For the last 21 months of the Hamas-Israel war, HonestReporting Canada has repeatedly cited The Early Edition, a CBC radio program, and its host Stephen Quinn, for its problematic coverage of the Middle East.

Those criticisms have included relentlessly platforming anti-Israel guests (while effectively failing to have any opposing views showcased), offering one perspective while avoiding any mention of the broader context, presenting vehement critics of Israel and misleadingly framing them as unbiased analysts, whitewashing pro-terrorist rhetoric from anti-Israel extremists, and failing to challenge the anti-Israel statements made by guests.

These failures represent more than just a missed opportunity, but a consistent and egregious anti-Israel bias on the part of this CBC radio program.

Yet in his June 27 episode, in conversation about the Hamas-Israel war with Rami Khouri – a Jordanian national who in our view has demonized Jews and who sought to rationalize, if not justify, Hamas’ terrorism – Quinn blatantly misrepresented the nature of complaints against his program, complaining that “we get attacked for basically reporting what you’re saying right now, which is, as far as I know, accurate,” making apparent reference to HonestReporting Canada in his comments.

The comments in question included Khouri conspiratorially claiming that Israel was attempting to “dominate the region to try and impose total siege on the Palestinians to drive them out.”

If Israel is attempting to “drive” out Gazans from the territory, there is simply no evidence for that, with perpetual anti-Israel detractors claiming that Israel was doing exactly the opposite by stymying the attempts of Gazans to leave. If Khouri was referring to the evacuation orders Israel has issued in Gaza, he could have mentioned that this was being done with the explicit intention of warning civilians ahead of heavy combat. Unsurprisingly, he failed to do this.

During the conversation, Quinn made no attempt to hide his views, on multiple occasions audibly agreeing with Khouri when a point was made, including when his guest complained that “the worst thing is that the world kind of watches this happen and doesn’t seem to intervene,” during which Quinn loudly said “yes,” and elsewhere, when Khouri praised Al Jazeera, the broadcaster run by the Qatari dictatorship as being “quite careful in its reporting,” Quinn once again agreed.

Stephen Quinn, when apparently complaining that he receives complaints from HonestReporting Canada subscribers, said that the statements from Rami Khouri were “as far as I know, accurate.” But given that he has thus far effectively refused to host guests who disagree with his carefully cultivated narrative, it should come as little surprise that he appears unaware that there are criticisms of the statements made by Khouri and others.

The same day, Khouri was also a guest on CBC radio’s Quebec AM with host Susan Campbell, where he repeated his scurrilous claims about Israel, claiming that “they’ve also laid siege to the whole Gaza (sic), and prevented the entry of enough food, medicine and water and essentials of life,” and accusing Israel of achieving “death by starvation.”

Listen to the full segment below:

Campbell failed to challenge Khouri on these unfounded comments, which he framed as matters of fact but were actually opinions. Huge amounts of humanitarian aid enters Gaza daily (including baby food and even blood), and since it began operations recently, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has delivered nearly 56 million meals to the enclave. The essentials of life, as Khouri calls them, are most certainly present in Gaza, as are many luxuries, including restaurants, candy stores, cafes, bakeries and more.

At the end of Stephen Quinn’s interview, Rami Khouri proposed that “if anyone criticizes you for unfair coverage, invite them onto the show… bring them onto the show to discuss it.”

Given that Quinn has hosted a large number of anti-Israel detractors accusing Jerusalem of a host of crimes, will he take up Khouri’s suggestion and start providing a platform with those he disagrees with? There are many experts he could turn to, including lawyer Natasha Hausdorff to discuss the laws of war, Colonels (ret’d) John Spencer or Richard Kemp to discuss Israel’s exemplary efforts in urban warfare, or Andrew Fox, a former British major who authored a study debunking Hamas casualty figures.

Or will Quinn and his CBC radio program simply ignore these voices and feign ignorance about the criticisms they make of his positions?