UPDATED: LA Times Returns Quneitra to Israel

By Published On: October 10, 2012

golan_92.jpg
This 1992 map, published shortly before Hanadi’s birth, shows Quneitra on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights (University of Texas Libraries)

In a profile featuring Hanadi, a young Syrian woman who reportedly joined the Syrian rebel forces, The Los Angeles Times reassigns the Syrian city of Quneitra to Israel (“In Syria, a rebellion calls for revolutionary measures“). The article, which has no byline, states that 19-year-old Hanadi is “[o]riginally from Quneitra in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.”

This misleading formulation suggests that Quneitra is under Israeli rule, and that Hanadi spent her earliest days under Israel’s thumb. While Quneitra is in the Golan Heights, and almost all of the Golan Heights has been annexed to Israel, Quneitra is not “Israeli-occupied.” Israel returned Quneitra to Syria as part of a 1974 armistice agreement. So, for nearly two decades before Hanadi’s birth, Quneitra had not been Israeli-occupied.

So why would the LA Times inject this gratuitous reference to Israel, one that has nothing to do with the internal Syrian situation, or the situation in Hamadi’s hometown for decades, especially given that it only misleads? (Read more on media inaccuracies about Quneitra.)

The LA Times writer would not be the first who has trouble accepting that not every story about a Middle Eastern conflict warrants a mention of Israel.

Oct. 14 Update: CAMERA commends the LA Times for its prompt correction

We expose the anti-Israel lies so you don't have to. But we can't do it without your help. Join the fight -- Donate now
CAMERA logo
Tell the World – Share Now!

More from SNAPSHOTS

  • Reuters Arabic Misidentifies Dome of Rock

    June 2, 2020

    The following photo and caption appeared in the Arabic version of an article by Reuters’ Stephen Farrell, published on April 24 and dedicated to the opening Friday of Ramadan in the Old City of Jerusalem: [...]

  • When Palestinians Like Checkpoints

    April 2, 2020

    To some pundits, it goes without saying that checkpoints in the West Bank should be discussed with the bleakest of terms. The checkpoints Israel erected in the West Bank during waves of Palestinian suicide bombings [...]

  • CNN’s Amanpour Condemns “power grab” By Israel’s Prime Minister and Others

    April 1, 2020

    We’ve said it often, but it’s worth repeating: Anyone interested in reasonably unbiased information about Israel (at least) should avoid the broadcasts of CNN’s Chief International Correspondent and Anchor, Christiane Amanpour. In characterizing responses to [...]

  • Italian Artist Posts Image of Jewish Ritual Murder on Facebook Page

    March 25, 2020

    Giovanni Gasparro being interviewed on a news show in Italy at the unveiling of one of his paintings at a basilica in Italy. (YouTube screenshot) Giovanni Gasparro, a popular artist in Italy, has posted images [...]

  • NY Times Shows How Framing Slants Coverage

    March 16, 2020

    A couple of days ago, we highlighted how David Halbfinger, the New York Times bureau chief in Jerusalem, cast Israel's prime minister as a scold for, well, trying to protect vulnerable populations from a pandemic. [...]

  • Seattle Media Oblivious To Imam’s Hateful Indoctrination Condemning Jews

    January 7, 2020

    The Masjid Ar-Rahmah mosque teaching – that Allah transformed Jews into apes and pigs for disobeying him – delivered by Imam (prayer leader) Mohamad Joban – was posted online by mosque personnel. This December 2019 [...]

  • AP Distorts: Bethlehem ‘Almost Completely Surrounded’

    December 10, 2019

    Over two years after improving inaccurate language falsely citing Israel's security "barrier surrounding the biblical city" of Bethlehem, the Associated Press once again misrepresents. AP's Joseph Krauss and Mohammad Daraghmeh wrote yesterday ("Palestinians in Bethlehem [...]

  • Variety Redraws Israel’s Map

    December 10, 2019

    "Variety is the most authoritative and trusted source of entertainment business news," boasts its web site but readers should not have any expectations about the accuracy of its geopolitical coverage. A May 2019 movie review [...]

  • Again, NY Times Silent on Islamic Jihad Terror Designation

    November 13, 2019

    As we noted yesterday, the New York Times chose to remove the word “terror” from its article about fighting between Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Israel. While early versions of the story informed readers that Islamic [...]

  • Reuters Errs on Administrative Detention For ‘Anti-Israel Activity’

    November 5, 2019

    The Ofer Prison, near Ramallah (Photo by Tamar Sternthal) A Reuters article today egregiously misrepresents administrative detention, erroneously asserting that it is mainly applied to "Palestinians suspected of anti-Israeli activities," when in fact the Israeli [...]