On August 14, HonestReporting Canada brought our serious concerns to the Globe and Mail’s attention regarding an article by Dakshana Bascaramurty, a food and culture reporter, entitled: “Palestinian chef Sami Tamimi speaks out on Gaza, appropriation and his falling out with Yotam Ottolenghi.”
In the interview with Sami Tamimi, Ms. Bascaramurty erroneously stated that Israel is carrying out “forced starvation” of Palestinians in Gaza. What Ms. Bascaramurty represented as fact, is only this reporter’s personal opinion disguised as news. This fundamentally ignores that every day, Israel facilitates truckloads of food, water, medicine and fuel, even while Hamas steals supplies, hoards aid and uses it to fund its war machine. According to COGAT, 91,000 trucks have entered Gaza since the war began on October 7, 2023, delivering close to 2-million tonnes of humanitarian aid.
Furthermore, according to UN figures, upwards of 90% of aid is being stolen and diverted by armed groups, and studies found that Hamas was profiting immensely off siphoning and then re-selling aid.
There is no attempt to forcibly starve innocent Palestinians which the Globe and Mail stated as fact. Instead, the issue has been distribution and Hamas’ aid theft. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has delivered 125 million meals to date to Gazans, averaging close to two million meals per day and aid shipments could be far higher, with Israel saying there is “no limit” to the aid that could enter Gaza. Rather, humanitarian groups are boycotting working with GHF as to distribution, thus stopping aid from reaching Gazans.
The Globe’s interview then bizarrely stated the following: “People would come from the villages and bring their produce and sell it in the main markets and this kind of disappeared after Israelis built the suppression wall [known as the Western Wall]. People had less access to different parts of the country, including Jerusalem. A lot of the land had been taken away from them, so there were also less people producing vegetables and other kinds of ingredients.”
“Suppression wall” is actually Israel’s security barrier or anti-terror fence which was put in place to thwart suicide bombers from blowing up pizzerias and discotechs. And it is most certainly not known as the “Western Wall,” which is a significant religious site in Jerusalem, particularly for Jews. It’s a remnant of the Second Temple, built by King Herod, and is the closest accessible point to the Holy of Holies. It’s shocking that this was published. Shocking.
Ms. Bascaramurty also wrote this highly opinionated “question” that was stripped of any and all context which ignored how Hamas has embedded their fighters/weapons amongst the civilian population and this ignores the unprecedented effort Israel has undertaken to minimize civilian casualties:
“Since this invasion of Gaza in October, 2023, we in the West have seen images of hospitals being bombed, children being killed, entire families buried under rubble. But so many have been silent. It feels like in the last month there’s been a turning point. What do you think it is that has made people speak out now?”
This isn’t journalism, it’s anti-Israel activism masquerading as reporting in our view.
Importantly, HonestReporting Canada previously took issue with a November 29, 2024 article by Ms. Bascaramurty for her editorialization and perpetuating outright falsehoods against Israel when she attempted to misrepresent facts to suggest Israel is trying to starve Gazans. At the time, the Globe’s reporter pushed a one-sided, highly warped picture of the Hamas-Israel conflict, all under the guise of discussing food. In that report, Ms. Bascaramurty falsely claimed Israel was blocked water and food from entering Gaza and that “the risk of famine in Gaza remains high as the conflict continues.” She also falsely asserted that “In February, more than 100 Gazans were killed by the Israeli military after gathering to collect flour,” (Ignoring that Israel vehemently denies this, and insists that the Gazans were killed in a violent melee.)
As we told senior executives at the Globe and Mail on August 14, immediate corrective action must be undertaken by the Globe to set the record straight. In response to our concerns, on August 16, the Globe published the following correction notice and amended its online article:
It’s noteworthy that the Globe retracted its reporter’s egregious and false claim that Israel was carrying out a policy of “forced starvation” of Palestinians in Gaza (though that was left unsaid in its correction) and editors amended the online report to refer to Israel’s security barrier as follows:
Old version: “… after Israelis built the suppression wall [known as the Western Wall].”
New version: “… after Israelis built the separation wall [in the West Bank].”
Importantly, the Globe’s own correction contained a falsehood as it claimed as fact (which Israel strenuously disputes) that there is “widespread famine in Gaza”.
As we said in our previous alert, if Dakshana Bascaramurty wants to profile a Palestinian chef, she is entitled to do so, but she should have left out the overt editorializing and revisionist history. As this issue illustrates, media bias against Israel can even be found in food reporting and HRC will never cease in its efforts to hold the Canadian media accountable for spreading bold falsehoods against Israel.
