The Media Accountability Project  

The pursuit for Palestinian liberation here in Canada is fraught with risks and adversity. Your article highlighted the backlash women, and especially women from racialized groups, face for taking a stand or expressing an opinion on Palestinian liberation.

So, spare us the pseudo-philosophical arguments for the eventual arrest of student protesters. What is needed is advocating for free expression and condemning the violent police crackdowns on encampments, which ruin lives and distract from the maniacal tragedy being orchestrated by Israel in Gaza.

"Thank you again for naming what many Canadians who have been protesting in the streets since October 7 know to be true. The humanitarian catastrophe that has emerged in the Gaza Strip is an Israeli made disaster. There is no time left for negotiation, charades or indecisiveness on the part of Western leaders such as President Biden. For the Palestinians, every moment and every meal counts and they are counting on us!"

Thank you for underscoring the leverage public voices have over their political leaders to hold Israel accountable for its ‘immoral war’ on Palestinians in Gaza.

"Thank you Hill Times for publishing this opinion article, I hope you will continue to give space to the plight of Palestinian women, especially at a time when they are facing genocide."

On February 27, 2024, CJPME sent an LTE to the Hill Times in response to Aisha Sherazi’s February 26 opinion piece: “Our shared vision feels like it is crumbling.”

The LTE was published on March 4, 2024, in the Hill Times, and echoes Sherazi’s concern that, in its failure to uphold international human rights in Palestine-Israel, Canada attributes greater value to white lives over BIPOC lives.  You can read the complete unedited version here.

It is always highly encouraging to see CJPME’s LTEs getting published in the Hill Times as it contributes to influence policymakers in Canada about issues surrounding Palestine.

On February 28, Hill Times ran a letter written by CJPME analyst Rose Mardikian. Initially, Rose sent this as a letter criticizing this article that the use of the word “terrorism” to describe Hamas’ actions on Oct. 7 insinuated a moral judgment, which is not appropriate for a news article. While the editor remained steadfast and insisted that no changes would be made to the article, she requested an abridged version to publish as a letter to the editor. In “Avoid language that casts ‘moral judgments’ in news stories,” Rose Mardikian argues that referring to Hamas as a terrorist organization or labeling all their actions on October 7 as acts of “terror” or “terrorism” is not accurate and casts a moral judgment. While Israel’s actions both before and after Oct. 7 undoubtedly qualify as terrorism, to label one group as terrorists and not the other is a blatant double standard that favors Israel.

For Hill Times editors to continue publishing our work demonstrates CJPME’s growing legitimacy and influence in public discourse.

In fact, the call came from around 300 Muslim institutions and mosques. Given that SmartScrapers estimates that there are roughly 620 mosques in Canada, this means that – already – almost half of Canada’s Muslim community is in agreement with this call, which the word “several” downplays.

"This confirms the fears some had about Canada’s complicity in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians and its double standard in the way it gives greater value to white lives over BIPOC lives."

"Given that Hamas targeted military personnel and infrastructure on Oct. 7, only a portion of their attacks can be broadly classified as 'terrorism'."