On December 3, a rag-tag group of anti-Israel protesters illegally invaded Parliament Hill, occupied it and refused to leave, without a single person being charged criminally, indicating that they are clearly above the law.

For its part, the Canadian media eagerly gave them sympathetic news coverage and failed miserably to expose their radical agendas.

Several Canadian news outlets, including The Globe and Mail, CityNews, CTV News, CBC News, La Presse, and Le Devoir, covered the “protest” in Ottawa which was staged by a motley crew called “Jews Say No to Genocide.” The protest, held at the Confederation Building on Parliament Hill, called for an arms embargo on Israel and accused Canada of complicity in “genocide” against Palestinians.

Predictably, every outlet covered the spectacle in essentially the same way. That is, by filing stories rife with antisemitic dog-whistles and by exclusively interviewing unrepresentative ‘Jewish’ voices.

CityNews interviewed David Mivasair, the anti-Israel activist who represents a marginal voice within Canada’s Jewish community, without sharing this detail with viewers.

The broadcaster’s coverage was far from isolated; its report was essentially the same as that of Ian Bailey at The Globe and Mail, who also chose to interview Mivasair, without offering any other context. Bailey called him “a Hamilton rabbi,” while offering no background into someone who has reportedly compared Israel’s actions (pre-war, in fact) to the Holocaust.

Raffy Boudjikanian at CBC and William Eltherington at CTV News seemingly held hands and filed their stories together, having both chosen to quote Independent Jewish Voices’ (IJV) ludicrous assertions without critique, context or analysis. IJV is a group that denies Israel’s right to exist and has defended Hamas’ right to murder Israelis, placing them so far outside the mainstream Jewish community in Canada that it borders on irresponsible to quote them as a representative of a Jewish group.

Lest one might think that Canadian French language outlets did a better job, alas, the very brief article filed by David Baxter at La Presse at least avoided quoting from a fringe anti-Israel group, but that may be mainly because nobody was interviewed at all. But perhaps the worst coverage was that of Boris Proulx at Le Devoir, whose story consisted of a judgemental missive to the Jewish community, quoting local anti-Israel activist Niall Ricardo from – who else but Independent Jewish Voices – lecturing Canada’s Jewish community to “be on the right side of the story.”

By amplifying the voices of these fringe activists, the news media legitimized their extreme and inflammatory rhetoric, including accusations of genocide and claims that Israel is “burning Palestinians alive” – a ridiculous statement made by one of the protestors, and quoted by CBC News and CTV News without any clarification as to its accuracy, or lack thereof. Such statements are not only factually incorrect and ridiculous, but also deeply dangerous.

The consequences of this kind of irresponsible reporting are far-reaching. First, it fuels the false narrative that Jewish support for Israel is eroding, which emboldens anti-Israel and antisemitic groups. These groups can then point to such media coverage as “evidence” that even Jews are abandoning Israel, a claim that could not be further from the truth.

Giving a platform to deeply divisive and unrepresentative members of the community (like David Mivasir), is profoundly dangerous. Statements like “it’s important that people understand that not all Jews support Israel” provide acceptable cover for those who choose to target Jews here in Canada.

Thus, it contributes to the rising tide of anti-Jewish hate in Canada. When the media presents Jews as being deeply divided over Israel, it creates a fertile ground for those who wish to exploit these alleged divisions to further their own agendas. Antisemitic attacks often spike during conflicts involving Israel, and misleading coverage only adds fuel to the fire.

Organizations like “Jews Say No to Genocide” and “Independent Jewish Voices” are not representative of the Jewish community. They are fringe groups with limited support and an extreme ideological agenda that aligns more closely with anti-Israel, antisemitic activists than with mainstream Jewish thought.

It is time for Canadian journalists and news outlets to take a hard look at how they cover protests and dissenting voices within minority communities. Reporting should aim to inform, not to sensationalize. When covering protests like the one in Ottawa, journalists have a duty to provide context and ensure that readers understand the scope and scale of support—or lack thereof—behind the activists’ claims.

Highlighting fringe voices as though they represent the mainstream is not just lazy journalism—it is harmful. It distorts public perception and makes a mockery of the news media’s responsibility to hold those powerful – in this case, 100 protesters who managed to illegally occupy Parliament Hill, yet be released without a single criminal charge – accountable.