English Haaretz Gets it Right on Sharon’s Temple Mount Visit
In a refreshing change from an old and well-established pattern in which articles in Haaretz‘s English edition contain inaccurate information that doesn’t appear in the Hebrew version of the very same article, today’s English Op-Ed by Odeh Bisharat correctly refers to Ariel Sharon’s controversial visit to the Temple Mount in 2000, while the Hebrew edition gets it wrong.
(Bisharat’s apologist treatment of stone-throwing is beyond the scope of this piece.)
In English, the Op-Ed accurately describes the location of Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount plaza:
On September 29, 2000, a day after Sharon’s provocative visit to the Temple Mount, the compound where the Al-Aqsa Mosque stands, seven Palestinians were killed . . .
The Hebrew edition, on the other hand, conflates the Al Aqsa Mosque, where Sharon did not visit, with the Temple Mount, also known as Noble Sanctuary, the plaza which the former prime minister did visit, and upon which Al Aqsa stands. The Hebrew incorrectly states that Sharon visited Al-Aqsa (CAMERA’s translation):
On September 29, 2000, one day after Sharon’s provocative to Al-Aqsa, seven Palestinians were killed. . . .
The English edition editors deserve commendation for their careful wording on a critical issue which is frequently mangled, and whose inaccurate coverage can fuel tension.
In a related matter, Haaretz editors have yet to correct, in both English and Hebrew, Amira Hass’ misleading reference yesterday to “the entry of Israeli police into the Al-Aqsa Mosque” last week. In last week’s incident, the Israeli police, just like Ariel Sharon in 2000, did not enter the Al-Aqsa mosque. They were on the Temple Mount, upon which the mosque stands.
The very same error has already been corrected by both The New York Times and Newsweek. CAMERA continues to urge Haaretz to likewise correct.
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