"Your piece uses dehumanizing language repeatedly. “Savagery,” “bestial,” “ghoulish,” “barbaric,” and “inhumane.” Of course, some of these words describe Hamas’s attack, but some are pointed at demonstrators or their intentions. The photo at the top of the article shows a crowd that is overwhelmingly Arab and presumably Palestinian. As such, tying these faces to dehumanizing language reads as nothing less than racist and defamatory. It also perpetuates negative stereotypes about Palestinians."
October 16, 2023
To:
Chris George, Journalist, Niagara Independent
Editor, Niagara Independent
Dear Chris George and Editor,
I’m writing to express dismay regarding the article “Of the celebrations for Hamas in Canada,” published on October 13 by the Niagara Independent.
Mr. George’s piece has no place in Canadian news media. It is an affront to fundamental journalistic principles. It is offensive to Palestinians and fuels the dangerous rise of anti-Palestinian racism. And yet, Niagara Independent has it marked as National News, not as Opinion (which still would not make it acceptable). The piece includes factual errors and, put simply, crosses the line.
Mr. George begins by stating an inflammatory, uncorroborated claim as fact: that Israeli forces found “babies beheaded in their nurseries.” Such an extraordinary assertion must be grounded in evidence. As it stands, there is none. I’ve attached a document in which I track the origins and development of this pernicious and dubious allegation. Also helpful, a journalist published a video fact-checking the claim on October 16.
The claim around “rape” is also a questionable inclusion. A column in the Los Angeles Times was amended to remove reference to this claim, as it remains unproven. The Times of Israel also says that while there is reason for investigating this claim, there is not yet evidence.
To be clear, I am not interested in defending the actions of any party. I am arguing that journalism, even opinion, needs to be based on facts. This is a basic and reasonable expectation. This article fails that standard.
You should correct the piece and put an editor’s note to clarify that Hamas's claim that “babies were beheaded” is uncorroborated.
Your piece uses dehumanizing language repeatedly. “Savagery,” “bestial,” “ghoulish,” “barbaric,” and “inhumane.” Of course, some of these words describe Hamas’s attack, but some are pointed at demonstrators or their intentions. The photo at the top of the article shows a crowd that is overwhelmingly Arab and presumably Palestinian. As such, tying these faces to dehumanizing language reads as nothing less than racist and defamatory. It also perpetuates negative stereotypes about Palestinians.
One should note that the signs in the photograph say “Resistance until Liberation” or “Gaza Can’t Breathe.” These are not calls for the “eradication of Israel” or “celebrations of savagery.” Instead, many protesters — likely the vast majority —advocate for humanitarian aid, a ceasefire, respect for human dignity, the prevention of ethnic cleansing, etc.
If Niagara Independent respects the journalistic principles to which it is allegedly bound, the article should be marked as opinion, the factual error should be corrected with a visible editor’s note, and the editorial board should apologize for this dramatic failure.
There are other issues, but I wanted to draw your attention to these two as they are the most significant.
Sincerely,
Jason Toney
Director of Media Advocacy, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East