weight because occupying powers bear strict humanitarian and legal obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
This exact journalistic misstep was recently addressed by the CBC Ombud regarding the broadcaster's claim that the occupation of Gaza "ended" in 2005. The Ombud ruled that such language failed to meet the criteria for accuracy under CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices. As a leading Canadian institution, the Toronto Star should adhere to the same standard of accuracy and correct this mischaracterization.
Given the critical omissions in this column regarding international law and the ongoing legal status of the occupation, I demand that the Toronto Star publish an Editor’s Note at the top or bottom of the online article to provide readers with the necessary context.
Without these clarification, the piece fundamentally misinforms readers on how Hezbollah operates, and Israel’s occupation of Gaza.I await your response,
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Media Analyst
