Canadian Journalists for Free Expression has called an emergency meeting to reconsider a statement it released earlier this month condemning “one-sided use” of military force against journalists and civilians in Gaza and asking Canada to pressure Israel to initiate an investigation into “the massacre.”

The statement triggered controversy over the journalistic organization’s mandate. In the days since it was released, critics have slammed the statement for overstepping the group’s role in defending free expression domestically and around the world, and for seemingly taking a position in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.

At an emergency meeting Tuesday evening, the board was expected to determine its next steps and reconsider the process statements go through before being published.

The statement, published in early April, said Canada “must condemn the one-sided use of military force against civilian demonstrators and media in Gaza” and “must use all available diplomatic, political and economic channels to pressure Israel to initiate a fulsome and transparent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the massacre.” The post, which was scrubbed from the CJFE website, was later reposted on Facebook by a staff member.

It was reported in the statement that the Israel Defence Forces used sniper fire, tank rounds and tear gas during the incident that killed 15 people and wounded more than 1,000, including journalists.

Tom Henheffer, a member of the board and acting vice-president, said that the CJFE has released “dozens” of similar statements in the past about Iran, Russia, Turkey and Egypt that were within the organization’s mandate.

“A lot of people have conflated this statement incorrectly, calling it a broad condemnation of Israeli policy,” Henheffer, who is also the organization’s former executive director, said. “But that is completely false.”

He said the board would consider if the statement was within its mandate at the Tuesday meeting, and whether it should be re-posted or an apology issued. The board was also to discuss how to vet the process of posting statements in the future. Currently, statements are written and edited by one or two staff members, then approved by the executive director.

At the end of the meeting, Henheffer told the Star “we’re definitely not shutting down,” but would not comment further. He said the organization would release a statement Wednesday morning.

CJFE co-executive director Duncan Pike has recently stepped aside, Henheffer said.

“The board did not ask for his resignation,” Henheffer said, “but he felt that it was best for the organization to kind of clear the air and give it a bit of a fresh start.”

Kevin Metcalf, the promotions and communications coordinator for CJFE who wrote the statement, told the Star on Tuesday that he has not quit, but is unsure of his employment status going forward.

“We’ve published dozens of what I would term to be politically charged press releases as an advocacy organization in the past, targeting many countries with egregious human rights records,” Metcalf said in an interview with the Star on Tuesday.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Metcalf wrote “Congratulations Canada, you’ve killed free speech.”

CBC’s Carol Off resigned from her position as chair of the CJFE gala last week. As co-host of CBC Radio’s As It Happens, she said the “very strong political stand” CJFE took put her in a conflict of interest.

“I needed to step down in order to continue my work,” Off said in a Twitter message.

Off said she defends the CJFE’s right to take up various causes, “but journalists can’t do that — or at least, I don’t.”

Off spent a decade as chair of the gala. During that time, the gala awarded reporters “who have risked life and liberty in the course of doing their jobs.”

She added that she believes the CJFE is “regrouping,” and has “every confidence that it will find its way.”

Journalists took to social media to raise concerns with the statement, including The Globe and Mail’s Doug Saunders and Postmedia’s Sue-Ann Levy, among others.

Jonathan Kay, the Canadian Editor at Quillette Magazine, called the statement “one-sided,” adding that it was an “unusual time” to put out such a statement.

“The narrative wasn’t that different,” Kay said. “It wasn’t one of these incidents … where one side was saying there had been a massacre of hundreds of Palestinians and the Israelis were saying no,” he said.

Jesse Brown, host and publisher of Canadaland, said the statement condemned Israeli policy in a way that would put journalists covering the conflict in a compromised position.

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The Israel-Palestine conflict is “probably the issue under which journalists are most scrutinized by all sides,” Brown said.

“Any evidence or perceived evidence of bias is seized upon to prove that, either the journalist is in the pocket of the Israel lobby or that they’re just crusading for the Palestinian cause,” Brown said. “People who cover this have to be incredibly mindful.

“The idea that a journalist could be a member of a lobby group that is petitioning the Government of Canada to take a position and denounce Israeli policy, it seems to be a non-starter.”

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