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When Genocide Wasn't News: How Canadian media covered up the destruction of Gaza
As Canadians bear witness to live-streamed horrors in Gaza, the country’s most powerful media have distorted the unfolding genocide—whitewashing Israeli violence, dehumanizing Palestinians, and smearing a growing protest movement.
When Genocide Wasn’t News is our sharp and searing anthology, featuring award-winning investigations from our team and leading independent journalists.
It lays bare the Canadian establishment media’s complicity in the destruction of Gaza.
When Genocide Wasn’t News is our sharp and searing anthology, featuring award-winning investigations from our team and leading independent journalists.
It lays bare the Canadian establishment media’s complicity in the destruction of Gaza.
- GenresNonfiction
250 pages, Paperback
First published July 10, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 8, 2025
An excellent, albeit depressing, indictment of the Canadian media’s coverage of Israel (and especially of the genocide occurring in Gaza).
August 15, 2025
Review originally published in The Miramichi Reader:
In the almost 40 years since Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky published Manufacturing Consent, the media landscape has undergone some severe changes, mostly due to the internet and our reliance on it as a source of news. However, little has changed in how legacy media outlets help foster appetites for war and imperial policies abroad. Rather than hold power to account, we’ve seen the media parrot the talking points that echo in the corridors of power. False premises go unchallenged, narratives are repeated until they are seen as facts by the viewing public.
Canadian media has, in its coverage of the genocide in Gaza, been guilty of negligence. For those of us who have followed the Israeli army’s genocidal campaign on social media, Al Jazeera, Democracy Now, Breaking Points, reports from the United Nations and NGOs like Oxfam and Amnesty International, Canadian media seems to be broadcasting from a parallel universe. Even Israeli coverage from outlets like Haaretz and +972 does a better job of exposing the brutality of Israel’s military machine.
A new collection of essays by an accomplished roster of journalists, edited by Martin Lukacs, Dania Majid and Jason Toney, When Genocide Wasn’t News: How Canadian media covered up the destruction of Gaza, takes apart the pro-war PR machine bolt by bolt. Journalists from across Canada’s media landscape share their stories, research and data, so that we can understand why our media presents such a skewed take on the genocide in Gaza. From omitting certain words to describing the deaths of Palestinian civilians in the passive voice, as though they were not intentionally killed by one of the world’s most sophisticated militaries, the authors make clear how the media is being used to spread the propaganda of an allied nation at the expense of human rights, international law and most importantly, the truth.
The first part of this book examines the anti-Palestinian bias in Canadian media with a rigorous methodology and clear-eyed examples of language use, using data to measure the hypocrisies and contradictions. The sheer number of times the word “massacre” was used to describe Israeli deaths versus when it was used to describe Palestinian deaths should be a wake-up call. Several metrics are introduced that measure the emphasis media has placed on Israeli deaths versus Palestinian deaths. The end result is clear, the media places a higher value on Israeli lives over Palestinian ones.
More than just the language used to depict one side as worthy victims, and the other unworthy, the erasure of Palestinian voices takes center stage in this book. Most of us carry around the belief that the press has a responsibility to show two sides of a conflict and provide context. So why is it we see so few Palestinians on air? Why is it that some outlets don’t even use words like “Palestine?” How come the conflict is not one regularly framed within the context of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land?
When Genocide Wasn’t News helps explore the anti-Palestinian bias in our media, looking at the mechanisms of censorship that have existed for years in Canada. One essay from a CBC reporter of Jewish heritage, writing under the pseudonym Molly Schumann, talks about how accusations of anti-Semitism were leveled against her for trying to inject more nuance into pieces about the Middle East. She was not the only journalist to face these bad faith accusations. Others talk about the unprecedented demands their bosses put upon them when they want to put a Palestinian on the air, demands not made of any other guests. The bottom line is always the same, different standards exist for stories about Palestine, and even as journalists bend over backwards to meet them, they are told by management that their stories can no longer see the light of day. It’s absurd that journalists must go to extreme lengths to tell stories about Palestinians while the Israeli government seems to have a direct line to certain media outlets. In those rare moments when pieces sympathetic to Palestinians are published, the journalist and the news outlet may find themselves on the receiving end of a smear campaign organized by lobby groups like Honest Reporting Canada (the very name conjures up a Soviet-style propaganda apparatus).
