The Media Accountability Project  

In Gaza, Israel continues to bomb Palestinians. In Lebanon, it continues its shelling, burning of agricultural land and homes, and heavy drone activity. In Iran, the US and Israel are restarting their destructive campaign. Canada has done too little to uphold its commitments to international law amidst Israel’s violence. 

None of Israel's neighbours consider Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, so if they believe in normalizing relations with Israel, it is with Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem.

Israel’s ongoing artillery shelling, the burning of agricultural land and homes, and heavy drone activity must be included when reporting on the so-called ceasefire. As it stands, the article misleads readers into believing that calm has resumed, when in fact Israeli attacks on villages in southern Lebanon continue as we speak. 

Otherwise as is, the timeline effectively erases the past year and a half of constant bombardment from the reporting, and treats the south as though it is not part of Lebanon.

The Israeli forces have a history of using lies and misinformation as pretexts for their massacres. I therefore kindly request that the article be amended to raise skepticism around Israel’s unsubstantiated claims and to clarify that these Israeli allegations have not been independently verified in the interest of upholding journalistic standards of accuracy and fairness.

 "While Hezbollah maintains an armed wing outside the authority of the Lebanese state, describing it simply as unelected obscures its role as both a political and military actor within Lebanon's complex political landscape."

I am afraid this framing creates a false balance by juxtaposing what is unequivocal under international law with the position of an apartheid state whose Prime Minister and former Defence Minister are currently subject to ICC arrest warrants. The legality of Israeli settlements is not a matter of opinion.

The characterization of Israel’s blockade of Gaza is supported by authoritative international bodies, not critics. Framing it this way reduces established international legal conclusions to the level of subjective criticism.

These concerns warrant fair-minded journalistic scrutiny by The Toronto Star, which is presently missing from the opinion piece, as it gives Denise Handlarski a platform to discuss the alleged rapes committed by Hamas militants on October 7 despite the serious disputes and credibility concerns surrounding several of the report’s claims.

While Israel routinely claims that it only targets infrastructure linked to the resistance in Lebanon, there have been repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure and civilians themselves. Yet the article glaringly omits this perspective and instead uncritically repeats Israeli military claims.