November 14, 2023
Dear Editor,
On Saturday, November 11, 2023, a full page ad was published in the Toronto Star by the organization, CJPME which has a history of Israel bashing and denying Israel's legal rights. The death of innocents is always tragic. Messages and biases suggested in this ad-explicitly and implicitly- are highly problematic. The imagery of the arm bloodily tattooed with the word "Gaza", the words "damning evidence of war crimes" plastered across the middle of the page, and the sub-headline stating that thousands of children were killed by Israel, (implied purposefully) all continue to propagate the narrative of Israel as the oppressor. Data supplied by the Hamas controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza is untrustworthy.
There was no mention that Hamas, a listed terrorist organization committed a massacre, hides within civilian infrastructure, and purposefully uses civilians as human shields, thereby psychologically manipulating sympathizers to align themselves against Israel. The arm tattoo is particularly horrific and triggering for Jewish people. It's an intentional ploy, suggesting the suffering in Gaza is akin to the pain suffered by Jews who were forcibly tattooed by Nazis during the Holocaust. This is exploitation of Jewish pain, another psychological assault on Jews everywhere.
By publishing this ad, the Toronto Star is complicit in perpetuating harmful disinformation that is fueling the current epidemic of antisemitism. It is incumbent on theToronto Star to promptly issue an apology and do more to discriminate between truth and fiction. Paid ads may be profitable, but it is unconscionable to accept funds that promote Jew hatred.
Sincerely,
Andria Spindel
Executive Director
Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation