The corporporation should release a statement recognizing the legitimacy of Palestine and the Palestinian struggle for freedom and equality. (Photo: Olivier Matthys/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
On August 18, 2020, renowned cartoonist Joe Sacco was interviewed by Canadian public radio host Duncan McCue, who is Anishinaabe, a member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation, for his program The Current, which is produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The two discussed colonization, resource extraction, and Sacco's latest graphic novel Paying the Land, about the Dene people of Canada's Northwest Territories. All seemed kosher until the editors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) determined that they must scrub the word "Palestine" from the official transcript of the show and from future broadcasts.
When the show aired that same day, three hours later on the West Coast and in the published transcript of the show, McCue introduced Sacco's art simply by saying "your work in conflict zones, Bosnia, Iraq." The word "Palestine" had been cut.
Already concerning--but there's more.
On September 19, in the next edition of The Current, McCue said: "Before we get to the podcast, I've got a correction to make. Yesterday in my interview with Joe Sacco I referred to the Palestinian territories as 'Palestine,' we apologize."
When outraged citizens emailed the CBC following McCue's apology, CBC National Audience Services spokesperson Naill Cameron replied: "...there is no modern country of Palestine." Use of the word Palestine, he stated, is counter to "established CBC language policy," before revealing that the radio station even requires the term "pro-Palestinian" be used rather than "pro-Palestine" when referring to "Palestinian supporters."
CODEPINK became involved with the issue on September 23, sending out an email to tens of thousands of supporters with a call to contact progressive members of Canada's Parliament and urge them to condemn the CBC's attempt to censor the struggle for Palestinian rights. Writing to over 50 Members of Parliament, CODEPINK supporters stated, "the CBC is contributing to the erasure that has allowed Palestine's decades of suffering to go unamended. This is especially disgraceful considering that the CBC is a publicly funded corporation."
On September 29, after thousands of emails were sent to Canadian MPs (with CBC ombudsman Jack Nagler cc'd), CODEPINK's national co-director and Middle East analyst Ariel Gold wrote directly to Mr. Nagler. "For decades, supporters of Israeli apartheid have tried to make Palestine disappear from maps, international politics, history books -- and now, even the airwaves," Gold said. "As your principles include 'encourag[ing] citizens to participate in our free and democratic society,' ...we are reaching out to you requesting that you address this issue immediately and publicly."
Mr. Nagler replied, stating that he "had already agreed to conduct a review to determine whether CBC adhered to the appropriate journalistic standards in this instance," and that when complete, it would be published on the CBC ombudsman website.
As Mr. Nagler goes about his review, and as he declined Gold's request to have a discussion during his review process, we submit the following open letter to him explaining what his review should include and why the review should conclude with the recommendation that the CBC apologize to McCue, Sacco, and CBC listeners. Additionally, the corporporation should release a statement recognizing the legitimacy of Palestine and the Palestinian struggle for freedom and equality.
To add your name to the open letter, go to codepink.org/open_letter_to_CBC
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
On August 18, 2020, renowned cartoonist Joe Sacco was interviewed by Canadian public radio host Duncan McCue, who is Anishinaabe, a member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation, for his program The Current, which is produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The two discussed colonization, resource extraction, and Sacco's latest graphic novel Paying the Land, about the Dene people of Canada's Northwest Territories. All seemed kosher until the editors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) determined that they must scrub the word "Palestine" from the official transcript of the show and from future broadcasts.
When the show aired that same day, three hours later on the West Coast and in the published transcript of the show, McCue introduced Sacco's art simply by saying "your work in conflict zones, Bosnia, Iraq." The word "Palestine" had been cut.
Already concerning--but there's more.
On September 19, in the next edition of The Current, McCue said: "Before we get to the podcast, I've got a correction to make. Yesterday in my interview with Joe Sacco I referred to the Palestinian territories as 'Palestine,' we apologize."
When outraged citizens emailed the CBC following McCue's apology, CBC National Audience Services spokesperson Naill Cameron replied: "...there is no modern country of Palestine." Use of the word Palestine, he stated, is counter to "established CBC language policy," before revealing that the radio station even requires the term "pro-Palestinian" be used rather than "pro-Palestine" when referring to "Palestinian supporters."
