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Gaza

8/6/2009
  • September 19, 2011: CBC.ca: Clarifications: An earlier version of this story suggested Israel controls all movement into or out of the Gaza Strip. An exception is the Rafah crossing, where Gaza shares a border with Egypt. That border is under the control of Cairo."
  • July 22, 2011: Delta Optimist Correction: "The story, Port pickets aimed at Israeli ship, in the July 20 edition of the Optimist incorrectly stated that Israel is occupying the Palestinian territory of Gaza. Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005. We apologize for the error."
  • June 19, 2011: CBC Radio's "The Sunday Edition" news program interviewed anti-Israel Haaretz correspondent Amira Hass. In the introduction to the interview, CBC anchor Michael Enright falsely claimed that Israel was "occupying" the Gaza Strip. After HRC complained to senior CBC editors, CBC acknowledged and regretted that they had made an error, while committing to revise the on-line version of the introduction to reflect accurate information.
  • May 25, 2011: A Globe and Mail article falsely claimed that Canada and most government's views Gaza as "unlawfully occupied by Israel." After HRC complained the following correction was issued: "(Editor's note: Israel ceased its occupation of Gaza in 2005. Incorrect information appeared in Wednesday's Globe and in an earlier online version of this story. This version has been corrected.)"
  • April 30, 2011: Toronto Star: After publishing a letter to the editor that falsely claimed that Israel has "illegal Israeli settlements" in "Gaza," after HRC complained, the Toronto Star edited out this reference from the online letter.
  • CBC Radio, Jul 20 2010: CBC apologizes for an erroneous radio report which referred to the Mavi Marmara ship as being "full of supplies" when Israeli forces intercepted it off the Gaza Strip.
  • CTV News, Jun 5 2010: CTV apologizes for erroneously describing Gaza as being under “Israeli occupation” and commits to identifying future statements as disputed opinions: “Our report did indeed state that the protesters were decrying the "Israeli occupation" of Gaza and we appreciate your reminding us that the word "occupation" in this context is highly controversial. While, as you know, some groups do consider Israel to be an occupying power of the Gaza Strip because of its control of airspace and territorial waters, we agree with your point that reporters covering the conflict should also consider the fact that Israel and others disagree with this description for the reasons you have stated. As a general rule, CTV News clearly identifies controversial statements as opinion, so as not to leave the impression that we, as a fair and balanced news organization, share those beliefs. In this case, the line should have read, 'Hundreds of people stopped traffic....to decry...the anniversary of WHAT THEY DESCRIBE AS the Israeli occupation of Gaza..." I will immediately remind all of our editorial staff that we must always clearly identify these kinds of disputed descriptions as opinion.”
  • CBC Online, Jun 3 2010: “Photo gallery: Gaza-bound flotilla raid in pictures”. The online photo gallery of the Gaza flotilla incident distorted the operation’s true aim by selectively omitting pictures of the Israeli army being viciously attacked by the unruly mob, by excluding photos showing the large amounts of weapons found on the boat and by leaving out images showing how the anti-Israel militants had premeditated the attack on the IDF. Gallery updated: the photo gallery was updated with new pictures showing Israeli soldiers being attacked. 
  • Toronto Star, Jun 19 2010: “New Middle East hinges on Turkey”. Column falsely claimed the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara was carrying humanitarian supplies to Gaza. Clarification issued: “A June 19 column about Turkey’s role in the emergence of a new Middle East referred to a Turkish ship taking humanitarian aid to Gazans. According to a report from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, itself did not carry humanitarian aid but was part of the Gaza-bound flotilla that carried humanitarian aid.”
  • Toronto Star, Jun 2 2010: “A success for non-violence in Gaza?”. Columnist falsely stated that former U.S. Ambassador Edward Peck was aboard the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara ship with other “non-violent activists”: “The ship was 98 per cent peopled by non-violent activists, including women and children, parliamentarians and even a former American ambassador.” Reference removed and correction issued: “Former U.S. Ambassador Edward Peck was aboard one of the smaller ships in the Gaza aid flotilla in which nine people were killed. A June 2 Opinion article about the deadly flotilla raid suggested that the ambassador was onboard the ship where the bloodshed occurred.”
