On May 17, 2023, journalist Dylan Robertson of the Canadian Press published a developing story about lawmakers at an event for the 75th anniversary of the creation of Israel. CJPME reached out to Robertson to request that they incorporate additional information on the Palestinian narrative, including recent statements by politicians on the 75th anniversary of the Nakba. Later that day, the story was updated to include significant additional information, including the following excerpt:
Earlier this week, Canada followed many western countries in not attending a Monday event at the United Nations commemorating what it characterized as the forced displacement of Palestinians at the founding of Israel, called the Nakba, which is Arabic for “catastrophe.” Global Affairs Canada has not responded to questions about why its delegation did not attend.
Some 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from or fled what is now called Israel during the wars that followed the UN’s partition of what was then British-controlled Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states in 1947. Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, while neighbouring Arab countries launched a war in opposition to the partition plan. […]
In the House of Commons earlier this month, Liberal MP Ruby Sahota and NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice had both called on Ottawa to mark the Nakba.
The new updates reflected developments that CJPME has been vocal about, including Canada’s decision to boycott the UN’s Nakba event and the Nakba Day statements by MP Boulerice and MP Sahota.