Fox News corrects quote in coverage of violent Toronto attack amid rising antisemitism fears

Fox News has corrected its report on the violent attack at a pro-Israel gathering in Toronto, removing an incorrect quote that had been attributed to Michael Levitt, president and CEO of the Simon Wiesenthal Center Canada. The network issued an editor’s note acknowledging that the statement “was incorrectly attributed” and has since been deleted.

The error appeared in an article describing how masked anti-Israel activists stormed a private event organized by Students Supporting Israel at Toronto Metropolitan University. The attackers, estimated at around forty, broke glass, injured one speaker, and damaged property before police intervened. The incident occurred just days after Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow referred publicly to “the genocide in Gaza,” remarks that Jewish organizations condemned as “reckless” and potentially inflammatory.

The misattributed quote, while swiftly removed, was not trivial. The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of Canada’s most prominent Jewish advocacy institutions, and inaccurate attribution risks misrepresenting its position on antisemitic violence and the political climate surrounding it. At a time when Jewish Canadians report record levels of harassment and intimidation, clarity about who said what — and who didn’t — matters for both credibility and community reassurance.

The correction also underscores the tension in reporting on antisemitic incidents at a moment of heightened political sensitivity. Mayor Chow’s comments, which echoed the language of some UN bodies describing Israel’s conduct in Gaza as “genocide,” were cited by the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) as contributing to an “environment of intimidation.” The violence that followed has reignited scrutiny of whether political leaders’ rhetoric can unintentionally license hostility against Jewish institutions.

By removing the misattributed quote, Fox News acknowledged that accuracy is not secondary to urgency, even when covering charged events. The episode reinforces a broader point: in a climate where misinformation can itself fuel violence, getting every attribution right is not pedantic — it is protective.