The bottom line is always the same, different standards exist for stories about Palestine, and even as journalists bend over backwards to meet them, they are told by management that their stories can no longer see the light of day.
Although quite a lot of the book is dedicated to exposing groups like Honest Reporting Canada, it does not lean into the “Jews control the media” conspiracy theory. A lack of resources and a lack of rigor, combined with a built-in Euro-centrism might be more to blame then even the lobby groups pushing against any non-Israeli narrative. An essay by Jeremy Appel shows how editorial standards crafted by conservative media tycoons led many Canadian papers to offer an imbalanced, anti-Arab view of the Middle East. That so much of the coverage of the genocide in Gaza feels like the US war in Iraq or the war in Afghanistan is no coincidence, as the “clash of civilizations” narrative is baked into our media institutions.
Pacinthe Mattar’s essay, which went viral when a previous version was published in The Toronto Star, describes her experiences at the CBC, where her Egyptian heritage and fluency in Arabic had been considered an asset by her employers. However, her Middle Eastern perspective was not desired by her employer when it came to coverage of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. In 2017, she produced an interview with a Palestinian-American journalist covering protests in Jerusalem. That journalist outlined the harassment and intimidation that journalists face at the hands of the Israeli military. Predictably, the interview was pulled with no explanation. Mattar’s essay also calls attention to the unprecedented number of journalists that have been targeted and killed by the Israeli military.
When Genocide Wasn’t News makes it clear that the trend of anti-Palestinian bias predates the October 7th attacks by decades, citing examples of press coverage of several previous Israeli massacres of civilians in Gaza. The trends the book exposes are alarming and the first-hand examples of censorship relayed in these essays are shocking. However, this book, like Manufacturing Consent, gives readers the tools to see past the spin and propaganda. By giving us a better understanding of false balance, the erasure of Palestinian voices, misleading language, decontextualization, lack of verification and self-censorship, we become inoculated against these tactics. When Genocide Wasn’t News is essential reading for our time, and asks that we demand better from our media.
In the almost 40 years since Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky published Manufacturing Consent, the media landscape has undergone some severe changes, mostly due to the internet and our reliance on it as a source of news. However, little has changed in how legacy media outlets help foster appetites for war and imperial policies abroad. Rather than hold power to account, we’ve seen the media parrot the talking points that echo in the corridors of power. False premises go unchallenged, narratives are repeated until they are seen as facts by the viewing public.
Canadian media has, in its coverage of the genocide in Gaza, been guilty of negligence. For those of us who have followed the Israeli army’s genocidal campaign on social media, Al Jazeera, Democracy Now, Breaking Points, reports from the United Nations and NGOs like Oxfam and Amnesty International, Canadian media seems to be broadcasting from a parallel universe. Even Israeli coverage from outlets like Haaretz and +972 does a better job of exposing the brutality of Israel’s military machine.
A new collection of essays by an accomplished roster of journalists, edited by Martin Lukacs, Dania Majid and Jason Toney, When Genocide Wasn’t News: How Canadian media covered up the destruction of Gaza, takes apart the pro-war PR machine bolt by bolt. Journalists from across Canada’s media landscape share their stories, research and data, so that we can understand why our media presents such a skewed take on the genocide in Gaza. From omitting certain words to describing the deaths of Palestinian civilians in the passive voice, as though they were not intentionally killed by one of the world’s most sophisticated militaries, the authors make clear how the media is being used to spread the propaganda of an allied nation at the expense of human rights, international law and most importantly, the truth.
The first part of this book examines the anti-Palestinian bias in Canadian media with a rigorous methodology and clear-eyed examples of language use, using data to measure the hypocrisies and contradictions. The sheer number of times the word “massacre” was used to describe Israeli deaths versus when it was used to describe Palestinian deaths should be a wake-up call. Several metrics are introduced that measure the emphasis media has placed on Israeli deaths versus Palestinian deaths. The end result is clear, the media places a higher value on Israeli lives over Palestinian ones.
More than just the language used to depict one side as worthy victims, and the other unworthy, the erasure of Palestinian voices takes center stage in this book. Most of us carry around the belief that the press has a responsibility to show two sides of a conflict and provide context. So why is it we see so few Palestinians on air? Why is it that some outlets don’t even use words like “Palestine?” How come the conflict is not one regularly framed within the context of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land?
