The Media Accountability Project  

If the Financial Post purports to be a serious media outlet, then it should immediately withdraw this shameless, paint-by-numbers recitation of the canon of fact-free hasbara repeated by propagandists for almost 80 years. Any media outlet worthy of the name must have a non-negotiable policy of printing only the truth. It should also give voice to Palestinians, who have endured unimaginable suffering for generations, so as to give Western audiences a dose of reality that they so desperately need.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a historic ruling on July 19, 2024 that found multiple and serious international law violations by Israel towards Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including, for the first time, finding Israel responsible for apartheid. 

Treating the results as directly comparable is a polemic tactic designed to create a damaging narrative of guilt-by-association, which the Israeli government and its allies in the media have been using as an excuse to indiscriminately killing civilians en masse for almost two years.

"Stoking Islamophobia in Canada, especially in this volatile moment, is not only irresponsible, it is dangerous. Islamophobia and antisemitism are both forms of hate and must be opposed with equal resolve."

"In the name of fair and accurate journalism, I believe this context should have been included in the article, as it’s crucial for readers to understand what truly happened on October 7, including the fact that Israel’s own military directives led to the deaths of its own civilians."

"As an occupying power, Israel is bound by the Fourth Geneva Convention, which mandates the provision of essential supplies to the civilian population under occupation. The deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid, leading to widespread deprivation, has been characterized by the United Nations, mainstream media and human rights organizations as a war crime, specifically the use of starvation as a method of warfare."

On March 28, 2025, CJPME learned that the Toronto Star corrected false claims about the death toll in Israel on October 7, 2023. The correction came after a CJPME social media post criticizing the outlet for repeatedly misrepresenting Israeli and Palestinian death tolls. In an article about protests, the Toronto Star inflated Israeli civilian deaths by at least 45%, while simultaneously downplaying the Palestinian death toll by providing no context about the likely dramatic undercount provided by Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The issue was corrected and a note added. It reads:

Clarification – March 24, 2025

This article was updated from a previous version to make clear that Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The previous version referred to the death of 1,200 civilians.

CJPME is grateful that the Star corrects its mistakes, but remains concerned by their repeated failure to provide adequate context about Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.

"I find it extremely disappointing and representative of a lack of balance that pro-Israel voices are provided a platform to criticize Al-Quds day in strong terms, but the reporting on pro-Israel counter protests downplays their far-right claims. The counter protest event poster even features an image of a temple and reads “Build the Temple Now.” This is a reference to destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque and building the “Third Temple” in its place."

"We expect that any reasonable reader would agree that it is reductive, misleading, and untrue to summarize the language used in the definition as “any criticism.” To be clear, there are many opinions expressed in Hopper’s article that we disagree with, but would not challenge because they are clearly expressed as opinions. Unfortunately, this particular claim is stated as fact, and even uses language like “technically deems” to reinforce the notion that the sentiment is not an opinion, but being stated as if factual. We therefore request the article to be updated to resolve this issue."