On September 15th, CBC News published an article by Paul Forsyth entitled “Anti-racism association surveys Niagara candidates on race-related topics ahead of Ontario municipal vote,” which made the erroneous claim that Israeli settlements were attacked by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.
The article incorrectly stated the following: “The survey also notes that municipal governments in Niagara have shown support for Ukraine after it was invaded by Russia in February 2022, and for Israel following the attack on Israeli settlements by Hamas members.”
This description was inaccurate. The October 7, 2023, terror attacks, which saw the maiming, torture, rape and murder of 1,200+ Israelis and the kidnapping of 250+ into Gaza, occurred in sovereign Israeli territory, throughout many kibbutzim in the southern part of the country, including Kfar Aza, Be’eri, Nir Oz, and many more.
By using the word ‘settlements’, which is commonly understood to refer to communities outside of Israel proper and where Israeli administration of land is tenuous at best, this CBC News article obscured a fundamental fact about where the massacres occurred.
To wit, Israel unilaterally removed all 21 Gaza settlements and uprooted 8,500 Jewish settlers in the 2005 Disengagement Plan.
As such, HonestReporting Canada launched a formal complaint with our public broadcaster, stating that a correction is warranted to set the record straight and we are pleased to note that CBC agreed.
The story was amended and a correction was published which states:
“This story has been updated to accurately reference the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023.”
We thank the CBC for this corrective measure.
