A Reuters article about an Israeli military general’s warning to Hezbollah over its establishment of thousands of terrorist bases within residential buildings was published under the following erroneous headline:

In fact, the article makes clear that Israel did not threaten any Lebanese civilians. Rather, Israel’s Air Force chief, Major General Amir Eshel called out Hezbollah for establishing thousands of terrorist bases within residential buildings and warned that the Israeli army would not be deterred from retaliating for attacks launched from within these quarters. The article quotes Maj.-Gen. Eshel:

“We will have to deal aggressively with thousands of Hezbollah bases which threaten the State of Israel and mainly our interior,” Eshel said in a speech, citing Beirut, the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon among the locations of the bases.

Compare Reuter’s erroneous headline with the Jerusalem Post headline on the same topic:

CAMERA contacted Reuters to change the erroneous headline to one that reflects the content of the story, but thus far, the misleading headline still remains. Can it be that Reuters editors prefer to defame Israel with false innuendo or is this merely a sloppy oversight?

UPDATE: CAMERA heard back from a Reuters editor who refuses to change the headline and suggests it is not “misleading” because the warning to Hezbollah does not “exclude” a threat against civilians, so no, this is not merely a sloppy oversight.

Christian Clergy in Jerusalem. (Latin Patriarchate)

Malcolm Lowe, a New Testament scholar living in Jerusalem, pays very close attention to Christian leaders in the Holy City. In his latest piece in the Gatestone Institute, Lowe provides some very funny detail about how statements have previously been issued by the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, who are oftentimes put forth as the voice of the Palestinian Christians despite the fact that some of these leaders are not Palestinian. Lowe reports the following about the churches in question:
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Movie star Scarlett Johansson has dealt decisively with the controversy surrounding her serving as the global brand ambassador for the Israeli company Sodastream and as goodwill ambassador for Oxfam. She has given Oxfam the boot, graciously, of course.

Sodastream has a factory in the West Bank that employs more than 500 Palestinian Arabs, making it the largest employer of Palestinians in the West Bank outside of the Palestinian Authority. It pays higher wages than other comparable jobs in the West Bank. But none of that matters to Oxfam. Sodastream has become a visible target of the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign [BDS]. Oxfam supports the BDS campaign. The British-based charity has long been antagonistic toward the Jewish state.

Johansson’s spokesman said of the 29-year-old actress,

She and Oxfam have a fundamental difference of opinion in regards to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement… Scarlett Johansson has respectfully decided to end her ambassador role with Oxfam after eight years.

Oxfam for its part released a statement claiming,

Oxfam believes that businesses, such as SodaStream, that operate in settlements further the ongoing poverty and denial of rights of the Palestinian communities that we work to support. Oxfam is opposed to all trade from Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law.

Johansson, who has repeatedly topped a number of polls as the sexiest woman alive, is part Jewish by heritage. Her mother is Jewish.

On Jan. 31, the annual Munich Security Conference will resume. This year, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has been invited to attend. He will hold discussions with Carl Bildt, the former Prime Minister of Sweden and others to discuss Iran’s nuclear program. This was reported by the Iranian news agency Farsnews and announced in the official Munich conference press release. But it received scant attention in the U.S. media.

The New York Times did carry a report on Jan. 28 announcing the convening of the conference, but made no mention of Zarif’s planned attendance.

Also, on Jan. 14, National Security Council spokesman Caitlin Hayden issued the following statement:

The United States condemns the decision taken by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Khonsari to place a wreath at the grave of Imad Mugniyah, a former leader of Lebanese Hezbollah responsible for heinous acts of terrorism that killed hundreds of innocent people, including Americans. The inhumane violence that Mugniyah perpetrated and that Lebanese Hezbollah continues to perpetrate in the region with Iran’s financial and material support — has had profoundly destabilizing and deadly effects for Lebanon and the region.

The decision to commemorate an individual who has participated in such vicious acts, and whose organization continues to actively support terrorism worldwide, sends the wrong message and will only exacerbate tensions in the region.

The reason you might not have heard about this is that it got little coverage. It was briefly noted by The New York Times, buried in the middle of an article on U.S. and Iranian relations by Mark Landler on Jan. 17 and at the end of a piece by Rick Gladstone on proposed Iranian sanctions legislation on Jan. 14. This was how Gladstone’s piece introduced the topic:

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based group that supports tough sanctions, criticized Mr. Zarif on Tuesday for paying respects on Monday in Beirut, Lebanon, at the grave of Imad Mughniyeh, an assassinated commander in the military wing of Hezbollah, the Shiite political organization allied with Iran.

