The Media Accountability Project  

"You do not mention how many rockets have been fired by the IDF at Gaza since the truce ended, only saying the ones fired from Gaza, which is a clear indication of your bias."

Please help us challenge a Canadian Press article that omits essential information about the evacuation of Canadians from Gaza and Israel’s role in the attacks on Gaza.

"Parents would be able to identify with Ms Nassrawi, when she  tries to reassure the children with the pretense of a thunderstorm and earthquake. It reminds me of what one of the researchers for Defense for Children International Palestine (dci-Palestine) wrote: " give me another story to tell my children" .The thunderstorm story only goes so far."

"There seems to be a fixation on asking Muslims to apologize as if we’re born guilty of something, while no other communities are asked to do so. This expectation stems from racism and is extremely dangerous since it only adds fuel to anti-Muslim hate and anti-Palestinian racism."

"I especially liked that this article gave a voice to a Gazan-Canadian on the ground in Gaza, Mansour Shouman, and that it shed light on the 400 Canadians and their families currently stuck in the Gaza Strip."

"I was pleased to see you included the reaction of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, which asks for the government to join calls for  a ceasefire. CJPME has made the connection between the escalating violence and the occupation and calls for an end to the 'daily, brutal violence of Israel’s military occupation'."

"Israel fails to remotely approach such a threshold, making its strikes on Aleppo’s airport nothing other than acts of aggression. The article’s failure to properly contextualize Israel’s actions normalizes its brazen contravention of international law, tacitly accepting its belligerency and undermining of peace."

"Your description legitimizes Ben-Gvir’s extremist position, which is out of step with the vast majority of the international community, let alone human rights groups, or Canadian foreign policy. Ben-Gvir is a member of Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), which is a far-right and racist party with origins in Kahanism, a fascist and terroristic movement which calls for the expulsion of Palestinians from Israel."

On July 4, 2023, CJPME sent a letter to the Canadian Press expressing concern regarding a brief radio segment about Israel’s invasion of the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. The segment stated:

“Hundreds of Israeli troops are pressing ahead with their hunt for Palestinian militants and weapons in a West Bank refugee camp for a second day.”

This language that Israeli forces were “hunting” for Palestinians was used widely in Canadian media during the attack on Jenin, and particularly in articles from the wire service Associated Press (AP). CJPME considers this language alarming and defamatory. It is also misleading, as Israel’s attack led to the deaths of 4 Palestinian children and resulted in the destruction of public infrastructure and private property. There were also reports of ambulances not being able to enter the city. UN experts say Israel’s invasion may constitute a war crime.

In a letter responding to CJPME the same day, the Director of Broadcast News for Canadian Press, Rose Kingdon, wrote:

“I have reminded our newscasters that words matter and we always need to be aware of how a turn of phrase can be hurtful or inflammatory. Yes, it was the AP’s description, but perhaps we could have substituted the words searching or looking instead of ‘hunting’ – which evokes a hunter looking for humans.”

In a subsequent note, she reiterated:

“We understand this is a volatile issue and our goal is to maintain an objective perspective – The wording you objected to was lifted from The AP – and I might add the CBC used that exact same copy. As I said in my previous message, we are going to be extra vigilant regarding wording.”

CJPME considers this a positive outcome and commends the Canadian Press’ response. However, we are committed to monitoring their future coverage and providing critical feedback.

"I appreciate how you describe CUPW’s support of a boycott of Israeli products, but the description is limited in a couple of ways. The campaign that CUPW endorsed is more than a boycott, and it is a response to the mistreatment that Palestinians face as a whole, including refugees and Palestinian citizens of Israel (not just those in the occupied Palestinian territories)."