When a group of five of the most radical anti-Israel Members of Parliament (MP), including Toronto Liberal Salma Zahid and Edmonton NDP Heather McPherson, visited Judea & Samaria, often called the ‘West Bank’ by news media outlets, in early 2024, organized by the Muslim political advocacy organization Canadian-Muslim Vote, they received sympathetic news coverage upon their return.
One article by reporter Raisa Patel, “Liberal and NDP MPs visited the West Bank — and returned with a message for Justin Trudeau,” told readers that the MPs went in order “to bear witness” for the Palestinians, and “to tell Ottawa what they had seen.” No opponent of theirs was quoted anywhere in the article, save for a few words at the bottom of the piece.
Even before they left, the newspaper reported on MPs’ scheduled visit, saying they were going in order to “ask Palestinians how to advance peace.”
However, when a group of politicians visited Israel in late 2025, including two Toronto city councillors, The Toronto Star’s narrative could not have been more different.
No article was written prior to their departure about their goal, vision or itinerary, and instead, the only report that was filed was upon their return, saying the elected officials “stand by” their trip, and thus suggesting their visit ought to be seen as controversial.
A January 15 article by City Hall Bureau Chief Ben Spurr, “Toronto city councillors stand by consulate-sponsored trip to Israel amid criticism, as integrity commissioner finds no breach,” begins by noting that Toronto’s integrity commissioner saw no violation of any code of conduct, which would ordinarily mean that the very story was a non-issue.
Spurr quoted the two councillors, Mike Colle and James Pasternak, as well as extensively quoting radical anti-Israel groups for their opinions.
Spurr quoted Anna Lippman of Independent Jewish Voices (IJV), a group that has been accused of Holocaust distortion and rationalizing Palestinian terrorism. Lippman, for her part, has compared Palestinian terrorists to civil rights campaigners. He also quoted Steven Zhou of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), who in a previous Toronto Star column has downplayed Hamas terrorism in our view. In our estimation, the group NCCM has also sought to dangerously defame Israeli soldiers as a national security threat to Canada, in a baseless smear.
The entire article frames the visit to Israel as suspicious, with Spurr writing that among the itinerary items was a visit to Judea & Samaria, adding that “neither Pasternak nor Colle confirmed to the Star whether they visited the lookout, or answered questions about whether they felt it would be appropriate to.”
However, when a group of anti-Israel Members of Parliament visited the very same area, both in early 2024 and in late 2025, no mention was made whether it was “appropriate” to visit that region. It seems that for The Toronto Star, only visits to the Middle East by supporters of Israel is truly controversial.
One month earlier, in a December 17 article, Spurr reported on a call for an antisemitism task force at Toronto City Hall, in the aftermath of the Islamic terrorist attack against Jews in Sydney, Australia, with the piece predictably quoting anti-Israel activists complaining about the effect on their ongoing hate rallies.
As noted by HonestReporting Canada at the time, by making no mention of the relentless hate speech present at anti-Israel demonstrations, the article “effectively sanitized the extremist actions of anti-Israel demonstrators.” Ben Spurr’s January 15 article in The Toronto Star, casting aspersions on a visit to Israel by elected officials, implies that their visit was controversial, a suggestion that was never made when anti-Israel MPs visited. The Toronto Star’s selective framing speaks volumes about the newspaper’s ideological agenda.