The placement of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which is tainted by the fact that it is lobbying for sanctions against Iran, in front of the statement by the U.S. government, is interesting. The Times can’t quite get themselves to describe this arch-terrorist as a terrorist and they have to let us know that the people who brought the story to our attention – and do describe Mugniyah as a terrorist – are supporters of tough sanctions. Mugniyah is unambiguously a terrorist and that is what he is known for, not for being a military commander.

The man the Iranian Foreign Minister was paying homage to, Imad Mugniyah, was Hezbollah’s chief planner of terrorist attacks. He was widely suspected of being behind such acts as the U.S. embassy bombing in 1983 that killed 63 and the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks that killed 241 Marines stationed in Beirut as peacekeepers. He was tied to the kidnapping and torture of CIA station chief William Buckley, and the hijacking of TWA flight 847 in 1985 during which navy diver Robert Steetham was murdered. He is also strongly suspected to have been involved in the terrorist bombings against Jewish targets in Argentina that caused the deaths of over a hundred people.

He was also suspected of involvement in the cross-border attack that resulted in the deaths of eight Israeli soldiers and kidnapping of two more in 2006. He was assassinated in Syria in 2008.

Fittingly for a man with such a varied life, Ariel Sharon was known by many nicknames. The troops under his command in the Yom Kippur War famously dubbed him “Arik, King of Israel.” Supporters and critics alike referred to Sharon as “the Bulldozer.” Following the massacres by Lebanese Christian militia at Sabra and Shatilla, many in Arab world called him the “Butcher of Beirut.”

But numerous recent news reports cited a nickname which appears to have no historical basis:

CNN:

During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Sharon earned the nickname “The Lion of God” among Israelis for surrounding Egypt’s Third Army and, defying orders, leading 200 tanks and 5,000 men across the Suez Canal — roughly 100 miles from Cairo.

New York Post:

Dubbed the “Lion of God,” Sharon, 85, goes down in history as a maverick military leader

The Sunday Times:

On January 4, 2006 Ariel Sharon, the former prime minister of Israel, one of the founding fathers of the state and a warrior known as “the Lion of God”, suffered a massive stroke and cerebral haemorrhage that would have killed a weaker man.

BBC:

Such was his reputation as a military commander that some accounts of his army career say he was nicknamed the Lion of God after a particularly daring tactical parachute operation against Egypt in 1967 in the Sinai desert.

Al-Jazeera

During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, he earned the nickname ‘The Lion of God’

Lion of God is an unlikely nickname for a man whose Hebrew first name is Ariel. The name Ariel could and has been interpreted as meaning lion of God, (Ari=Lion El=God) though it is more commonly associated with Jerusalem. In other words, in Hebrew, Sharon’s given name is indistinguishable from the supposed “Lion of God” nickname.
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Spanish Posts

Journalistic reaction: voluntary or involuntary?
A chain of events becomes news whenever Israel is involved. Israel’s involvement seems to spur journalists into action. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

Based on reality
Taking off from an actual event, Euronews created a story that was more fictional than true. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

The importance of a headline
The Mexican newspaper El Informador apparently tried to create an alternative reality regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the use of a biased headline. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

Who does not want to negotiate?
The Spanish-speaking media seems to prefer to present a false scenario in which Israel , a priori, is the very “cause” of the conflict and, therefore, the “obstacle” to peace. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

Negev Bedouin: what the Spanish speaking press didn’t tell
A backgrounder about the historical, legal and socio-economic context of the existing problem between the Bedouin of the Negev and the State of Israel. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

How to write an inaccurate text in a few steps
The headline of a report by the Argentinean news agency Télam presented as fact an allegation by the partisan NGO Peace Now that was refuted by official sources. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

Middle East headlines in the Spanish speaking press
Read the headlines of the week in papers from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Venezuela and others.(ReVista de Medio Oriente)

Palestinian terrorists receive monthly salaries from Palestinian Authority, while the press remains silent
Palestinian terrorists with “blood in their hands” imprisioned in Israel receive a higher monthly income than Palestinian civil servants, but this doesn’t seem to be an interesting subject for any of the Spanish speaking media when they talk about Palestinian prisioners. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

Silence of the journalists
When it comes to reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there seems to exist a non-written canon among Spanish media, stipulating that nothing should be published that questions the “victimhood” of the Palestinians. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

