On February 7, La Presse published an article by Agence France-Presse reporter Didier Lauras about the recent developments in the ongoing ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
The article was originally published with the headline: “Trêve entre Israël et le Hamas / Incertitudes concernant le prochain échange de prisonniers,” or “Truce between Israel and Hamas / Uncertainties regarding the next prisoner exchange.”
HonestReporting Canada immediately took action upon seeing the headline, as it made a false equivalence between Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Palestinian terror groups and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel in jails.
This equivalence was further emphasized in the original sub-headline, which proclaimed that: “Israel and Hamas are due to carry out another prisoner exchange this weekend.”
HonestReporting Canada alerted La Presse of this error pointing out the misleading title and subheading in this article.
We made it clear to La Presse: referring to the Israeli hostages that were kidnapped by a terrorist organization from Israel sixteen months ago as civilians — including two children who remain in captivity to this day — as prisoners is problematic. Rendering them equivalent to Palestinian prisoners, some of whom are convicted for their role in committing terrorist attacks and who have blood on their hands, was entirely inappropriate.
Subsequent to bringing this concern to La Presse’s attention, the outlet amended both the title and subheading to reflect the true nature of the ceasefire deal. The title was changed to reflect the updates in the exchange: “Trois otages israéliens seront libérés samedi contre des détenus palestiniens,” or “Three Israeli hostages to be released Saturday in exchange for Palestinian detainees.”
Additionally, the subheading now reads: “Israël et le Hamas doivent procéder samedi au cinquième échange d’otages contre des détenus palestiniens en vertu d’un accord de cessez-le-feu,” or “Israel and Hamas to proceed with fifth exchange of hostages for Palestinian detainees this Saturday under ceasefire agreement.” It clearly reflects the deal at hand and identifies the hostages as distinct from the Palestinian prisoners.
We are pleased to see that these amendments were made by La Presse and appreciate this French-language news outlet’s cooperation.
Importantly, the choice in language initially made in this AFP article is part of a larger trend in erasing the hostage crisis, and the clear difference between Israeli civilians brutally and violently kidnapped from Israel, many starved, abused and held in tunnels and the Palestinian prisoners being released from Israeli jails, all accorded full rights according to the Geneva Conventions.
We will continue to focus our efforts on demanding fairness and accuracy as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal continues.
