The Media Accountability Project  

"Long before October 7, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah had consistently emphasized the group’s commitment to resisting Israel’s illegal occupation and to standing against Israel’s abhorrent expansionist project. Hezbollah’s actions are rooted in this broader political and moral position — not merely a tactical alliance with Hamas."

"As early as 2024, Israeli intelligence agencies have said they consider the numbers reported by the Gaza Health Ministry "generally accurate" and use them internally. Why is that fact left out of your otherwise excellent article?"

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."

"Your coverage also neglects to contextualize Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza, which has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, as part of a broader pattern of systematic violence and collective punishment. The CAJ’s guidelines emphasize the importance of avoiding passive language that obscures responsibility, yet the article repeatedly does so."

"Once again, I thank you for publishing this article, and I encourage the CBC to continue to highlight the horrific impacts of Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza on Palestinians, as we work to collectively draw attention to voices, perspectives and movements that are often sidelined in Canadian mainstream media."

"The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered the Israeli government to ensure the “unimpeded access to humanitarian assistance” to Palestinians in Gaza, well over one year ago. Israel’s use of starvation as a method of warfare amounts to collective punishment, which is prohibited under the Fourth Geneva Convention."

"Such unbalanced journalistic framing exposes the hypocrisy of Western media and governments - offering performative nods to international law and human rights while actively enabling Israel's unimpeded commission of war crimes and collective punishment against Palestinians."

"Lastly, while the statement from the UN special envoy for Yemen is noted and appreciated, and some Houthi media entities are sourced, I note that there was an absence of a Houthi civilian perspective, which would help the reader understand the humanitarian situation and consequences."

Too often, mainstream coverage relies on passive voice—phrases like “more than 48,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza”—which misleads readers into believing Palestinian deaths occurred in a vacuum. This erasure numbs the public to Israel’s ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity, reducing Palestinian deaths to mere statistics and shielding Israel from scrutiny and accountability.