Definition and verdict
The Spanish speaking media, self-appointed judges, designate the disputed territories as “Palestinian territories”, feigning ignorance of the historical and legal facts. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

The Trial
The media coverage of Ariel Sharon’s death reveals that Israel, and its leaders, can always be blamed — even when the matter if accusations are completely false, as in Kafka’s novel. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

Imagine
A journalist must tell readers what has actually happened, not what he believes should happen. But the latter is precisely the case in the Spanish newspaper El País, reporting on the death of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

So what does Mahmoud Abbas want to discuss with Israeli Leaders?
In recent statements, PA President Mahmoud Abbas has made it clear that he has no authority to negotiate peace with Israel. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

Rewriting History
Spanish News Agency Europa Press shapes the facts surrounding the Arab-Israeli Conflict according to the Palestinian narrative. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

Simplification and misrepresentation
Argentinean news agency Télam whitewashes the actions of Palestinian terrorist groups, while simultaneously labeling the State of Israel as having “aggressive policies of reprisal”. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

Where’s the coverage?
Spanish speaking journalists have had enough time to notice the constant incitement against Israel by the Palestinians. This contradicts the notion that they are seeking peace with their neighbor. But the media prefers not to hear. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

Taking sides
The Argentine news agency Télam has endorsed the Palestinian speech on the disputed territories, leaving aside the journalistic professionalism. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

For Europa Press, the Israeli version is unnecessary
The Spanish news agency reproduced as an unquestionable fact the statements of a Jordanian official regarding the rejection of Israel’s plans to build an airport in Israeli territory, while obviating the version of the Jewish State. (ReVista de Medio Oriente)

English Posts

Review of Fall Semester 2013: Sgt. Benjamin Anthony at the University of Delaware
Read on to learn about Sgt. Benjamin Anthony’s Lecture at the University of Delaware. (in Focus)

Brooke Goldstein at CUNY Baruch College
Read on to learn about Brooke Goldstein’s Lecture at CUNY Baruch College. She is a human rights lawyer committed to raising awareness about and combating the indoctrination and recruitment of children for suicide terror operations, as well as other violent activities. Brooke also produced an award-winning movie entitled Martyr, which investigates juvenile suicide terror. (in Focus)

Building Peace at USF
A piece by the CAMERA Fellow at the University of South Florida, Danielle Haberer. (in Focus)

United Nations Human Rights Council: Is it legitimate?
The United Nations Human Rights Council doesn’t seem to care too much about the plight of the Syrians. Our CAMERA Fellow at UMass-Amherst writes about the legitimacy of this branch of the UN. (in Focus)

BBC exploits Sharon’s death for more promotion of second Intifada falsehood
BBC coverage both before and after the death of Ariel Sharon showed intensive promotion of the myth that his Temple Mount visit started the second Intifada. (BBC Watch)

Breaches of editorial guidelines in BBC WS ‘Newshour’ special Sharon broadcast
Just one hour after the announcement of the death of Ariel Sharon, the BBC World Service opened its coverage with defamatory remarks from Mustafa Barghouti. (BBC Watch)

Goodbye, Harriet Sherwood: Three years covering Gaza and no lessons learned.
Harriet Sherwood’s latest ‘love letter’ to Gaza perfectly illustrates the egregious pro-Palestinian bias in her coverage of the region during her three years as the Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent. (CiF Watch)

CAMERA Partners with Drexel Hillel on Birthright Trip
CAMERA partners with Drexel Hillel to encourage Birthright students to get involved with Israel activity on campus. (in Focus)

Who is Edward Said and why is his picture on a mural at Cesar Chavez Center?
Kayla Wold, our Fellow at San Francisco State University, writes about the mural on her campus devoted to a man who wanted Israel destroyed. (in Focus)

Hebrew Posts

Ma’ariv’s Archeological Discovery
Ma’ariv publishes a story on a newly found water tunnel. They apparently forgot that they already “just found” the same tunnel nine months ago. (Presspectiva)

Every Paper Has Their Own “Nazi”
The pictures used to illustrate the coverage of a suggested bill to prohibit some uses of the word “Nazi” reveal each paper’s own bias (Presspectiva)

Israeli Demography 101
What are the actual statistics about the Israeli birthrate? (Presspectiva)

Did Ariel Sharon Ignite the Second Intifada
Examining the claim that Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount is to blame for the Second Intifada (Presspectiva)

