Canadian media, including the CBC, played a significant role in fueling anti-Semitism by amplifying biased narratives and downplaying terrorist violence, B’nai Brith Canada said in a report.
Blacklock's Reporter says the group’s Annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents said Canadian Jews were left “ostracized and marginalized” due to coverage that echoed extremist rhetoric and misrepresented the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“Media outlets across the country have become active participants in the spread of disinformation, the normalization of anti-Semitism and the justification of violence against Jews,” said the report.
It accused both public and private media of acting as “megaphones for terrorist propaganda” and of manufacturing sympathy for extremist groups.
The audit documented 6,219 anti-Semitic incidents in 2023, the highest number in the report’s history. B’nai Brith linked the surge in incidents to the October 7 Hamas-led attacks in Israel, which included the killing and kidnapping of civilians, among them eight Canadians.
“The damage done to Canada’s Jewish community has been undeniable,” said the audit. “Jewish Canadians have been directly harmed by media coverage of the post-October 7 conflict. They have been left feeling ostracized and marginalized by the biased coverage. The constant and undue criticism of Israel has amplified the pain and sorrow felt by Canadian Jews.”
The report specifically named CBC News for its editorial choices. It criticized the broadcaster for describing Hamas fighters — part of a group designated as a terrorist organization by Canada since 2002 — as “militants,” and for portraying Israeli military responses as acts of aggression.
CBC received 4,785 public complaints related to its 2023 coverage, a 45% increase from the previous year. Former CBC Ombudsman Jack Nagler acknowledged in a June 14 statement that “room for improvement” existed in the network’s reporting.
He cited an example where CBC Radio’s World Report referred to the October 7 killings as a “surprise attack by Hamas militants” and described the aftermath using neutral language that, he said, obscured the nature of the violence.
The Commons heritage committee also scrutinized CBC’s delayed correction of an October 17 story that falsely claimed an Israeli airstrike had destroyed Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza. The hospital was later determined to have been struck by a misfired Palestinian rocket.
“Right now there is a war taking place in Gaza,” said Conservative MP Rachael Harder during committee testimony. “The CBC has determined to cover it from one angle.”