On July 16, 2024, CJPME sent a letter to the Toronto Star and the Associated Press challenging the framing of an article from July 14 about a brutal Israeli attack a few days earlier in Khan Yunis area of Gaza in an article entitled, “Hamas says Gaza cease-fire talks haven’t paused and claims military chief survived Israeli strike.” The article covered an Israeli attack that killed 90 Palestinian civilians, which Israel tried to justify by saying it (possibly) resulted in the assassination of a Hamas leader.
CJPME challenged the Star/AP’s decision to headline a Hamas comment on the ceasefire talks, rather than 1) Israel’s devastating attack on civilians, 2) Israel’s decision to make an attack in a supposed “safe zone,” and 3) Israel’s false claim of having killed a Hamas leader, was very suspect and biased.
CJPME argued that the Star/AP should choose a headline which, rather than focusing on some “diplomatic” development involving Hamas, focused on the significant aspects of the situation, e.g. “Israel’s attack in Gaza ‘Safe Zone’ results in death of 90 civilians.”
The next day, CJPME was happy to see an article from AP, by the same author as the article on the 14th, again about a brutal attack by Israel in Gaza which killed scores of Palestinian civilians, which carried the title, “Israeli strikes in southern, central Gaza kill more than 60 Palestinians, including in ‘safe zone’” While we don’t always get an explicit acknowledgement that our letters have had an impact, we are often gratified to see our input incorporated in later coverage.