"Unfortunately, CBC's description of the episode uncritically perpetuates what appears to be Israeli military propaganda and the episode itself falls into the same trappings."
March 3, 2025Dear CBC editors and hosts,
The February 26 episode of As It Happens, with Nil Köksal, Chris Howden requires correction.
First, the online description of the episode reads:
"Thousands of Israelis lined the streets on Wednesday to mourn nine-month-old Kfir Bibas, his four-year-old brother Ariel and their mother, Shiri, who were laid to rest in a private funeral. Hamas says the mother and children were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, and Israel says they were murdered by Hamas, which took them captive on Oct. 7, 2023. Michael Levy, whose brother Or was recently released by Hamas, spoke to As It Happens host Nil Köksal. "
The Times of Israel reported on November 28, 2023, that the Israeli military said that the Bibas family was not being held by Hamas in Gaza. They were instead being held by the Mujahideen Brigades. Hamas announced in November 2023 that the Bibas family had been killed in an Israeli airstrike and has maintained that as the cause of death for over a year.
The Jerusalem Post reported on February 21, 2025 that the latest intelligence suggests the Bibas family were kidnapped by Hamas and the Mujahideen Brigades together on October 7. The Mujahideen Brigades unilaterally took credit for kidnapping the Bibas family.
While Israel has not officially held the Mujahideen Brigades responsible, the reporting overwhelmingly indicates that the Brigades both originally kidnapped and subsequently held the Bibas family captive. Why does this matter? As journalist Ryan Grim explains, the Israeli military knew that the Mujahideen Brigades were holding the Bibas family, yet nonetheless targeted the militant group with airstrikes. That they would not blame the group and allege a different cause of death deserves an immense deal of skepticism, otherwise Israel would be openly admitting to assassinating the Bibas family.
Unfortunately, CBC's description of the episode uncritically perpetuates what appears to be Israeli military propaganda and the episode itself falls into the same trappings.
Nil Köksal's interview overlooked all of these relevant facts and reporting. Indeed, the interview itself never touched on the competing claims of how the Bibas family were killed. Instead, the guest claimed that Hamas murdered a baby with their own hands. The guest added dehumanizing language around this claim directed at Palestinians, questioning "what kind of human being do you need to be" to do this. The host never questions or pushes back against any of this. Such language that questions the humanity of Palestinians is unfortunately a common form of anti-Palestinian racism. The host should have corrected the claim by the guest and challenged their dehumanizing language. Instead, their claims went entirely unchallenged.
This interview falls far short of CBC's journalistic standards and requires on-air correction and a corrected description.
Best regards,
Jason Toney
Director of Media Advocacy
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