London / Ontario – Zaytoun News
Muslim journalist Arfa Rana has announced her resignation from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in protest of the language used by the corporation in covering the war on Gaza, considering that the internal war between her professional conscience and the editorial approach of the corporation has become an unwinnable battle.
She explained that the alleged neutrality adopted by the CBC contributes to justifying the injustice suffered by the Palestinians, and questioned the role of journalism in its commitment to truth and justice.
She said that journalists bear a moral responsibility to influence public opinion through the facts they present, stressing that telling the truth is a revolutionary act aimed at achieving justice for the victims and the oppressed.
In a meeting with a senior official at the CBC, Rana from London, Ontario, expressed her dissatisfaction with the coverage’s lack of historical context between Israel and Palestine, and the use of terms that justify Israeli massacres against Palestinians. Despite the official’s sympathy with her, he stressed the need for the corporation to adhere to neutrality and provide “balanced coverage.” However, the journalist pointed out that crimes against humanity cannot be treated as a matter of “opposing viewpoints,” but rather as a clear fact.
The journalist also strongly criticized the CBC’s language guide for Middle East coverage, which prohibits the use of terms such as “colonialism” and “apartheid” to describe events. She noted that this approach reflects a clear bias in reporting events, where neutral language is used to describe Israeli attacks while Hamas attacks are described in strong terms such as “massacre” and “barbarity.”
The journalist wondered whether neutrality was simply an excuse for complicity in crimes committed against Palestinians, considering that the mainstream Canadian press has become a “megaphone” for colonial powers.
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