In the March 18 edition of the CBC radio program Here and Now entitled: “The ceasefire has collapsed as Israel launches a series of airstrikes into Gaza,” listeners were provided with an interview with Patrick Robitaille, senior advisor for the non-governmental organization Save The Children.

Robitaille ought to be on-side for the welfare of all children, everywhere. Yet his X (formerly Twitter) account appears to have a blind spot when it comes to Palestinian terrorism, ignoring Hamas’ October 7, 2023 massacres, when Hamas initiated the war with its heinous attack on unsuspecting Israelis, including the rape and hostage-taking of women, and the murder and hostage-taking of children. Yet his account does repost calls for “children’s rights in Gaza and the world.”

Click below to listen to the full segment:

Here and Now, hosted by Ramraajh Sharvendiran, ought to have challenged his one-sided focus on Gaza at the exclusion of Israel, and apparent blindness to Palestinian terrorism.

Instead, the host opened by saying: “The temporary ceasefire between Israel and Gaza appears to have collapsed. Israel launched a series of air strikes into Gaza overnight. Palestinian health authorities say more than 400 people have been killed, many of them children.”

It is astounding that CBC’s host did not clarify the reason for the airstrikes. Hamas – the elected ruling party in Gaza – is still holding 59 hostages, dead and alive, that they snatched from their daily lives in Israel nearly 18 months ago. Hamas holds the keys to end the airstrikes immediately: release the hostages and surrender. Yet in the entire radio segment, Hamas’s physical, sexual, and psychological abuse of the hostages went unmentioned, denying listeners access to anything resembling context.

Here and Now likewise neglected to explain that the “Palestinian health authorities” they so authoritatively mention are an arm of Hamas, and as such, suspect to put it lightly. Their previous casualty figures have been roundly debunked for many reasons, including that they don’t differentiate between fighters and civilians.

During the interview, Robitaille said that: “we haven’t seen any humanitarian aid coming in and now it’s resumption of the bombing so the situation is catastrophic in Gaza.” He also commented that “children that don’t have food to eat, so malnutrition is huge they don’t have enough vitamins.”

Yet when his host asked him: “these attacks have come during the month of Ramadan, what impact is that having on people?” Robitaille replied: “Right now people are trying to run to the store get whatever they can for Ramadan, but also just for surviving, they know that the food will be more and more scarce that they have to take care of themselves.”

Despite his declaration that things are “catastrophic,” he acknowledged that there is food available for purchase. Israel estimates that enough aid has entered Gaza to last for several months, and that “Hamas uses the supply of goods to bolster its control of the enclave and fund its attacks on Israel.”

Robitaille’s misrepresentation of the reality of Gaza is problematic and went unquestioned by his host. This is despite social media reporting that Gazan restaurants are serving veal and rice and others, fish and rice with salads.

Additionally, released Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi has detailed seeing his Hamas captors “eating stolen food from dozens of boxes marked with U.N. emblems while the hostages starved,” according to news reports. Upon his release, he discovered that his wife and two teenage daughters had been murdered. Yet the suffering of Israelis are once again untold by CBC.

Robitaille stated that “right now, not being able to access those families, it’s a denying of humanitarian aid and that’s a crime under international law.” Given that there is sufficient aid in Gaza for several months and that Israel alleges it is being withheld by Hamas, he laid the blame for denying humanitarian aid at the wrong door. Yet his radio host didn’t even acknowledge that there is another point of view.

It isn’t the first time that a CBC radio show has allowed Robitaille to whitewash Hamas’s role in Gaza and the war, and likely not for the last time, either.