"In all these recent articles mentioned, Tonda MacCharles omits to mention Palestinian casualties, although she mentions Israeli casualties. Failure to include this information clearly shows the one-sidedness of your reporting, which is a breach of your journalistic obligations."
October 17, 2023
To:
Tonda MacCharles, Ottawa bureau chief and senior reporter, Toronto Star
Donovan Vincent, Public Editor, Toronto Star
Dear Tonda MacCharles, and Donovan Vincent,
I'm writing to express my concern about your recent articles published in Toronto Star: “Liberals ‘unequivocal in position on terror’ ” (published October 17), “Israel-Hamas war: Mélanie Joly says sixth Canadian confirmed dead, two others still missing – ‘she was a brilliant, beautiful young woman’ ” (published October 17), “Cabinet minister says her daughter hides her star of David necklace – and that she feels ‘heartbreak and fear’ as a parent” (published October 16), “Israel-Hamas war: Canadians trapped in Gaza may be able to leave Saturday, Ottawa says” (published October 13).
In all these recent articles mentioned, Tonda MacCharles omits to mention Palestinian casualties, although she mentions Israeli casualties.
Failure to include this information clearly shows the one-sidedness of your reporting, which is a breach of your journalistic obligations.
As of October 17, 5:51 AM, UTC-4, AP writes that “Gaza’s Health Ministry has reported that Israel’s bombardment -launched after Hamas mounted a bloody, unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct.7 – has killed more than 2,700 Palestinians, many of them women and children.” I therefore ask you to add this information after mentioning the number of casualties on the Israeli side: “more than 2,700 Palestinians, many of them women and children, have been killed since Israel’s response.”
I hope Toronto Star will correct these articles by adding the number of Palestinian casualties and not omit this information in future reporting.
If you wish, you can contact us at 438-380-5410 for more information.
Sincerely,
Fatima Haidar,
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East