The Media Accountability Project  

"Your article partakes in undermining how controversial and racist her comments were by using the words: “pre-1948 Israel.” The land to which you are referring is Palestine, both from a modern-day perspective and a historical perspective. By describing this territory as “pre-1948 Israel,” you are erasing the history of Palestinians and their land and, therefore, reinforcing Robinson’s harmful anti-Palestinian comments."

"Naturally, not being able to list their actual place of birth is an upsetting and distressing experience for Palestinians.  Good journalism on this news development would have explored the trauma experienced by the Palestinian community and the controversial nature of Immigration Canada’s approach to this question."

On February 28, CJPME learned that the Waterloo Region Record made corrections to an article following a CJPME complaint. This article was about the escalation of anti-Palestinian racism in schools within the Waterloo Region School District. Despite the subject of the article– the prominence of APR– being highly appreciated by CJPME, there were a couple of instances of anti-Palestinian racism subtly embedded within it.

Initially, the article read:

The overall Palestinian death toll from the war in Gaza has now surpassed 28,000, according to reports from the Health Ministry in Gaza this week. This comes after Hamas militants killed about 1,200 Israelis and foreigners on Oct. 7, and abducted around 250 people, mostly civilians.

After complaining to the author and editor that this paragraph dehumanizes Palestinians by using active language for Israelis and not Palestinians, as well as not citing Israel as the source of information for the Israeli death toll, Waterloo Region Record edited the paragraph to:

Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 28,000 Palestinians, according to reports from the Health Ministry in Gaza this week. This comes after Hamas militants killed about 1,200 Israelis and foreigners on Oct. 7, and abducted around 250 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials. 

In one of their paragraphs, Williams wrote: “Since the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict began in October…” Given the fact that the “conflict” did not begin in October and the word “conflict” falsely implies a power symmetry between the two parties involved, CJPME recommended that the beginning of this sentence simply be amended to “Since Oct. 7.” Now, the sentence reads: “Since Oct. 7, the Coalition of Muslim Women of K-W has been documenting the rise in specific anti-Palestine racism in the school board.”

We appreciate both Waterloo Region Record’s response to our complaints and their willingness to publish articles regarding anti-Palestinian racism and strategies to combat it with the Waterloo Region School District.  

"Thank you for including this information in your article, for it further contextualizes Robinson’s comments as a form of anti-Palestinian racism. This article was thoughtful, well-researched, and, most importantly, showed a prioritization of pro-Palestinian perspectives, all of which contribute to good journalism. Please continue to do so."

On February 19, CJPME learned that CTV News corrected an article following several CJPME complaints. This article was about Selina Robinson’s resignation following her racist comments about Palestine.

The article introduced Selina Robinson’s comments as being about “the region where Israel was founded,” which clearly erases the history of Palestinians and their land. While we initially asked them to describe Robinson’s comments as a reference to Palestine– instead of “the region on which Israel was founded” – they opted to remove “the region.” The sentence now reads: “The B.C. NDP’s minister of post-secondary education is stepping down from her cabinet position, days after sparking widespread outrage by saying Israel was founded on a “crappy piece of land with nothing on it.” Although this is not the edit CJPME was hoping for, we recognize CTV’s attempt. Moreover, the article stated that calls for her resignation were made by “pro-Palestinian groups and others,” but omits any mention of the other groups that supported her resignation. CTV has since added the Jewish Faculty Network to its list of groups in support of her resignation.

Albeit small, these changes mark a small win for CJPME. This article was initially published on February 5^th, and a letter expressing our concerns was promptly emailed on February 6^th. Lacking a response from the author/editors, CJPME launched a MAP Alert for our media responders on February 12^th.  Disappointed by CTV’s continued unresponsiveness, we sent another email on February 15 asking that they promptly make the initially requested edits.

"You report that the Palestinian death toll is “according to” the Health Ministry in Gaza but subsequently state the Israeli death toll without acknowledging the entity that has reported this information. For the sake of reporting these death tolls in the same manner, please specify that 1,200 Israelis have been killed according to Israel or remove 'according to reports from the Health Ministry in Gaza this week'."

Thank you for reporting on updates of district policy to address concerns of anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia. The news segment’s use of the term “anti-Palestinian racism” (APR) is particularly appreciated, as mainstream media tends to conflate racism against Palestinians with Islamophobia, which erases Palestinian identity and perpetuates the generalization of Arab populations. 

"Your article fails to outline how and why her comments are particularly racist and harmful from the get-go. You only quote Naomi Klein and Hani Faris at the complete end of the article. It would be helpful for readers to move these paragraphs to place them under the first paragraph to further contextualize how Robinson’s comments are anti-Palestinian."

"Her claim that the land was “crappy” and had “nothing on it” perpetuates a key feature of Zionist political discourse: asserting that Palestine was a “land without a People for a People without a Land” and, therefore, ideal for the creation of the state of Israel. I would recommend adding this information to your article, as it helps further contextualize how Robinson’s comments are anti-Palestinian."

"By describing this territory as “the area inhabited by Palestinians,” you are erasing the existence and history of Palestine and, therefore, reinforcing Robinson’s harmful anti-Palestinian comments. Please replace 'the area inhabited by Palestinians' with 'Palestine'."