The Media Accountability Project  

I stress that rejecting Israeli policies and war crimes against Palestinians should not be conflated with questioning Israel's existence, particularly amidst ongoing allegations of genocide. The timing of these protests against genocide underscores the urgency of addressing injustices rather than dismissing legitimate criticisms.

"Such language violates basic journalistic standards but also stands in direct opposition to the recommendations made by leading journalistic organizations specializing in coverage of the Middle East."

"It is critical that CBC not use sweeping generalizations to describe Israel’s view of the Nakba and provide at least some acknowledgment of the diverse views within Israeli society."

"The protests are indeed targeting the actions and ongoing occupation of the Palestinian people by the Israeli government. However, they are not targeting Jewish Canadians. It would be similar to saying that the protests against the apartheid regime of the South Africa governments were targeting the citizens of South Africa and not the National Party government."

"Why do you emphasize the fact that calls for an end to the “conflict” and illegal occupation can be “interpreted as calls to ethnically cleanse the Middle East of Jews” but do not emphasize the fact that conflict and illegal occupation of Palestinian lands are widely interpreted as the current ethnic cleansing of Palestinians?"

“Black-and-white scarves” is a term extensively used in racist context on social media. On X (formerly Twitter), a search for the phrase pulls up innumerable tweets of far-right individuals, such as this one, using the phrase in highly racist remarks. The mistake to use the phrase by Toronto Star is almost certainly accidental, but we would strongly advise against its use, as it serves as a dog whistle

To maintain factual accuracy under international law, “occupied” should precede any occupied territory mentioned in your articles. Thus, please edit your paragraph to read “occupied West Bank.”

"While you do acknowledge the meaning of the word as “shaking of oppression,” you frame intifada in terms of violence. Such framing is highly reductive, as intifadas were not solely characterized by violence but were multifaceted social and political movements involving a wide range of tactics (largely peaceful)."

"I would, therefore, recommend editing the sentence to the following: 'The Nakba marks the ethnic cleansing and forced expulsion of Palestinians from their land to establish the State of Israel in 1948.' At the very least, please replace 'mass displacement' with 'forced expulsion'."

This article failed to explain the underlying context of the protests, leaving readers without a clear understanding of the demonstrators' motives. Merely labeling the protests as a "demonstration about the war between Israel and Hamas" fails to clarify who the protestors are, their specific demands, or the reasons behind their street blockades.