In a recent January 26 review, CBC Ombudsman Jack Nagler has denied that it was improper for a journalist who signed an anti-Israel open letter to write a news article on a topic related to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

In the spring of 2022 an article was published on CBC News’ website entitled: “’An act of erasure’: LCBO called out for sticker covering the word ‘Palestine’ on wine bottle,” which was written by Sara Jabakhanji, a reporter with CBC News in Toronto. In May, 2021, Jabakhanji had signed an open letter which gave a dramatically oversimplified, anti-Israel view of events in the Middle East.

As we observed in May 2021:

The letter refers to the “escalating violence against Palestinians,” and conveniently ignores the escalating violence against Israeli civilians by Hamas and Islamic Jihad which have fired over 2,000 rockets at Israel killing 8 people and wounding hundreds. The letter refers to “forced expulsions,” though no one has been expelled and the letter claims there’s a “… deep reluctance (by Canadian journalists) to cover the ongoing nature of the Israeli occupation…”

It alleges that Israel is carrying out “indiscriminate airstrikes” whereas Israel is only targeting terrorists and terror infrastructure. If anything is “indiscriminate,” it’s the Hamas/Islamic Jihad onslaught of missiles targeting Israeli civilian population centers, big and small. These terror groups situate their operatives and weapons within civilian areas using Palestinians as human shields.

The letter says: “According to the United Nations and countless human rights organizations around the world (including ones based within Israel), what’s happening in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is a ‘grave breach of international law.’ Some groups believe the attacks amount to an “ethnic cleansing.” It should be covered as such.” In truth, some groups also believe that Israel doesn’t have the right to exist. These allegations are myopic, unfounded and inflammatory.

Following Jabakhanji’s April 2022 article, HonestReporting Canada lodged a complaint with CBC News, indicating that it was highly inappropriate for a reporter who had previously signed such a deeply problematic anti-Israel letter to be reporting on the subject of Israel. The clear conflict in having a reporter who made their views on Israel known to be reporting on that same topic was also apparent, it seemed, to the CBC, given that one of their spokespeople, Chuck Thompson, who had previously told HonestReporting Canada in an email that “By adding their names, the CBC journalists who signed the open letter have taken a public stand on this story. That has created the perception of a conflict of interest among some members of our audience.”

CBC’s Thompson continued his email by stating that “We will provide oversight and ensure editorial distance between those who signed the letter and our daily coverage for the near future.”

However, when HonestReporting Canada pointed out these comments to Nagler, his interpretation was that “Thompson’s statement refers only to ‘the near future’, not forever,” indicating that the 11-month gap between Jabakhanji signing the open letter and writing an article on the subject of Israel was sufficient.

While it is true that Thompson did not promise an indefinite ban of CBC journalists who signed the anti-Israel open letter reporting on Israel, the reality is that anything short of a permanent prohibition simply does not make sense from an ethical perspective.

Why should a CBC journalist who has made their anti-Israel views clear be allowed to cover Israel in a presumably unbiased fashion, even 11 months later? This is not an abstract issue, but a very clearly defined one.

According to CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices, “We are guided by the principle of impartiality. We provide our audience with the perspectives, facts and analysis they need to understand an issue or matter of public interest. CBC journalists do not express their own personal opinion because it affects the perception of impartiality and could affect an open and honest exploration of an issue. We maintain the same standards, no matter where we publish – on CBC platforms or in other media outside the CBC.”

It seems abundantly clear that a CBC journalist who has signed an anti-Israel letter should be – according to CBC’s own Journalistic Standards and Practices – be forbidden from covering the issue of Israel, not merely on a temporary basis, but permanently, at least until they have stated that they will no longer be bound by an explicit bias and agenda.

When a CBC journalist refuses to show balance on an issue as charged as Israel, how can the CBC thus ensure that their coverage of Israel is objective, neutral and free from bias?

The weakness of the CBC’s position becomes apparent when their reasoning is applied to a subject unrelated to Israel.

As pointed out by HonestReporting Canada in its complaint to CBC, if a reporter for the public broadcaster had, for example, publicly called on their readers or listeners to support the Liberal Party of Canada over the Conservative Party of Canada, based on the CBC’s statements, that same reporter would subsequently be allowed to continue to cover news stories related to federal politics, despite their lack of objectivity and political neutrality. As a result of their clear bias and overt favouritism, it is apparent that such a journalist should be indefinitely precluded from reporting on stories related to the Liberal and Conservative parties.

This same problem exists with the signatories of the May 2021 anti-Israel open letter, and despite the passing of 11 months, without a change in circumstances, there is no reasonable rationale in giving a platform to cover Israel to CBC journalists who had previously made their anti-Israel views well known.

This incident, and others, validate Canadian concerns over a perceived lack of trust and political neutrality at the CBC, most certainly as it relates to anti-Israel bias at our public broadcaster.