When Genocide Wasn’t News helps explore the anti-Palestinian bias in our media, looking at the mechanisms of censorship that have existed for years in Canada. One essay from a CBC reporter of Jewish heritage, writing under the pseudonym Molly Schumann, talks about how accusations of anti-Semitism were leveled against her for trying to inject more nuance into pieces about the Middle East. She was not the only journalist to face these bad faith accusations. Others talk about the unprecedented demands their bosses put upon them when they want to put a Palestinian on the air, demands not made of any other guests. The bottom line is always the same, different standards exist for stories about Palestine, and even as journalists bend over backwards to meet them, they are told by management that their stories can no longer see the light of day. It’s absurd that journalists must go to extreme lengths to tell stories about Palestinians while the Israeli government seems to have a direct line to certain media outlets. In those rare moments when pieces sympathetic to Palestinians are published, the journalist and the news outlet may find themselves on the receiving end of a smear campaign organized by lobby groups like Honest Reporting Canada (the very name conjures up a Soviet-style propaganda apparatus).
The bottom line is always the same, different standards exist for stories about Palestine, and even as journalists bend over backwards to meet them, they are told by management that their stories can no longer see the light of day.
Although quite a lot of the book is dedicated to exposing groups like Honest Reporting Canada, it does not lean into the “Jews control the media” conspiracy theory. A lack of resources and a lack of rigor, combined with a built-in Euro-centrism might be more to blame then even the lobby groups pushing against any non-Israeli narrative. An essay by Jeremy Appel shows how editorial standards crafted by conservative media tycoons led many Canadian papers to offer an imbalanced, anti-Arab view of the Middle East. That so much of the coverage of the genocide in Gaza feels like the US war in Iraq or the war in Afghanistan is no coincidence, as the “clash of civilizations” narrative is baked into our media institutions.
Pacinthe Mattar’s essay, which went viral when a previous version was published in The Toronto Star, describes her experiences at the CBC, where her Egyptian heritage and fluency in Arabic had been considered an asset by her employers. However, her Middle Eastern perspective was not desired by her employer when it came to coverage of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. In 2017, she produced an interview with a Palestinian-American journalist covering protests in Jerusalem. That journalist outlined the harassment and intimidation that journalists face at the hands of the Israeli military. Predictably, the interview was pulled with no explanation. Mattar’s essay also calls attention to the unprecedented number of journalists that have been targeted and killed by the Israeli military.
When Genocide Wasn’t News makes it clear that the trend of anti-Palestinian bias predates the October 7th attacks by decades, citing examples of press coverage of several previous Israeli massacres of civilians in Gaza. The trends the book exposes are alarming and the first-hand examples of censorship relayed in these essays are shocking. However, this book, like Manufacturing Consent, gives readers the tools to see past the spin and propaganda. By giving us a better understanding of false balance, the erasure of Palestinian voices, misleading language, decontextualization, lack of verification and self-censorship, we become inoculated against these tactics. When Genocide Wasn’t News is essential reading for our time, and asks that we demand better from our media.
August 10, 2025
This book is very depressing. Unfortunately we don’t get access to Canadian media here, only CBC radio, and I haven’t listened to it much.
But there is so much to admire about our Canadian cousins, for example they took Covid seriously like we did, they are sensible, liberal people mostly, they are bravely resisting trump’s Anschluss and bullying, plus who doesn’t love Maple Syrup? Oh and SA and Canada fought together with the British when World War 2 ‘really began.’ Just to let any American cousins know, it wasn’t 1942 like some of your state education curriculums tell you.
Oh and Canadians give out a lot of development aid, and The Bare Naked Ladies and Chelsea Green are Canadians.
Unfortunately, as you, my Canadian friends are reading, I hardly know much about your country at all. Oh yes, you also spell properly like the rest of the world.
But your food and what are interesting Canadian brands to try find here and try, I don’t know, plus I should try look for and read your literature and maybe a travel guide.
Vut I really thought you had a balanced and better media, unlike the freak show your neighbors have which has torn them apart.
This book unfortunately shows how Canadian media, through framing and linguistics, are denying what Aljazeera, Guardian, Democracy Now B’t Selem, the Foundation for Middle East Peace, Jewish Voices For Peace, and Middle East Eye are telling us. This book is a collection of essays. It also shows how the Israeli lobby and organizations such as ‘honest’ Reporting Canada intimidate Canadian media houses with the usual threats or slurs.