Ha’aretz Buys Into Palestinian Double Speak
Is a Ha’aretz editorial correct in claiming that no senior member of the Palestinian Authority has called for the destruction of Israel? (Presspectiva)

Did Netanyahu invent the demand that Israel be recognized as a Jewish state?
The short answer is no. The longer answer is still no. (Presspectiva)

What was the update to the Canadian policy paper regarding Israel?
Ha’aretz stresses the fact that Canada had just updated their policy paper on Israel. We checked what the changes were. The result may surprise you. (Presspectiva)

Why did President Truman cross out the words “Jewish State” from the USA recognition of Israel
The Palestinian Authority claims President Truman intentionally removed the words “Jewish State” from the US recognition of Israel. An Israeli paper repeated the lie without any fact-checking. The truth is a charming story from the first minutes of the new Israeli state. (Presspectiva)

An official statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorating the victims of the Holocaust issued by EU High Representative Lady Catherine Ashton, does not identify who those victims were. The brief statement reads,

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, issued the following statement today:

Today the international community remembers the victims of the Holocaust. We honour every one of those brutally murdered in the darkest period of European history. We also want to pay a special tribute to all those who acted with courage and sacrifice to protect their fellow citizens against persecution.

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, we must keep alive the memory of this tragedy. It is an occasion to remind us all of the need to continue fighting prejudice and racism in our own time. We must remain vigilant against the dangers of hate speech and redouble our commitment to prevent any form of intolerance. The respect of human rights and diversity lies at the heart of what the European Union stands for.

Could it have been a simple oversight, or is there something more sinister going on?

Intolerance, racism and prejudice are found in all societies. And mass murder has occurred before and since the Holocaust. But the Holocaust specifically refers to the use of modern technology and killing factories to erase the Jewish people. On the day specifically named Holocaust Remembrance Day it might be appropriate to specify who the victims were.

Lady Ashton’s strangely vague statement might not have raised questions had it not been for her reputation as being less than sympathetic toward Israel. Also, recent years have witnessed attempts to twist remembrance of the Holocaust into a weapon to defame Israel by turning the Palestinians into the victims of a Zionist “genocide.” The film Defamation is one example of this trend.

Elder of Ziyon points out some other disturbing examples of the transformation of Holocaust Remembrance Day. In England, a Muslim educator with links to an Islamic network that includes extremists gave an invocation at London’s City Hall. In France, a “Day of Anger” march featured demonstrators chanting “Jews go Home” and “Jews, France is not your country”. The chants are ironically reminiscent of the chants heard many years ago in Germany, “Juden raus.”

In the alternate reality in which Agence France Presse lives, Tel Aviv advocates settlement expansion, Israel approved the “new” settlements of Pisgat Zeev, Ariel, Har Homa, Efrat, Gilo, Beitar Illit and Ramat Shlomo. AFP, the French wire service, tweeted this Infographic yesterday:

The graphic’s creator, John Saeki, AFP’s graphics editor in Hong Kong, also tweeted:

Of course, Israel did not approve a single new settlement in 2013, though it did approve additional homes in well established West Bank locations like Ariel, Maale Adumim and Efrat, as well as Jerusalem neighborhoods over the Green Line, such as Ramat Shlomo, Gilo and Har Homa.

The New York Times recently corrected a virtually identical error:

Hat tip: Judge Dan

CAMERA is delighted that popular blogger Elder of Ziyon has selected CAMERA as the 2014 winner of the Hasby Award in the category of Best Mainstream Media Watchdog. Elder writes:

Besides having a stellar year with dozens of articles showing bias in the New York Times alone (and forcing many corrections), CAMERA also freely released its monograph on that paper detailing its bias during 2011. They were in the forefront of identifying systemic Christian anti-Zionist trends. And they also oversee their fellow nominees, the excellent CiFWatch and BBCWatch, as well as Presspectiva and a couple of other specific sites for Spanish speakers and college students.

In addition to our successful Spanish site, ReVista de Medio Oriente, and our popular student site, CAMERA On Campus, CAMERA also has a Six Day War site, another valuable resource. New York Times corrections prompted by CAMERA are available here.

CAMERA wishes Elder of Ziyon continued success with his influential blog.

Western media, which have demonstrated a keen interest when Israeli officials have criticized American efforts to advance a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, have reacted to a Palestinian official’s rejection of Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts with . . . . resounding silence.

The Palestinian Maan News Agency and Ha’aretz both reported what you can’t read in the international media.

Where’s the coverage?