"HRC is far from neutral. Journalists who report factually on Israel—or anyone critical of Israel’s ongoing genocide in the occupied Gaza Strip, its apartheid policies, settler violence in the occupied West Bank, or raids on Palestinian territories—are often targeted by HRC’s intimidation tactics and smear campaigns."
January 24, 2025
To:
Nancy Waugh, Managing Editor, CBC NewsBrodie Fenlon, Editor-in-Chief, CBC News
Chris Brown, Foreign correspondent, CBC News
To the CBC Newsroom,
On behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, I would like to offer constructive feedback on the article published on January 24, 2025 titled: “Hostage, prisoner or detainee? In the latest Israel-Hamas exchange, it's not always clear.”
The first half of the article was balanced and fair. I appreciated that you included Palestinian perspectives and offered space to challenge the Zionist entity’s claim that Bushra al-Tahil is affiliated with Hamas. In particular, I commend your decision to highlight Bushra’s assertion that the use of terrorism as justification for detaining Palestinians is a strategy used by the Zionist entity to whitewash their war crimes and crimes against humanity.
However, I do take concern with how the CBC characterizes Honest Reporting Canada (HRC) in this piece.
You write that HRC “bills itself as a watchdog promoting ‘fair and accurate’ media coverage of Israel.” I want to bring to your attention that this framing of HRC with good intent is misleading.
HRC is far from neutral. Journalists who report factually on Israel—or anyone critical of Israel’s ongoing genocide in the occupied Gaza Strip, its apartheid policies, settler violence in the occupied West Bank, or raids on Palestinian territories—are often targeted by HRC’s intimidation tactics and smear campaigns.
For instance, HRC has launched an action alert against CBC News for accurately reporting that Palestinians froze to death, accusing the broadcaster of fabrication. They also raised skepticism regarding Amnesty International’s findings that Israel’s 470 days of military campaign in the occupied Gaza Strip constitute genocide, blaming Hamas instead of genocide.
Thus, HRC does not promote balanced or impartial reporting. Rather, it operates as a pro-Israel organization aiming to silence pro-Palestinian advocacy under the guise of defending journalistic integrity.
As someone working for CJPME, my colleagues and I have been targeted by HRC. I am also aware of students, such as those at The Link at Concordia, who have been attacked by HRC for being critical of Israel as a settler-colonial entity.
I kindly ask you to correct the characterization of HRC in the article, specifying that it is a pro-Israel organization – in the name of accurate and fair reporting as outlined in CBC’s journalistic standards.
Thank you for your time and I await your response.
Warm regards,
Lynn Naji
Media Accountability Project Team at Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East