Montreal, November 28, 2025 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is expressing deep concern over the circulation of unfounded allegations targeting Palestinian Canadians in a widely-shared news article by Global News. The article, “The Canadians in Hamas: The operative, leader and financier,” advances sweeping allegations about “450 people” with supposed Hamas “ties” in Canada based almost entirely on a single unnamed intelligence source. These issues are repeated in a broadcast segment. CJPME warns that such sensational and weakly substantiated claims risk fuelling anti-Palestinian racism and contributing to an already dangerous climate of fear and discrimination.
As revealed by CJPME’s extensive analysis submitted to Global News, the outlet’s central claim —that approximately 450 individuals with “assorted roles in Hamas” have connections to Canada — is unverifiable. Global relied on one unnamed source to make this claim, and provided no evidence that journalists were able to view or corroborate the purported list. The criteria to land on the list are also vague and seem to include even family connections with Hama-affiliated civil society institutions in Gaza. “Global News has put forward an inflammatory claim from the security apparatus without demonstrating basic due diligence. In doing so, they have directed unwarranted suspicion towards the Palestinian Canadian community at large,” said Jason Toney, Director of Media Advocacy at CJPME. “At a time of rising anti-Palestinian racism in Canada, this level of recklessness is highly irresponsible.”
CJPME also points to Global’s overwhelming reliance on pro-Israel sources — including pro-Israel lobby group CIJA, U.S. and Israeli intelligence, and AIPAC-aligned Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) fellow Matthew Levitt — without disclosing their political affiliations, biases, or controversial reputations. Levitt, in particular, is presented by Global as a “leading expert” despite extensive scholarly criticism of his work as partisan, flawed, and lacking methodological rigor. “This reporting is shaped almost entirely by institutions aligned with Israeli or Western security interests,” Toney said. “Canadians deserve balanced journalism, not conspiratorial stenography for the security state.”
The article has already triggered widespread fearmongering by pro-Israel organizations and media outlets, many of which are now citing the Global piece to warn of supposed “terrorist threats” in Canada. CJPME stresses that such narratives heighten risks to Palestinians and their allies, who are already facing an alarming spike in hate incidents, intimidation, and physical violence across the country.
CJPME recommends a number of clarifications and corrections, including:
- Clarifying whether the “450” claim was independently corroborated, and defining what constitutes “ties” or “assorted roles” to Hamas in concrete terms.
- Disclosing the affiliations and biases of quoted experts and identifying CIJA and WINEP as pro-Israel advocacy and policy organizations.
- Clarifying that the two examples provided do not substantiate the article’s sweeping claims.
“Global News promises to ‘investigate and hold power to account,’ yet in this case it has done the opposite,” said Toney. “Global is not holding power to account — it is making an account of power.”