  • Calgary Herald, May 1 2010: “‘Gaza Doctor’ helps heal with forgiveness”. Report falsely claimed that Israeli tanks had fired on Gaza doctor’s house for “no apparent reason”. Clarification issued: “An article that appeared in the Calgary Herald on May 1, 2010, about Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish’s book I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey made reference to the death of his three daughters and niece after his house was hit by shells from an Israeli tank. The Israeli military has said its forces came under mortar and sniper fire from Hamas gunmen located in a building adjacent to the one occupied by the family and that it was responding to this fire.”
  • Toronto Star, Mar 6 2010: “More voices on Israeli Apartheid Week”. Letter-writer Karin Brothers posted a comment on the Toronto Star’s website claiming that Israelis are committing a “genocidal siege of Gazans“. Comment removed: The Star’s Public Editor agreed that the comment went too far and should not have been posted.
  • The Varsity, Feb 8 2010: “Are all disasters created equal?“. Report incorrectly stated that Israel had killed 14,000 Palestinian civilians and injured 400,000 in the 2008-2009 Gaza war. Correction issued: “this article originally read that the "Israel Defense Force launched a series of air strikes on the Gaza Strip, killing over 14,000 Palestinian civilians and injuring over 400,000 more." The true numbers are roughly 1,300 killed and 5,500 injured, and the article has been updated to reflect this. The Varsity regrets the error.”
  • CBC.ca, Feb 4 2010: “Rights and Democracy torn by dissent”. Original report incorrectly described Israel’s 2009 military operation in Gaza as an Israeli offensive “against” Gaza: “The new members challenged grants being made to three human rights organizations known to be critical of Israel's human rights record, especially in the Israeli offensive against Gaza.” Report revised: “The new members challenged grants being made to three human rights organizations known to be critical of Israel's human rights record, especially in the Israeli offensive in Gaza.”
  • CBC.ca, Jan 30 2010: “Fredericton rally marks Gaza conflict”. Original report failed to acknowledge or contextualize Israel’s reason for carrying out its 2009 defensive operation in Gaza: “A rally was held in downtown Fredericton Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the end of an Israeli offensive in Gaza which killed about 1,400 people.” Report amended: “Israel carried out the incursion into the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip from Dec. 27, 2008, to Jan. 18, 2009, saying it was trying to halt years of Palestinian rocket fire at Israeli towns.”
  • Macleans, Jan 29 2010: “Changing a society, one step at a time”. Original report falsely described the 2009 conflict between Israel and Hamas as the “Israel-Gaza conflict”. Following report amended: “After the January 2009 conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Beauregard had authorized a so-called “Urgent Action” project from discretionary funds to document any human rights violations in Gaza.”
  • Toronto Sun, Sept 23 2009: "A cutline on a photo in Monday's Toronto Sun was incomplete. The photo showing a Palestinian mourning the death of his brother at a funeral in the Gaza strip failed to note the dead man was shot by Israeli troops while trying to plant a bomb along the Gaza border fence." Clarification issued.
  • CBC Around the World, June 23 2009: "Report states 'Israeli offensive [in Gaza] killed thousands.'" On-air correction issued stating 'While the actual number of dead isn’t known, the consensus is that there were about 1,300 people killed.'" Correction issued.
  • Toronto Star, June 18 2009: "A June 14 article about artist Reena Katz made reference to Katz describing herself as a conscientious objector to Israel's military presence in Gaza. In fact, Israel's military forces disengaged from the Gaza strip in 2005." Correction issued.
  • Winnipeg Free Press, June 5 2009: "Report stated President Obama 'warned Israel to stop the expansion of existing settlements in...Gaza.' Free Press editor apologized, stating there is no expansion of Israeli settlements in Gaza."
