Last month, we complained to Guardian editors regarding an op-ed (“Our art deals with real injustices, some in Palestine: no wonder we faced opposition”, Aug. 20) by the anti-Israel NGO Forensic Architecture which included the following claim:
[IDF] Attacks extended also to art institutions: our close friend the Palestinian artist Emily Jacir sent us videos of Israeli forces raiding Dar Jacir, a vital independent artist-run space in Bethlehem.
First, the source embedded in the sentence doesn’t show the alleged video, and in fact fails to provide any proof of the Israeli ‘raid’ on the art space. Also, a New York Times article in July which included these same accusations quoted the IDF denying the claims.
We contacted the IDF Spokesperson Unit to see if they still stood by their denial, and they affirmed that their position hasn’t changed.
After a series of follow-ups with editors, they finally agreed to amend the sentence to include the IDF’s denial.
Attacks extended also to art institutions: our close friend the Palestinian artist Emily Jacir sent us videos that, despite official denials to the contrary, show evidence of Israeli forces raiding Dar Jacir, a vital independent artist-run space in Bethlehem.
The following editors note noting the revision was added at the bottom of the op-ed:
Same old Grauniad tactics – publish a load of lies, then a month later publish the correction that nobody reads. The Press Association should deal with this poison.
It was probably a Hamas unit dressed up to look like the IDF