Times updates SodaStream story to answer questions about “Faiz Abedy”.

On July 29th we fisked a story in The Times by Catherine Philp about the Israeli company SodaStream which casually suggested unequal pay between Jews and Palestinians at their factory in Mishor Adumim.  We posted video a clip of my interview with company CEO Daniel Birnbaum, who categorically denied the charge, as well an audio of my conversation with an Arab Israeli plant manager who was emphatic that all employees – be they Jew, Muslim, or Druze – are treated fairly and equally.

However, there was another part of the Philp’s story which was curious – the interview she purportedly conducted with a Palestinian employee named Faiz Abedy.  As we noted, upon inquiring with Birnbaum as to whether we could ask Abedy a few follow-up questions, he checked company records and eventually informed us that there was actually no employee by that name.

So, following our post, Philp was contacted by CiF Watch, and other interested parties, to inquire about the identity of Faiz Abedy, and eventually we received an answer. According to Philp, Faiz Abedy was a pseudonym used to protect the Palestinian’s identity. The story  (behind a pay wall) now has the following update to alert readers about this detail:

faiz

While it’s curious that a story which relied so heavily on this one Palestinian innocently omitted the fact that the name used was a pseudonym, we’re of course glad we influenced Philp to acknowledge to Times readers that there is in fact no person named Faiz Abedy, 

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