In the midst of a horrendous war, in which tens of thousands of Palestinians have died, and more dying every day, why do Canadians so rarely hear the Palestinian point of view? See my interview with an experienced journalist….

Former CBC journalist, producer, host and now journalism instructor Pacinthe Mattar took on a touchy subject at an event organized by the Carleton University School of Journalism and Communication – why Canadians rarely hear the Palestinian point of view in our media.

Mattar, born in Egypt, worked for CBC for over ten years, reporting from all over the world, and in increasingly senior positions. In 2023, she won the 2023 Asper Fellowship in Media.  She was especially appreciated by the outlet because she speaks Arabic. 

It’s normal, she explained to eager journalism students at Carleton University, for a journalist to have to fight to defend a story proposal to management. It’s management’s job to make sure the story is well sourced and credible.

On many occasions in her career, she had to fight hard for a story to air – but she was usually successful. But when she proposed a story on how Israel police attacked a Palestinian journalist – an actual interview with the Palestinian journalist who had been attacked – the story was spiked. After that her career seemed to stall. She found out later she had been labelled “biased” and her judgement suspect.

Mattar wrote about her experience, and her reflections on it in an article in “The Walrus” two years ago.

I interviewed Mattar a few days after her presentation at Carleton.

The video of her entire presentation is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WCYyttVg2I

Mattar is not Palestinian. But the denial of her story proposal at CBC seems to be a continuation of what Palestinian scholar and writer Eduard Said called “the denial to Palestinians of the permission to narrate”.

However, Palestinians seem to be finding their allies and finding ways to get around the black out.

One way their story slips out is through social media channels including Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram.

The blatant refusal by the US Democratic party to allow any Palestinian to speak at the DNC convention last August, while allowing Israelis to speak, has come under intense criticism. The negation of the Palestinian ability to tell their story is an issue that has recently been raised by Black American writer Ta-Nahisi Coates in his recent controversial book “The Message” written after a trip to Israel and the West Bank. Palestinians have been wiped out of the conversation in the west, Coates argues.

Mattar hopes that by speaking out she will encourage a young generation of Canadian journalists to push for a change in the way media treat both Palestinians and Palestine itself.

Canada Talks Israel Palestine (CTIP) is the weekly newsletter of Peter Larson, Chair of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP). It aims to promote a serious discussion in Canada about Canada’s response to the complicated and emotional Israel/Palestine issue with a focus on the truth, clear analysis and human rights for all. Readers with different points of view are invited to make comment.
Want to learn more about us? Go to Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine.ca