Factual error and inaccurate language used to describe Hamas

"Your closing statement aligns the motives of the gunman with the Hamas party which is inaccurate. Multiple news reports indicated that the Palestinian gunman denounced any connection to a political party, as did his family. Would it not have been more accurate reporting to end your story by stating ‘the motives of the gunman were unclear?"


August 2, 2023

To:

Rebecca Joseph, Online Managing Editor, Global News

Dear Ms. Joseph,

I’m writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to express concern regarding the news segment “1 Palestinian killed, at least 5 Israelis wounded in West Bank gun attack,” that appeared on Global News on August 2, 2023.

I appreciated that you used the term ‘occupied’ West Bank in one of the captions accompanying the story but was curious as to why you did not include it in your title. Headlines help frame a story for a reader.

I would urge you to use consistent language in headlines to match the story in future reporting.

It was disappointing to hear only the perspective of the Israeli Police in the newscast. It would have been helpful to have some additional context in your report that explained that Ma’ale Adumim is an expanding illegal settlement.

The additional context could have been provided at the end of the news segment instead of the caption you provided which was both  misleading and inadequate:

“Hamas militant organization which governs the Gaza Strip, said the attack was a response to Israeli officials ascending to Temple Mount in Jerusalem last week”.

Hamas was founded in 1987 with the purpose of resisting the Israeli occupation. It currently governs certain aspects of the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip, provides social services, runs media outlets, and has a military wing. A reader would not understand Hamas in this broader context.  I am sharing a resource with you that is developed to aid journalists in their efforts to fairly describe Palestinian groups and their objectives. Please see: “What Palestinian resistance groups really seek.” I hope that you will refer to this resource in future newscasts.

As well, your closing statement aligns the motives of the gunman with the Hamas party which is inaccurate. Multiple news reports indicated that the Palestinian gunman denounced any connection to a political party, as did his family. Would it not have been more accurate reporting to end your story by stating ‘the motives of the gunman were unclear?’ or ‘That there have been rising tensions in the past few months in the occupied West Bank due to the increasing number of illegal settlements and the ongoing occupation and dispossession of the Palestinian people’.

I insist that a correction is made for this error in the video.

If you wish to discuss this further, please contact me at 250-469-4468.

Sincerely,

Debbie Hubbard

CJPME-Okanagan

Kelowna, British Columbia