HonestReporting Canada

On July 13, the New York Times published a lengthy exposé on Hamas’ tactics in its war with Israel. Among the revelations: Hamas’ use of Gaza civilian infrastructure, how its terrorists use civilian clothing, and perhaps most unsettling of all: its use of children. While none of these revelations are new, it is significant that the New York Times has finally shone a light on what has been known for a long time. But will the Canadian news media tell the truth, or continue to repeat Hamas propaganda uncritically?

The Toronto Pride Parade is one of the biggest events of its kind in the world, and on June 30, a group of about 15 radical anti-Israel extremists blocked the route, and – thanks to the spinelessness of Pride Toronto organizers – were able to cancel the rest of the event. The antics of the mob at the pride parade are similar to those seen at illegal campus occupations, because anti-Israel activists around the world engage in illegal and anti-social efforts for one reason: because they work, especially when authorities and the news media enable them.

When generation after generation of Palestinians are taught to hate Jews, violence will result. In the span of just a week, two elderly Israeli men, traveling in Palestinian-Arab villages, were brutally attacked by mobs. One man was murdered, while the other survived. But the attacks show what happens when years of anti-Israel incitement takes place in Palestinian society, and why it’s time for the news media to shine a critical light on this cancer of hate.

Hezbollah, the Lebanese Islamic terrorist group dedicated to Israel’s destruction, has long shown contempt for the safety of its own citizens, using them as de facto human shields. And now a new report has exposed the group’s use of Beirut’s international airport to store deadly explosives for use against Israel, putting Beirut’s civilian population in harm’s way. Yet the story has received almost no attention from the Canadian news media, though it should be remembered if and when war breaks out, and Hezbollah attempts to frame the airport as civilian when it clearly no longer is.

Following the daring Israeli rescue of four hostages on June 8 from Hamas captivity in Gaza, some of their experiences have been shared, including instances of severe physical and psychological abuse. But will these new revelations make the news media finally expose the real face of Hamas, or will so many outlets continue to downplay Hamas atrocities and repeat the terrorist group’s propaganda?

On June 8, Israeli special forces rescued four Israeli hostages in central Gaza, who were kidnapped during Hamas’ massacres on October 7. The four hostages were being kept, not in an underground tunnel, but in an apartment building, being guarded by so-called “civilians.” The rescue mission is a reminder of the moral necessity in Israel’s counter-terrorism against Hamas in Gaza.

As protesters demonize Israel across the Western world, claiming to represent progressive values, they are strikingly silent when it comes to the real, widespread brutal oppression of hundreds of millions of women, many of whom are in the Arab and Islamic world. In Pakistan, women are murdered for bringing “dishonour” to their family, and throughout the Islamic world, women are treated as second-class citizens, either in law or in cultural practice, although this phenomenon is widely ignored by those claiming to care about progressive values like tolerance and mutual respect.

When police forces, university administrators, and elected officials permit pro-Hamas hate rallies to take place, unimpeded and without arrests, they send a message that hate speech is permitted. And when hate speech is normalized, it becomes weaponized and violence becomes even likelier. It’s time that authorities ensure that hate speech is not tolerated, and the news media must hold them accountable.

For months, anti-Israel activists, enabled by news media outlets, repeated claims that the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in their January interim judgement, stated that there was a “plausible” case of genocide in Gaza. In a recent interview on BBC News, Joan O’Donoghue, the ICJ president when the interim ruling was announced, put to rest those claims, saying it represents a total mischaracterization of the world court’s ruling.

Fourteen years after a convoy of ships left Turkey for Gaza in a publicity stunt aimed at demonizing Israel, another group of radicals are doing it again. The ‘Freedom Flotilla Coalition,’ while claiming to be humanitarians, are nothing more than anti-Israel activists using media attention to defame Israel. There is more food entering Gaza on a daily basis now than entered Gaza daily before Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack, and cynical efforts by flotillas cannot be allowed to misrepresent reality. HRC Digital Director, Rick Firth explains...

Last weekend’s unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel served as an important reminder of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s fanaticism and desire to destroy Israel. Via its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the regime arms, funds and trains various terrorist groups, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Hezbollah, and Ansar Allah, better known as the Houthis. The IRGC poses a deadly threat to Israel, and to stability across the Middle East, and it’s time that the news media call it for what it is: a terrorist organization under the control of the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.

It has now been six months since Hamas’ genocidal October 7 massacre in southern Israel, where thousands of terrorists invaded the Jewish State, raping, torturing, murdering and kidnapping innocent Israelis. There are still 130 hostages being kept by Hamas in Gaza, suffering under almost certainly deplorable conditions. Don’t let the news media forget about them. Our Digital Director, Rick Firth, digs deeper...

While the current Hamas-Israel war may be the biggest story in the Middle East at the moment, there is another danger lurking. Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Islamic terrorist group which – like Hamas – is armed, financed and trained by Iran, is similarly committed to Israel’s destruction. But unlike Hamas, Hezbollah’s capabilities are far greater, posing a huge threat to Israel’s very existence. Since October 7, the group has fired thousands of rockets into Israel, killing innocent people and forcing 100,000 Israelis from their homes, turning them into refugees in their own country. It’s time the news media tell the world about the danger that Hezbollah poses to Israel.

Even as millions of people in Sudan suffer from a yearlong civil war which has killed tens of thousands, and created millions of refugees, the anti-Israel activists who claim to be humanitarians are silent because their pro-Palestinian activism is just a smokescreen to hide their anti-Israel hatred behind.

Hamas isn’t just a genocidal Islamic terrorist organization, it also habitually lies to Western audiences, but that hasn’t stopped news media outlets from gullibly repeating Hamas casualty claims, falsely presenting them as fact. But Hamas’ death toll claims aren’t fact, they’re wartime propaganda, and now, a professor of statistics has delved into Hamas’ own numbers to show them as being unreliable and statistically impossible. It’s time for the news media to stop dancing to Hamas’ tune.

Protests around the world over the last five months have condemned Israel for the ongoing Hamas-Israel war, labeling Israel the aggressor and Hamas as the victim. But recent negotiations in Cairo, which could have led to a six week cessation in hostilities, were accepted by Israel while rejected by Hamas, show that it is the Palestinian terror group, not Israel, which intentionally keeps violence continuing.

On February 29, a convoy of about 30 trucks filled with humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip. But soon, tragedy struck, and a stampede of Gazans killed dozens of people. Before long, Hamas predictably blamed Israel. But even as Israel released satellite footage corroborating its story, news media outlets around the world - quick to publish a story as fast as possible - simply repeated Hamas’ disinformation, failing to provide a full picture of events.

On October 7, Hamas didn’t just massacre 1,200 innocent men, women and children; the Palestinian terrorist group also kidnapped hundreds of innocent people, dragging them into the underground terror tunnels underneath the Gaza Strip. Among the hostages are four members of the Bibas family, including two children: a four year-old, and an infant, Kfir, who turned one in captivity. The grotesqueness of kidnapping a baby shows the inhuman face of Hamas, and the absurdity of asking Israel to surrender to such a terrorist group.

South Africa, acting as the legal arm of the Hamas terrorist group, in January was handed a defeat by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague when the world court rejected a demand by Pretoria to force an immediate halt to Israel’s counter-terrorism operations in Gaza. Undeterred, South Africa tried once again in February to have the ICJ impose restrictions on Israel’s operations in southern Gaza, which the ICJ again rejected. It’s time that the news media tell the public that South Africa’s vexatious attempts to weaponize international law against Israel have no credibility.

On February 10, Israel shared with the world explosive documentation, showing a major Hamas tunnel directly underneath the Gaza headquarters of UNRWA, the United Nations agency purporting to serve Palestinians, but which has had extensive connections to terrorism. Will the news media tell the public about this incontrovertible evidence?

Four months after Hamas’ genocidal declaration of war against Israel, the Islamic terrorist group has not wavered from its stated goal: the violent destruction of Israel. Even still, Israel is said to be considering a truce that would see the release of 136 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas, in exchange for wide-ranging Israeli concessions, including a halt to Israel’s counter-terrorism operations.

Israel has long accused UNRWA, the United Nations agency purporting to serve Palestinian refugees, of ties to terrorism, and of glorifying Palestinian violence. But those pleas have fallen on deaf ears, until recently, when Israel provided evidence showing a number of UNRWA staffers participating in Hamas’ October 7 massacre. Since then, Canada & a growing list of other countries are suspending funding to UNRWA, pending an investigation. It’s time for the news media to inform Canadians about the true nature of UNRWA, and help hold the agency accountable.

In December, South Africa’s government formally accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, and filed a complaint at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. But despite the widespread media coverage following the move, there is little to no basis for Pretoria’s allegations, which the news media must acknowledge.

A recent investigation by The National Post revealed what many suspected: many protesters were receiving funding for showing up to anti-Israel rallies, with some groups overtly prioritizing the presence of visible minorities. Some anti-Israel organizations enjoy non-profit status in Canada, assisting their ability to raise significant funds to carry out such efforts.

Since Hamas’ terrorist attack on October 7, anti-Israel rallies have been held around the world, alongside a growing trend of protesters to disrupt the daily life of the general public, through staging sit-ins, blocking highways and other critical access points, committing vandalism, and more. A common misconception is that these efforts only harm perception of their cause, but their true goal is not winning hearts and minds, it is intimidating the public and only by calling out these actions for exactly that, can the news media, the public and decision-makers hope to challenge these dangerous and hateful provocateurs.