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A podcast that gives you a behind the headlines look at news about Israel, the Middle East, and media bias.
Every week, we challenge conventional wisdom and cause paradigm shifts. Learn about the Arab-Israeli conflict, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, war, and media coverage of the Middle East (the good, the bad and the ugly).
Join us as we embark on this journey together.
Subscribe for free to stay informed with breaking news and insider briefings: www.honestreporting.ca
Every week, we challenge conventional wisdom and cause paradigm shifts. Learn about the Arab-Israeli conflict, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, war, and media coverage of the Middle East (the good, the bad and the ugly).
Join us as we embark on this journey together.
Subscribe for free to stay informed with breaking news and insider briefings: www.honestreporting.ca
213 Episodes
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In 1897, the First Zionist Congress was held in a seaside resort in the city of Basel, Switzerland. Led by journalist Theodore Herzl, the conference helped kick off the Zionist Organization, and the Zionist movement in general.
Now, 125 years later, Herzl's dream has come true. The State of Israel is alive and well, and in fact thriving, though by no means is it without challenges, many of them serious.
So what would Herzl think of today's Israel? Surely he would be proud of the country, but what challenges would still be keeping him up at night, and what issues would he still be driven to address?
In this week's podcast, we sit down with Professor Gil Troy. Professor Troy is an author and noted historian who has written extensively about Theodore Herzl and the Zionist movement, from Herzl until today.
Welcome to The Honest Report podcast.
Across North American colleges and universities, anti-Israel activists spread disinformation about the Jewish State. Whether by professors in the classroom or via BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) resolutions, or Israel Apartheid Week programs, Israel is a favourite target at institutions of higher learning.
But why is Israel uniquely targeted, and what can be done to ensure accuracy and truth beats out falsehoods?
In this week's podcast, we sit down with Richard Cravatts, President Emeritus, of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, for his insights and perspective.
Welcome to The Honest Report podcast.
Since the U.S. and Israeli strikes on the Iranian regime began on February 28, the message from Ottawa has been mixed. First, Prime Minister Mark Carney supported them, then appeared to walk that back, with little clarity since.As the war progresses, footage continues to show Iranians cheering strikes on regime targets, and in Canada, mass gatherings of Iranians praise the effort, calling it not a war, but a rescue operation.To help us learn more about what Iranian-Canadians want from the federal government, we are joined by Ardeshir Zarezadeh, a Toronto lawyer and activist, who was previously a political prisoner in Iran. He sits down with Robert Walker, HonestReporting Canada's assistant director.
Just a few days into the war with the Iranian regime, and so much has changed. The Islamic Republic's longtime ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead, as are apparently thousands of regime officials, Israel says.In response to strikes, the Iranian regime has lashed out, striking countries across the Middle East and beyond, demonstrating in real-time their fanaticism. But where is the war going from here, and is the public being well-informed by our media?In this episode, we are joined by Jonathan Sacerdoti. He is a British journalist and broadcaster who joins us to offer his insights and thoughts on the war with Iran, and what may come next.
The Middle East is such a busy place that the region's most populous country, Egypt, is often forgotten. Home to some 110 million people, Egypt fought four wars with Israel, but in 1979, the two signed a peace agreement.However, the story didn't end there. The aggressive language and even actions from Cairo have intensified in recent years, and in this episode of The Honest Report, we are joined by Khaled Hassan, an Egyptian-born, UK-based geopolitical and national security researcher and commentator.
On December 26, Israel and Somaliland, a country in eastern Africa, announced that they had established formal diplomatic relations.In doing so, Israel became the first country to recognize Somaliland, which declared its independence from neighbouring Somalia in 1991. But in contrast to Somalia, Somaliland is a vibrant, democratic and stable country.To help us understand the complexities and promise of these new ties, Omer Kahin, a leader within Canada's Somalilander community, joins Robert Walker, HonestReporting Canada's assistant director, as a guest.Thanks for listening to The Honest Report. Now level up—subscribe, leave a review, and spread the word.
From almost the moment that thousands of Palestinian terrorists streamed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, conspiracy theorists began re-writing history in real time, accusing Israel of killing its own people and spreading vicious lies aimed at whitewashing Palestinian terrorism.As history has shown countless times before, lies that start on the fringes can often become mainstream, and Israeli author Alon Penzel refuses to accept that lying down. He authored a book, Testimonies Without Boundaries, Israel: October 7th 2023, recounts in chilling details the savagery of that day.He joins Robert Walker, HonestReporting Canada assistant director, for a thoughtful conversation.
While much of the world's attention is focused on the Iranian regime, desperate to cling to power after a historic massacre of its own people protesting, another power seeks hegemony in the Middle East: Turkey, run by its strongman leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Under Erdogan, Turkey has massacred Kurdish minorities, backs the new Syrian regime, and has expressed vocal support for Hamas. It also seeks to be a peacekeeper in Gaza. What exactly is Erdogan trying to achieve, and why?To help us unpack Erdogan's ambitions, we are joined by Diliman Abdulkader, president of American Friends of Kurdistan.Welcome to The Honest Report podcast.
HR Canada Charitable has published a 100-page report, backed by the same team that released the Asserson Report on the BBC, to examine CBC News' coverage of the Hamas-Israel war over a 20-month period.The results are damning as they showcase an overwhelming narrative imbalance of the Hamas-Israel war, which minimizes and abstracts Israeli and Jewish experiences while privileging Palestinian perspectives and views.To help shed light on the details of the report, we are joined by HR Canada Charitable Organization's Director of Education, Amanda Eskenasi.
