To the Western Standard newsroom, I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) regarding your December 8, 2025 article titled “RCMP employee linked to Palestinian activist network raises questions over political influence.”The core issue with the article is its framing. Rather than reporting on legitimate workplace inclusion efforts, the piece manufactures suspicion around a Muslim RCMP employee for participating in an internal volunteer network — a network that allegedly supports Muslim staff, identifies anti-Palestinian racism, and promotes balanced representation of Palestinian perspectives. These are standard equity and diversity practices across the federal public service; yet the article presents them as uniquely politically threatening by suggesting there is “scrutiny over political advocacy within Canada’s national police force.” It is tough to imagine this scrutiny being applied to efforts by other minority groups in RCMP.According to the Arab-Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA), anti-Palestinian racism includes conduct that “silences, excludes, erases, stereotypes, defames or dehumanizes Palestinians or their narratives.” By portraying basic inclusion work and calls for fair representation of Palestinians and religious minorities as warning signs of “political influence,” the article contributes to the silencing and stigmatization of Palestinian and Muslim employees. In doing so, the piece participates not only in Islamophobia but also in anti-Palestinian racism.I urge the Western Standard to revisit the framing of this article and to ensure that future reporting does not misconstrue basic equity and inclusion practices as suspicious, nor stigmatize employees for their identity, their community advocacy, or their efforts to address systemic inequities in the workplace. This is not responsible journalism. It is fear-mongering.Lynn NajiCJPME Media analyst
