The Media Accountability Project  

On Thursday, May 29, CJPME Media Accountability writer Jeff Winch submitted a formal complaint to the Toronto Star regarding the article titled “Behind the scenes of Toronto's 'bubble zone' debate: The confidential legal advice city council was given about limiting protests,”published on May 27, 2025.

Jeff pointed out that the article included a crucial mischaracterization of the protests outside synagogues, framing them through an antisemitic lens. He explained that the protests were not targeting places of worship but were directed against commercial real estate events held on synagogue premises, which promoted the sale of illegally occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank. These events were political and commercial in nature, not religious, and the protests were a legitimate response to the normalization of illegal settlements under international law.

Without this context, the article wrongly suggested that the protests were antisemitic in nature, conflating criticism of illegal Israeli settlements with hostility toward Jewish people or Judaism.

Following Jeff’s complaint, the Toronto Star amended the article to clarify that the protests were taking place outside synagogues hosting real estate events promoting the illegal purchase of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.

CJPME thanks The Star for taking our feedback seriously and correcting

"This event promoted illegal acts that only rub salt in the wounds of Palestinians suffering here in Toronto and across the country. These “events” had nothing to do with religious worship; the protests were a legitimate response to a meeting supporting an illegal practice. Without this context your article insinuates that the protests were against Jewish people and the Jewish state; in short, antisemitic, which they absolutely were not."