Scandal in Canada — Jewish journalist suspended over report
CBC journalist Neil Herland was taken off the air after posting a video of a pro-Palestinian protest outside a synagogue on Yom Kippur. The corporation launched a disciplinary investigation without disclosing the reasons. The incident has raised questions about double standards at CBC.
A scandal has erupted in Canada around the public broadcaster CBC, which suspended veteran journalist Neil Herland from the air. The trigger was a video he published of a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside a synagogue in Toronto on the eve of Yom Kippur. Herland, a journalist and senior producer at CBC with thirty years of experience, was heading to prayer at The Song Shul synagogue. At the entrance, he encountered over 20 protesters who blocked the way, held Palestinian flags, and chanted slogans including "Free Palestine" and antisemitic insults. In the video, posted on Herland's personal X account, a masked person shouts through a megaphone, "You will go to hell," while another participant calls him a "baby killer." The clip garnered over three million views. After the publication, CBC removed Herland from the air and launched a disciplinary investigation, refusing to disclose who filed the complaint or what the allegations were. The organization Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) had campaigned against Herland and filed a formal complaint, but CBC did not confirm this as the cause. The situation has sparked accusations of double standards: colleagues noted that previously, a Muslim CBC journalist expressed a personal stance on air after the murder of a Muslim family, and the ombudsman found no violations. The head of The Song Shul synagogue, Eliza Spiro, sent an open letter to CBC defending Herland, calling his publication accurate and in the public interest.