The Media Accountability Project  

"By failing to inform readers that the Madleen was intercepted in international waters — and that such an act violates multiple instruments of international law — your reporting presents Israel’s abhorrent actions as permissible, rather than as grave breaches of international humanitarian law that is supposedly designed to protect civilian vessels and humanitarian missions."

"By framing Israel’s aggression as the start of the conflict without this legal context, the article suggests a false moral equivalence between unlawful aggression and retaliation."

"Presented without context, the reporting suggests that the collapse of Gaza’s health care system is occurring in a vacuum. In reality, Israel has been imposing a genocidal siege on Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip for the past 100 days — intensifying a blockade that has been in place since 2008. The Israeli occupation forces have even calculated the minimum caloric intake required to prevent starvation, deliberately restricting aid and conditioning its entry as a form of collective punishment."

"I ask that the CBC revisit this story with a follow-up that identifies the illegality of attacking nuclear facilities under international law, acknowledges how these attacks disrupted active diplomatic negotiations, critically examines commentary from ideologically driven think tanks such as RUSI, and incorporates perspectives from nuclear non-proliferation experts whose analysis prioritizes diplomacy and de-escalation."

"By failing to inform readers that the Madleen was intercepted in international waters — and that such an act violates multiple instruments of international law — your reporting presents Israel’s abhorrent actions as permissible, rather than as grave breaches of international humanitarian law that is supposedly designed to protect civilian vessels and humanitarian missions."

"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."