"CBC correspondent Sarah Coates spoke on the show about recent footage released by Israel that shows female Israeli soldiers who have been recently captured by Hamas fighters. Coates fails to even mention that the women in the clip are soldiers. The host of the show does once mention they are soldiers but then proceeds to refer to them strictly as “young women,” as does Coates. This framing is deeply problematic, as taking an enemy soldier as a prisoner is fundamentally different than taking civilians. These are soldiers at a military base being taken prisoner, but that context is absent for viewers."
May 27, 2024
To:
Jack Nagler, CBC
George Achi, CBC
Nancy Waugh, CBC
Irris Makler, CBC
Sarah Coates, CBC
Dear Jack Nagler, George Achi, Nany Waugh, Irris Makler, and Sarah Coates,
I’m writing to express serious concerns about false information aired on May 22 by Canada Tonight. Similar issues also need to be addressed by CBCNNLive on the same day.
CBC correspondent Sarah Coates spoke on the show about recent footage released by Israel that shows female Israeli soldiers who have been recently captured by Hamas fighters. Coates fails to even mention that the women in the clip are soldiers. The host of the show does once mention they are soldiers but then proceeds to refer to them strictly as “young women,” as does Coates. This framing is deeply problematic, as taking an enemy soldier as a prisoner is fundamentally different than taking civilians. These are soldiers at a military base being taken prisoner, but that context is absent for viewers.
Coates reports false translations of the Hamas fighters’ words. She says,
In Arabic, one of the fighters can be heard saying, “you are so beautiful.” Another says “Here are the girls who can get pregnant.” Well, they’ve clearly been beaten. They are terrified.
Unfortunately, this is a lie and needs correction. According to Briahna Joy Gray reporting on The Hill, Maher Arar (PhD) on Twitter, as well as CJPME’s Arabic translators, that is not what the Hamas fighters in the video said.
The Hamas fighter does not mention “girls who can get pregnant” but instead uses a similar sounding, but fundamentally different word that refers to female prisoners of war.
On the issue of saying the soldiers were beautiful, the exact opposite was said, that they are “no beautiful.”
These false translations originate from the official X account of the State of Israel. It is war propaganda that CBC has amplified without any skepticism. Irris Makler also repeats the same lies on CBCNNLive. CBC can refer to the links I’ve provided above or consult its own Arabic experts for confirmation.
Again, it cannot be overstated that these were soldiers on the base of an occupying military force that came under attack. It is an assumption by Sarah Coates that “they’ve clearly been beaten.” There was active fighting at the base, Coates cannot pretend to know how these Israeli soldiers incurred their injuries. It is totally inappropriate to report in this manner.
It should be noted that Sarah Coates was formerly a news anchor with i24, an Israeli-based media outlet that has promoted other false narratives like that of the “beheaded babies.” I have repeatedly complained also about the lack of balance in the reporting by Irris Makler. It is highly disappointing that CBC continues to rely on Israeli-based journalists but rarely features comments from Palestinian journalists. Why this story was not covered by Arabic speakers who could attest to the language used in the video is alarming.
CBC must urgently address this issue and make on-air corrections.
Sincerely,
Jason Toney
Director of Media Advocacy, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East