Numerous Canadian journalists have signed an open letter on the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict which characterizes Israel’s actions in the region as an “ethnic cleansing.”
The letter, dated to May 14, 2021 is titled “An open letter to Canadian newsrooms on covering Israel-Palestine” has since received over 1,500 signatures from activists and journalists, including ones employed by CBC, the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, CTV News, Maclean’s, Yahoo News Canada and Global News.
Dozens of mainstream media reporters, including from CBC, the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail, have signed this open letter calling for, among other things, the Israel-Gaza conflict to be covered as "ethnic cleansing." https://t.co/qCbi5WpOqD
The letter goes on to criticize the “lack of nuanced” coverage regarding the conflict.
“Some groups believe the attacks amount to an ‘ethnic cleansing.’ It should be covered as such,” the letter says.
“It’s time for Canadian newsrooms to carry out the necessary due diligence and report on this region with nuance and context. For that to happen, Canadian newsrooms will have to first acknowledge their failings.”
The pro-Israel media advocacy group Honest Reporting Canada has called the letter “partisan” and “one-sided.”
“At its core, a fundamental principle of honest and ethical journalism is to be objective and to be politically neutral. The individuals who signed this anti-Israel letter have demonstrated that they are more interested in engaging in advocacy journalism and in actively taking sides, Palestinian over Israeli, rather than being neutral observers,” wrote Honest Reporting Canada Executive Director Mike Fegelman.
“If these journalists and news organizations were maliciously added to this letter without their consent, they must publicly disavow this letter immediately.”
Over the weekend, dueling Israeli-Palestinian demonstrations took place in many major Canadian cities including Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
According to reports, some of the protests erupted in violence including a rally in Montreal where Palestinian counter-protestors set off fireworks and attempted to clash with Israeli supporters.
“This note is being written in the midst of a significant missile attack from Gaza so please forgive my brevity. I am trying to get this out before I have to run to another location.”
That was an email I received from a colleague earlier this week who is working in Israel. That country has fallen into a civil war against the terrorist insurgency group Hamas.
War is horrendous, and by nature both sides do terrible things to defend themselves and stop their enemy. People are killed, communities are destroyed and civilians get caught in the crossfire.
That being said, the two sides of this war are not equivalent.
An average neighborhood in Gaza:
a mosque a kindergarten & a Hamas terror tunnel.
While Hamas deliberately embeds its terror infrastructure in civilian areas, the IDF takes all possible precautions to avoid harming civilians when striking. pic.twitter.com/pYYIZ7b3eW
On the one side, Israel is a liberal democracy trying to ensure peace, stability and freedom for its citizens. But no matter how much it tries to appease the other side — through negotiations, concessions, land transfers, good will and aid — it remains at war with its neighbours. That’s because the other side is controlled by Hamas, a terrorist organization whose stated goals have been described as a genocide against Jews.
The mood in Israel is somber, with social media full of reports of Israeli families (both Arabs and Jews) hiding for cover, praying for the violence to stop and condemning the war.
The mood in Gaza by contrast is celebratory. In videos posted online, you can hear people cheering and shouting “Allahu Akbar” while rockets are fired at Israeli communities.
After providing advance warning to civilians & time to evacuate, IDF fighter jets struck a multi-story building containing Hamas military intelligence assets.
The building contained civilian media offices, which Hamas hides behind and deliberately uses as human shields. pic.twitter.com/zeDjEquePD
While Israel targets terrorist agents and infrastructure, Hamas intentionally imbeds its military bases in densely populated civilian areas. They fire rockets from apartment buildings and maintain headquarters beneath a hospital.
Israel goes to painstaking efforts to avoid civilian casualties — they send text messages and drop leaflets begging civilians to leave — despite Hamas’s best efforts to create a human shield around its operatives.
Hamas, on the other hand, deliberately targets Jewish civilians while also putting Arabs at risk. My colleague wrote an email from a bomb shelter because Hamas’s strategy is to fire off hundreds of rockets simultaneously to overwhelm Israel’s Iron Dome defense system that shoots down rockets before they can hit Israeli apartment buildings.
Many of the Arab casualties in this war come from Hamas rockets that are misfired or fall short of hitting Jewish neighborhoods and accidentally land on Arab neighborhoods instead, a crucial fact that is often left out of media reports.
You wouldn’t know any of this from watching CBC or listening to the Trudeau government.
