Despite the clarity of the footage, the article repeatedly states that the men only “appeared” to surrender, manufacturing doubt for no reason other than to plant uncertainty in the reader’s mind about what is a self-evident illegal public execution.
To the CBC News and Reuters newsrooms,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East regarding the article titled: “Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians in West Bank who seemed to be surrendering: video.”
The qualifiers “appear” and “seemed” are used six times in the article, including in the headline. This language is unnecessary and misleading.
The video shows two unarmed Palestinian men raising their hands, lifting their shirts, and complying fully before being shot at close range. The UN has already called the incident a “summary execution” and executive director of B'Tselem, Yuli Novak, described Israel’s killings as the result of “an accelerated process of dehumanization of Palestinians and the complete abandonment of their lives by the Israeli regime.”
Despite the clarity of the footage, the article repeatedly states that the men only “appeared” to surrender, manufacturing doubt for no reason other than to plant uncertainty in the reader’s mind about what is a self-evident illegal public execution.
There is no dispute about what happened, not even from Israeli officials. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that the army “fatally shot” the men “after they had surrendered.” In fact, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir publicly praised the killings.
CJPME urges CBC and Reuters to remove these unnecessary qualifiers, which cast unjustified doubt on a clearly documented and verified execution.
A more accurate headline would be: “Video shows Israeli soldiers execute 2 Palestinians as they surrender in Israeli raid of West Bank.”
Thank you for reading and I await your response.
Lynn Naji
Media analyst, CJPME