Following the Hamas-Israel war, the Canadian government has offered 5,000 temporary resident visas to Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

While offering sanctuary from warzones is a largely noncontroversial topic, in Gaza, which is ruled by a banned terrorist entity and where radicalism remains high, there are significant concerns about whether Ottawa can, or will, ensure proper vetting is taking place so that extremists and Hamas supporters cannot land on Canadian soil.

Despite the significance of these concerns for Canadians, the news media has remained almost entirely silent on this matter, leaving it up to immigration lawyers like Betsy Kane, part of a group called Lawyers For Secure Immigration, to raise awareness about this.

Betsy joins us as our guest this week.

Faezeh Alavi, an Iranian-born researcher and artist based in London, is challenging the narratives imposed by the Iranian regime by openly advocating for dialogue between Iranians and Israelis. Alavi is also a vocal critic of the Islamic Republic, believing that reshaping relationships with Israel is key for a successful future for 90 million Iranians.

Despite facing backlash and violent threats, including a group of screaming protesters during an appearance by Alavi in London recently, she has not relented from her pursuit of dialogue and relations.

Faezeh joins us as our guest this week to help us understand her motivations and as she introduces us to the reality that the vast majority of Iranians are eager for relations with Israel.

While small in size, anti-Israel rallies over the last 17 months have become extraordinarily successful in gaining coverage from the news media. But these rallies, far from being general marches for peace in the Middle East, have been largely characterized by support for Palestinian terrorism, glorification of violence and the hateful rejection of Israel.

But rather than exposing these pro-Hamas rallies to Canadians, most Canadian news media outlets have instead given them largely sympathetic coverage, whitewashing their most extreme elements.

To help us understand what this looks like, we are joined in this week's podcast by Tristin Hopper. He is a reporter and columnist at the National Post, and an outspoken critic of coverage of these demonstrations.

Over the last 16 months, many corners of the Canadian news media have portrayed Israeli society in very broad, generic terms, frequently depicting them, or at least large swathes of them, as seeking to-settle Gaza, for example, and to expel Gazans.

But hardly surprisingly, it turns out that such views are remarkably marginal in Israel, though news coverage has suggested otherwise. In so doing, news outlets have framed Israelis as being extremist and fanatical, when the reality is very different.

To help us wade through the truth about Israelis, and what much of the Canadian news media either doesn't know or otherwise has shown little interest in explaining, we are joined by Yair Ettinger. He is an Israeli journalist with a focus on religion in Israeli society, a former fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, and the author of the book Frayed: The disputes unraveling religious Zionists.

Yair joins us as our guest this week.

In the late 1940s, nearly a million people indigenous to the Middle East were effectively exiled from their homes and faced violent repression, simply for who they were.

But if you think their story has been told by the news media, think again. They were Jews from Arab lands and Iran, numbering some 800,000 strong. And although their stories vary, their history is as relevant today as it was 75 years ago.

To help us delve deeper into these Jews and their largely untold story, we are joined by Martin Himel. Martin is an award-winning filmmaker, and he joins us to discuss his new film, The Forgotten Exodus: Jews from Arab Lands, which tells the story that the news media has forgotten.

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Recent months have seen a number of people in Canada suspected of planning mass casualty terrorist attacks identified, from a father and son allegedly members of the Islamic State, to a man attempting to cross into the United States from Quebec, allegedly trying to bomb a Jewish centre in Brooklyn.

So what exactly is happening behind the scenes on the legislative, legal and other levels to strengthen Canadians against extremism and terrorism?

To help give us an inside look, we are joined by Sheryl Saperia. She is the chief executive of Secure Canada, a non-profit organization dedicated to combating terrorism and extremism by creating innovative and transformative laws, policies, and alliances that strengthen Canada’s national security and democracy.

Yipeng Ge is an Ottawa physician. He is also a supporter of terrorism, having praised Hamas multiple times on social media, and following the terrorist pogrom in Amsterdam, posted an approving image to his followers.

He may be the most infamous, but he's far from the only person in Canadian medicine to glorify Hamas and to demonize Israel. How deep is this rot, how did it happen, and what will it take for the news media and the relevant medical bodies to take notice?

To help us understand the depth of the problem and what can be done about it, we are joined by Dr. Yoni Freedhoff. He is an associate professor of family medicine at the University of Ottawa, and founder and medical director of the Bariatric Medical Institute, a weight management clinic. He is also an outspoken advocate for Israel and against Jew-hate.

For the casual observer, it can be difficult to keep track of events in the Middle East. After October 7, the war seemingly was between Hamas and Israel, before Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen and other groups joined in.

But all these terrorist groups are not independent, but mere proxies, often called tentacles of the same octopus: the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Hezbollah, by far, is the strongest of these terror proxies, and while it has suffered many setbacks in recent weeks, it remains a serious threat to Israel. So what, if anything, will force Iran to cease its relentless war against Israel?

To help navigate this complex reality behind the headlines, we are joined by Hanin Ghaddar. She is a journalist and the Friedmann Senior Fellow in The Washington Institute's Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics, where she focuses on Shia politics throughout the Levant.

Welcome to The Honest Report podcast.

The last year has unmasked for all to see the level of infiltration by anti-Israel and anti-Jewish extremists, in multiple areas: in the news media, in politics, in universities, and even in public schools.

But noticing a problem and doing something about it are two different things. That's where JEFA has come in. JEFA, or Jewish Educators and Families Association, which also counts many non-Jews among its ranks, was founded in the wake of October 7 and has since become a powerful resource gathering students, educators and faculty members in schools across Canada to help combat the insidious and hateful campaign being waged there.

Thank you for tuning into The Honest Report podcast.

After ignoring a year of incessant Hezbollah terrorism on Israel, the news media is now devoting extensive news coverage to it as a result of Israel responding.

Against Hezbollah, what can be the end game for Israel, particularly in light of discussions around a truce being pushed by Washington? And with news coverage portraying Israel, and not the terrorist group, as the aggressor, what is the path for peace?

To help us untangle fact from fiction, we are joined by Michael Rubin. He is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where his expertise focuses on Iran, Turkey and the broader Middle East. A former Pentagon official, he has lived in post-revolution Iran, Yemen, and both pre- and postwar Iraq.