Minister of Canadian Heritage :There is more freedom to criticize Israel in Israel itself, than there is in Canada, without accusing critics of being Anti-Semitic

Minister of Canadian Heritage There is more freedom to criticize Israel in Israel itself, than there is in Canada, without accusing critics of being Anti-Semitic

Date: November 14, 2022

The Honorable Minister of Canadian Heritage

Mr. Rablo Rodriguez

On November 03, we received at Meshwar Media a letter from your office asking us to refund the $2,000 that Meshwar Newspaper had received from your Ministry as part of the financial support measures undertaken by the Ministry to help the multicultural media to cope with the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Minister’s request is apparently based on allegations raised by the organization Honest Reporting that Meshwar has propagated Anti-Semitic positions and that our newspaper is anti-Jewish. Honest Reporting organization is an avowed pro-Israel organization and a staunch defender of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories and has turned a blind eye to the Apartheid crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people under its illegal occupation. The recent reports by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Israeli Human Rights organization B’Tselem and several UN appointed Human Rights Rapporteurs attest and document these crimes that Honest Reporting has ignored and tried to silence those who invoke and share these reports.

We are not surprised at Honest Reporting trying to silence criticism of Israel and conflicting criticism of Israel with Anti-Semitism. We are, however, troubled and concerned about the Minister’s decision to uncritically accept the allegations of the Honest Reporting organization without contacting us to hear our side of the story or attempting to verify for himself the truth of these allegations. We received the decision to ask us to pay back the grant without giving us the chance to rebut the baseless arguments made by the dogmatic and biased Honest Reporting organization.

Obviously, the false allegations by Honest Reporting aim at suppressing our voice and preventing us from raising facts about the illegal Israeli occupation practices to share with our community and fellow Canadians. They have a long track record of violating the basic right to free expression guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and to water down the staunch Canadian support of the freedom of press at home and everywhere.

The fact that Meshwar newspaper is a financially independent Canadian newspaper with limited financial resources is perhaps what motivates Honest Reporting to call on the Ministry to exercise financial repression on us in the hope to eliminate counter narratives and positions.

Meshwar is published in Arabic every other week and distributed in the province of Ontario. It deals equally with Canadian affairs, Arab community news, Arab affairs, cultural and social issues. As well, it deals with the Palestinian problem and with the Arab – Israeli conflict in general, given the intense interest of our readers in these issues. Permit me assert here that we at Meshwar are open to diverse political opinions and have solicited in the past the views of diverse contributors in Canada and abroad.

Honest Reporting is trying to misinterpret some of our views and to take others out of context hoping to smear us with abhorrent anti-Semitic views. These allegations against us by the supporters of the Israeli occupation are not new; they had previously filed 2 complaints against us to the RCMP. One was filed 6 years ago, and the other one was filed just last year. But the two files were closed because of lack of evidence. You can easily verify this with the RCMP.

Humbly, all we ask you for Honourable Minister is to form an independent committee, to investigate the allegations raised by Honest Reporting against Meshwar newspaper. Due process and Canadian values and practices in such cases suggest that this is the customary practice.

We submit that the criticism of the state of Israel or its policies is not automatically anti-Semitic. No state is above international law and no system is immune from accountability to international humanitarian laws. Criticism of Israel is one thing and Anti-Semitism is another matter. I am staunchly committed to fight racism in all its forms including that of anti-Natives, anti- Blacks, anti-Muslims, anti-Jews, anti-Palestinians and anti-minorities who choose a different life style than the majority. Honest Reporting wants to focus on one issue but disregards the implications of its actions on other vulnerable communities.

I am sure that you are aware that the views of Honest Reporting do not represent those of many Jews. Among Jews there is a rich and healthy mix of opinions. It is evident that many Jews and Jewish organizations all over the world condemn Israel’s occupation and support Palestinian human rights. Can we call them anti-Semitic?

We ask the Honorable Minister of Heritage to kindly reconsider the decision to recall the grant and to protect our freedom of expression and the freedom of our newspaper to criticize any violation of human rights any place anywhere.

Sincerely

Nazih Khataba, PhD.

Editor-in-chief of Meshwar Newspaper, Meshwar Media, Toronto

1-416-302-7664, Email: meshwarmedia@hotmail.com

address :

PO BOX 51053

1 – 70 EGLINTON SQUARE ,

SCARBOROUGH, ON M1L 4T2