Yet another biased and one-sided segment about the war has been broadcast by Canada’s taxpayer-funded national broadcaster.
In a February 4 segment of CBC’s Daybreak South radio program, host Chris Walker — whose program has produced multiple instances of biased coverage of Israel — interviewed Professor Adam Jones of the University of British Columbia (UBC) on the question of whether Israel has committed the crime of “genocide” during the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
The introduction completely discarded any effort at balance, fairness, or accuracy and instead Walker went full force in framing the discussion under the unsubstantiated assumption that Israel is widely considered guilty of genocide. The language choices immediately raised major red flags regarding bias — such as citing the Hamas-affiliated Gaza Health Ministry for statistical data (without disclosing this affiliation or its history of misinformation), or stating that “life is not any easier for Palestinians in Gaza [during the ceasefire]” without any equivalent mention of the same war’s simultaneously traumatic widespread collective physical suffering and psychological torment taking place in Israel, at the hands of Hamas, as several hostages had just been released (and in some cases denied release) under alarming, inhumane, chaotic, and violent circumstances.
The obviously one-sided intro, however, was only a preview of what was to come.
Walker and Jones discuss the alleged genocide under the false pretence that “international organizations including the UN say Israel’s actions in Gaza are consistent with genocide” — an irresponsible misquote, and not for the first time on the same program. He never cited a direct source to validate this claim.
While there are, of course, some anti-Israel NGOs who have made this claim (just as they have made many other outlandish claims over the years, contrary to the facts), it is a pretty bold statement to assert that the United Nations itself has declared Israel guilty of genocide — and a shocking one to make without backing it up. Is Walker referring to Hamas-affiliated members of UNRWA, who systematically stole UN funds and resources to participate in terrorist activity? Or perhaps fanatical Israel-hater Francesca Albanese, who — while a UN Special Rapporteur for the “occupied Palestinian territories” — speaks only for herself? He didn’t say.
The bulk of the substantive discussion revolved around the definition of genocide and the challenges of having Israel’s actions formally proven to be such, with Walker noting serious “challenges around proving intent” and Jones noting that “a guilty verdict would be no sure thing” and that genocide is a “rather high evidentiary bar to meet.” Some might already consider this admission an implicit contradiction of the entire premise of the conversation, but that point remained unsaid in the segment.
Jones describes genocidal behavior as the “intentional deprivation of the means of subsistence and life” and targeting members of a group “as such.” This does not in any way resemble Israel’s actions in Gaza — as they have routinely allowed large quantities of humanitarian aid into the territory. It does, however, very much resemble Hamas’ actions — as they started this unprovoked war by choosing to invade Israeli communities and massacre as many civilians as possible for the simple crime of their existence within Israeli society.
How can this conversation be taken seriously when it is so willing to stretch speculative, interpretative, unsubstantiated conjecture about Israel into an entire 20-minute discussion, while totally ignoring the obvious, clear and objective case of genocidal intent and behavior and crimes against humanity taking place by Hamas in the same exact location?
But in case there was any doubt about the sincerity of this discussion, Walker and Jones made sure to provide ample examples of their disingenuousness before the show was through.
At one point, Jones bragged that he has been “speaking out on this particular issue since the mid-1980s.” Basic logic would imply that one cannot have been speaking out against a “genocide” that allegedly took place in the year 2024 more than three decades prior. While some might gloss over this bizarre little admission, astute listeners will realize exactly what this means — that Jones is a biased, ideologically motivated anti-Israel activist with an agenda whose goals in speaking out have nothing to do with reacting to current events but shoehorning in Israel’s actions into an existing worldview.
Both also spent a few minutes paying lip service and straw-manning pro-Israel viewpoints, acknowledging that Israel’s actions are considered self-defence but failing to meaningfully discuss any of the specifics and opting instead to discuss fringe views about Palestinian identity which in no way represent mainstream Israeli thinking on the war.
Finally, listeners are told that Israel “presented itself as the solution to genocide…arising from the ashes of the Holocaust, and has derived…much of its legitimacy from its roots in the Jewish Holocaust, [but] that particular strategy now looks rather barren and hypocritical.”
It is up to readers to draw their own conclusions about what motivations could lead someone to so consistently minimize horrific anti-Jewish persecution and violence while twisting themselves into a pretzel to point accusatory fingers at the Jewish State, even going so far as to exploit and invert the memory of the Holocaust to try and delegitimize Israel’s very existence. One thing is clear though — the goal of the February 4 episode of Daybreak South was clearly not sincere discussion, analysis, or concern for the people of the region.
Originally published by Honest Report Canada.