Even as the size of anti-Israel rallies across Canada have dramatically declined in recent months, organizers can be confident in the knowledge that no matter how small their demonstrations become, they can continue to expect favourable media coverage.
In Winnipeg, home to an estimated 850,000 people, a tiny anti-Israel protest was held on February 1, attracting some 20 people (roughly 0.002 percent of the city’s population), which received exactly the kind of sanitized reporting that Canadians have come to expect over the last 16 months.
The February 1 article for CTV News Winnipeg entitled: “Pro-Palestinian protesters rally in Winnipeg amid rising tensions in West Bank,” by Alexandra Holyk, not only decided that such a marginal gathering was worthy of news coverage, but also opted to whitewash some of the more extremist rhetoric seen at the demonstration.
The article quoted Ramsey Zeid, President of the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba, condemning “the IOF (Israeli Occupying Forces)” for its counter-terrorism operations.
Unbeknownst to readers, Zeid has a long history of making extremist statements, from appearing to justify or at least rationalize Hamas’ genocidal October 7, 2023 massacres, denying Israel’s right to exist, and calling Zionism – the Jewish People’s national liberation movement – a “disease that must be destroyed.”
CTV News Winnipeg made no mention of Zeid’s extremist rhetoric, instead offering no background on him whatsoever.
Four days later, Zeid was profiled in an article for CBC News, where he was quoted for his reaction to US President Donald Trump’s proposal for Gaza, which similarly made no mention of his past extremist comments about Israel, instead presenting him as a grassroots leader in Winnipeg.
Unsurprisingly, Zeid’s fanatical statements found a friendly audience in the February 1 mini-protest. As shown in a photo accompanying the news article, demonstrators held signs featuring messages such as “Zionism is terrorism” and “never again is now.”
Holding a sign bearing the message “Zionism is terrorism” is not a political statement, but an overtly anti-Jewish message. The overwhelming majority of Canadian Jews adhere to the view that Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish State in its historic homeland, and calling that position “terrorism” is a full frontal assault on the right of the Jewish People to enjoy self-determination.
But just as CTV News Winnipeg whitewashed Zeid’s extremist statements, it similarly erased the fanaticism on display at the mini-rally.
The sign which read “never again is now” refers to the expression “Never again,” in reference to the Holocaust. Holding such a sign at an anti-Israel rally is accusing Israel of, like Nazi Germany, conducting a genocide.
Such Holocaust distortion is not only morally reprehensible and arguably an expression of hatred against Winnipeg’s Jewish community, but is also an attack on the memory of victims of the Holocaust, a state-sponsored campaign of extermination against European Jewry by Nazi Germany. According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Definition of Antisemitism, these signs were replete with Jew-hatred.
Anti-Israel protests have long been characterized by hateful messaging and support for Palestinian Islamic terrorism, and news media outlets have an obligation, if they choose to report on such gatherings, to tell the Canadian public about what took place, not simply give an uncritical platform for organizers to spew their disinformation.
In a city nearing a million inhabitants, it is unclear why such a fringe protest would attract coverage from CTV News Winnipeg at all. However, even worse was the report’s total erasure of the extremism and radicalism exhibited by both Ramsey Zeid and those in attendance at the mini-demonstration.
Originally published by Honest Reporting Canada.