« Ahed Tamimi's Time Served Lost in Haaretz Translation | Main | UPDATED: Reuters Corrects on Israel's Capital »
March 28, 2018
Tour de France in Gaza?
Reuters published a series of photographs March 26 depicting, according to the captions, "a marathon in the southern Gaza Strip Monday." The full caption on all of the Reuters photographs below reads:
Palestinians attend a marathon near the border with Israel, in the southern Gaza Strip March 26, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Without any additional information and context, readers would assume that these young Palestinian bikers are out for some good wholesome, patriotic (as indicated by the flags) fun exercise, (which should be good news to Hami Almadhoun of American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), who has insisted that Gaza's polluted beach provide the only recreation.)
But there's more to the Gaza bike "marathon" than Reuters is saying. The Arabic signs on the boys' bikes state (translation by CAMERA Arabic): The Return March, Islamic Jihad Movement.
The United States, the European Union, Israel and Canada all regard Islamic Jihad as a terror organization. The biking event is part of the preparation for this Friday's Hamas and Islamic Jihad-backed "Right of Return" march, an campaign to formally kick off this Friday, Passover eve, in which thousands of Gazans will converge on Israel's borders.
Gazan Tour de France this is not. Another photo agency, Agence France Presse, in contrast to Reuters, at least gave the minimal context regarding the nature of the Islamic Jihad-backed biking event. Its captions state:
Palestinian children ride bikes near the border with Israel on the outskirts of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, as they take part in the "Right of Return" cycling race on March 26, 2018.
Haaretz, "Israel's leading daily newspaper," ran one of the Reuters images on the top of yesterday's front page with the inadequate caption: "Palestinians attending a marathon in the southern Gaza Strip Monday."
Posted by TS at March 28, 2018 03:46 AM
Comments
Guidelines for posting
This is a moderated blog. We will not post comments that include racism, bigotry, threats, or factually inaccurate material.