  • CBC Newsworld, June 14 2009: "Report about the Hamas Anniversary in Gaza and the power struggles between Fatah and Hamas is accompanied by a video of Israeli military in Gaza, with no relation between the footage and the story. On-air apology and correction issued, stating “Israeli forces were not involved in the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007.”
  • CBC Newsworld, June 12, 2009: "Al-Jazeera English Reporter inserts his own opinion into a news report by stating that 'they [Red Cross] officials have obviously been targeted' by Israelis. CBC ombudsman report concluded this item did not meet the standards of accuracy and fairness within the CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices."
  • CBCNews.ca, Apr 9 2009: "An earlier version of this story said a human rights probe headed by Richard Goldstone would investigate alleged Israeli war crimes during a three-week conflict with Hamas that ended Jan. 18, 2009. In fact, Goldstone said his team would investigate 'all violations of international humanitarian law' before, during and after the conflict, including allegations against Israelis in the Gaza Strip and allegations against Palestinians in southern Israel."
  • CBC Online, March 24 2009: "Story published about Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon’s visit to one of the Mideast initially said former British Prime Minister Tony Blair had visited the town of Beit Hanoun and that a UN school had come under Israeli fire there. Correction stated Blair did not visit Beit Hanoun, he visited Beit Lahiya. The school in Beit Lahiya did not come under fire, but the American International School in Beit Lahiya did and the Israeli military said the campus was a legitimate target since it was used to fire rockets."
  • CBC Online, Feb 19 2009: "A story published Feb 18 about the border crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip originally said 3000 Palestinians killed in a conflict between Israel and Hamas in late 2008 and early 2009. In fact, about 1,300 Palestinians died in the conflict." Correction issued.
  • CBC Online, Feb 2 2009: “Two rockets launched from Gaza into the south region of Israel. There were no reports of casualties or damage." Correction stated “it later emerged that two Israeli soldiers and one Israeli civilian had been hurt.”
  • CBC Online, Jan 22 2009: “Israel ended its campaign Sunday but hasn’t reopened border crossings with Gaza.” Correction issued “while Israel hasn’t fully reopened the crossings, it has allowed humanitarian aid supplies into Gaza. More than 2,000 supply trucks have entered Gaza through these crossings since the start of the 22day conflict between Israel and Hamas.”
  • CBC National, Jan 13 2009: “Report showed President Obama expressed concern for the loss of civilian life in Gaza. On-air correction issued, stating Obama also expressed concern for the loss of civilian life in Israel as well.
  • Montreal Gazette, Jan 13 2009: Report about pro-Palestinians demonstrations in Montreal described the Gaza strip as an “occupied territory.” Correction issued, confirming Israel withdrew its forces from Gaza in 2005.
  • Globe and Mail, Jan 13 2009: “Protests against Israel’s military offensive in Gaza have taken place in various cities in Israel in the past two weeks. Incorrect information appeared yesterday.” Correction issued.
  • Montreal Gazette, Jan 11 2009: “Jews, Christians, Muslims, Anglos, Francos, grandmothers and children walked together yesterday in the bitter cold to call for an immediate ceasefire in the occupied territory.” Correction stated “Israel withdrew its forces and settlers from Gaza in 2005.”
  • Toronto Star, Jan 9 2009: “UN officials said the driver and aid worker killed in Gaza yesterday were operating a clearly marked vehicle that was flying the UN flag.” Correction stated “One UN relief agency driver was killed and a second driver was injured in separate incidents in Gaza on Jan 8.”
  • Toronto Star, Jan 6 2009: "Reporter states Hamas has ruled Gaza since June 2006." Correction issued.
  • CBC Online, Jan 6 2009: “Israel launched a series of air attacks against targets in the Gaza strip.” Correction issued: “After the six-month ceasefire expired on Dec 19, Palestinian Hamas stepped up rocket attacks against southern Israel.”
