The Media Accountability Project  

This raises an important editorial question: what objective standard determines when a state is described as a “government” versus a “regime”? If the distinction is not applied consistently across states regardless of alliance or geopolitical positioning, then the terminology ceases to function as responsible reporting and instead becomes selective language that falls outside the realm of fair journalistic practice.

We understand that this does not constitute a breach of the core pillars of responsible journalism; however, in the interest of accuracy, and in light of the international legal consensus regarding Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza, we kindly ask that you amend the article by replacing “critics” with language that reflects the weight of international legal and human rights consensus, including UN experts. 

The Canadian Association of Journalists’ Ethics Guidelines emphasize that accuracy is a fundamental pillar of responsible journalism. The article should therefore be corrected to clearly identify Israel’s attacks on medical and humanitarian personnel for what they are: violations of international law that constitute war crimes.

The claim that Lebanon was “dragged into this war” is therefore misleading, as the Israeli forces had already been conducting near-daily airstrikes in the south. I also write in good faith and from lived experience. My family, like many other Lebanese families, has been affected by Israel’s ceasefire violations since November 2024.

The Israeli government’s approval of a land registration process that permits Israel to designate territory in the occupied West Bank as “state property” if Palestinians cannot prove ownership is not “contentious,” as stated in the headline. It is an illegal decision that amounts to de facto annexation under occupation.

A ceasefire, as defined by Doctors Without Borders, is “an agreement that regulates the cessation of all military activity for a given length of time in a given area.” By definition, a ceasefire implies an end to violence. That is not the reality in Gaza.

In the name of accurate, consistent, and fair reporting, I kindly ask that the article be edited to add that most of Palestinians killed by Israel are civilians, so as not to downplay Israel’s total disregard for international humanitarian law in its indiscriminate bombing of Palestinians in Gaza.

Adding to the long history of condemnation by the international community of Israel’s illegal settlements, the July 2024 advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice reaffirmed “that the continued presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is illegal” and states that “Israel must immediately cease all new settlement activity”. 

I appreciate that the Associated Press, and by extension CBC News, reported on Israel’s approval of 764 additional housing units in three illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. We are seeing increased coverage of Israel’s illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank, and it is coverage we have not seen at this level before.

Despite the clarity of the footage, the article repeatedly states that the men only “appeared” to surrender, manufacturing doubt for no reason other than to plant uncertainty in the reader’s mind about what is a self-evident illegal public execution.