Starting in late December, millions of protesters have gathered across Iran, joining against the Islamic Republic of Iran's theocratic rulers.And in response, according to reports, the Islamic Republic of Iran has murdered tens of thousands of protesters, just in recent days alone, and to help hide their crimes, the regime has shut off the internet, making it difficult for the world to see the unspeakable horrors taking place inside the country.To help shed light on what's happening, we are joined by Armin Navabi. He is a Vancouver-based Iranian dissident, author and podcaster who has a large following inside Iran.
Despite the barrage of pro-Palestinian propaganda being presented on social media - and in the traditional news media as well - there has never been a substitute for the unvarnished truth, and that means seeing the reality first-hand.Cory Morgan recently had a chance to do exactly that. The journalist and columnist for The Western Standard recently visited Israel with the Exigent Foundation, where he was able to get a picture that Canadians rarely see, read or hear from their news media.Cory joined us as a guest this week to discuss what he saw, the impact it had on him, and why so many news outlets fail - or refuse - to provide that same picture to Canadians.
The Carney government has faced unprecedented criticism, domestically and internationally, for what critics call a failure to address Islamic terrorism and anti-Jewish hate inside Canada.What more needs to be done to meaningfully address the scourge of Islamic terrorism, and, in a directly related effort, the related upsurge in anti-Jewish hate?In this episode of The Honest Report, HonestReporting Canada assistant director Robert Walker sits down with Sharren Haskel, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, for her assessment of the war against the Iranian regime, and a candid assessment of Ottawa's fight against extremism.
One of the most historically ignorant lies told about Israel is that it is a colonialist enterprise with no history in the land, despite three thousand years of Jewish presence in Israel.Such historical revisionism aside, the reality on the ground tells a very different story, and in this powerful interview, HonestReporting Canada assistant director Robert Walker sits down with Crystal Lavallee. She is a leader in the Metis community living in southern Ontario, and founder of I am Compelled Collective, a First Nations charity.She visited Israel in the fall of 2025, and has since produced a film about her experiences, The Lands Between Us. The virtual screening is Tues, April 7 at 8:30pm ET. Sign up at www.thelandsbetweenus.ca
Anyone not living under a rock in the last two years has seen the vicious pro-Hamas demonstrations in Western cities. But while they may look like spontaneous expressions of hostility to Israeli policy, they are carefully-constructed instances of astroturfing, where big money funds projects designed to look grassroots.In this podcast, we sit down with Warren Kinsella, journalist, lawyer, author and political strategist, to discuss his new book The Hidden Hand: The Information War and the Rise of Antisemitic Propaganda, which unmasks the money and organizers behind pro-Hamas efforts in Canada and beyond.
When a Toronto bookstore owned by Jewish philanthropist Heather Reisman was vandalized by anti-Israel extremists in late 2023, one of the perpetrators, a licensed immigration consultant named Mac Scott, received only a warning from his professional regulator, even after an admission of guilt. Lawyer and advocate Bryant Greenbaum says that’s not good enough. In this episode of The Honest Report, he explains why he’s taking the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants to federal court, arguing they ignored the harm done to the Jewish community. Greenbaum discusses the broader implications for professional accountability and antisemitism in Canada’s legal world, and how he's taking action.
One high-profile lawyer is taking the city of Montreal to court over its failure to uphold the rule of law amid two years of pro-Hamas rallies. Neil Oberman, a partner at the law firm of Spiegel Ryan, on behalf of private clients, is suing the city and its mayor, Valerie Plante, to make sure that they uphold their legal requirements to ensure public safety and order.In this episode of The Honest Report, Oberman joins us to explain the legal basis for his action, how he is compelling the city of Montreal to do its job, and the bigger message that his litigation is sending.
After two years of extremist anti-Israel demonstrations, often found in downtown cores, many pro-Israel events have come to avoid those areas altogether, effectively ceding them.Avi Attali was not prepared to make that happen. The Toronto resident, along with a group of volunteers, has planned and executed a number of rallies for Israel and to raise awareness for the hostages, primarily based in downtown Toronto, with some of these events attracting thousands of attendees.Avi joins us this week to tell us why he thinks such events are so critical, what motivates him to put them together, and what the lesson is for all supporters of Israel.
Since starting operations in late May, in large part because of the widespread theft of aid that was currently taking place by terrorist groups inside Gaza, the American-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has delivered nearly 200 million meals into the territory, using an innovative approach.But just as huge numbers of meals have been provided, there has been a widespread effort by the United Nations and other groups to delegitimize the GHF and portray it as the problem, rather than a solution.To help us understand the complexity on the ground, we are joined by Chapin Fay, spokesperson for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.Please note: This conversation took place before the current ceasefire agreement.
Tiferet Lapidot, a 23 year-old Canadian-Israeli, was known for her kindness and sensitivity, growing up in northern Israel.On October 7, 2023, she was at the Nova festival in southern Israel, where she was murdered by Hamas terrorists. But even on that day, she put her life on the line to help others and protect them.In this special podcast, we are joined by Tiferet's father Ohad, who tells us the story, both of who his daughter was, as well as what happened on that terrible day two years ago, but also the unexpected kindnesses that he experienced afterwards.Welcome to The Honest Report podcast.
Sergio Karas is an immigration lawyer and a vocal supporter of Israel. So when he was called a genocide supporter - by a fellow lawyer, no less - he refused to take it sitting down.Instead, he sued for defamation, and he won damages. Sergio joins us on our podcast this week to discuss his story, how and why he decided to litigate, and his advice for others, to help ensure that anti-Israel lies are not able to stand unchallenged.
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