A Canadian television journalist was removed from the air after recording a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Toronto, according to a report.
Neil Herland, a veteran CBC News journalist, was reportedly disciplined by network executives after posting 52 seconds of footage on X on Monday, The Toronto Sun reported.
The video showed roughly a dozen demonstrators gathered outside a Toronto venue where a Yom Kippur service was being held.
The event’s featured speaker was Mark Regev, who served as a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu between 2020 and 2021 and as Israel’s ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2020.
Herland, who has worked for CBC since 1997, said in a series of posts on X that he had been passing by the location Monday evening.
“I’m a journalist. And I happen to be Jewish,” Herland wrote in his first post. He said that, while attending a synagogue service in Toronto on Yom Kippur, he encountered protesters who attempted to taunt and intimidate him as he approached the building.
The footage showed demonstrators standing outside the venue, waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Zionist Alert.” Herland initially recorded the scene from behind the group.
He then moved toward the protesters while continuing to film the confrontation.
Veteran CBC News journalist Neil Herland was reportedly disciplined after posting a 52-second video of the demonstration on X Monday, according to The Toronto Sun
The video showed about a dozen protesters outside a Yom Kippur service at a local arena. Mark Regev, a former adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was the event’s featured speaker
“You’re going to hell! You’re going to hell!” one protester shouted through a megaphone. The clip ends with Herland standing directly in front of the demonstrators.
The group continued yelling at him, while one demonstrator held a sign displaying a bloodied black-and-white image of Regev.
In a second post, Herland wrote that his late father was an Austrian Jew who survived the Holocaust in Romania before arriving in Canada as a refugee.
“This year I got an Austrian passport, in case Canada becomes unsafe for me as a Jew,” he wrote. “I fear that moment is approaching, here in Canada and elsewhere.”
Pointing to recent incidents he described as antisemitic, Herland argued that Jewish Canadians are “living in a parallel world.”
He said police now stand armed guard outside synagogues, while Jewish schools, religious institutions and businesses have been targeted by gunfire. He also claimed that many Canadians remain unaware of the situation.
In his final post about the incident, Herland described Regev as an Australian-born university professor living in Israel who previously served as the country’s ambassador to the UK.
“His speech was about making peace in the Middle East,” Herland wrote. “Let’s hope that happens this year.”
Herland, who has spent 29 years reporting for Canada’s public broadcaster, shared his account on X before reportedly being taken off the air
Herland’s first post featuring the video quickly attracted approximately 3 million views.
According to the Sun, the ‘CBC reacted with fury and swiftly pulled’ Herland off the air.
The anchor was told that he would be investigated, the Sun reported.
On Thursday, CBC brass held a disciplinary hearing with Herland and his lawyer.
When reached for comment Friday, Chuck Thompson, CBC’s official spokesman, said: ‘Fully respecting the privacy rights of our employees, we won’t comment on internal matters.
‘That said, we are aware of reporting on this matter which has errors and mischaracterizations but we can’t get into the specifics given the confidentiality of the situation.’
The Daily Mail approached Herland for comment as well. He reportedly declined to comment when approached by the Sun, at the advice of his lawyer.
Herland works as an anchor for CBC Radio, which is taxpayer funded
The service’s featured speaker had been Regev, a senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from 2020 to 2021 and Israeli ambassador to the UK from 2016 to 2020
Aliza Spiro, the leader of a local synagogue who helped organize the prayer service at the Meridian Arts Centre in Toronto, claimed the group was ‘shouting antisemitic slurs at our people’ in an open letter.
‘It was incredibly frightening, and many of our members were too scared and intimidated to get out of their cars, simply going home and missing the final powerful service of Yom Kippur night.’
‘Neil Herland’s video recording accurately documented the siege outside our synagogue on this day,’ she added.
‘His tweets were journalistically accurate, as well as a much-appreciated public service to Canadians. Our country needs more people to similarly shine a light on the terrorizing issue of antisemitism.
‘Our people are scared, and not enough is being done about it.’
Last month, another Toronto Sun report revealed Canada’s public broadcaster had told staffers to ‘not refer to the September 11 attacks as terrorist attacks’ ahead of the tragedy’s 25th anniversary. The edict was found in a memo obtained by the Sun.
News Senior Director of Journalistic Standards and Public Trust Basem Boshra ended up walking back the edict, saying in a statement later that week: ‘After reviewing our current language guidance, we have decided to adjust it to clarify that direct attribution is not required for describing the historic events of 9/11 as terrorism.
‘We are doing so to remove what has unfortunately (and unintentionally) become an impediment to clarity and public understanding.
The CBC recently revised some of its policies after a memo telling staffers ‘do not refer to the September 11 attacks as terrorist attacks’ was leaked last month. Staffers were previously told to use ‘extreme caution’ when using the words, to avoid attributing motivations to other parties
‘At the same time, as new acts of politically or ideologically motivated violence occur in our world, we will continue to follow the journalistically sound practice of attributing causes and motivations to officials and experts.’
He claimed the memo was published ‘without context or explanation.’
The report was met with outrage from the FBI and a coalition of Republican congressmen. The US’s ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, spoke out against the strange style recommendation as well.
CBC initially deferred to a years-old practice of using ‘extreme caution’ in using the words.
