NOVEMBER 28, 2024
www.protemgl.com
VOLUME 63 / ISSUE 5
LE JOURNAL ÉTUDIANT DE GLENDON / GLENDON’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
@protemglendon
Glendon Student Paper Headlines Racist, War-Mongering Article
By Gazawriter (gazawriter@protonmail.com)
PRO TEM’s latest front-page article, published anonymously on October 31st, is littered with self - contradictions and racist tropes while showing a cold disregard for the true victims of conflicts and war: humans like you and I. From the start, the article eroticizes the zionist occupation’s latest escalations of its genocidal and expansionist campaigns as “blood-filled flirtation”. In the past weeks, we’ve seen the annexation and extermination of Gaza’s north1, two babies killed in their ICUs after Israeli fire hit oxygen equipment at the Kamal Adwan hospital2, and the deadly pager attacks terrorizing civilians preceding the so-called IDF’s carpet bombing and attempted ground invasion of Lebanon. If this is the author’s idea of flirting, I fear for anyone dating them. Describing this conflict that has ex(From the Publication on October 31 2024) panded far past the borders of Gaza and even The article’s thesis, discernible only Palestine as the “Israel-Hamas War” conafter picking through its numerous contratinues to downplay the zionist occupation’s 5 dictions , is that swift liberation from Iran’s deliberate targeting of civilians, including current totalitarian regime is only possible children, that has conservatively resulted in via Israeli intervention. Such an idea—that the deaths of about 200,000 people in Gaza only Western intervention can free a region’s 3 alone. In the same vein, characterizations of native population from its backwards and Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizabarbaric way of life—has been seen time and tions similar to ISIS and Al-Qaeda are born time again, from the colonization of Turtle out of anti-Palestinian racism, anti-Arab racIsland (our “home and native land”) to the 4 ism, and Islamophobia. Such characterizamany disastrous American interventions in tions serve to manufacture consent for IsraVietnam, the Middle East, the ongoing conel’s aggression by dehumanizing its victims. Meanwhile, the United Nations General As- quest of Palestine, and beyond. To be clear, sembly (UNGA) has explicitly affirmed the the present article does not seek to defend right of Palestinians—and all people under Iran’s current totalitarian and violently reforeign and colonial rule—to resist by all pressive regime. It simply aims to dismantle available means, including armed struggle the author’s argument that intervention by (Resolutions 3314 (1974) and 37/43 (1982)). another self-described religious ethnostate The “terrorist” label has become a political with a proven track record of indiscriminate tool used to dismiss the legitimate resistance bombing of civilian regions could precipitate of colonized and oppressed peoples—Nelson the liberation of Iran: “If Israel has the boldMandela was labeled a terrorist by the U.S. ness and power to pull the trigger against government until 2008. If the author has no the Islamic regime, it might be the only good insight to offer beyond uncritically repeating thing that comes from the war.” An opinion piece justifying Israeli zionist rhetoric, they have no business comviolence on the population of Iran is, to me, menting on Middle East politics. simply unacceptable. PRO TEM’s decision VIE ÉTUDIANTE Le Fantôme De Glendon...........3
HEALTH & WELLNESS Daylight Saving Time?............5
ISSUES & IDEAS The Gazawriter (en).................1
CAMPUS LIFE Unbearable Loneliness..............4
SANTÉ & BIEN-ÊTRE Biscuits à l’avoine....................6 Biscuits bretzels......................6
ACTUALITÉS & OPINION
The Gazawriter (fr)..................7 Élections américaines 2024.....8
to publish the piece, on the front page no less, implies an endorsement of the views expressed therein. In this case, they’ve platformed a voice that eroticized violence while praising the military power responsible for killing 62% of Gaza’s children and labelling the resistance groups fighting it “terrorist organizations”. The article’s framing and characterizations exclude Palestinian narratives (“Israel-Hamas war”) and help justify violence against Palestinians, which constitutes anti-Palestinian racism (APR) according to the Arab-Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA)6. Although I disagree with the article’s thesis, it could have been defended without alluding to the racist tropes I described above. The uncritical publication of such an article unfortunately demonstrates a level of institutional APR at PRO TEM that is not the fault of any individual editor or team member. So, what can PRO TEM and its team do to take accountability and learn from this mistake? In the first draft of the present article I demanded the team retract the anonymous article by publishing this one on the front page, and for team members to resign if that could not be accomplished. While I EXPRESSION Le Changement........................9 Why...........................................9 Less...........................................9
maintain that failing to feature a critical voice in the same spotlight as the original article constitutes APR through the exclusion of Palestinians and allies, my initial approach was more suited to large media organizations that are slow to change. On the contrary, the Editor in Chief of PRO TEM has taken responsibility for the publishing of the original article and indicated their intention to keep learning and to make positive changes. I suggested implementing the ACLA’s definition of anti-Palestinian racism into the journal’s constitution, which would back up PRO TEM’s commitment to welcome and amplify diverse perspectives within our community, perspectives which in this case have faced a hostile environment at York.7 Palestinians, Arabs, and allies alike know that by taking any of the steps I described, PRO TEM and its team are likely to face some of that hostility from York. Yet, I know that our community will rise to defend a publication which acknowledges and values our voices without bias or prejudice. To my community I ask: encourage PRO TEM to combat anti-Palestinian racism by defining it in their constitution by sharing this article and voicing your support via editor@protemglendon.com (CC me when you do!). Finally, I’d love to read and answer any comments or questions you, dear reader, may have. Reach me at gazawriter@protonmail.com. 1. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-11-08/ty-article/there-will-be-no-returnidf-says-it-wont-allow-residents-to-return-to-northern-gaza/00000193-0c79-d49a-a9934cfd67f90000 2. https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/two-children-die-gazaskamal-adwan-hospital-following-raid 3. Estimate including those killed by disease, starvation, etc. Based on the death count from the Palestinian Ministry of Health as of Oct 9, 2024: 26,947 adults and 17,765 children (62.2%) killed in Gaza, plus 10,000 missing since Oct 7, 2023. 4. This isn’t to say Hamas and Hezbollah are immune to committing war crimes. For example, it is known that war crimes were committed by Hamas fighters and others during operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct 7. It is also known that the IDF committed systematic war crimes on a scale orders of magnitude beyond those of Hamas prior to, on, and following that date—including killing their own civilians on the 7th to avoid their hostage-taking. The argument is that applying the “terrorist” label to one group but not the other is rooted in racism. See “October 7: Forensic analysis shows Hamas abuses, many false Israeli claims” by Al Jazeera at the following link for details on war 5. The article states that the war could potentially involve Iran and Lebanon before describing the involvement of Iran and Lebanon. The article states Iran was “free and ready to thrive” before its religious rule, then mentions the terror and tyranny in the time of the Shah, which directly preceded the current religious regime. The article states Khomeini has gotten old and sick, but not closer to dying. 6. See “Anti-Palestinian Racism: Naming, Framing and Manifestations”. ACLA, May 24 2022. 7. See York’s Race Equity Caucus report titled “Surveilled & Silenced: A Report on Palestine Solidarity at York University”.
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