Article presents uncorroborated Israeli claims as facts

"Journalistic accuracy depends on clearly differentiating between assertions and facts. If an assertion has not been independently verified, journalistic integrity demands it be reported as the spokesperson’s opinion or perspective, rather than as an established fact. Bearing this in mind, while Palestinian accounts are often questioned, Israel's apartheid regime is frequently regarded as credible and reliable."


July 9, 2024

To:

Mark MacKinnon, Staff Correspondent, The Globe and Mail

David Walmsley, Editor-in-Chief, Globe and Mail 

Dear Mr. MacKinnon and Mr. Walmsley,

I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East to express concerns about the article “Hezbollah’s massive military response to killing of senior commander feeds fear of Israel-Lebanon war” published on July 4, 2024.

I take issue with this sentence in particular:

The long-simmering conflict was reignited by the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which killed more than 1,100 people and provoked an Israeli invasion of Gaza that has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, including 58 more on Thursday alone, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.”

I believe this sentence reflects a troubling double standard that demands urgent attention. While the Palestinian death toll is attributed to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the Israeli death toll is presented as an undisputed fact. Although seemingly minor, specifying the source for one but not the other implicitly endorses the legitimacy of Israeli sources while casting doubt on Palestinian ones. This is a blatant double standard.

Journalistic accuracy depends on clearly differentiating between assertions and facts. If an assertion has not been independently verified, journalistic integrity demands it be reported as the spokesperson’s opinion or perspective, rather than as an established fact. Bearing this in mind, while Palestinian accounts are often questioned, Israel's apartheid regime is frequently regarded as credible and reliable. However, Israeli authorities have a longstanding history of concealing their war crimes and crimes against humanity through deceit, falsehoods, and disinformationI, therefore, urge you to either:

  1. Add the word “allegedly”, making the sentence: “the long-simmering conflict was reignited by the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which allegedly killed more than 1,100 people”
  2. Or simply add the source from which you found the Israeli death toll.

I want to end this letter by urging you to reconsider adding a sentence that explicitly states the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza far exceeds 38,000. In a letter published in the British medical journal, the Lancet, experts estimate that the actual death toll of Palestinians killed in Gaza could exceed 186,000, significantly surpassing the official figures reported by Gaza's health ministry, which stand at 38,153 since October as this number fails to account for those buried under rubble and the "indirect" deaths resulting from Israel’s deliberate dismantling of Gaza’s infrastructure.

I, therefore, urge you to add the following phrase in bold to your sentence: “The long-simmering conflict was reignited by the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which killed more than 1,100 people and provoked an Israeli invasion of Gaza that has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, though recent reports have deemed this to be a considerable underestimation."

Balanced reporting is the cornerstone of credible journalism. I, therefore, hope you take my edits into consideration now and in future reporting on Israel's war in Gaza.

Sincerely,

Lynn Naji

Junior Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East