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 Poor coverage – Media outlet to be critiqued
A CJPME Media Researcher has launched a media alert for the following article. Please submit a quick response to the media, even if it’s just a sentence or two:
Title of Piece: Carson Jerema: “Anita Anand debuts at foreign affairs by doing publicity for Hamas”
Media Outlet: National Post
Click here to access the piece on-line.
Click here for a PDF version.
Comments of the CJPME Media Researcher:
(Note: Please do not copy and paste the material below as the content to your message to the media - put all comments in your own words):
The National Post published an opinion piece filled with misinformation. Even though it is an opinion piece, it crosses a line, breaching the basic journalistic standards of accuracy. Opinion articles must still be based on facts. Help us in pressuring the National Post to correct the piece and the public record.
- The piece falsely claims that “Hamas routinely inflates casualty numbers,” casting doubt on the Palestinian death toll without providing any evidence. This is blatant misinformation. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) relies on data from the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, which provides detailed, credible breakdowns by age and gender. A recent peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet demonstrated the death toll is significantly higher (~40%) than what authorities in Gaza are capable of reporting because of the total breakdown of social services.
- The author claims that “Hamas notoriously embeds itself in schools, mosques and hospitals, using its population as human shields.” Again, this is blatant misinformation. UN bodies, including the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, have repeatedly found that Israel routinely fails to substantiate these allegations. In fact, these baseless claims are used to justify the deliberate bombing of hospitals, schools, and refugee camps — acts that constitute war crimes under international law.
- Jerema claims that Hamas "had been stealing aid and reselling it for profit," but there is no evidence of this. NPR reported that armed men did steal aid, but it was Hamas who attempted to prevent the theft. NPR added, "Police [in Gaza] who fend them off are killed by Israel, which deems the police part of Hamas." The Associated Press also reported on Hamas efforts to prevent theft of aid in Gaza. Jerema is simply repeating an unproven Israeli military allegation as fact without any qualification. Jerema does provide a "source" for this claim, but it is the discredited far-right Israeli propaganda outlet, the Jewish News Syndicate.
- The article states that "Hamas that refused to continue a ceasefire with Israel that would have ended the war." Israel broke the latest ceasefire, not Hamas, and this has been widely reported and acknowledged. NBC News, for example, has an article titled "Why Israel broke its fragile truce in Gaza and is promising more strikes" from March 2025. AP, BBC, NPR, and virtually the entire media establishment agree that Israel broke the ceasefire.
- The article is a greatest hits of false claims about Gaza and deserves a thorough set of corrections.
Please click here to launch an email in which you can draft a response to this media coverage.
Thank you very much. Every response makes a difference.
The CJPME Media Centre Team
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