On March 1, The Globe and Mail’s Standards Editor, Sandra Martin, wrote a commentary entitled “Is it ethical for journalists to tell a ‘one-sided’ story?” which examined the role journalists play when reporting on complex, long-term issues, such as the Israel-Hamas war.
Within this commentary, Martin erroneously claimed that Israel takes Palestinians hostage, writing that: “The article stated clearly and early on (in the sixth paragraph) why he had been imprisoned, meeting the standard for transparency. However, it would have been helpful for readers to know of the correspondent’s difficulty in finding other released Palestinian hostages willing to speak on the record; most were afraid to do so.”
In truth, Israel does not take innocent civilians hostage. In adherence with international law, Israel arrests or detains individuals it suspects of involvement in terrorism or security offences. These individuals are classified as prisoners or, in some cases, administrative detainees, not hostages.
Taking hostages constitutes a grave breach of international humanitarian law and is recognized as a war crime in both international and non-international armed conflicts. It is explicitly prohibited under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, including Common Article 3 and Article 34 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and is codified as a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
HonestReporting Canada lodged a complaint with The Globe and Mail requesting an immediate correction and apology. In response, the Globe amended this commentary and published a correction stating: “A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to released Palestinian hostages. Palestinian prisoners were released.”
While the correction is welcome, we believe that publishing such a serious and inaccurate claim about the Jewish state warrants a formal apology as well. That the Globe has failed to properly atone for this serious journalistic transgression reflects poorly on Canada’s so-called “paper of record”.