CODEPINK became involved with the issue on September 23, sending out an email to tens of thousands of supporters with a call to contact progressive members of Canada's Parliament and urge them to condemn the CBC's attempt to censor the struggle for Palestinian rights. Writing to over 50 Members of Parliament, CODEPINK supporters stated, "the CBC is contributing to the erasure that has allowed Palestine's decades of suffering to go unamended. This is especially disgraceful considering that the CBC is a publicly funded corporation."
On September 29, after thousands of emails were sent to Canadian MPs (with CBC ombudsman Jack Nagler cc'd), CODEPINK's national co-director and Middle East analyst Ariel Gold wrote directly to Mr. Nagler. "For decades, supporters of Israeli apartheid have tried to make Palestine disappear from maps, international politics, history books -- and now, even the airwaves," Gold said. "As your principles include 'encourag[ing] citizens to participate in our free and democratic society,' ...we are reaching out to you requesting that you address this issue immediately and publicly."
Mr. Nagler replied, stating that he "had already agreed to conduct a review to determine whether CBC adhered to the appropriate journalistic standards in this instance," and that when complete, it would be published on the CBC ombudsman website.
As Mr. Nagler goes about his review, and as he declined Gold's request to have a discussion during his review process, we submit the following open letter to him explaining what his review should include and why the review should conclude with the recommendation that the CBC apologize to McCue, Sacco, and CBC listeners. Additionally, the corporporation should release a statement recognizing the legitimacy of Palestine and the Palestinian struggle for freedom and equality.
To add your name to the open letter, go to codepink.org/open_letter_to_CBC
On August 18, 2020, renowned cartoonist Joe Sacco was interviewed by Canadian public radio host Duncan McCue, who is Anishinaabe, a member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation, for his program The Current, which is produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The two discussed colonization, resource extraction, and Sacco's latest graphic novel Paying the Land, about the Dene people of Canada's Northwest Territories. All seemed kosher until the editors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) determined that they must scrub the word "Palestine" from the official transcript of the show and from future broadcasts.
When the show aired that same day, three hours later on the West Coast and in the published transcript of the show, McCue introduced Sacco's art simply by saying "your work in conflict zones, Bosnia, Iraq." The word "Palestine" had been cut.
Already concerning--but there's more.
On September 19, in the next edition of The Current, McCue said: "Before we get to the podcast, I've got a correction to make. Yesterday in my interview with Joe Sacco I referred to the Palestinian territories as 'Palestine,' we apologize."
When outraged citizens emailed the CBC following McCue's apology, CBC National Audience Services spokesperson Naill Cameron replied: "...there is no modern country of Palestine." Use of the word Palestine, he stated, is counter to "established CBC language policy," before revealing that the radio station even requires the term "pro-Palestinian" be used rather than "pro-Palestine" when referring to "Palestinian supporters."
CODEPINK became involved with the issue on September 23, sending out an email to tens of thousands of supporters with a call to contact progressive members of Canada's Parliament and urge them to condemn the CBC's attempt to censor the struggle for Palestinian rights. Writing to over 50 Members of Parliament, CODEPINK supporters stated, "the CBC is contributing to the erasure that has allowed Palestine's decades of suffering to go unamended. This is especially disgraceful considering that the CBC is a publicly funded corporation."
On September 29, after thousands of emails were sent to Canadian MPs (with CBC ombudsman Jack Nagler cc'd), CODEPINK's national co-director and Middle East analyst Ariel Gold wrote directly to Mr. Nagler. "For decades, supporters of Israeli apartheid have tried to make Palestine disappear from maps, international politics, history books -- and now, even the airwaves," Gold said. "As your principles include 'encourag[ing] citizens to participate in our free and democratic society,' ...we are reaching out to you requesting that you address this issue immediately and publicly."
Mr. Nagler replied, stating that he "had already agreed to conduct a review to determine whether CBC adhered to the appropriate journalistic standards in this instance," and that when complete, it would be published on the CBC ombudsman website.
As Mr. Nagler goes about his review, and as he declined Gold's request to have a discussion during his review process, we submit the following open letter to him explaining what his review should include and why the review should conclude with the recommendation that the CBC apologize to McCue, Sacco, and CBC listeners. Additionally, the corporporation should release a statement recognizing the legitimacy of Palestine and the Palestinian struggle for freedom and equality.
To add your name to the open letter, go to codepink.org/open_letter_to_CBC