If there is a news story with a negative spin about Israel, then As It Happens, the CBC radio program, has very likely covered it.
In the October 29 segment entitled: “What Israel’s move to ban UNRWA means for Gaza,” host Nil Köksal reported on the passing of a law in the Israeli parliament banning UNRWA, the disgraced United Nations agency with ties to Palestinian terrorism and whose staff took part in Hamas’ October 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis and hostage taking of 250.
Click below to listen to the full segment:
The only guest that joined the program to discuss that topic was Juliette Touma, the communication director for UNRWA. No Israeli representative was given a platform to speak by As It Happens, a familiar trend for the program.
As It Happens Routinely Fails To Interview Pro-Israel Sources
The topic was introduced by co-host Howden telling listeners that “governments are lining up to condemn” the new legislation, adding that “meanwhile, in northern Gaza, the health ministry is reporting that an Israeli strike on a residential building has killed 93 people, including at least 20 children.”
While offering zero background about the so-called “health ministry” in Gaza and why its numbers are highly implausible, and ignoring that the area is an active warzone between Hamas and Israel, Howden simply parroted Hamas talking points while providing no further details.
During the interview, the entire discussion surrounded framing UNRWA as a model of humanitarian aid. Touma described the ban as “further collective punishment to a group of people that have nothing to do with this brutal, brutal conflict that we’re witnessing right now.”
Köksal only obliquely raised with Touma the charges leveled by Israel against UNRWA, by saying only that “you’re certainly aware that UNRWA has faced allegations before. Our listeners will recall the stories, you know, in the last year or so, earlier this year.”
Somehow, despite making reference to “allegations” and “stories,” not a single word was provided to listeners about the nature of these charges, effectively sanitizing them for the public.
Köksal Ignores Mount Of Damning Evidence Against UNRWA
Among the manifold strikes against UNRWA include the heinous hate and anti-Jewish incitement spread in its school textbooks used to ‘educate’ the next generation of Palestinians, 1,200 UNRWA staff with ties to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists, including others who directly participated in Hamas’ genocidal October 7, 2023 massacres in southern Israel, the existence of a major Hamas operations centre existing directly underneath UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters that it is inconceivable that the agency was ignorant of, and more, including UNRWA staff taking Israelis hostage, and how a top Hamas commander in Lebanon was an UNRWA employee.
Indescribably, Köksal ignored this mountain of evidence, leaving only a vague reference to “allegations,” and in so doing, whitewashed the incredibly serious charges against the Canadian taxpayer-funded United Nations agency.
In particular since October 7, 2023, As It Happens has routinely given a voice to scores of anti-Israel guests presenting unfounded claims, including debunked allegations of famine, as well as de facto denials of Israel’s right to defend itself against genocidal terrorist groups, complaints that Israel does not always advertise the details of its counter-terrorism operations in advance, downplaying Hamas’ presence in Gaza, and treating pro-Israel guests with hostility while treating anti-Israel guests with kid gloves.
While it is entirely reasonable to critique Israel’s ban of UNRWA, and hear from a staffer from the agency to defend itself against accusations, it is poor journalistic practice to month after month use As It Happens to give a voice to every conceivable anti-Israel claim, while virtually ignoring all statements made by Israel.
