The Media Accountability Project  

"The article lists all the important events that occurred, from 1362 to 2022, on September 12. Overall, the article did a fine job of listing and describing the events, but was incorrect with the 2005 event listed. The article states that "in 2005, the Israeli army withdrew from Gaza, officially ending Israel’s 38-year occupation" which is completely false."

Including Palestinian voices and mentioning the obstacles and difficulties they experience in entering or exiting Gaza, even as American citizens, allows your readers to have an insight into the daily struggles experienced by Palestinians. The experience of Gazans has unfortunately been overlooked by other media outlets in their coverage of this issue.

"It is therefore entirely appropriate, and indeed necessary, for Global National to have reported on the impact of Israel’s judicial changes on Palestinians under Israeli rule. This reporting should necessarily include the impact on the 1.6 million Palestinians who hold second-class Israeli citizenship, as well as the 5.2 million Palestinians under Israeli military occupation in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza."

I was especially pleased that you chose to tell the story of Huda Zaqqut, whose life feels “like a miracle” in spite of the hardships of living in Gaza.  I appreciated that you pointed out that Gaza is “like a prison”, closed “on all sides” due to Israel and Egypt’s blockade.

"Fegelman cites a Jerusalem Post article that does not back his claim, that 1,500 rockets were fired by PIJ militants “while hiding behind Palestinian civilians.” The sentence in question is written in such a way that one should interpret it as meaning that specifically 1,500 rockets were fired from positions that were “behind Palestinian civilians.”"

On April 5, 2023, a CBC Radio segment properly referred to Gaza as “occupied.” However, after pressure from the pro-Israel lobby group Honest Reporting Canada, the next day CBC issued an on-air ‘correction’ erroneously stating: “Last night, we made a reference to the Gaza Strip being ‘occupied.’ The territory is not occupied, but rather has its borders controlled by Israel and Egypt.” A similar text was also posted online, claiming that “Gaza is not occupied.”

CJPME responded to this false ‘correction’ by sending a letter to CBC arguing that they presented a statement of opinion as a statement of fact; Gaza is in fact considered “occupied territory” by the UN, human rights groups and the humanitarian sector, including Human Rights Watch and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Additionally, Michael Lynk, former UN Special Rapporteur, also sent a letter to CBC writing that, “Under international law, this degree of control exercised by Israel since 2005 is sufficient to conclude that Israel remains the occupying power over Gaza.”

As a result of CJPME’s complaint, on April 14, 2023, CBC walked back its on-air ‘correction’ by updating the text on its website to:

On April 5, 2023, CBC Radio referred to the Gaza Strip being occupied. While Israel continues to control most of the flow of people and goods into and out of the Gaza strip, which to some analysts constitutes a continued occupation, it ended its permanent military presence there in 2005. An on-air clarification was broadcast April 6, and this clarification note was published to specify that Israel doesn't consider Gaza to be occupied. This clarification note has since been updated to describe Gaza's status more precisely.

While this update includes a far more accurate description of Gaza’s legal status, several issues remain. CJPME sent a follow-up letter to CBC highlighting that the phrasing of “some analysts” significantly downplays the fact that this position is held by the international community. While this correction is an improvement to the original one, it still fails to correctly label Gaza as an occupied territory and Israel as an occupying power. CJPME is requesting that CBC update its language on Gaza to properly reflect international consensus and to align with CBC’s reporting on the status of the occupied West Bank.

"Hamas does play an important role in Gaza in the same way that an inmate in a prison cell has a certain autonomy in his own cell. Nevertheless, just as it is the prison warden who is truly in control of the prison, Israel is truly in control of what happens in Gaza. Hamas does not control who or what goes in and out of Gaza, and any influence it may have over energy, water, airspace, cell access, etc. is at the pleasure of Israel – the occupying power."

I first want to acknowledge CBC’s prompt efforts in correcting what had been a factual error. Whereas a previous ‘correction’ had erroneously stated as fact that the Gaza Strip is “not occupied,” the updated text on the public tracking page has a far more accurate description of  Gaza’s legal status. However, there are still issues with how this status is represented, as the text uses a “both sides” framing while minimizing the authority of those who say that Gaza is occupied.

"On April 5, 2023, a CBC Radio presenter on the World at Six accurately described the Gaza Strip as 'occupied,' as part of an excellent series on recent events in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. The following day, however, CBC aired an erroneous correction which claimed: 'Last night, we made a reference to the Gaza Strip being ‘occupied.’ The territory is not occupied, but rather has its borders controlled by Israel and Egypt.'

Unfortunately, with this on-air 'correction,' CBC presented a statement of opinion as a statement of fact. Contrary to what CBC has asserted, the international community overwhelmingly views the Gaza Strip as occupied by Israel. This error must be acknowledged with an on-air correction."

I appreciate that you published an article about new virtual reality classrooms in the occupied Gaza strip. It is important for publications like Toronto Telegraph to provide Palestinian stories to Canadian audiences. Although you do describe Gaza as an “impoverished coastal enclave” at one point in the article, you provide absolutely no context as to why the region is “impoverished” or under duress. You have a journalistic responsibility to provide such context to the reader.