As repeatedly documented by HonestReporting Canada, multiple CBC radio programs have displayed consistent pro-Palestinian editorial bias, both by selecting topics that closely cleave to such narratives, and by overwhelmingly relying on pro-Palestinian guests.

The August 20 episode of the radio program The Current did so once again, reflecting CBC’s ongoing coverage of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in an Arab village in Samaria (what the news media calls the “West Bank”).

Listen to the full episode:

Filling in for Matt Galloway, guest host Lyndsay Duncombe featured two guests to discuss the issue: Palestinian-American Loui Ridi, and Dahlia Scheindlin, an Israeli columnist. But lest listeners think they would get anything close to balance, both guests offered little in the way of diverse opinions, and instead, both articulated virtually the same view.

Duncombe introduced the segment by telling listeners about claims from the United Nations about alleged “attacks on Palestinians by ‘settlers.’” It goes without saying that violence initiated by Israelis in Judea and Samaria is abhorrent, but unsurprisingly, Duncombe offered no insight into studies which have found such claims to be significantly exaggerated, and which often include acts of Palestinian terrorism against Israeli civilians under the category of ‘settler violence.’

When asked whether it was “possible to come and go” from the area, Ridi (a Palestinian who lives in Ohio) told Duncombe “absolutely not,” despite being able to freely travel between the Middle East and the United States. Duncombe offered no challenge to this claim, nor did she provide any opportunity for listeners to get any deep insights at all beyond superficial anti-Israel claims.

Instead, her line of questioning was gentle, and featured such softballs as “what do you want the international community to know about what’s happening in the West Bank right now?”

To challenge the universally accepted media narrative of Israeli “settlers” gone amok, CBC could have chosen any number of guests to discuss the millennia of Jewish history in these supposedly “occupied” lands, Israel’s repeated peace offers to Palestinians (which have been rejected), or the scourge of Palestinian terrorism.

CBC did no such thing.

Instead, the program’s second guest, Dahlia Scheindlin, while Israeli, is a vocal critic of the country and unsurprisingly, a repeat guest on CBC programs. Scheindlin is a co-founder of +972 magazine, a media outlet that spreads the “genocide” slur, and which critics have noted “promote a marginal agenda from the fringes of Israeli discourse.”

Scheindlin told listeners that “violence will always continue until Palestinians are able to govern themselves.” She did not acknowledge that Palestinians have been given multiple offers to govern themselves, with Israel presenting extraordinarily generous offers in 2000 and 2008 (both rejected by the Palestinians).

Scheindlein need not look into a crystal ball to understand that Palestinians “govern(ing) themselves” is no antidote for violence. In 2005, Israel forcibly withdrew every Israeli soldier and civilian from Gaza, providing the Palestinians with an opportunity for self-governance. But rather than transforming the territory into an economic or social success, the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas helped make Gaza into a launching pad for terrorism against Israel.

But Duncombe offered no challenge to either Scheindlein or Ridi.

This episode of The Current offered listeners a familiar pro-Palestinian narrative, talking points and a carefully-curated roster of guests.

Photo credit: Lyndsay Duncombe