The Media Accountability Project  

"Such a misrepresentation violates basic journalistic principles and deserves clarification in a forthcoming print edition of the paper."

"I insist that you update your article to include a Palestinian perspective regarding the meaning of this legitimate chant, instead of relying on interpretations sourced entirely by perspectives which are hostile to Palestinian narratives and activism."

Lilley makes only three actual assertions against Jama: she has attended protests and events in support of Palestinian human rights; she supports the Palestinian call to boycott Israel until it respects international law; and she has named Israel’s racist practices as ‘apartheid’ – as have Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, UN experts, and many of Israel’s human rights organizations. These are not just legitimate but necessary responses to Israel’s ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights, and should be commended.

On February 19, 2023, the Toronto Sun published an inadequate story about a workshop for teachers in the Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation (OSSTF). The workshop was titled “Anti-Palestinian racism: Nakba denial,” and the story focused on complaints from a pro-Israel group who said that the workshop was unfavorable to Israel.

CJPME contacted the Toronto Sun requesting an update to the article, noting that it had failed to “provide a Palestinian perspective nor to explain what the Nakba represents, leaving the reader with a single perspective.” Neither had the article explained what anti-Palestinian racism was. CJPME also noted that the single perspective in the story was from an organization which was hostile to Palestinian narratives and had previously called the Nakba a “fraud.”

On February 28, 2023, the Toronto Sun published a follow-up article which addressed these issues. Titled “CJPME asks for inclusion of Palestinian perspective,” the article provided a definition of the Nakba, and included the definition of anti-Palestinian racism from the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA), as CJPME had requested.

There are a few issues with this article. First, it fails to provide a single Palestinian perspective for an article which is all about anti-Palestinian racism. Second, the article lacks any discussion or explanation of the meaning of the term, “Nakba,” or what it means for Palestinians; nor does it include a definition of anti-Palestinian racism

"The article is about a workshop organized by the Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation (OSSTF) entitled “Anti-Palestinian racism: Nakba denial.” Unfortunately, the article fails to provide a Palestinian perspective nor to explain what the Nakba represents, leaving the reader with a single perspective. Below, I will outline two areas in this article that urgently require an update.

First, your article fails to include a Palestinian perspective, even though the workshop in question is about anti-Palestinian racism. While you mention that the session presenters did not respond to requests for comment, more efforts should have been made to provide a Palestinian point of view on the importance of this workshop and the concepts under discussion. Following the Canadian Association of Journalist’s (CAJ) ethics guidelines on diversity, news organizations and journalists should seek to “include views from all segments of the population.”"