Yara Jamal became the target of public outcry which quickly lost her her position as a production technician at CTV’s Halifax office after she spoke out against Zionism in the wake of the start of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
On October 7, Hamas launched an attack against Israel that killed over 1,400 Israelis – mostly civilians – and saw the organization take hundreds hostage. That attack led to a massive reprisal by Israel against the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip and the Palestinians living there.
Since Israel’s attack on Gaza began, more than 16,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children.
A Palestinian-Canadian herself, Jamal participated in a pro-Palestinian rally in October where a journalist from SaltWire interviewed Jamal and asked her if Jews could exist in a free Palestine. Jamals response was “Jews can exist, the Zionist ideology cannot.”
Zionism is the belief in the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people in the Levant region of the Middle-East. Israel’s continued expansion, which continues to this day in the form of illegal settlements in places like the Palestinian-controlled West Bank, has led to the displacement of Palestinians who do not have a widely recognized independent state of their own.
READ MORE: What we are saying when we say ‘Zionist’
Jamal runs a pro-Palestine non-profit organization with Katerina Nikas. Nikas and Jamal were quoted in a story by Radio-Canada on October 8 as saying that Hamas’ violent attack on Israel should not be viewed as a terrorist attack but as an act of resistance:
“In an email to Radio-Canada on Sunday, Katerina Nikas and Yara Jamal, spokespersons for the Free Palestine Halifax group, said that “Saturday’s reaction “should not be portrayed as terrorism, but as a struggle for freedom,” reads a translation of the Radio-Canada story.
CTV rushes to judgement
Shortly after the SaltWire story was published, Jamal was called into a meeting with her supervisor at CTV.
“I explained to him this is what I said, [and] I never associated myself with the company,” Jamal said in an interview with rabble.ca.
Jamal was then asked about Nikas’ comments.
“I refused to answer that question because it’s not relevant,” Jamal said, explaining that she felt it was unfair that she was being held accountable for something that someone else said.
Jamal was told by her supervisor that an investigation would be held over the next four weeks into her conduct, but just hours later she received a call that she had been terminated from CTV.
She explained that she felt this was an example of Palestinians being punished for using their right to free speech.
“There’s no absolutely free speech when it comes to Palestine,” she said. “There’s no existence of it. And for them to be also doing this to me as a Palestinian during a time of genocide was also not surprising.”
In the past, Jamal has written stories for rabble on the issues of Zionism and Palestine. She said that prior to the October 7 attack by Hamas, no one at CTV had ever questioned her about her work on this issue.
Accusations of discrimination in the workplace
What was ignored, according to Jamal, were repeated instances of harassment she says she experienced at CTV.
She said that in her year at CTV she reported five incidents of what she described as racial discrimination and sexism.
A colleague took issue with her wearing a pro-Palestine hoodie at work, with Jamal saying that she was told by this colleague that there was no Palestine, only Israel.
“She was telling me where I’m from. And then I told her, no, I’m from Palestine. She said, I’m pretty sure it’s Israel,” Jamal said.
In another incident another colleague told her that they did not understand why people of colour were so angry with white people.
“Again, that is something that I reported,” she said. “Nothing happened.”
“However, when it came to me, I was immediately terminated for something I did outside of work, and I never associated myself with the company,” Jamal added.
rabble asked CTV about Jamal’s termination and accusations of workplace harassment.
“We don’t comment on specific staffing matters and are committed to maintaining a respectful and inclusive work environment,” said a spokesperson for CTV in an email to rabble.ca.
Editor’s Note: December 11, 2023: This story originally stated that Katerina Nikas comments were made during a CTV interview. The interview was done by Radio-Canada and were attributed to both Nikas and Jamal. rabble regrets the error.
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