Documenting the CBC's normalization of anti-Zionism hatred

The intent of this post is to provide examples of how the CBC, through biases in its reporting, has helped normalize anti-Zionism hatred since October 7. 

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On November 21, CBC Ottawa published this article noting that a University of Ottawa doctor, Dr. Yipeng Ge, was suspended after "posting pro-Palestinian messages on social media that were also critical of Israel." The CBC did not link to the source material that identified the posts in question, either in the November 21 article or in a subsequent December 22 article noting that Dr. Ge had resigned from the Canadian Medical Association board of directors due to the backlash over the posts. 

The source material came from a substack article by another Ottawa doctor, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff. While the CBC referenced Dr. Freedhoff's post, it never provided a link until at least a third article about Dr. Ge was published on January 20, even though it was always publicly available, and it bizarrely characterized Dr. Freedhoff as "drafting an article." In any event, it is worth reading through Dr. Freedhoff's piece as well as the CBC articles to see the disparity in how Dr. Ge's posts are characterized. 

In addition to Dr. Ge posting a picture of a poster that equates Zionism with the genocide of Palestinians (which the CBC misleadingly attributed to Dr. Freedhoff's "description" even though the poster is clearly pictured), Dr. Freedhoff included at the end of his post a tweet that Dr. Ge liked on Oct. 7 that said "what is happening in occupied Palestine..." (the attacks did not occur in Gaza or the West Bank) and went on to rationalize the massacre without expressing any sympathy for the victims. 

It is telling that the CBC made no mention of this latter post by Dr. Ge in any of the three articles linked above, and that the CBC chose to characterize these views as "pro-Palestinian" or "critical of Israel." The CBC finally asked Dr. Ge in its January article about the "Zionism = Genocide of Palestinians" poster, and Dr. Ge - also tellingly - did not take any ownership for posting it, only noting that he merely shared the photo and that these were not his words. Uh huh.  

A similar courage of one's convictions can be seen in the case of Sabreina Dahab, who was also the subject of a CBC article last month. Neither Sabreina or the reporter seemed interested in repeating the words that got her into trouble in the first place, which was her Oct. 7 tweet saying "75 years of violent occupation and apartheid and the expectation is that Palestinians will be silent observers in their genocide? A liberated Palestine in our lifetime is possible, in Shaa Allah." Why the reluctance to repeat this? The CBC would presumably just characterize it as pro-Palestinian and/or critical of Israel.

Unfortunately, there is no shortage of examples of the CBC normalizing anti-Zionism. Here's a November 21 CBC article exploring the true meaning of the slogan "From the River to the Sea," implying that it doesn't necessarily mean that Israel should not exist. Incredibly, the reporter characterizes a two-state solution as an alternative to a single state solution and implies that this is some new idea making the rounds after it died off after 1947. 

"The alternative is a two-state solution, which would create separate states of Israel and Palestine, an idea that originated in 1947. U.S. President Joe Biden has been touting it in recent weeks, and in a statement on Monday evening, so did Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly."

How does a paragraph like that get by CBC editors, given the CBC has acknowledged it has a Middle East advisory committee and knows very well how contentious reporting on this topic can be? All the attempts at negotiating a two-state solution in the 90s and early 2000s just didn't happen? Is it my imagination that every major political party in Canada, and in most other countries for that matter, advocate for a two-state solution and have for a long time?

The same CBC reporter then published this December 22 article alleging that pro-Palestinian views are being censured anywhere and everywhere, and naturally included the case of Dr. Ge. As with the article on Sabreina Dahab, the specific language that was being silenced or punished was mostly omitted. 

There is a pretty standard definition of Zionism. It takes less than a minute to look it up. It's the belief in the right of self-determination and statehood for the Jewish people in the land of Israel. It's not always worded that exact way, but that is the essence. Zionism is also generally associated with the Jewish people, as it is inherently a Jewish movement, notwithstanding the weird reference to "Christian Zionists" even as you never hear of Muslim or Hindu Zionists, for example.

To my knowledge, there is no serious dispute that a significant majority of Jewish people -- wherever we land on the political spectrum -- identify as Zionists. So if most Jews are Zionists, and Zionism=genocide, what exactly are most Jews? If Zionism is genocide and the Oct. 7 attacks occurred in "occupied Palestine," why would the CBC choose to characterize these sentiments as merely pro-Palestinian and/or critical of Israel? If someone believes Israel should not exist, is that pro-Palestinian? Is that just a legitimate criticism of the country's policies towards Palestinians? If a right-wing Israeli politician says Palestine is a made up country or doesn't have any right to exist, is that just a pro-Israel statement? Is it just a critical statement of Palestinian Authority policies? What is the CBC doing here? We're not talking about criticism of Israeli policies, we're talking about criticism of Israel's very existence. 

It's important to understand that this reporting is taking place in a backdrop of unprecedented (in my lifetime) antisemitism in Canada, let alone the rest of the world. The CBC is well aware of this and has reported on it. CBC reporters are also fully aware of the language being used about Zionists in many pro-Palestinian / progressive circles. Zionists are called everything from racists, to genocide or apartheid supporters, to Nazis (or even worse than Nazis). Many of the people who use this language and insist they have no problem with Jewish people ought to be asked how this is possible if a large majority of Jewish people identify as Zionists. They also ought to be asked if Palestinians, or NDP politicians for that matter, who support a two-state solution are racist genocide-supporters. I have yet to come across anyone slandering Zionists who makes any distinction between those who support a two-state solution and those who do not. Assuming people who slander Zionists know what the word means, what explains the animus to Zionists and the shrug of the shoulders to those who simply support a two-state solution? Maybe the CBC should write an article about this, but I won't hold my breath.

For the record, I emailed the CBC about their reporting after the first two articles mentioned in this post were published, but I have no idea if my emails were even read. I like to imagine they finally caved and included a link to Dr. Freedhoff's substack post because of my nagging. Small victories, perhaps. I also emailed some Members of Parliament separately. 

What this boils down to, for me, is that our national broadcaster is fundamentally playing a role in normalizing hatred of not just Zionism, but of the Jewish people. It is wrong, and it is incredibly dangerous.