On January 15, CP24 broadcast a segment about the ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hamas terrorists to put an end or temporarily pause the hostilities that had been waged for the past 15+ months.
During the segment, the hosts interviewed Dalia El Farra, presenting her simply as being a supporter of Palestinians in Gaza. However, El Farra exploited the interview to justify Hamas’s so-called “resistance” and challenged Canada’s designation of Hamas as a terrorist group as being “problematic”.
Untold by CP24, El Farra is a longstanding anti-Israel activist and is a board member of the non-profit anti-Israel group CJPME and the CJPME Foundation, a Canadian-designated charity,
After HRC exposed this matter to the public, Toronto Sun reporter Bryan Passifiume produced dedicated coverage of our alert by publishing an article entitled: “Member of pro-Palestinian group calls Hamas terror designation ‘problematic’, which not only uncovered the objectionable rhetoric from this CJPME board member, but also the complete failure of CP24 to properly vet their guests.
Member of pro-Palestinian group calls Hamas terror designation ‘problematic’
Questions are being asked after a board member of a prominent Canadian pro-Palestinian organization described the terror designation of Hamas as “problematic.”
During a Jan. 15 interview on CP24’s Live at Five newscast, Dalia El Farra — introduced by anchors Bakari Savage and Phil Perkins as a “GTA resident” with family in Gaza — took exception to the anchors’ comments about the ceasefire being exploited to secure a “safe haven” within Gaza for terror groups like Hamas.
“I want to question the use of ‘terrorist groups’ and who gets to define what a terrorist is,” said El Farra, whose biography on the Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East website also lists her as a senior equity, diversity and inclusion adviser at York University.
“That, to me, is problematic.”
The clip was first reported by media watchdog group HonestReporting Canada.
El Farra continued, explaining that Palestinian “resistance” is a legitimate response to what she described as Israel’s “occupation” of Gaza.
“As long as there is an illegal occupation, which is the case that Israel continues to have, there will always be resistance in all forms,” she said.
Among the more notorious examples of Palestinian “resistance” took place on Oct. 7, 2023, when scores of Hamas terrorists stormed Gaza-adjacent villages to conduct a campaign of murder, kidnapping and sexual assault against Israel men, women and children.
When reminded by Perkins that Canada and the U.S. consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization, El Farra demurred.
“Yeah, and they also referred to the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and ANC (African National Congress) as terrorists at one point before hailing them as heroes,” she said, clearly bothered by the assertion.
“It’s very fluid according to what powers need to be validated.”
She finished the interview by saying Palestinian “resistance” will continue as long as Israel remains in the disputed territories.
B’nai Brith Canada’s Richard Robertson told the Toronto Sun that arguments concerning Hamas’ status as a terror organization are already settled.
“Hamas is a terrorist organization, full stop. They have been declared so by Canada, the U.S., the U.K., the EU and numerous other nations. This is not something that is up for debate,” he said, also calling out CP24 for letting El Farra’s comments go unchallenged.
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“El Farra’s comments are just another example of CJPME and those affiliated with the organization demonstrating a lack of respect for Canadian law. Defending a listed terror entity is an affront to Canadian values.”
Invitations for comment to CJPME by the Toronto Sun went unacknowledged.
“It’s incredibly dangerous to suggest Hamas is anything but a genocidal death cult hell-bent not only on Israel’s destruction, but total Palestinian adherence to their perverse ideology,” said Casey Babb, a Macdonald Laurier Institute senior fellow and adviser to anti-terrorism watchdog Secure Canada.
“They’re fine maintaining the forever struggle — death by death — so long as they get to keep the delusional hope alive that someday they’ll get a redo of 1948. It’s abhorrent and it’s what led to Oct. 7.”
