Following the horror and carnage perpetrated by Hamas terrorists on Israeli civilians on the morning of October 7, and amidst the huge number of victims being identified and named, news media outlets have begun publishing articles, connecting some of the victims to their extended families around the world.
On October 11, CBC News Ottawa writers Avanthika Anand and Nicole Williams, as well as producer Falice Chin, published an article sharing the news that Adi Vital-Kaploun, a 33-year-old dual Canadian-Israeli citizen with a large extended family in Ottawa, was dead.
But in the initial report, it was far come clear how exactly Vital-Kaploun had died, and who the perpetrators were.
The article initially read that Vital-Kaploun had died “as a result of the conflict in Israel.” In reality, she was a young mother of two children, and a resident of Kibbutz Holit, who was brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists during their unprovoked attack on towns and villages in southern Israel.
HonestReporting Canada soon engaged the three CBC journalists informing them that Vital-Kaploun had not simply died, but was murdered by Hamas terrorists who had invaded her village. According to the Globe and Mail:
“Adi Vital-Kaploun’s last moments would have been pure horror. Not only were Hamas gunmen in her house, intent on killing her, they had her two young sons as well.
Ms. Vital-Kaploun, a 33-year-old Canadian citizen with ties to Ottawa, was shot in front of her two sons, four-year-old Negev and 4½-month-old Eshel, according to Dina Zaslacski, a family friend.
The family was told by the Israeli military that her body was then shoved under Negev’s bed and booby-trapped so it would explode whenever someone tried to pull her out, Ms. Zaslacski said.”
Shortly after HonestReporting Canada contacted the CBC News team, the leading paragraph of the article was amended. It soon read that “The Jewish Federation of Ottawa has confirmed Adi Vital-Kaploun, who has family ties to Ottawa, was killed in the Hamas attacks in Israel.”
This change, while covering only a few words, fundamentally changes the entire character of the article. It informs readers that the war between Hamas and Israel isn’t a conflict of two sides with equal moral standing, but one where an innocent young mother was mercilessly murdered in front of her children by Hamas. Such details are absolutely critical in helping the Canadian public to understand the chasm of difference between Hamas and Israel.
The CBC News post sharing the article to X (formerly Twitter) was deleted, and the story was re-posted with the revised version.
Additionally and importantly, CBC News then produced a second article on October 12 entitled: “Family of Israeli Canadian woman killed by Hamas heartbroken, outraged,” specifically focused on Vital-Kaploun. The article covered in detail her life, her Canadian connections, and most importantly, telling readers in no uncertain details that Vital-Kaploun wasn’t merely a bystander who was an unfortunate victim in a war between two parties, but a deliberate target by Hamas in their quest to maim and murder as many Jews as possible.
As more details continue to emerge following the Hamas pogrom in southern Israel, it remains absolutely imperative for Canadian news media outlets to not equivocate when it comes to reporting on the nature of the deaths of Israeli civilians targeted by Hamas on October 7. When Canadians are presented with a clear picture as to the ugly nature of Hamas and their bloodthirsty desire to massacre Jews, they will recognize that not only are there no justifications for their murders of innocent people, but that Israel has a right and a responsibility to do its utmost to defend its population against Hamas.
HonestReporting Canada thanks CBC News Ottawa for its speedy response, cooperation and for making this much-needed change, and calls upon all other Canadian news media outlets to ensure that their coverage makes clear that the victims in southern Israel were intentionally murdered by Hamas. Amazingly, even this needs to be said.