  • CTV.ca, Dec 29 2008: “Israel says the recent campaign, which may be accompanied by a ground offensive into the West Bank, is in response to the steady stream of rockets Hamas has fired into southern Israel.” Correction issued, “Israel says the recent campaign is in response to the steady stream of rockets Hamas has fired into southern Israel.”
  • CBC Online, Aug 5 2008: “The original story incorrectly stated that Israel is occupying both the West Bank and Gaza. In fact, Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of Gaza in 2005, although it still carries out military operations there." Correction issued.
  • La Presse, July 31 2008: "Article stated 'Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU) denounce the Israeli occupation in Gaza.' Clarification issued, stated the Israeli army withdrew from Gaza in August 2005." Correction issued.
  • National Post, June 17 2008: “Due to an editing error, the words 'was destroyed by Israeli forces in Gaza city, killing 11 civilians' were incorrectly inserted in a letter to the editor by Stephen Tannenbaum in Thursday’s National Post. In fact, on Tuesday, either nine or 11 people, of whom two or three were Islamic Jihad terrorists, were killed after the Israeli Air Force attacked a van in Gaza under the control of an Islamic Jihad cell and containing Katyusha rockers for use against Israel. The Post regrets the error.” Correction issued.
  • Radio Canada Online, June 15 2008: "Online report stated “Nearly 20 000 Jews live in settlements in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem." Radio Canada removed this statement from the report.
  • Kingston Whig Standard, April 23 2008: "A sentence in an Associated Press article about the Gaza Strip that appeared in Friday's Whig-Standard should have read: Israel, which controls Gaza's border crossings, has greatly restricted the flow of goods into the area since Hamas seized control there last June. Incorrect information was supplied to the Whig.” Correction issued.
  • Le Journal de Montreal, April 29 2008: "The death of a Palestinian boy in the Gaza Strip earlier this month, originally blamed on Israeli forces, was caused by mortar fire from Palestinian militants, a human rights group said Monday. On April 6, AFP cited medical sources as saying the child was killed by Israeli tank fire between the Gaza border with Israel and the Bureij refugee camp. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights subsequently conducted an investigation into the killing. "According to our inquiry, the child Abdullah Mohammed Bahar, four years old, was killed by a Palestinian mortar," said Jaber Wichah, deputy director of the PCHR, based in Gaza. According to the PCHR, Palestinian militants fired a mortar round which struck near the child's home, seriously wounding the boy in the head, as he was playing outdoors with his brother who was also injured but survived. The four-year-old died shortly after being taken to hospital, the PCHR said.” Correction issued.
  • Globe and Mail, April 18 2008: “Twenty-two people were killed in conflict in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, 15 of them as a result of Israeli air strikes that followed a gun battle between Hamas militants and Israeli soldiers. An incorrect number appeared in a headline in yesterday's newspaper.” Correction issued.
  • City TV, Mar 17 2008: According to a City T Producer: “Our editorial writer made an honest mistake in referring to an “Israeli annexation of Gaza” from Egypt in 67. I have conducted a formal review and have instructed our staff to be more vigilant and more careful to ensure that simple editing errors do not occur.”
  • Ottawa Metro News, Mar 6 2008: Apology: “I will be sending you a synopsis of what I learned early next week. Suffice to say for now, it does appear to be an honest error by an inexperienced page designer and editors in Toronto have instituted a new safeguard in the production stream to avoid a repeat. We are currently reviewing with our production team in Toronto what occurred in this instance. Although Metro’s smaller format requires shorter, tighter stories than most other publications, we obviously do not condone offering one side of an argument to the exclusion of the other. If the omission was not at source through the wire provider Reuters, then we will be taking steps within the production chain to ensure future reporting on this subject includes perspectives from both sides. I will be in touch once we’ve held our review with the production team. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.” According to a Metro News editor after two Reuters reports printed in the Metro failed to mention the reason why the Israeli Defense Forces entered the Gaza Strip. The Incursion was done to prevent and thwart continuous rocket attacks on Israeli cities by Hamas terrorists.
