Just days ago, Canada gained a new refugee from Gaza who has spread, in our view, abhorrent anti-Jewish hate on social media.
And even though she was the subject of a brief report on CTV News, her sordid social media postings were never mentioned.
In his December 9 broadcast for CTV News entitled: “The story of a Palestinian woman and her cats fleeing Gaza,” reporter Kamil Karamali profiled Ruba Akkila, a Gazan woman who recently came to Canada as a refugee, alongside her three cats.
The story began with Akkila, having just arrived in Hamilton, Ontario, doting over her “most precious cargo, her three feline friends,” as Karamali described them, framing Akkila’s experiences as particularly difficult given her pets’ needs.
Ignoring Hamas’ Instigation Of Conflict On October 7
After viewers were given an extended introduction to Akkila’s cats, Karamali said that “when Israel invaded the enclave (Gaza) in October last year, she fled to the south. Her apartment bombed, left in rubble.”
This is an extraordinarily reckless statement. Karamali did not share what prompted Israel to invade Gaza, namely Hamas’ genocidal October 7, 2023 massacres in Israel of 1,200 Israelis and the further kidnapping of hundreds of innocent people from Israel.
Nor did Karamali explain why precisely Israel would strike sites in Gaza, not to evict a woman and her cats, but to combat Hamas and degrade its military capabilities. But Hamas was not mentioned a single time in the report.
Akkila Is A Vile Peddler Of Antisemitic Hate
As for Akkila, while she was portrayed as nothing more than a simple refugee seeking a safe home, as one internet sleuth found out, she is also a peddler of vile anti-Jewish propaganda.
As reported by David Lange, Akkila’s personal Meta (Facebook) page is rife with horrific disinformation, including one post comparing Israel’s counter-terrorism operations to the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, where more than one million innocent people were murdered.
According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, accepted by the Government of Canada as well as multiple provinces, including Akkila’s new home of Ontario, her post could very well be considered anti-Jewish hate.
Another post of Akkila’s portrayed an assailant holding a gun to the head of a newborn infant. The hand of the assailant bears the Israeli flag, and on the gun, an American flag. On the baby is a Palestinian flag, and the message is clear: that Israel, with American help, is deliberately targeting and murdering newborn Palestinian babies.
If a lone blogger has the resources to Google Akkila’s name and uncover her hateful anti-Jewish propaganda, then there is no excuse as to why Karamali was unable or unwilling to do likewise.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Karamali has produced a news report that fell far short of providing the full story.
On February 18, Karamali broadcast a story interviewing four individuals for their perspective on accusations against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). All four interviewers expressed anti-Israel views, and not a single one offered an opposing position, a situation both avoidable and unacceptable.
Karamali’s December 9 story is no better. Not only did he not give even the most basic information to viewers about the nature of the Hamas-Israel war, but he failed to conduct any research whatsoever into the subject of his report, erasing Ruba Akkila’s hateful social media activity.
