A couple of hours ago, we posted about a Guardian report by Orlando Crowcroft (‘Israeli leader meets families of missing teenagers as search continues, June 17th), which noted the social media battles being waged by Israelis and Palestinians over the terrorist kidnapping of three Israeli teens last Thursday, and included the following claim:
Not all the online responses to the incident have been benign. A Facebook page calling for Israel to kill one Palestinian an hour until the three teenagers are returned has received more than 18,000 “likes” since it was set up on 13 June.
However, as other media sites (as well as the anti-Israel blog, Electronic Intifada) reported, the name of the page accurately translates to:
‘Until the teens are returned, every hour we shoot a terrorist.
Crowcroft had omitted the word “terrorist” and added the word “Palestinian” to the name.
Whilst the Facebook page – even accurately translated – is clearly still offensive, there’s obviously a huge difference between the call to kill terrorists and the call to kill innocent Palestinians.
Shortly after contacting Guardian editors, they replied and informed us that they had corrected the passage. It now reads:
Not all the online responses to the incident have been benign. A Facebook page calling for Israel to kill one Palestinian terrorist an hour until the three teenagers are returned has received more than 18,000 “likes” since it was set up on 13 June.
Further, the following addendum appears at the bottom of the article.
We commend Guardian editors for their prompt correction.
…
One final note: The Hebrew name of the Facebook page actually doesn’t include the word “Palestinian”. So, while the Guardian’s revised text does more accurately reflect the aims of the Facebook page, it’s important to note that the exact translation is: ‘Until the teens are returned, every hour we shoot a terrorist.’
Related articles
- CiF Watch prompts correction to Guardian characterization of abducted boys as ‘teen settlers’ (cifwatch.com)
- CiF Watch prompts Indy correction to claim that abducted teens were ‘settlers’ (cifwatch.com)
- UK media coverage of the kidnapping of three Israeli teens – a CiF Watch review (cifwatch.com)
- Still no BBC reporting on Palestinian celebrations of kidnappings (bbcwatch.org)