"Absenting Palestinian perspectives from issues that directly affect them reinforces the idea that they are untrustworthy, or worse, dispensable."
Dear Editor,
Your article characterises the “bubble zone” recently voted in by Toronto City Council as “controversial,” and cites TMU’s James Turk on its negative impact to freedom of speech and democracy in Canada. But while you quote a pro-bubble Jewish councillor and the spokesperson for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, you interview no one from the Palestinian community or from groups such as Jews Say No to Genocide, which are targeted by the bylaw, and which the Toronto Star sought out for comment following principles of balance in journalism.
Absenting Palestinian perspectives from issues that directly affect them reinforces the idea that they are untrustworthy, or worse, dispensable. This is when the world’s leading bodies on human rights and international law condemn Israel for its system of racist apartheid, illegal occupation, and now a deliberately murderous campaign of ethnic cleansing in Palestine. Your snub is a quintessential illustration of anti-Palestine racism.
Sincerely,
Richard Fung