AP Captions: ‘Incidents’ in Hebron

Multiple Associated Press photo captions yesterday obscured Palestinian attacks in Hebron Friday by vaguely referring to “three incidents” or “three assaults” without any indication as to who perpetrated what against whom. For example, there were the two captions below:

The caption states:

Israeli soldiers stand guard after the military blocked the road with an earth berm at one of the exits of the West Bank city of Hebron, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015. Three incidents took place Friday in Hebron, the West Bank’s largest city, which has been the main area of friction in recent weeks. Hundreds of combat troops guard about 850 Jewish settlers in the center of Hebron where they live amid tens of thousands of Palestinians.

This caption states:

Israeli soldiers stand outside a Palestinian house during a search near the Tel Rumeida settlement in the West Bank city of Hebron, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015. Three assaults took place Friday in Hebron, the West Bank’s largest city, which has been the main area of friction in recent weeks. Hundreds of combat troops guard about 850 Jewish settlers in the center of Hebron where they live amid tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Who assaulted whom and how? Maybe Israeli soldiers, featured in these images, assaulted the Palestinian residents? Or the Jewish settlers, which the captions make a point to mention, assaulted Palestinians?

In fact, as reported by AP Friday, the “incidents” were as follows:

Back-to-back Palestinian shootings Friday wounded three Israelis, two of them seriously, the military said. The attacks signaled an escalation after a series of Palestinian stabbings and widespread stone-throwing that marked the current round of confrontations with Israel.

Israeli media said the wounded were teens between the ages of 16 and 19.

Earlier Friday, Israeli troops shot and killed a 73-year-old Palestinian woman in what the military said was an attempt to attack them with her car. Her son denied she tried to harm anyone, and that she was on her way to lunch with her sister when she was killed.

Later Friday, an Israeli was shot and seriously wounded by shots to the head fired from a passing car on the outskirts of Hebron, the military said. Israeli media said the victim was 19 years old and critically injured. (Emphases added.)

Space is always a concern, but the caption does include some two dozen words of background information regarding “Hundreds of combat troops guard about 850 Jewish settlers in the center of Hebron where they live amid tens of thousands of Palestinians.” Was there not space, on the other hand, to note that “Palestinians carried out multiple shooting attacks as well as an alleged ramming attack in Hebron Friday,” (16 words) Palestinian attacks which were, after all, the direct cause of the IDF searches and road blocks pictured and cited in these images and captions, respectively?

See also: “Wave of Palestinian Violence Accompanied by Spate of Bad Writing“

Nov. 11 Updated: Empty Promises of Additions To Add Context

Curiously, following CAMERA’s communication with AP editors on Nov. 8, the next day the photo agency republished the images with headings promising “Addition.” Many also note “Adds context in second sentence.” Yet the new captions do not include the missing critical information about the Palestinian shooting and ramming attacks which precipitated the searches and road blocks. In the new captions, the sentence about the “incidents” or “assaults” is entirely removed. See the following two examples.

Where exactly is the “addition” and the “added context” promised in the new versions of these captions? Will the AP amend the captions to make clear that the army actions shown here are in response to the Palestinian shooting and ramming attacks from the previous day?