"There is a significant error in this segment which requires an on-air correction. When describing the Israeli settler attack on the Palestinian town of Huwara (Hawara), you reported that “a mob attacked Palestinian homes and businesses,” but did not mention that 37-year-old Sameh al-Aqtash had been killed by Israeli fire during that attack."
March 13, 2023
To:
Chris Brown, Foreign Correspondent, CBC News
Ian Hanomansing, Anchor, CBC The National
Dear Mr. Brown and Mr. Hanomansing,
I’m writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) with a request for an-air correction in relation to your segment on the “surge of violence in the occupied West Bank” which aired during CBC’s The National on March 10, 2023.
First, I want to note with appreciation your interviews with the family of the 21-year-old Palestinian man Abdul-Karim Badie Sheikh, who was killed by an Israeli settler. This is a story which has not received much attention apart from your coverage. You could have also reported that the same day, Defence for Children International – Palestine (DCIP) reported that a 14-year-old Palestinian boy, Amir Mamoun Mohammad Odeh, was shot and killed by Israeli forces.[1]
Unfortunately, there is a significant error in this segment which requires an on-air correction. When describing the Israeli settler attack on the Palestinian town of Huwara (Hawara), you reported that “a mob attacked Palestinian homes and businesses,” but did not mention that 37-year-old Sameh al-Aqtash had been killed by Israeli fire[2] during that attack. In the next sentence, however, your report mentioned two Israeli settlers who were killed earlier in the day. This demonstrates an unfair asymmetry in how Israeli and Palestinian deaths are reported.
This error of omission was compounded in your following interview with an Israeli settler, who described the violence in this way: “It was vandalism, it was cars that were being burnt. And I am totally against it. But the fact that the emphasis has been moved from a murder of innocent Jews, to that [vandalism in Huwara], that’s problematic in my eyes.”
Regrettably, your reporting failed to correct this factual error, leading credence to the interviewee’s false distinction between lethal violence against Israelis and mere vandalism of Palestinian property. On the contrary, in addition to the murder of Sameh al-Aqtash, the Palestine Red Crescent reported at least 390 injuries during the attack. While most of the injuries are due to the inhalation of tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers, there were also reports of Palestinians being stabbed or beaten with rocks and metal rods.[3] It is unacceptable that this violence has been reduced to the vandalism of property.
I insist upon an on-air correction to note that a Palestinian man, 37-year-old Sameh al-Aqtash, was killed by Israeli fire during the attack on Huwara, and that almost 400 Palestinians were injured.
Thank you in advance for promptly making this correction. Should you wish, you can contact me at 438-380-5410 for more information.
Sincerely,
Michael Bueckert, PhD
Vice President, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
CC:
Nicole Brewster, Senior Producer, CBC’s The National
[1] Defence for Children International – Palestine (DCIP), “Israeli forces shoot dead 14-year-old Palestinian boy in Qalqilya,” March 10, 2023, https://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_shoot_dead_14_year_old_palestinian_boy_in_qalqilya
[2] Journalists have not been able to determine whether Sameh al-Aqtash was ultimately killed by settlers or soldiers. However, “the documentation clearly shows that Israeli security forces were not only present in the area at least 15 minutes prior to the shooting, but they did nothing to prevent the settler attack, nor to identify or catch the perpetrator who killed Aqtesh.” Oren Ziv and Yuval Abraham, “’I couldn’t see if my brother’s murderer was a soldier or a settler,’” +972 Magazine, March 5, 2023, https://www.972mag.com/settlers-soldiers-huwara-zaatara/
[3] Al Jazeera, “Tensions high in West Bank after deadly Israeli settler rampage,” February 27, 2023, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/27/unprecedented-israeli-settlers-wreak-havoc-on-occupied-nablus