Please take a moment to explain to the Globe and Mail why this opinion piece is disrespectful and out-of-touch. Since we’ve included the email for submitting letters to the editor, you may consider writing your letter such that it could be published in the letters section. The Globe and Mail asks for letters fewer than 150 words and to include your name, address, and daytime phone number.
Poor coverage - Media outlet to be critiqued
A CJPME Media Researcher has launched a media alert for the following article. Please submit a quick response to the media, even if it’s just a sentence or two:
Title of Piece: Robyn Urback "Aaron Bushnell’s self-immolation was a tragedy."
Media Outlet: Globe and Mail
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Comments of the CJPME Media Researcher:
(Note: Please do not copy and paste the material below as the content to your message to the media - put all comments in your own words):
In the past week, Canadian Media outlets have attempted to undermine Aaron Bushnell’s self-immolation in front of the Israeli embassy as a legitimate form of protest. In this op-ed, Urback argues that Bushnell was too far removed from Palestine to justifiably engage in such an extreme protest and makes other outright offensive claims. Please take a moment to explain to the Globe and Mail why this opinion piece is disrespectful and out-of-touch. Since we’ve included the email for submitting letters to the editor, you may consider writing your letter such that it could be published in the letters section. The Globe and Mail asks for letters fewer than 150 words and to include your name, address, and daytime phone number.
- This is the ONLY article that the G&M published in its print edition regarding Aaron Bushnell’s self-immolation, and it's entirely dimissive.
- Urback argues that what separates Bushnell’s protest from other well-known cases of self-immolation is his detachment from the oppressed group for which he is advocating. Further, she denounces people learning about atrocities “somewhere else in the world” and deciding it’s a cause “worth dying for.” Ultimatley, she insinuates that his protest on behalf of another group was inappropriate. Dismissing Bushnell’s personal connection to the human suffering in Palestine perpetuates the isolationist view that people of privilege in the West needn’t worry about violence against people of colour in distant countries.
- The article includes several offensive comments that undermine Aaron Bushnell’s extreme act of protest. In one case, she writes that Bushnell “died publicly and horrifically, and he will soon be forgotten…”
- Urback claims that Mr. Bushnell “had no apparent personal connection to Palestine or its people,” even though he was an active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force.
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