Montreal, August 11, 2025 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) strongly condemns Israel’s deliberate execution of Palestinian journalists and media staff, including prominent journalist Anas al-Sharif, who were killed last night in an attack on their media tent in Gaza City. CJPME is also deeply concerned that Israel’s justifications for the attack have been circulated by the National Post and many other Postmedia-owned newspapers across Canada. CJPME calls on journalistic associations in Canada, including the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), to publicly condemn Israel’s continued killing of journalists and to denounce the spread of fabricated claims about Palestinian journalists, which endanger their lives.

Israeli forces have killed more than 192 journalists since October 7, 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), while Al Jazeera estimates the total to be up to 270. From the sniper execution of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin, to the murders of prominent journalists Mohammed Mansour and Hossam Shabat in Gaza, Israel has maintained a long record of deliberately eliminating journalists to erase Palestinian perspectives and prevent the world from witnessing its genocidal actions.

“The assassination of the Al Jazeera team was not an isolated incident, but part of Israel’s campaign to exterminate journalists in Gaza,” said Michael Bueckert, Acting President of CJPME. “Israel seeks to eliminate every remaining voice in Gaza who dares to expose the reality of the genocide to the world. We call on all Canadian journalists to speak out against this horrible crime.”

Israel has taken credit for the killing of Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues, claiming without credible evidence that he was a member of Hamas. These false accusations, which have been levelled against al-Sharif by Israel for weeks, have been firmly rejected by Al Jazeera, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the UN Special Rapporteur for Press Freedom. CJPME condemns the harmful decision of Canadian outlets to parrot these manufactured accusations, which serve to justify Israel’s repeated and deliberate killing of Palestinian journalists.

“Canadian journalists must stand up for their colleagues in Palestine”, added Bueckert. “Repeating the propaganda that legitimizes their killing is nothing less than complicity in genocide.”