In his January 24 analysis article for CBC News entitled: “Hostage, prisoner or detainee? In the latest Israel-Hamas exchange, it’s not always clear”, reporter Chris Brown profiled Bushra al-Tahil, a prisoner recently released from an Israeli jail in the latest hostage-prisoner exchange.

Al-Tahil was held under administrative detention, which Brown’s article effectively criticized. He wrote that “… many media reports referred to her as a prisoner — or worse, a terrorist.”

He continued by writing that “this was despite the fact that no Israeli court had convicted her of a crime, nor charged her, nor presented her with any evidence about why she was incarcerated for more than 10 months.”

While administrative detention is a contentious topic, what Brown failed to mention is that this practice, widely seen in the Western world, is legal under international law. It is defined as “a government policy of arresting and temporarily detaining an individual without a trial because they pose an imminent security risk.” Under administrative detention, the individual is not charged.

Many other countries operate a system of administrative detention, including the U.S., the U.K., Canada and Italy, among others. However, in contrast to other countries, Israel faces multiple terrorist groups along its borders, all hell-bent on its annihilation, meaning Israel has a greater need for this anti-terrorism strategy.

Interestingly, in his article, Brown mentioned HonestReporting Canada’s continued efforts by stating that: “Honest Reporting Canada, which bills itself as a watchdog on ‘fair and accurate’ media coverage of Israel, has expressed support for Israel’s administrative detention rules and stated any equivalence between Palestinians in Israeli jails and hostages is ‘morally obtuse.’”

While we thank him for the free publicity, but it’s false to claim that we support administrative detention, we don’t take any stance whatsoever, but we do note it’s utility and rationale according to Israel.

Brown also wrote that “Al-Tahil says only once was she ever convicted of anything — incitement to terrorism…in that case, she says she was giving speeches and making posts about resisting Israel’s occupation.”

In the Middle East, more often than not, “resisting Israel’s occupation” quickly morphs into acts of terror against Israeli civilians, explaining Israel’s very real fear of Al-Tahil’s incitement. Brown not only neglected to add this crucial context, but despite mentioning that her father is “incarcerated in an Israeli prison” he ignored the fact that he is a senior Hamas leader. Hamas is proudly committed to what it describes as “armed resistance” and to committing genocide against Israel and establishing an Islamic state in its place.

Brown also stated that despite Israel’s justice ministry listing her as being affiliated with Hamas, she said “it’s untrue.” In a BBC News interview, she was asked about her Hamas affiliations, which she notably refused to answer – itself a powerful answer on its own.

The whitewashing went further, with Brown providing a forum for Al-Tahil to equate her status with that of the Israeli hostages, “‘The [Israeli hostages] that are in Gaza are considered ‘kidnapped,’ because criminals kidnapped them,” Al-Tahil said. But because she was held in an Israeli prison, she says she became ‘a prisoner.’”

Brown could have clarified the chasmic differences in the experiences of the two. In an Israeli jail, prisoners are held under international law, are well fed, receive medical attention when needed that includes anesthesia – including the late Hamas leader Yahye Sinwar being treated for brain cancer in 2004 – and have access to the Red Cross. They are not in physical danger.

The Israeli hostages, however, live in constant fear of their lives. Some of their limbs were injured by their captors and were denied access to proper medical attention, often being operated on without anesthesia. Itay Regev, a former hostage, said, “They put the forceps into my leg and they pulled out the bullet without anesthetics. They told me to be quiet because if I wasn’t quiet they’ll kill me. In all that time there was more abuse, slaps to the face, spitting.”

Other hostages were physically abused, tortured, raped and sexually assaulted.

The six hostages who were found shot to death by Hamas were living in a tunnel without air vents, toilets, or showers and were severely underweight due to starvation.

The family of the kidnapped Bibas children live in limbo, being denied any concrete information as to their wellbeing and proof of life. The list continues.

Brown’s neglecting to inform his readership of the injustice of the comparison ought to shock anyone believing in journalistic principles.

Brown’s CBC News article offered a profoundly one-sided view of the situation in the Hamas-Israel war, and not for the first time.