"After Haaretz released its damning report that the Israeli military ordered the Hannibal Directive on October 7, I anticipated, to a certain extent, that popular Canadian media would conveniently ignore these findings. Though I remain critical of the Toronto Star, I did not expect this outlet to fall into the disappointing and deep pool of Canadian media outlets engaging in this case of deliberate self-censorship."
July 12, 2024
To:
Anne Marie Owens, Editor in Chief, Toronto Star
Donovan Vincent, Public Editor, Toronto Star
Dear editors at the Toronto Star,
Over the past few weeks, the Toronto Star has been relatively responsive regarding my concerns about its automated publishing of articles by the AP, which, by and large, fail to meet basic journalistic standards. I appreciate this responsiveness and I look forward to the resolution of those matters.
After Haaretz released its damning report that the Israeli military ordered the Hannibal Directive on October 7, I anticipated, to a certain extent, that popular Canadian media would conveniently ignore these findings. Though I remain critical of the Toronto Star, I did not expect this outlet to fall into the disappointing and deep pool of Canadian media outlets engaging in this case of deliberate self-censorship.
My concerns were further aggravated after finding that the Toronto Star had not reported on The Lancet’s recent publication, revealing that at least 186,000 people have been killed, either directly and indirectly, by Israel’s actions in Gaza since October 7.
Though many smaller, alternative media sources pointed out the possible role of the Hannibal Directive in Israeli deaths on October 7, the Haaretz report set itself apart in both its length and its provision of testimonies by senior IDF personnel. The Hannibal Directive is, according to Mondoweiss, an Israeli policy that “instructs the military to open fire on its own soldiers to prevent them from being taken captive.” A senior IDF source confirmed to Haaretz that the “Hannibal procedure was employed on October 7,” and that an order given at 11:22 A.M. prohibited any vehicle, presumably carrying kidnapped civilians and soldiers, would not be allowed to return to Gaza. Beyond these Israeli attacks on vehicles returning to Gaza, Israeli forces conducted indiscriminate assaults on crossings and bases to avoid the abduction of soldiers. Ultimately, this report confirms that many of the kidnapped civilians and soldiers were at risk or exposed to Israeli gunfire and, likely, killed by Israel on October 7.
Failing to cover such a significant and comprehensive report in the Toronto Star is, at minimum, an incredible oversight, and, most seriously, deliberate self-censorship. In January 2024, Israel alleged that 12 UNRWA employees participated in October 7 and have failed to provide any tangible evidence confirming their claims since. As a result of Israel’s assumed credibility, their uncorroborated claims spread like wildfire across Canadian media, including in the Toronto Star. Meanwhile, a well-researched, evidence-backed report is shut out of Canadian media because it points to Israel as the culpable party, not Palestine.
Like the findings in Haaretz’s report on the Hannibal Directive, alternative media sources have been pointing to the death toll provided by Gaza’s Ministry of Health as a gross underestimation. As the formal Palestinian death toll plateaued in the mid thirty thousands despite Israel’s persistent destruction of medical infrastructure, its indiscriminate bombardment of civilian neighborhoods, and its blocking of food/aid, it became clear that the death toll far superseded 40,000. The Lancet Medical Journal recently published a journal article titled “Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essential,” where Rasha Khatib Et al. wrote the following:
In recent conflicts, such indirect deaths range from three to 15 times the number of direct deaths. Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.
The Lancet is a reputable medical journal that sets incredibly high standards for publishing. It has been cited by the Toronto Star 16 times in the past year, which speaks to the outlet’s perception of this medical journal as credible, reliable, and reportable. Given the Toronto Star’s willingness to report on The Lancet’s content regarding dementia, wildfire smoke, and climate change, The Lancet’s finding that the death toll in Gaza is likely over five times higher than the one formally reported by Gaza’s Ministry of Health seems especially important.
To reiterate my former point, this failure is either an incredible oversight or deliberate self-censorship. In either case, it’s poor journalism and must be rectified immediately.
Sincerely,
Rose Mardikian,
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East