Given Israel’s long and well-documented history of manufacturing lies to justify its massacres, any claims made by Israel should never be reported without skepticism or independent verification.
To CityNews Calgary,
I am writing to you on behalf of Candians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East regarding the TV segment that aired on Wednesday September 9 at 10:19:22 p.m.
First, I would like to thank you for reporting on the two journalists who were injured by shrapnel during an Israeli airstrike in Nabatieh, Southern Lebanon, on September 6th. Israel has long been deliberately killing the voices of truth, the steadfast journalists on the ground documenting its massacres from the assassination of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May 2022 and Anas al Sharif in 2025, to Israel’s deliberate assassination of Lebanese correspondents Ali Shoaib and Fatima Ftouni in 2026, countless journalists have been killed while bearing witness to Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity on the ground.
That being said, I have feedback regarding the reporter repeating, without pushback or skepticism, Israel’s claims that the Israeli forces targeted “people transferring weapons.”
Given Israel’s long and well-documented history of manufacturing lies to justify its massacres, any claims made by Israel should never be reported without skepticism or independent verification.
There have been numerous claims made by the Israeli military that were later debunked. Take the beheaded babies hoax allegation, a claim that was never substantiated with evidence despite being in almost every single mainstream media headline. Not only did a Whitehouse spokesperson clarify that neither U.S. officials nor President Biden had independently seen photographs or verified the claim at the time, but Al Jazeera’s own Investigative Unit (I-Unit) concluded that no babies were present in the Kibbutz Be’eri, and that the 12 individuals inside were most likely killed by the Israeli forces as they employed the Hannibal directive on October 7, as reported by Haartez, i.e. Israel’s use of overwhelming lethal force even if it meant killing their own people.
Take as well the alleged sexual assault claims where Israeli officials circulated the unsubstantiated claims that Hamas fighters raped women on October 7th, which again were repeated in almost every single mainstream media headline and were uncritically echoed by President Biden who repeated them on national television.
However, up until now, Israeli authorities have not publicly presented evidence of firsthand witness testimonies relating to allegations of rape by Hamas militants. In fact, in 2025, an Israeli prosecutor reportedly acknowledged that there was still no complainants in alleged cases of rape.
The list goes on and on.
That said, saying “Israel says X” falls short of responsible journalism, particularly when they are claims issued by the Israeli military and government whose Prime Minister and former Defence Minister are currently subject to arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court.
In the interest of upholding journalistic standards of accuracy and fairness, future reporting should raise skepticism around Israel’s unsubstantiated claims and to clarify whether these Israeli allegations have been independently verified.
Nevertheless, thank you for reporting on Israel's aggression in south Lebanon. Please continue to do so.
Regards,
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East