If you’re like us, you’re probably heart-broken and frustrated. While the world is rightfully horrified by Hamas’ attacks on civilians, political leaders blindly cheerlead Israel’s vengeful violence against the entire population of Gaza, punishing innocent people for the actions of Hamas. Meanwhile, in Canada, extremist voices seek to silence support for Palestinians and their rights, equating any form of sympathy with support for violence against civilians. It’s easy to feel despairing, but we owe it to the Palestinians in Gaza and to international justice to stay in the fight.
If you have friends or family in Gaza, we extend our heart-felt support and sympathy. May they remain safe in the days ahead.
Here are four key areas in which you can oppose Israeli violence, and fight back against the censorship of your voice:
1. Share your frustration and anger
We need to give voice to our concerns, even if it’s just venting our anger and frustration with the whole situation. It’s also useful for us in CJPME to hear what people in our constituency are thinking, because the media and politicians frequently ask us how Palestinians and their allies are coping in the current climate.
- Please use this form to write a few sentences about your frustration, anger, or worries, whether about the escalating violence in Gaza or the response in Canada. Use the form’s checkbox to control permission over how the feedback may be used.
- Protect yourself emotionally. Take a break from the news if you’re feeling overwhelmed or overly frustrated. Don’t get pulled into political discussions with friends or co-workers unless you’ve decided ahead of time that you’re comfortable and ready.
2. Tell Trudeau to respect Palestinian life
With very few exceptions, Canadian officials have failed to express support for the rights and safety of Palestinians, and Trudeau has never, ever expressed explicit his concern for Palestinian civilians under Israeli attack. Since Tuesday, at least 4,000 Canadians told him this wasn’t good enough, and asked him to push for a ceasefire and an end to Israel’s indiscriminate attacks. Even if you’ve already participated in this campaign, send Trudeau and your MP another email. He needs to hear from you that we expect him to respect and protect Palestinian life.
3. Help us fight the media bias
Let’s face it… the media coverage has been terribly one-sided, and has not done enough to highlight the realities faced by Palestinians. Our task is to fight against the bias and expand the story. CJPME, its reps and its statements have been quoted or cited by media in well over 100 media spots since Saturday, including CBC, CTV, Global News, TVA, Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, and the Canadian Press. Many of our friends and allies have also been articulate with the media. Many media outlets have been forced to update and edit their coverage as a result of our media advocacy. Since Saturday, we have contacted media about poor coverage in over 40 different instances. But we need your help!
- We need greater participation on our media alerts, so please sign up as a CJPME Media Responders if you can.
- And if you’re Palestinian and are willing to talk to the media about your experiences and feelings, please get in touch. We’re constantly contacted by media who want to hear from Palestinians.
- Email or send us links to articles with poor journalistic coverage. We’ll try to incorporate them into our media response if we can.
- Send us letters or articles that you’ve written that were never published.
4. Ramp up your ability to speak to the issues
CJPME recently published some key talking points about the current crisis, with supporting principles. See our points 1) on Hamas’ recent violence, 2) on Israel’s recent violence, 3) on Canada’s response, and 4) on the ongoing conflict. But there’s more:
- Stay up-to-date with what’s happening in Canada related to the crisis on our “Crisis Tracker” Webpage
- Check out the five press statements that we’ve published since last Saturday. Among other things, we challenge Canadian leaders to call for a ceasefire, end their double-standard, and define their endgame with respect to Israel. Share these thoughts and recommendations with friends and co-workers.
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Source: Email from the CJPME
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