"Informed Canadian readers should by now all know that Israel has decisive control over the Rafah crossing. The Saturday Globe and Mail, for instance, gave us reports that Rafah was closed because “Israel has not agreed to allow humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza from Egypt, where large numbers of trucks are awaiting entry.” Israel, the Globe clarified, has this week exercised its control over the Rafah crossing to impose a siege on Gaza: “the Israeli authorities halted all supplies of food, fuel, water, and medicine into Gaza.”
October 16, 2023
To:
Dan Taylor, Managing Editor, CTV News
Brian Moss, Editor, Reuters
Humeyra Pamuk, Reporter, Reuters
Dear Dan Taylor, Brian Moss, and Humeyra Pamuk,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, cjpme.org) to urge correction of a dangerous inaccuracy in your October 15 report, “Gaza-Egypt border crossing set to reopen as Israeli troops prepare ground assault.”
This report undermines your credibility in its misrepresentation of the Rafah crossing. It is imperative that you truthfully report on Israel’s decisive control of this crossing.
You at CTV News have yourselves documented that Gaza is under Israeli occupation. To quote your own CTV coverage from October 11 (the quoted hyperlink is yours): “Although Israel dismantled its settlements in Gaza in 2005, the UN still considers Gaza to be under Israeli military occupation, given that Israel has imposed a land, air, and sea blockade on the territory.” Gaza, including the Rafah Crossing, is in occupied territory.
Informed Canadian readers should by now all know that Israel has decisive control over the Rafah crossing. The Saturday Globe and Mail, for instance, gave us reports that Rafah was closed because “Israel has not agreed to allow humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza from Egypt, where large numbers of trucks are awaiting entry.” Israel, the Globe clarified, has this week exercised its control over the Rafah crossing to impose a siege on Gaza: “the Israeli authorities halted all supplies of food, fuel, water, and medicine into Gaza.”
Therefore, the first paragraph of your October 15 report is simply wrong. It reads:
An Egyptian-controlled [sic.] border crossing into Gaza is expected to reopen amid diplomatic efforts to get aid into the Hamas-controlled [sic.] strip that has been under intense Israeli bombing since the group's rampage that killed 1,300 people on Oct. 7.
If this is not fake news, it comes close. You yourselves just reported that “the UN still considers Gaza to be under Israeli military occupation.” The Globe and Mail adds, in a story that has gripped the national audience: “Israel also controls Gaza’s airspace and waters, meaning the strip still qualifies as ‘occupied’ under international law.”
Not only, therefore, does your October 15 report misleadingly bury the lead, referring to the Palestinian killing of 1,300 Israelis while omitting reference to the Israeli killing of more than double that number of Palestinians – 2,750+ Palestinian fatalities, as Reuters reports.
Additionally, you have published wrong information about who controls the Gaza Strip.
I implore you to replace the incorrect opening paragraph in this report with the following alternative, and to ensure greater accuracy in future coverage:
A tragic week in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has left more than 2,750 Palestinians and more than 1,300 Israelis dead. Israel has declared a siege on the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2.3 million Palestinians, and the Israeli veto on the entry to Gaza of food or humanitarian supplies has thus far kept the Rafah crossing sealed. Israeli agreement is necessary for the opening of any crossing to the Gaza Strip, including the Rafah crossing, which borders Egypt.
Explicit reference to Israel’s occupation is the only alternative to false news coverage.
Mis-reporting in this context is DANGEROUS. Israel has killed several hundred Palestinian children this week, as your own source, Reuters, reports, and an anti-Palestinian lone wolf in Chicago has just killed a six-year-old Palestinian child, too. Truth in reporting is needed in order to avert local manifestations of the violence now exploding in the Middle East.
It is your absolute obligation to do better, and to report truthfully and responsibly.
Feel free to reach me at 438-380-5410 should you wish to discuss this matter further. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Dan Freeman-Maloy
PhD, University of Exeter
Director of Strategic Operations
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East/