The Media Accountability Project  

I urge the Western Standard to revisit the framing of this article and to ensure that future reporting does not misconstrue basic equity and inclusion practices as suspicious, nor stigmatize employees for their identity, their community advocacy, or their efforts to address systemic inequities in the workplace. This is not responsible journalism. It is fear-mongering.

On December 8^th, 2025, one of our media advocates responded to an article written by the Western Standard titled: “RCMP employee linked to Palestinian activist network raises questions over political influence.”

Our main issue was with the framing of the article. Rather than reporting on legitimate workplace inclusion efforts, the piece manufactures suspicion around a Muslim RCMP employee for participating in an internal volunteer network - a network that allegedly supports Muslim staff, identifies anti-Palestinian racism, and promotes balanced representation of Palestinian perspectives.

These are standard equity and diversity practices across the federal public service; yet we argued that the article presents them as politically threatening by suggesting there is “scrutiny over political advocacy within Canada’s national police force.”

According to the Arab-Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA), anti-Palestinian racism includes conduct that “silences, excludes, erases, stereotypes, defames or dehumanizes Palestinians or their narratives.” By portraying basic inclusion work and calls for fair representation of Palestinians and religious minorities as warning signs of “political influence,” the article contributes to the silencing and stigmatization of Palestinian and Muslim employees. In doing so, we argued that the piece participates not only in Islamophobia but also in anti-Palestinian racism. This is not responsible journalism. It is fear-mongering.

The complaint was published as a letter to the editor here. 

I find it alarming that China’s efforts, in the context of Palestine’s international relations, would be framed around promoting “authoritarian government.” The paragraph paints a portrait of a clash of civilians between an ‘authoritarian’ boogey-man and the “Western-led democratic world order.” 

Zivo claims that “Israel is a bastion of LGBTQ acceptance in a region that otherwise beats, executes and imprisons queer people.” It is quite ironic that Zivo’s concerns for LGBTQ rights do not extend to queer Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, who are denied their most basic, fundamental human rights. Zivo’s portrayal of Israel as an almost-perfect liberal democracy completely ignores and erases the 6.8 million Palestinians living under Israeli rule against their will.