The Media Accountability Project  

Concerns regarding double standards in recent CP article

"You attribute responsibility for the deaths of Israeli civilians and soldiers on October 7 to Hamas militants, yet you use passive voice when stating that “the war has killed 43,000 in occupied Gaza,” failing to attribute responsibility to Israel’s ongoing campaign in Gaza that has resulted in over 43,000 Palestinian deaths."

November 1, 2024

To:

Dylan Robertson, Reporter, The Canadian Press

Andrea Baillie, Editor-in-Chief, Canadian Press

Donovan Vincent, Public Editor, Toronto Star

Nicole MacIntyre, Editor-in-Chief, Toronto Star 

Dear Canadian Press and Toronto Star team, 

I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) to express concerns regarding the Canadian Press article titled: “Israel envoy seeks hostages ‘at any cost,’ says Canada has strained ties during war” published by Toronto Star on October 31, 2024.

In general, the article does a solid job of expressing skepticism around Israeli military claims when appropriate. However, I take issue with this misleading sentence: “The Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza says the war has killed more than 43,000 people in the territory, including combatants.” I want to highlight a double standard here:

  1. You attribute responsibility for the deaths of Israeli civilians and soldiers on October 7 to Hamas militants, yet you use passive voice when stating that “the war has killed 43,000 in occupied Gaza,” failing to attribute responsibility to Israel’s ongoing campaign in Gaza that has resulted in over 43,000 Palestinian deaths
  2. While you say Hamas killed 1,200 civilians and soldiers, your reporting on the Palestinian death toll only mentions “combatants.” Whether intentional or not, there is a clear double standard here. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) relies on the Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH) and makes clear distinctions between men, women, children, and the elderly in its reports. Below is a graph from UNOCHA, last updated on October 29, confirming that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians killed by Israel’s campaign in occupied Gaza are women, children, and the elderly. Israeli military claims about Palestinian fighters killed in Gaza also demonstrate that the majority of Palestinians killed are civilians.

Please revise your sentence to attribute responsibility for Palestinian deaths to Israeli attacks and to reflect that the majority of Palestinians killed by Israel are women, children, and the elderly. 

I look forward to your response. 

Best regards,

Lynn Naji

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

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