CP Distorts Toronto Antiwar Protests

The Canadian Press needs to be tuned in when it makes mistakes like the one it made today. Here's an e-mail I sent to the editors. Let them know what you think too.


To whom it may concern,

I just read this CP article and have a major problem with how the writer distorted the beliefs of those present, characterizing the majority as Hezbollah supporters:

Thousands protest war in Lebanon outside Israeli consulate in Toronto

August 12, 2006 - 17:18

TORONTO (CP) - Thousands of people from various backgrounds gathered outside the Israeli consulate in Toronto today to protest Israel's role in its conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Lebanese, Palestinian and even Six Nations flags flew over the heads of protesters as they rallied to demand Israel's immediate withdrawal from Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Some protesters expressed their anger with the Canadian government's stance on the war with signs reading "Stephen Harper War Monger."

While some refused to lend their support for Hezbollah, a group commonly referred to as terrorists, many agreed that Israel should pull out of Lebanon.

Dozens of police officers stood between the protesters and the Israeli consulate to keep the peace.

A few dozen pro-Israeli demonstrators also turned out, but there were no reports of violent incidents.

"Some" out of thousands "refused to lend their support for Hezbollah"? That's sloppy, biased reporting not based on any factual statistical means. In fairness to those who were present at the protest, I would urge you to correct that false assertion because you certainly cannot tell me that thousands were out in force supporting Hezbollah without providing proof of such a statement.

Signed,
*****

People need to learn (still!) that one can protest the Israeli incursions into Lebanon without supporting Hezbollah. The fact that such a position is continually distorted and manipulated simply confounds honest discussions about the situation and we definitely do not need the media's help to add to the divisions so many of us have faced in attempting to voice our opinions about this war.