The Media Accountability Project  

"There is a significant error in this segment which requires an on-air correction. When describing the Israeli settler attack on the Palestinian town of Huwara (Hawara), you reported that “a mob attacked Palestinian homes and businesses,” but did not mention that 37-year-old Sameh al-Aqtash had been killed by Israeli fire during that attack."

A citation of ACLA’s definition of anti-Palestinian racism and the various forms it may adopt would be pertinent in calling attention to racist attitudes that Palestinians must frequently confront.

In an article focused on Israeli Minister Smotrich’s call to “erase” Hawara and Netanyahu’s response, it is alarming that the description of events leading up is so one-sided. The two Israeli brothers who were killed in the leadup are mentioned, but the Palestinian casualties are omitted. In a story about erasing a town, this is essential information.

"My organization has also pointed out that Canada’s Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade of Canada, Mary Ng met recently with Ofir Akunis, a minister in Israel's far-right government. In addition to serving in Israel’s most right-wing government ever, Minister Akunis is himself an anti-Palestinian extremist and a supremacist. While the international community (and all of Canada’s federal parties) support an independent state for Palestinians, Akunis supports Israel’s full annexation of the Palestinian West Bank, stating, 'I will never agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria [the occupied West Bank] and I will continue to promote, with all my might, the application of sovereignty [annexation], which is an historical process that cannot be prevented.' In 2017, he claimed that 'Israel in its entirety is the country of the Jewish People, and the right to it belongs only to the Jewish People.'"

Who politicians meet with matters. It's becoming increasingly apparent that far-right politics are gaining a foothold in Canada. While this article mentions a recent meeting between Conservatives and far-right Israeli real estate developer Silberstein, this only scratches the surface of connections between Canadian officials and Israeli extremists.

It is important that Canadian audiences are aware about such instances of anti-Palestinian racism in our education system and how they affect the Palestinian-Canadian community. I hope to see continued coverage of anti-Palestinian racism and how it affects the lives and perceptions of Palestinians in Canada. 

"This article misrepresents the legality of Israel’s occupation and settlement enterprise as a matter of subjective opinion, writing that “most world powers view as illegal the settlements Israel has built on land it captured in a 1967 war with Arab powers.”

Vanderklippe’s excellent article offers a compelling and sympathetic look at Palestinian youth who have grown up under an oppressive system in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem. At the same time, the framing of a ‘cycle of violence’ does not capture the profoundly asymmetrical nature of the current moment

"The article sheds light on the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism which is being proposed as part of a larger anti-racism motion to city council. We thank you for mentioning the U.N. report which criticizes IHRA, and for briefly noting some of the key concerns. However, I would like to point out a number of areas where this discussion could be strengthened.

First, you write that “some groups, including one Jewish group, claim it could curtail criticism of Israel and Zionism.” This sentence fails to capture the strong opposition by many Canadian civil society groups against the adoption of IHRA. If your article mentioned some of these prominent and respected organizations, it would be clear to the reader that the opposition to IHRA is widespread and based on serious concerns."