All I hope is, despite this, many Canadians now know what is happening in Gaza and do not listen to the Hasbara anymore.
Of course I know the Palestinians are far from innocent in this mess, but many of course are exactly just innocent civilians who want normal daily life and peace, and the practices of mass starvation and other things being done by the far-right extremists in the Israeli government are just barbaric.
Again we who believe in a two-state solution and said so were slurred by being called antiSemetic. You can’t even argue logically with a Zionist zealot because, if you believe in an Israeli state, that still even makes you a Zionist? These people have just been radicalized to defend Israel’s actions at any cost, like Humpty-Dumpty in Alice, words are what they choose them to ean, so you can never win with these totally indoctrinated people.
I just hope that the real Jews I know manage to win in the end, but, for that to happen, the Palestinians have to sort out their shit.
Yes, ignore the lie that everything started on 7 October, just go read history, but balanced histories.
And never forget it was a Jewish fanatic who killed Rabin, and Palestinian bombers that also sabotaged continuing peace efforts and have now allowed extremists in Israel a great say.
And what to do? If it wasn’t for the civilians anymore and Israel’s treatment of them, I’d have just not cared and, desensitized as I am from the constant crime here, I’d just change the channel, but we mustn’t.
Now our song.
https://youtu.be/HRsDg6VKtzE?si=VqHMT...
But there is so much to admire about our Canadian cousins, for example they took Covid seriously like we did, they are sensible, liberal people mostly, they are bravely resisting trump’s Anschluss and bullying, plus who doesn’t love Maple Syrup? Oh and SA and Canada fought together with the British when World War 2 ‘really began.’ Just to let any American cousins know, it wasn’t 1942 like some of your state education curriculums tell you.
Oh and Canadians give out a lot of development aid, and The Bare Naked Ladies and Chelsea Green are Canadians.
Unfortunately, as you, my Canadian friends are reading, I hardly know much about your country at all. Oh yes, you also spell properly like the rest of the world.
But your food and what are interesting Canadian brands to try find here and try, I don’t know, plus I should try look for and read your literature and maybe a travel guide.
Vut I really thought you had a balanced and better media, unlike the freak show your neighbors have which has torn them apart.
This book unfortunately shows how Canadian media, through framing and linguistics, are denying what Aljazeera, Guardian, Democracy Now B’t Selem, the Foundation for Middle East Peace, Jewish Voices For Peace, and Middle East Eye are telling us. This book is a collection of essays. It also shows how the Israeli lobby and organizations such as ‘honest’ Reporting Canada intimidate Canadian media houses with the usual threats or slurs.
All I hope is, despite this, many Canadians now know what is happening in Gaza and do not listen to the Hasbara anymore.
Of course I know the Palestinians are far from innocent in this mess, but many of course are exactly just innocent civilians who want normal daily life and peace, and the practices of mass starvation and other things being done by the far-right extremists in the Israeli government are just barbaric.
Again we who believe in a two-state solution and said so were slurred by being called antiSemetic. You can’t even argue logically with a Zionist zealot because, if you believe in an Israeli state, that still even makes you a Zionist? These people have just been radicalized to defend Israel’s actions at any cost, like Humpty-Dumpty in Alice, words are what they choose them to ean, so you can never win with these totally indoctrinated people.
I just hope that the real Jews I know manage to win in the end, but, for that to happen, the Palestinians have to sort out their shit.
Yes, ignore the lie that everything started on 7 October, just go read history, but balanced histories.
And never forget it was a Jewish fanatic who killed Rabin, and Palestinian bombers that also sabotaged continuing peace efforts and have now allowed extremists in Israel a great say.
And what to do? If it wasn’t for the civilians anymore and Israel’s treatment of them, I’d have just not cared and, desensitized as I am from the constant crime here, I’d just change the channel, but we mustn’t.
Now our song.
https://youtu.be/HRsDg6VKtzE?si=VqHMT...
December 22, 2025
Very well organized, easy to dive deep into the sections of interest. Highly recommend.
I am very happy to find a book by Canadians on the Canadian media cover-up. I hope to continue to research and find other crisis' that have been manipulated for our Canadian eyes.
I am very happy to find a book by Canadians on the Canadian media cover-up. I hope to continue to research and find other crisis' that have been manipulated for our Canadian eyes.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews