Even amongst nearly 21 months of relentless lies being thrown at Israel, a recent claim was so extreme and so vicious that it was arguably among the worst slurs in nearly two years.
In May, Tom Fletcher, the United Nations’ under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, made the extraordinary claim in a BBC News interview that “14,000 babies…will die in the next 48 hours” unless more humanitarian aid trucks enter Gaza.
Unsurprisingly, that statement went viral almost instantly, and even though Fletcher’s agency, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), soon corrected his baseless claim, the damage was done, and it was a lie that was being heard around the world, used to demonize Israel with a veritable blood libel.
A May 21 CTV News article by Adrian Ghobrial entitled: “‘Stop the war. Let the aid in’: Canadian describes family’s life in war-torn Gaza,” also cited Fletcher’s vicious lie, with CTV reporter Ghobrial writing that “UN Humanitarian Affairs Secretary-General Tom Fletcher said Tuesday that ‘there are 14,000 babies who will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them’ with aid.”
Even though the quote was attributed, rather than being stated as a matter of plain fact, it still represented a significant issue because it did not note the baselessness of Fletcher’s comments, nor that they were walked back. Shortly thereafter, HonestReporting Canada engaged with CTV News, reaching out and noting that the statement from Fletcher was not only without any factual basis, but that it was soon disavowed by his own employer.
As a result, the news story was corrected with an important correction at the top of the article, noting that:
“One day after this story was published, the United Nations clarified its original claim that 14,000 children could die in Gaza within 48 hours unless humanitarian aid is allowed into Gaza immediately. The UN clarified that the 14,000 children at risk of starvation or malnutrition was a projection over the next year, and not the next 48 hours.”
While this is a far cry from what could be considered the gold standard for journalism in Canada, it nevertheless is a step in the right direction and demonstrates the ongoing need to hold news media outlets accountable for what they write and report.