This statement is equivocal nonsense. It’s like they took a conservative news release condemning Hamas terrorism, then found an NDP news release demonizing Israel and stapled them together. https://t.co/6oN0tp81AB
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s foreign affairs minister released a statement that can only be described as equivocal. It reads like a Conservative press release condemning Hamas, followed by an NDP statement demonizing Israel that had been stapled together.
The Trudeau government fails to show any sort of leadership, and instead speaks out of both sides of its mouth and avoids taking a side.
While Trudeau cannot muster the courage to condemn terrorist aggression, Canada’s state broadcaster goes even further in promoting an anti-Israel narrative.
A report on the CBC National perpetuated a lie by saying Israel was the aggressor and Hamas was merely firing rockets back in self-defense. This inverts the timeline, as Hamas began firing hundreds of rockets into Israel 24 hours before Israel struck back.
Likewise, CBC correspondents have been caught parroting terrorist talking points.
One reporter called Gaza an “open air prison” — a common trope used to demonize Israel, who conceded the land to Arabs in 2005 only for them to expel all Jews and create a safe-haven for terrorists. Another CBC reporter justified Arabs throwing rocks at police, and neglected to mention that Arabs threw Molotov cocktails as well as bricks or that Israeli police were responding to Arab violence, not vice versa.
As classical liberal philosopher and statesman Edmund Burke once said, “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
If Canada remains silent, or worse, portrays terrorist aggressors as victims, we are allowing evil to triumph.
Despite the stay-at-home order enforced by the Ford government, Ontarians filled the streets and parks over the weekend.
Many people participated in protests, played sports and enjoyed the outdoors – all the while breaking the law. Ontarians have had enough of lockdowns and have shown they can make their own informed choices.
Pro-Palestine protestors clashed with pro-Israel supporters at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto on Saturday as tensions in the Middle East continue to increase.
The Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) said that it was organizing protests in more than 25 cities across North America, including Toronto.
The PYM said in a press release that they were taking to the streets to demand an immediate end to the “illegal expulsion” of Palestinians in Jerusalem and the bombing of Gaza.
“Palestinians and their allies demand that the U.S., Canada, and global community end all complicity in the Israeli occupation and colonialism by ceasing military funding, diplomatic cover to Israel, and repression of proponents of Palestinian rights,” said the PYM.
Thousands of pro-Palestine protestors attended the demonstration in Toronto. Protestors chanted slogans such as “Free Palestine” and “Allahu Akbar,” waved Palestinian flags and held signs with statements showing their support.
A small counterprotest was held nearby by the Jewish Defense League (JDL), a pro-Israel group. A heavy police presence separated the pro-Israel protestors from the pro-Palestinian ones.
However, as tensions increased, the pro-Palestine protestors allegedly surrounded the pro-Israel protesters and threw water bottles, eggs and other objects at the smaller group.
Police officers escorted pro-Israel protestors out after objects started to be thrown at them. Fights broke out between the two groups and between the officers who wanted to keep them separated.
At least three pro-Israel protesters were injured, and one elderly Jewish man sustained serious injuries.
Multiple Jewish Canadian organizations, including B’nai Brith Canada and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said in a statement that the violence taking place at this protest was disturbing.
“We condemn in the strongest terms these brazen acts of assault, intimidation, and hate targeting members of Toronto’s Jewish community and supporters of Israel,” said the Jewish organizations in a joint statement.
“There is absolutely no justification for political violence in the streets of Toronto, whatever one’s cause may be.”
Ontario Premier Ford also condemned the violent protests. In a tweet on Sunday, Ford said the violent incidents should be investigated by the police.
“Discrimination or hatred of any kind against any community in our province should never be tolerated,” tweeted the Premier.
The battle between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas continues to escalate. The violent clashes have led to at least 126 people killed in Gaza and 7 people in Israel. Since Monday, Hamas has fired over 2,000 rockets into Israel.
Statement from Premier Doug Ford on Violent Protest in Toronto:
These acts of violence and expression of antisemitism have no place in Ontario. This behaviour is totally reprehensible and should be investigated by the police. (1/2)
On Saturday, Canada’s major cities saw multiple peaceful demonstrations against lockdowns.
Large demonstrations occurred in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, London, Winnipeg and Vancouver and Ottawa as part of “Worldwide Freedom Day,” a global campaign against lockdowns that saw several dozen protests around the world.
Just days earlier, leftist politicians Jagmeet Singh and Naheed Nenshi claimed, without evidence, that anti-lockdown protesters were associated with far-right extremists.
Toronto saw a record-breaking anti-lockdown protest. A large and diverse group of demonstrators marched in downtown Toronto while chanting anti-lockdown slogans.
Police estimate that 5,000 people attended. One person was arrested after an altercation with police.
On May 13, the Ford government extended Ontario’s stay-at-home order for another two weeks. Despite the number of new daily cases declining steadily for the past three weeks, Ford claimed the extension was necessary to ensure a “most normal” summer.
Video taken from Queen’s Park shows thousands of people gathered to hear speeches. Among the attendees was People’s Party leader Maxime Bernier.
“We have a choice, and choice is between freedom and authoritarian government,” Bernier told the crowd.
In Montreal, anti-lockdown demonstrators held three separate marches, with the groups meeting to hold a large rally. Similar demonstrations took place in Vancouver.
In Ottawa, hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters marched through downtown and held a rally on Parliament Hill. According to police there were around 500 attendees.
While many anti-lockdown protests were able to continue without law enforcement intervening, in some parts of Canada, protesters were not able to protest freely. On Friday, a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge granted the province’s government an injunction to stop Canadians from protesting COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns.
As reported by True North fellow Lindsay Shepherd, provincial and federal governments have been unable to answer whether anti-lockdown protests actually lead to COVID-19 outbreaks.
A new report by the Fraser Institute reveals that by 2030, the amount of money Canadian taxpayers will be spending on Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) will have grown by 70% due to the increasing size of Canada’s elderly population.
The report, titled Canada’s Aging Population and Income Support Programs found that expenditures on the program will go up to a whopping $103.2 billion price tag.
“As Canada’s population of seniors grows with each passing year, so too do the costs of these support programs,” said report author and resident scholar Steven Globerman in a press release on the matter.
“The increased costs for senior income support risks crowding out government spending in other areas that are important to Canadians. The aging of the population has already begun, and policymakers across Canada need to prepare for the drastic changes this will usher in, including escalating costs for income support programs.”
As noted by Globerman, the true cost of the programs will likely be higher considering the fact that the Liberals announced a 10% increase to OAS. Furthermore, by the year 2060 taxpayers will be spending 136% more on the two programs.
Both the OAS and GIS are direct monthly payments to individuals over 65 years of age, however, the GIS is meant to assist low-income Canadian seniors.
Canada’s population is aging so rapidly that by the year 2060, approximately 25% of Canada’s population will be 65 or older.
In 2012, Prime Minister Harper raised the age of eligibility for the OAS pension to 67 years old.
“The aging of the population and the shrinking of the labour force is a serious economic challenge for Canada, as it is for other countries,” Harper said at the time.
Federal officials estimated Harper’s decision would save $10.8-billion a year once the plan was fully implemented.
However, in 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made good on his election promise and overturned the former Conservative government’s decision.
As tensions between Israel and Gaza continue, some Canadian leaders and journalists are painting Israel and Hamas – the terrorist organization running Gaza – as moral equals in this conflict. True North’s Andrew Lawton explains.
A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge granted the province’s government an injunction to stop Canadians from protesting COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns.
According to Justice Scott Norton, the injunction also prohibits organizers from promoting the rallies on social media and allows authorities to arrest anyone who fails to follow the ruling.
“Their plan to gather in-person in large numbers, without social distancing and without masks, in contravention of the public health recommendations and orders shows a callous and shameful disregard for the health and safety of their fellow citizens,” said Norton.
A rally by the group “Freedom Nova Scotia” was planned to be held at Citadel Hill, Halifax on Saturday afternoon and another one was scheduled later that day in Barrington.
In the decision, Norton described anti-lockdown rally organizers as “uninformed or wilfully blind” to the evidence behind health restrictions.
“I am personally all for freedom of speech, but will not allow the select few to jeopardize our ability to crush this third wave,” said Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin.
“People have a right to share their views but while we’re in a province wide lockdown, in the middle of a third wave, it is incumbent for all of us to protect each other by following public health protocols.”
According to CTV News, the injunction will be in place for as long as the province’s state of emergency is in effect.
As reported by True North fellow Lindsay Shepherd, provincial and federal governments have been unable to answer whether anti-lockdown protests actually lead to COVID-19 outbreaks.
Recent studies have shown that casual outdoor COVID transmission rates were much lower than previously believed.
According to Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table member Dr. Peter Jüni, outdoor activities present a “low-risk” of transmissions.
This week, the US Centre for Disease Control also issued an advisory statement saying that “less than 10%” of COVID-19 case transmissions have occurred outdoors.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole accused Liberal Minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau of refusing to affirm Israel’s right to defend itself from daily bombings by the terror group Hamas following a question period exchange on Friday.
Garneau was pressed by Conservative MP Marty Morantz to clarify his government’s position on the matter and whether the Liberals support Israel’s right to self defense.
Yesterday @MarcGarneau gave an unclear answer on the violence in Israel, Gaza & the West Bank, and in previous statements. Today I asked for clarity on if his government supports Israel’s right to defend itself against these attacks – and again, he refused to say those words. pic.twitter.com/0VT73e888P
“Violence has erupted in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas has fired thousands of rockets in civilian areas, demonstrating their obvious intent to kill as many Israeli citizens as possible. This along with deliberately setting up bases in civilian areas, using Palestinian civilians as human shield constitute war crimes. The minister of foreign affairs’ statements today on this violence have been ambiguous at best. Will the minister state unequivocally today that he supports Israel’s right to defend itself just as President Biden has done?” asked Morantz.
“Our comments and statements have been crystal clear. The indiscriminate barrage fired by Hamas into populated areas of Israel is absolutely unacceptable and must cease immediately. Canada supports Israel’s right to live in peace with its neighbours within secure boundaries and recognizes Israel’s right and in fact it’s duty to reassure its own security. Canada remains fully committed to the goal of a comprehensive just and lasting peace in the Middle East and Canada remains a steadfast ally to Israel and a friend to Palestine,” replied Garneau.
On the left are Israeli missiles about to destroy Hamas rockets aimed at civilians. When NDP leader Jagmeet Singh says countries shouldn’t sell arms to Israel, he’s saying those rockets on the right should be able to land wherever they land. Despicable. https://t.co/DTZMGLKLDf
The minister’s ambiguous response earned condemnation from Opposition Leader Erin O’Toole, calling it a “failure of leadership” on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s part.
“This is a failure of leadership. Terrorist groups Hamas & the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have fired more than 2000 missiles targeting Israeli civilians,” tweeted O’Toole.
“We recognize and support Israel’s right to defend itself and condemn these attacks. We send our thoughts and prayers for the safety of everyone in the region.”
On Monday, Hamas began firing rockets into Israel from the Gaza strip. Since then, Israel has been facing daily bombardments. Recent attacks have led to the deaths of five Israelis and 35 Palestinians who died as a result of rocket fire.
Hamas is a designated terrorist organization in Canada.
Earlier this week the Trudeau government put out a statement on the ongoing violence in the region which called for de escalation from both sides.
“Canada is following the situation in Jerusalem closely. We call for immediate de-escalation of tensions and for all sides to avoid any unilateral actions,” wrote Garneau.
This statement is equivocal nonsense. It’s like they took a conservative news release condemning Hamas terrorism, then found an NDP news release demonizing Israel and stapled them together. https://t.co/6oN0tp81AB
An Ontario court is forcing a defiant church in Aylmer, Ontario to lock its doors after the congregation repeatedly ignored public health orders and COVID-19 restrictions.
Justice Bruce Thomas passed down the ruling early Friday morning, citing Church of God Restoration Pastor Henry Hildebrandt’s past comments as “significantly aggravating.”
“The evidence makes it clear that Pastor Hildebrandt has control over his congregation,” said Justice Thomas.
“Henry Hildebrandt, as pastor of this church, is the leading force and unapologetic spokesperson for this offending activity.”
Hildebrandt and his congregation have been a prominent focal point in the debate around lockdowns in Ontario.
In Thomas’ ruling, the church was fined $35,000 while Hildebrandt received a fine of $10,000 along with an additional fine of $3,000 for Assistant Pastor Peter Wall.
Earlier this month, Trinity Bible Church of Waterloo was issued a similar order to lock its doors. Eventually that order was extended indefinitely due to the church’s opposition to lockdown measures.
Over the past year, Hildebrandt has continued to offer services to his congregation outside of the legal capacity restrictions currently in place for gatherings in Ontario.
As exclusively reported on by True North, this is not the first time that the government has attempted to have the church shut down.
In November, Aylmer’s local public health agency requested that the church voluntarily fetter its doors.
According to Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms lawyer Lisa Bildy, who represented the church in court, forcing the congregation to shut down is a “severe penalty.”
“Church is fundamental to these people, taking away their church is a severe penalty,” said Bildy.
The Church of God Restoration has also launched a constitutional challenge of lockdown measures alongside the Trinity Bible Church of Waterloo and the United Reform Church in Welland.
The court will hear the challenge on October 4, 2021 in St. Thomas, Ontario.
