The Media Accountability Project  

"This is an inappropriate and reductive way to introduce a discussion about Nakba Day. Palestinians are not “mourning the foundation of Israel” but massacres of ancestors, the loss of their homeland, and other particularly sensitive subject matter. It is also a day to recognize the existence of Palestine, and to portray the topic in such a slanted way is a form of anti-Palestinian racism since it negates the existence of Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel and the horrors that the establishment of the State of Israel entailed."

"Considering this lack of responsiveness and accountability, I am curious whether there is a more useful contact at the Associated Press. If so, please pass it on. If not, I would appreciate verbal confirmation that the Associated Press is not interested in feedback and criticism for improved reporting."

Unfortunately, this highly sanitized, ambiguous language to explain the Nakba is inappropriate. “Displacement,” as you write, doesn’t begin to describe even one component of the ethnic cleansing that led to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. About 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled, 15,000 were massacred, roughly 500 Palestinian towns were destroyed, and Israel stole 4,244776 acres of Palestinian land.

In the sea of popular Canadian media indulging in the pro-Israel lobby’s narrative that teaching the Nakba somehow distorts history, this type of article is rare, refreshing, and much appreciated. Some articles that have been widely circulated across media outlets border on one of the most pervasive forms of anti-Palestinian racism: Nakba denial.

"To refer to them as ‘Jewish’ is misleading to the reader and inaccurate, according to the position of both the United Nations and the Canadian government. Both the United Nations and Canada consistently refer to them as Israeli settlements or Israeli settlement activity.  I would ask that you consider exchanging the word ‘Jewish’ for ‘Israeli’. This change would clearly identify the role the Israeli government has had and continues to have in the creation and expansion of the settlements."

"The 1948 Nakba is a historical event just like the Holocaust. Why teach one but not the other? The Nakba is what led to the establishment of the State of Israel, as the ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide of Canada's First Nations is part of our country's foundation. Teaching one but not the other shows a double standard."

"I would, therefore, recommend editing the sentence to the following: 'The Nakba marks the ethnic cleansing and forced expulsion of Palestinians from their land to establish the State of Israel in 1948.' At the very least, please replace 'mass displacement' with 'forced expulsion'."

"The article refers to al-Nakba education as “partisan lies” and “politicized content on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.” The title of the piece, “Twistory, not history,” undermines the historical significance of the Nakba and implies that its teaching and commemoration is a distortion of historical facts. All these examples amount to Nakba denial, which is a pervasive form of anti-Palestinian racism."

On June 4, 2023, the Prince George Citizen published a letter to the editor from CJPME rebutting the false claims and reductive history in a letter from Robert Walker of the pro-Israel group Honest Reporting Canada, which had mislead readers about Palestine before the Nakba. Here is an excerpt from the letter:

The target of Walker’s attack – Chidiac – made the uncontroversial point that “before European colonization,” modern-day Palestine and its surrounding territories under the Ottoman Empire were generally defined by the peaceful coexistence of many religions including Christians, Muslims, and Jews. This is especially true in comparison to other empires in the world at that time, especially those in Europe. It’s by no means a fringe point and represents a mainstream conclusion among historians today.

Walker attempts to dismiss these historical facts in an effort to justify Israel’s brutal occupation. He points only to tragic events that occurred after European colonization in the lead up to the Nakba (Arabic for ‘catastrophe,’ the term refers to the violent expulsion and forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their land in 1948). Though it goes beyond my basic point, it should be noted that the events Walker references took place when violent Zionist paramilitary groups committed various atrocities. Such manipulative and revisionist arguments have no place in our public discourse.

"The target of Walker’s attack, Chidiac, made the uncontroversial point that “before European colonization,” modern-day Palestine and its surrounding territories under the Ottoman Empire were generally defined by the peaceful coexistence of many religions including Christians, Muslims, and Jews. This is especially true in comparison to other empires in the world at that time, especially those in Europe. It’s by no means a fringe point and represents a mainstream conclusion among historians today."