By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer
Content warning: mentions of genocide.
November 2 marked the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. Protestors gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery to mourn and oppose the mounting death toll of journalists at the hands of the Israeli military.
As of November 26, “At least 137 journalists and media workers were among the more than tens of thousands killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon” since October 7, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Such a number marks “the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.” CPJ is a non-profit focused on protecting freedom of the press as well as the safety of journalists worldwide. Al Jazeera reported that critics say “Israel — which banned foreign reporters from entering Gaza — targets journalists in the Palestinian territory to obscure the truth about its war crimes there.”
Protestors waved Palestinian flags and donned blue as a tribute to the blue press jackets and helmets commonly worn by journalists reporting in war zones. Some brought out large bundles of cloth with red paint splatters meant to represent killed Palestinian journalists. The event featured several speakers, some of whom did not disclose their full names.
The last speaker at the demonstration was Adel Iskandar, a global communications associate professor at SFU. The Peak spoke with Iskandar and Tamer Abu-Ramadan, a local Palestinian rights activist who was also present at the event, for more information.
Iskandar and Abu-Ramadan came to protest the Israeli military’s killing of Palestinian journalists, but also to fight against the Canadian press’ lack of sophisticated coverage on this. Both wanted to “call out journalists” in Canada “for failing to stand up for their colleagues.”
“It is quite remarkable that journalists of all people are not covering the story,” said Abu-Ramadan.
“If you don’t see the fate of Palestinian journalists as patently unjust, then it raises questions about your own humanity as a journalist.” — Adel Iskandar, associate professor of global communications, SFU
“If you don’t see the fate of Palestinian journalists as patently unjust, then it raises questions about your own humanity as a journalist,” said Iskandar. “In the name of objectivity in the west, we have effectively stopped caring about Palestinians irrespective of who they are,” he added. Iskandar explained that western media’s coverage relies on racist tropes and stereotypes rather than providing a deeper context and history. Palestinians have been subjected to dehumanization and misrepresentation in western media for decades. To provide more nuanced, contextual coverage would be to challenge “built-in assumptions” about “who is good or bad, or right or wrong,” said Iskandar.
At the recent protest, Iskandar described how a Global TV journalist came to report on the event. Iskandar alleged that the reporter knew the demonstration was about “the attack on the press,” but was unaware of its focus on the murders of Palestinian journalists. When the reporter saw Palestinian flags and keffiyehs, he allegedly explained he didn’t realize the event was “anti-Israeli,” ultimately leaving without covering the story. “If it was any other place, they probably would have stayed,” said Iskandar.
For Abu-Ramadan, the reporter’s choice to leave was all but surprising. He referenced an exposé written by ex-CBC producer, who goes under the pseudonym Molly Schumann, detailing the network’s staunch unwillingness to name, much less cover, the Palestinian genocide. He also explained the press’ tendency to pick and choose when to cover journalist deaths. Abu-Ramadan cited the Russian invasion of Ukraine as an example of when these deaths were covered.
Poll data suggests that Canadians’ sympathy for Palestine has increased. However, whether the media reflects this change in perception is less certain according to Iskandar. “We are now beginning to witness the first true test of whether or not our media system actually speaks to public opinion on this issue,” he said. Abu-Ramadan expressed a similar attitude, saying, “The media is not reflective of the public sentiment [ . . . ] but it is reflective of what the government wants.” He noted that Schumann’s exposé revealed the media’s top-down approach to manipulating coverage so it’s “more favourable towards Israel” on the topic of the Palestinian genocide.
“What I’d like to see is an honest public media that takes seriously human stories irrespective of where they’re coming from,” said Iskandar. “Journalism should help us empathize, not make us cold to one another.”
