Pivot Quebec Finds Quebec Media Mention Deaths Far More on Palestinian Side Than Israel

Pivot Quebec says it collected all online articles about the conflict published by Le Devoir, Radio-Canada, Le Journal de Montréal, and La Presse from October 7, 2023 to October 7, 2024, and then tallied sentences mentioning deaths to compare how often victims were referenced against the actual number of people killed.

“Following genocidal statements made by several of its members over the past nineteen months, the Israeli government publicly announced on May 5 a plan of ethnic cleansing consisting of militarily occupying Gaza, organizing the forced displacement of the population—first confined to restricted zones within the territory, with a view to later expulsion— and destroying any infrastructure still standing”

Acrimed

Pivot Quebec reports that as of October 7, 2024 a total of 44,570 people were killed in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon according to UN figures, while in Israel the number killed stood at 1,540.

Acrimed

Pivot Quebec says that on the Palestinian side there were 22 to 75 people killed per mention in an article depending on the outlet, while on the Israeli side there is typically one to five people killed per mention in a news article.

Pivot Quebec quotes sociology student Safa Chebbi, saying, "The numbers have become so large that they''ve lost their meaning" and adding, "100 people, this isn''t a lot. 500 people, this isn''t a lot."

Acrimed argues that after "genocidal statements" by members of the Israeli government, Israel publicly announced on May 5 a plan of ethnic cleansing involving militarily occupying Gaza, organizing forced displacement into restricted zones, and destroying infrastructure.

Acrimed says that in France, newsrooms loosened the clamp that had confined Palestinian imagery to the margins, but that the renewed flow of testimony from Gaza "does not seem to challenge the framing initially laid down" after October 7, 2023.

Pivot Quebec

Acrimed describes how BFM-TV spoke of an "expansion of military operations" on 5/05, while TF1 turned the colonial plan into a "plan of offensive expansion" on 5/05, and it says France 2 used "strategic and methodical evacuation".

Acrimed quotes Léa Salamé asking historian Jean-Pierre Filiu, "Do you know what the Israeli government responds when asked: 'Why do you target hospitals?'" and then includes the response that "They respond that hospitals have become terrorist strongholds."

The Intercept frames its analysis around a book by its author, describing an attempt to prove that U.S. media coverage of the war on Gaza was one-sided, racist, dehumanizing, and "often veered into outright incitement."

“Ask anyone who has followed news about Gaza with even a smidgen of critical thinking, and they will tell you: Media organizations are biased against Palestinians — and systematically favor Israel”

The Intercept

The Intercept says the author examined over 12,000 articles from the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN.com, Politico, Axios, USA Today, and The Associated Press, along with 5,000 TV segments that aired on CNN and MSNBC.

The Intercept reports one of its findings as a double standard in the invocation of Israel’s "Right to Defend Itself," saying guests, anchors, and reporters mentioned the right to self-defense for Israel 94 times more than they did for Palestinians on CNN and MSNBC.

The Intercept also claims that cable networks and print media outlets applied a double standard using emotive words like "massacre," "barbaric," "savage," and "slaughter" to describe the killing of civilians, and it states, "Over a 100-day period that saw roughly 24,000 Palestinians killed, the use of these emotive words in the print media I surveyed was entirely in favor of Israel."