UPDATED: Israelis Killed in “Alleged” Actual Attacks
Bahaa Alyan took part in the Oct. 13, 2015 terror attack on a Jerusalem bus, killing three Israelis (Photo: Israel Police)
In an article about new Israeli legislation to allow for the ouster of members of Knesset accused of racial incitement, Agence France Presse today pulls a Time Magazine stunt, reporting:
The legislation was put forward after three Arab-Israeli opposition lawmakers sparked controversy when they visited relatives of Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces after alleged attacks in Israel.
Alleged attacks? Haviv Haim, Alon Govberg and Richard Lakin were not killed in an “alleged” attack on Oct. 13 when Bahaa Alyan boarded their Egged bus in East Talpiot, indiscriminately shooting and stabbing passengers. Alyan’s father was among the Palestinian relatives with whom MKs Basel Ghattas, Jamal Zahalka and Hanin Zuabi met last February.
Indeed, AFP’s headline and article at the time of the MKs’ visit to the terrorists’ families got it exactly right: “Israeli leaders slam MPs who met attackers’ families.” AFP’s Feb. 5 headline rightly refers to “attackers’ families,” not “alleged attackers’ families.”
In addition, the Feb. 5 AFP story opened with the straightforward sentence: “Three Israeli Arab lawmakers who met relatives of Palestinians killed after carrying out attacks on Israelis faced fierce criticism. . . .” Indeed, there is no doubt that Baha Alyan, whose family the MKs visited, was one of the killers on that Egged bus Oct. 13.
As AFP’s Feb. 5 article correctly detailed later on:
Balad said [the relatives with whom the MKs met] included the father of Bahaa Alyan, who in October boarded a bus in Jerusalem with a friend, shooting and stabbing passengers and killing three people.
After a Facebook campaign launched by Israel’s Government Press Office, Time Magazine corrected the identical error concerning Alyan. CAMERA has contacted AFP editors to ask them to likewise correct their copy. Stay tuned for an update.
UPDATE: AFP has amended the text of the article to read:
The legislation was put forward after three Arab-Israeli opposition lawmakers sparked controversy when they visited relatives of Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces while carrying out attacks. [emphasis added]
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