CBC makes on-air clarification about death of Palestinian hunger striker
On May 2, 2023, CBC’s The World This Hour aired a segment on the death of Palestinian hunger striker Khader Adnan in which journalist Irris Makler said that he had “refuse[d] medical treatment.” In doing so, Makler was repeating a claim by Israeli authorities without attribution, which has been contradicted by human rights groups and UN officials who say that Adnan was denied adequate medical care by Israeli authorities. CJPME wrote to the CBC requesting a clarification.
On May 8, 2023, CBC’s The World This Hour broadcast the following clarification:
We have a clarification to make. Last Tuesday, we reported about the death of Palestinian hunger striker Khader Adnan in Israeli custody. We said he refused medical help until the end, but did not attribute that statement to the Israeli authorities. Adnan’s supporters dispute that version of events.
CJPME is pleased that the CBC has corrected this factual problem with the segment, but additional issues remain. Notably, CBC has only said that “supporters dispute” Israel’s claims, without identifying them as key human rights experts. CJPME also requested that the CBC provide additional context on Adnan’s long history of imprisonment within Israel’s military court system, and the use of “administrative detention” in which Israel arbitrarily detains large numbers of Palestinians without charge or trial. In the segment, this was referred to only and inadequately as being “jailed by Israel.” Unfortunately, this and other issues were not addressed in the CBC’s coverage of the story.
No mention of hunger striker's administrative detention or medical neglect by Israel
"If Israel’s military court system and practices of administrative detention had been mentioned as part of the story, listeners would have a much better understanding of why many human rights experts have said that Adnan’s history of imprisonment is unfair, why he decided to embark on repeated hunger strikes in the first place, and why Palestinians have expressed widespread support for his protest. Instead, the use of the term “jail” could imply to listeners that Adnan had been convicted of a crime as part of a fair legal process. The omission of this context is therefore highly misleading."
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