  • Globe and Mail, Feb 19 2008: “A rocket attack from Gaza on Feb 9 wounded, but did not kill, two Israelis. Incorrect information appeared in Thursday’s newspaper.” Correction issued.
  • Toronto Star, Jan 27 2008: Follow up story issued to clarify that “Yesterday's events came against the backdrop of a war of words between Hamas and Israel. Earlier in the week, Hamas claimed five patients died over the weekend in Gaza hospitals because of the latest fuel embargo, a statement that Israeli and other Palestinian officials subsequently said was unfounded. The five people died in their homes, for one reason or another, and were dead on arrival at the main hospital in Gaza City, but there was no evidence that the power shutdown played any role in their deaths.”
  • CBC News Today, Jan 17 2008: Apology - According to a senior editor at CBC: “On December 17, you wrote to draw our attention to an “error” in a report by CBC News correspondent David Common on the December 17 edition of CBC NEWS: TODAY. You wrote that in a report on a donor conference in Paris intended to aid the Palestinian economy, Mr. Common said the Palestinians are insisting that the Israelis return to the table to “discuss what would happen with Israeli settlers in Gaza and the West Bank.” You pointed out that Israeli settlers left the Gaza Strip in 2005. Of course, you are right. It was an inadvertent error in a live report first seen a little after 6am that morning. In fact, Mr. Common telephoned Toronto minutes after the broadcast to say he had made a mistake and ask if he should do the report again, but his producers said they would edit the report to remove the error. Despite that, the original report was inadvertently broadcast once again later that morning. We regret the error.”
  • CBC Online, Nov 16 2007: "A CBC report on an Israeli air strike that killed 5 Palestinians failed to mention that the IDF was targeting Palestinian rocket squads. Report also falsely claimed that Israel closed Gaza’s borders. HRC contacted CBC Online’s executive producer who added 5 paragraphs to the online article mentioning the above along with the fact that 1,200 rockets have hit Israel since June."
  • CBC Around the World, Oct 26 2007: CBC Around the World On-Air Correction: “Just before we go a correction from yesterday’s program, we said journalist Alan Johnston had been in prison, had been held in about 114 months, it was 114 days.”
  • CBC Online, Oct 30 2007: “A story published on Oct. 26 about Israel’s plan to disrupt power supplies to the Gaza Strip said the territory’s land and sea borders are still controlled by Israel. In fact, Gaza also shares a border with Egypt. Following the Hamas takeover in Gaza, Israel and Egypt closed the borders.” Correction issued.
  • Toronto Sun, Sept 4 2007: Apology - “Thank you for your email regarding the news brief we ran headed "Gaza blast kills 3 Palestinian children." I haven't seen the original wire story but I expect the details of context concerning the use of children by terrorist organizations were not in that first story. If they were, I agree we should have given more space to the story. I expect that the context emerged only after subsequent investigation, However, your letter does underline the danger of short stories. I thank you for reminding us of that fact.” According to a senior editor at the Toronto Sun after a short wire brief failed to mention that Palestinian terror organizations are making cynical use of children, by sending them to areas where rocket launchers are located to collect weapons, consciously endangering them in places where the Israeli Defense Force targets the rocket salvos and sites.
  • Globe and Mail, June 28 2006: “Palestinians blame Israel for the deaths of 22 people in Gaza in recent air strikes, but Israel denies responsibility for the right among those 22 who died in explosions on a Gaza beach. Incomplete information appeared Monday.” Correction issued.
  • Globe and Mail, June 13 2006: "Report contained incorrect casualty figures of an explosion that occurred in the Gaza Strip killing only 7 Palestinians." Correction issued.
  • Globe and Mail, March 16 2005: "Canadian hostage released in the Gaza Strip was incorrectly identified." Correction issued.
  • Globe and Mail, March 15 2005: “Israeli settlements and built-up land should not have been noted on a map of Gaza published yesterday, which used outdated information. The Israeli military and settlers withdrew from Gaza in 2005.” Correction issued.

     

 
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