The Media Accountability Project  

"The claim that Dr. Moss left Montreal due to rising antisemitism in the city contradicts a report published yesterday by Mr. Derfel on the same story. In yesterday’s article, Mr. Derfel stated that he reached Dr. Moss by phone, but that the surgeon declined to give an interview or to explain his reasons for leaving Montreal. The rest of Mr. Derfel's article relies almost entirely on anonymous sources allegedly close to Dr. Moss, and speculating that he may have left due to antisemitism."

"Mr. Derfel describes the anonymous sources vaguely as 'sources close to Moss' and 'a source.' This description is vague or whether the sources have any personal, political, or institutional biases that might influence how they frame Dr. Moss's departure. As it stands, given the breaches of CAJ standards due to the use and framing of anonymous sources, this article does not meet the threshold of serious journalism."

While the columnist is entitled to their own opinion, when that opinion steps into the realm of dangerously conflating criticism of Israel and advocacy for Palestinian human rights with antisemitism, while relying on statistics grounded in flawed methodology, it becomes an inflammatory attempt to weaponize the very real fight against antisemitism in order to silence any advocacy for Palestine under the guise of fair commentary.

Instead of presenting the substantive concerns of Canadians and Canadian civil society organizations about CANSEC - that it welcomes international delegations, many of them governments, with well-documented records of human rights violations, and that among the 300+ companies invited to this event are those that contribute to war crimes and crimes against humanity in Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Sudan, and beyond - this article unfairly frames opposition to CANSEC as a mere nuisance and traffic disturbance. 

"This prioritization of information is dramatically different from the April 21, 2026 Canadian Press article on the same topic, where October 2023 and the broader geopolitical context is mentioned in the fourth and fifth paragraph - of a total of 26 paragraphs."

Conflating a pro-Palestinian protest chant with antisemitism is neither fair nor accurate; it rests on an exaggerated interpretation presented as fact. This is not fair or balanced journalism.

On November 21, 2025, the Quebec Press Council released its decision (D2024-12-117) upholding a complaint against The Suburban and journalist Joel Goldenberg for publishing biased, sensationalist, and misleading coverage of campus protests related to Palestine.

On December 4, 2024, the Suburban published an article which falsely claimed that Quebec’s Minister of Higher Education had ordered an investigation into “anti-Israel intimidation” at Dawson and Vanier CEGEPs. CJPME media advocate Debbie Hubbard wrote a letter of concern arguing that the Suburban’s framing of the words ‘anti-Israeli-intimidation’ or ‘anti-Israeli related intimidation’ in the article’s headline and opening statement was blatant misinformation and a factual inaccuracy. The Suburban never issued a revision to the article based on Ms. Hubbard’s concerns. 

As such, on December 16, 2024, CJPME filed a formal complaint with the Quebec Press Council regarding the false claims by the Suburban that Quebec’s Minister of Higher Education had ordered an investigation into “anti-Israel intimidation” at Dawson and Vanier CEGEPs. 

In its decision, the Press Council sided with CJPME, ruling that the article misrepresented the minister’s statements and violated basic journalistic standards.

The Press Council found that Minister Pascale Déry had spoken broadly about a “tense campus climate” and concerns for student safety, without singling out any community or referring to “anti-Israel intimidation.” By attributing this language to the minister, the Press Council concluded that The Suburban misframed the issue, demonstrating pro-Israel bias and falsely sensationalising the scope of the investigation.

Most importantly, the Press Council emphasized that antisemitism and opposition to the State of Israel are not the same, and that conflating the two in a factual news article distorts reality, especially in the context of heightened community tensions. The Council unanimously upheld the complaint for sensationalism, finding that the repeated use of loaded terminology exaggerated the nature of the minister’s announcement.

Lastly, the Council also ruled against The Suburban for failing to issue a correction, despite being notified of the inaccuracies. 

As a result, the Quebec Press Council upheld CJPME’s complaint and censured Joel Goldenberg and The Suburban for bias, sensationalism, and failure to correct the article published and posted online.

The Press Council’s ruling requires the Suburban to publish our upheld complaint and summarize the councils’ decision. 

This ruling is a significant win for media accountability. It reinforces the importance of accurate, careful reporting on Palestine-related issues and affirms that criticism of Israel must not be mischaracterized or conflated with antisemitism. CJPME will continue to use its Media Accountability Project to challenge misleading media narratives and to defend the right to principled, fact-based coverage of Palestine and the solidarity movement in Canada.

It was irresponsible to quote Mr. Rustad’s accusatory statement without providing the additional context for readers.