Biased article fails to specify the number of Israeli air strikes fired on Gaza

"The number of rockets fired from Gaza is qualified, described as being in thousands; whereas Israel’s attacks are given no such qualification, merely described as an ambiguous number of air strikes. This is a grotesque omission in Israel’s favor, especially given that the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that 3,209 Palestinians have been confirmed killed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza since 2008 — 2,198 of those killed were civilians."


September 14, 2023

To:

Carl Fleming, Managing Editor, Cape Breton Post

Chris Shannon, News Editor, Cape Breton Post

Brian Moss, Trust Principles, Reuters

Dear Carl Fleming, Chris Shannon, and Brian Moss,

I'm writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to express concern regarding the Reuters article Israel says it found 16 tons of rocket-making substance headed from Turkey to Gaza,” published by SaltWire’s Cape Breton Post on September 14.

Despite its brevity, the article manages to be extraordinarily one-sided in its presentation of information. You write:

Israel and Hamas have fought several wars since 2008, with thousands of rockets fired from Gaza and Israel launching air strikes on the enclave.

The number of rockets fired from Gaza is qualified, described as being in thousands; whereas Israel’s attacks are given no such qualification, merely described as an ambiguous number of air strikes. This is a grotesque omission in Israel’s favor, especially given that the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that 3,209 Palestinians have been confirmed killed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza since 2008  2,198 of those killed were civilians. In contrast, Palestinian armed groups have killed 67 Israelis since 2008, 35 of the total death toll (the majority) being Israeli forces.[1]

The data above should exemplify the urgent need to add context. Without this context, your article will remain unfair, unbalanced, reductive, and one-sided. Such reporting contributes to negative portrayals of Palestinians, which are far too common in Canadian media and often amount to anti-Palestinian racism.

We expect a prompt update to this article to make clear the significant death toll that Israeli military attacks on Gaza have incurred on Palestinians.

Please contact me at 438-380-5410 for more information or additional comment.

Sincerely,

Jason Toney

Director of Media Advocacy, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East



[1] The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Data on casualties, https://www.ochaopt.org/data/casualties.