 By Tazeen Hasan
Senior Researcher and Policy Analyst, Justice For All Canada Last week, The Globe and Mail ran a headline reading: “Family killed after Gaza airstrike despite Israel’s precautions to not harm civilians.” Then changed the heading. For the past 22 months, the United Nations, human rights organizations, international media, and even Israeli outlets have consistently documented that the Israeli military is deliberately targeting children, families, hospitals, schools, refugee camps, and shelters. It is well established that Israeli forces are routinely firing on civilians waiting to collect humanitarian aid for their children and families, resulting in dozens of Palestinian deaths daily. Even Israeli soldiers themselves have openly shared evidence of these war crimes on social media. Yet, The Globe and Mail, like many other Western media outlets, continues to portray Israel as a champion of human rights. Headlines like these are not mere oversights, they constitute direct complicity in genocide, whitewashing Israeli crimes, and misrepresenting genocide as lawful conduct. Changing headline is not enough Hours later, the headline was quietly changed to: “Family killed in Gaza airstrike, while families of Israeli hostages call for protest.” But this correction is far from sufficient. By initially framing the story as if Israel took every precaution to avoid civilian casualties, the paper obscured these documented atrocities. Such reporting is not just a lapse in journalism, it is complicity in genocide. Deliberately Ignoring United Nations Statements The Globe and Mail must issue a public apology for deliberately portraying Israel as a champion of human rights, a framing that misrepresents systematic atrocities and normalizes violence. By publishing such a misleading story, the paper violates basic principles of media ethics, including accuracy, impartiality, and accountability. It disregards repeated statements from United Nations officials, the World Food Programme, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Israeli human rights organizations such as B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel, all of whom have documented Israel’s actions in Gaza as amounting to genocide. Israeli human rights organizations have called for urgent international intervention to stop the Genocide. Such deliberate misrepresentation undermines public trust, shields perpetrators from accountability, and makes it imperative that the editor responsible for this coverage resigns, sending a clear message that journalism cannot condone or obscure crimes against humanity. Complicity in genocide using our tax dollars What adds insult to injury is the fact that The Globe and Mail receives over $2 million annually in government-mandated media subsidies, funded by Canadian taxpayers. Despite this public support, the newspaper’s misleading reporting on Gaza demonstrates a serious breach of journalistic responsibility. Journalism exists to inform citizens with accuracy and integrity, not to misrepresent facts or normalize atrocities. When publicly funded media deliberately mislead readers, it is not only a violation of ethical standards but also a misuse of taxpayer money. The Canadian government must immediately review and reconsider its funding, ensuring that public resources do not support outlets that distort truth and fail to uphold their duty to Canadian citizens. Public apology and resignation of the editor The Canadian taxpayer demands that The Globe and Mail issue a public apology for deliberately portraying Israel as a champion of human rights, a framing that whitewashes systematic atrocities and normalizes violence. Moreover, accountability demands more than words—the editor responsible for this misleading coverage should step down, sending a clear message that journalism cannot condone or obscure crimes against humanity. |
