COMMITTEE FOR ACCURACY IN MIDDLE EAST REPORTING AND ANALYSIS
The Dec. 19th article in The Independent failed to provide the Israeli response to the incident, leaving readers with a take on the the death of Ibrahim Abu Thuraya informed entirely by the unsubstantiated claims of Hamas officials.
A BBC report misled readers regarding the type of projectiles launched from the Gaza Strip.
An article in the Sunday Times on US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital included the false claim that east Jerusalem Palestinians, who are permanent residents but not citizens, have “no political rights”. After communication with UKMW, editors agreed to amend the passage to reflect the fact that east Jerusalem Palestinians have the right to vote in local elections and to run for city council.
K Media Watch and CAMERA have prompted countless corrections on the same inaccuracy – the claim that Tel Aviv is Israel’s capital. However, it’s particularly interesting that on Thursday, the day in which Donald Trump’s impending decision to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was the big story, the Financial Times joined the list of media outlets who’ve made some version of this error.
As we explained in our complaint to Times editors, the language used by their reporter erroneously suggests that then opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited a uniquely ‘Muslim’ holy site, when in fact his 34 minute tour was to the Temple Mount (Judaism’s holiest site). Though al-Aqsa Mosque is located within the larger Temple Mount compound, Sharon did not visit the mosque itself.
Once again, a British publication has told news consumers Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel, and, once again, UK Media Watch has prompted a correction to this false claim. The most recent example involves a Daily Mail article in the Nov. 7th print edition about the Priti Patel row.
A Guardian editorial claimed that Israel has ‘banned’ Arab political parties. In fact, as we noted in a complaint to editors, though there was, in 2009, a decision by the Israel Central Elections Committee to bar two Israeli Arab parties due to allegations they supported terrorism, the Israeli Supreme Court overturned the ‘ban’ only two weeks later, before it could go into effect. The Guardian upheld our complaint and issued a correction.
An article in the Financial Times included the claim that there are ‘Jews-only’ roads in the West Bank. However, as CAMERA has demonstrated on multiple occasions, there are not, nor have there ever been, anywhere in Israel or the West Bank, roads exclusively for Jews.
For the sixth time in less than two years, UK Media Watch has prompted a correction at Times of London to the false suggestion that Tel Aviv is Israel’s capital.
Following our complaint to Times of London over an Oct. 13th article by Bel True and Anshel Pfeffer which erroneously suggested that only Israel considers Hamas a terror organisation, editors revised the sentence to note that the UK, US and EU also official designate Hamas a terror group.